Wasn’t it just like the flamboyant and iconic James Brown to die on Christmas morning?
That was the joke in our Features Department this week as staffers cut their vacations short to cover the Godfather of Soul’s passing at Atlanta’s Emory Crawford Long Hospital.
The deaths of Brown and former President Gerald Ford both important men with distinctively different American stories challenged deadlines and the skeleton crew that typically staffs The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newsroom during the holidays.
Night editors learned of Ford’s death in a one-sentence wire service advisory around 11:50 p.m. Tuesday. It was too late to make Wednesday’s state edition, and the presses were already running for the metro edition, which goes to subscribers in metro Atlanta. So Ford’s death also did not make 72,000 metro-area papers Wednesday morning, including the one I received at home in west Cobb. But there was still enough time for the final edition, which is delivered to intown subscribers and newsstands, to carry a substantial obituary of the former president on the front page.
“We had two versions of a pre-written obituary by [Washington correspondent] Bob Dart,” said national editor Arthur Brice. In preparation for the deaths of prominent local and national figures, this newspaper has long used obituaries prepared in advance. The obituaries are updated with details about the person’s death, funeral arrangements and reaction.
Overnight and all day Wednesday, coverage was updated frequently online and wire service photographs were added to an ajc.com photo gallery. All editions of Thursday’s paper carried historical photographs and a large front-page article headlined, “History will treat him well,” a quote from former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.). Nunn and former President Jimmy Carter, who defeated Ford for the presidency in 1976, had high praise for Ford and the important role he played in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.
“We had to find a way to push the story forward,” said Brice. “We wanted to give a more complete picture of his life than we were able to the previous night because of deadlines.”
Thursday’s extensive print coverage also included a story about former first lady Betty Ford and a story about Ford’s connections to Georgia.
The death of James Brown resonated strongly with AJC readers and staff because the singer grew up in Augusta and was a huge part of the state’s musical legacy, along with world-renowned artists such as Ray Charles and Otis Redding, said AJC features editor Virginia Lewis.
Staff writer Bo Emerson headed to Augusta when news of Brown’s death broke on Christmas morning. Reporter Charles Yoo sent updates to ajc.com from Emory Crawford Long Hospital, said Joel Provano, senior home page editor for ajc.com. Music writer Sonia Murray’s audio slide show on ajc.com demonstrated the impact of Brown’s music and dance styles, which have influenced a number of popular artists including Michael Jackson, Usher and Justin Timberlake.
Murray, reporters John Blake and Rosalind Bentley, and photographer W.A. Bridges were dispatched to New York, where Brown’s body was viewed Thursday by thousands at the famed Apollo Theater.
Bridges and Renee Hannans-Henry, both longtime AJC photographers, shot many pictures of Brown over the years.
“I grew up dancing to his music. My brothers taught me his dances,” Hannans-Henry said. “He always acknowledged me in a manner that was respectful and warm.
“Brown was intelligent, caring and knowledgeable about the community. When you saw him doing community things, they weren’t a publicity stunt,” she said. “I always felt he was a compassionate person in spite of his troubles.”
As of Friday afternoon, ajc.com photo galleries related to Brown’s death had drawn slightly more than 1 million page views, with heavy interest in the public viewing at the Apollo Theater. Galleries featuring Ford photos had drawn 158,000 page views.
In the coming days, the AJC will continue to provide frequent updates on services and other events related to the deaths of Brown and Ford. This is a busy time of year for staffers and their families, but the news never takes a holiday.
