Sunday's Special Reports

Remember series?
Several region 3 papers launched series or special reports today, and I noticed they all had some pretty hefty multimedia elements, too. I'm still trying to figure out how to post like a blogger pro, but you can take a closer look at these pages either at Newseum or their Web sites. Here's a glance:


ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
LIFE OR DEATH, four-day series

The murders illustrate what a two-year investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has revealed: Getting the death penalty in Georgia is as predictable as a lightning strike. Thirty-five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the death penalty nationwide after finding it was arbitrary and capricious in Georgia.

It still is. Reforms that persuaded the high court to reinstate the death penalty have fallen far short of the state's promises, the Journal-Constitution has found.

At AJC.com, they have video of a victim's father, analysis of the crimes and racial factors, and databases and multimedia presentations. (FYI, you have to register ... but it's free!)

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
THE WAR, seven-part series

One of PBS's most ambitious programs ever launches Sept. 23, a documentary on World War II that for seven nights promises to transfix the nation with epic sweep.

It chronicles the defining struggle of the 20th century while serving as an extraordinary salute to the ordinary people whose fading legions hold the last living memory of history's deadliest epoch.

The Observer is running seven profiles of local World War II veterans whose experiences are similar to those portrayed in the program. At Charlotte.com, you can find video to go with the local veteran profile and a look at the PBS filmmaker.


THE STATE
SAVAGE METH, three-day series

James Matthew Quattlebaum was sure he was finished. The Indiana transplant sat in his car at the side of a Lexington County road, stopped for a traffic violation. On the seat, wrapped in tinfoil, was methamphetamine. On the floorboard were boxes of Sudafed. In the trunk, cans of ether.

The deputy charged Quattlebaum with driving with a suspended license and impounded his car. But when Quattlebaum got the car back, the meth, the Sudafed, the ether — all of it — was untouched.

“The car was full of ingredients to cook dope — and they didn’t know,” Quattlebaum said. “They had no clue.”

TheState.com has an interactive map that shows how widespread the meth problem is in Lexington County, S.C. It highlights where meth labs have been found -- including in a house or vehicle, around children, or at a hotel or motel. You also can read a profile of a family torn apart by the drug and several other stories.

If you're in region 3 and your paper has a special report or series coming up, let me know. And if anyone from the AJC, Observer or The State has some inside PDFs they'd like to share ... please do!