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Great journalism from the Atlanta-Journal Constitution:

Retired Fulton Superior Court Clerk Juanita Hicks won a controversial consulting contract from her handpicked successor last year in part to write a history of the clerk's office.

"She is interested in history and so am I," Clerk Cathlene "Tina" Robinson said in August while explaining the unusual assignment.

Now that Hicks' contract has ended, no tangible work product exists.

In fact, Hicks left no written work behind as proof she completed any of the obscure duties that Robinson paid her $55 an hour to perform, said Willie Lovett, a county attorney who represents the clerk's office.

The 10-month contract, which ended in December, allowed Hicks to bill up to $97,000. She came in under budget at $73,922, according to county figures.

In response to a recent open-record request from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Robinson was unable to produce any memos, e-mails, documents or correspondence on any topic by Hicks.

Hicks retires. Robinson replaces her. Robinson gives Hicks nearly $80,000. Hicks can't prove that she did any work.

Incredible.

Smoke but no fire on CDC chief testimony

Rather shoddy journalism from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution today:

Amid allegations that the White House censored CDC Director Julie Gerberding's written testimony on climate change, a U.S. senator Wednesday called for the release of documents detailing how and why changes were made.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, sent a letter to President Bush seeking all drafts of the written testimony for comparison with what Gerberding presented at a committee hearing Tuesday.

Boxer also asked the White House to disclose which officials were involved in reviewing her statement and what led to the deletion of nearly seven pages about the health consequences of climate change.

"I am deeply concerned that important scientific and health information was removed from the CDC Director's testimony at the last minute," Boxer said in the letter.

Ten paragraphs into the article, we hear from the CDC Director herself:

Gerberding said Wednesday she was happy with her testimony and that the review process was normal. In a lunch-hour speech before the Atlanta Press Club, Gerberding said she made all the points to Congress that she wanted to make.

"This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Gerberding said of the furor. "I don't let people put words in my mouth. I spoke the truth to Congress."

The testimony went through many versions, perhaps as many as 40, Gerberding said. "This was not an issue of someone trying to cover up a connection between climate change and health," she said.

Many White House administrations have reviewed Congressional testimony of government agency chiefs in the past -- it's just part of the process.

So, who other than a constant critic of the administration, also had a problem with the White House editing of the CDC director's comments?

The Union of Concerned Scientists:

To the Union of Concerned Scientists, it appears Gerberding was censored. "At first blush this is consistent with what we've seen throughout the Bush administration on climate change," said Michael Halpern, outreach coordinator of the group's Scientific Integrity Program.

The reporter doesn't attempt to identify "The Union of Concerned Scientists." Despite its egalitarian name, the group is actually a liberal advocacy organization, according to the policy proposals on its Web site.

With all these facts, this issue looks like a typical partisan attack of dubious news value. Too bad the editors chose to make it the top story on page one.

Great article on Iraq sheik

Fantastic article from Moni Basu, an AJC reporter in Iraq, on the death of a prominent sheik:

Sheik Abdul Sattar al-Rishawi was young for a tribal leader — only 37. Regal in his flowing muslin robes trimmed with gold, white headdress and a neatly groomed goatee.His name was uttered in all circles.

From the moment I landed in Ramadi, Iraq, I heard al-Rishawi mentioned in almost every conversation — by American soldiers and Marines, Iraqi army and police and the people on the street. One resident hailed him as the closest thing to God.

"We consider the sheik our first line of defense," Iraqi Army Col. Hamid Khalaf Salim told me last April at a joint U.S.-Iraqi security station.

No other man, perhaps, was as vital to keeping the peace in Iraq's lawless Anbar province. Certainly, the U.S. soldiers who worked with him in Ramadi knew it. And apparently, so did the terrorists he helped defeat.

A bomb planted near his Ramadi home killed al-Rishawi on Thursday, just 10 days after President Bush lunched with him during a quick visit to Iraq and two days after Ramadi residents marked the first anniversary of the "Anbar Awakening."

He was allegedly al-Qaida's No. 1 target. It is understandable why.

Fed up with the senseless violence consuming the Sunni province — including the assassination of his own father and three of his brothers— al-Rishawi rallied fellow tribal sheiks last September and launched what he called the Anbar Salvation Council.

His strategy was simple: Let's join hands with each other and with American forces to purge al-Qaida in Mesopotamia from our province. We are tired of the bombings, beheadings and mortar attacks, he said. Tired of seeing the blood of our people flow like the Euphrates through our city.

Let's put down differences over Iraq for a moment and mourn the loss of this man. I'm tired of people -- U.S. troops and Iraqis -- trying to do the right thing and getting blown up.

Basu breaks a couple of journalistic traditions in her article -- namely writing in the first person. But, I think it works in this situation, helping us understand the level of importance of the sheik. Plus, Basu's earned the right to break tradition -- she's been in Iraq for more than a year. Who can say they'd trade places with her?

Incredibly weak sourcing for Bynum article

The AJC's article about the reported divorce of evangelist Juanita Bynum is rather bereft of sources:

National evangelist Juanita Bynum apparently has filed for divorce, more than two weeks after the alleged attack by her estranged husband, Bishop Thomas Weeks III.

A relative on Thursday said that Bynum, 48, has filed for divorce, but court records were not available to provide further details. Bynum's publicist, Amy Malone, would not comment.

The reported divorce filing comes five years after Bynum and Weeks wed in 2002 in fairy-tale style on Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Weeks was holding on to hope that he could eventually work things out with his wife, attorneys say, when word of Bynum's filing for divorce spread on radio, TV and the Internet. A lawyer for Weeks said Thursday they had not been notified about a pending divorce. "We have not heard a thing," Louis Tesser said.

The only person attributed with saying anything is an unnamed "relative." The rest of the story refers to Internet, radio and TV reports and hides behind words like "apparently" and "reported." The three people that the reporter did talk to could not confirm the divorce papers had been filed.

The AJC should have held the story until it could verify the divorce papers had really been filed. Let other outlets publish rumor -- newspapers should stick to the facts.

AJC downplayed Jewell death

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution chose to put the obit for Richard Jewell, the maligned Olympic Park bombing hero, on the front page -- of the metro section. Questionable stories that were deemed more important than Jewell included an article about British attitudes toward royals following Princess Diana's death.

Apparently, the AJC's long libel battle with Jewel affected their news judgment. In the end, Jewell was a hero. As a security guard at Olympic Park, he first spotted Eric Rudolph's suspicious bag. His alertness saved countless lives, a fact that Gov. Perdue noted last year:

"The bottom line is this: His actions saved lives that day," said Perdue. "Mr. Jewell, on behalf of Georgia, we want to thank you for keeping Georgians safe and doing your job during the course of those Games."

It's a shame that the AJC couldn't overlook the libel lawsuit and put Jewell's death in its proper place -- on the front page.

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