Sunday edition
Sunday, Sept. 27 — Good morning, and happy Sunday! It’s Summer Evans, social media producer and podcast host of Rough Draft’s “From the Paper to the Pod.”
🌞 Last week’s cooler temps are what Georgia natives call “faux fall.” Today will be sunny, with a high of 80°.
🎙️ For those who don’t know me (or my voice), I worked at WABE/90.1 for seven years as a radio producer for “City Lights with Lois Reitzes.” Telling stories for the ears is my bread and butter.
Sitting in the host chair, I want to pull back the curtain on the world of journalism and give you the inside scoop on what happens behind the headlines. You can hear about the drama that unfolds at city council meetings, get to be a fly on the wall to our editorial process, and learn how we recognize our own bias to produce fair, fact-based stories.
Let me put it this way: these are the conversations you would hear at the proverbial “water cooler” in the office.
But first, a look at today’s top stories.
LOCAL NEWS
🐼 Giant pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang landed at Hartsfield-Jackson this morning after a roughly 15-hour flight from China. They’re headed to Zoo Atlanta, which returned its last four in 2024.
🚨 A 42-year-old man was fatally shot early yesterday in Historic Old Fourth Ward Park near Ponce City Market. Police detained a man for questioning and said the two were strangers.
🚔 Smyrna police charged an 18-year-old with malice murder after finding more remains of a 25-year-old woman in a car trunk. His father released a statement citing his son’s mental illness.
🏈 Here’s how local teams fared in yesterday’s college football action:
- Georgia Tech blew a 10-point halftime lead and lost to Stanford 34-27
- No. 2 Georgia easily beat Oklahoma 41-13
- No. 25 Houston 42, Georgia Southern 28
- Edward Waters 46, Morehouse 38
- Georgia State 35, Northern Illinois 14
- Warner 32, Clark Atlanta 10
- West Georgia 49, Fort Valley State 7
- Arkansas State 17, Kennesaw State 14
- Mercer 34, Abilene Christian 17
🏀 The Dream hosts the Mystics tonight at 7 p.m. to open the WNBA playoffs. Washington won two of three regular-season meetings (Prime Video).
⚾ Today is the final day of the MLB regular season, and the Braves close in Miami before hosting a wild-card series Tuesday at Truist Park. Atlanta will play the Phillies unless Arizona wins and Philadelphia loses. Here’s what else is at stake today.
ELSEWHERE
🇬🇧 British police arrested several men today on suspicion of explosives offenses near RAF Fairford, the English air base the U.S. has been cleared to use for strikes on Iran.
🇺🇸🇮🇷 President Donald Trump rejected an offer from Iran, relayed through Qatari mediators after indirect talks on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days.
🕖 Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
• Rough Draft’s podcast
• Catfishing
AND
• My playlist
Enjoy your Sunday,
Summer
🍂 The first cool morning of fall changes everything at Lake Oconee. If you’re looking for an easy fall escape from Atlanta, there’s no better time to visit. Find your reason to unwind, reconnect, explore, and linger longer with this Ultimate Fall Getaway Guide. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Beyond the Byline
🤨 Gallup and Pew Research Center show a profound, long-term decline in public trust and confidence in the media. Gen Zers and Millennials are among the generations to trust media the least. The reasons are obvious: polarizing headlines, biased reporting, AI stories and images on social media, influencer culture. The list goes on.
“From the Paper to the Pod” isn’t meant to shy away from discussing that distrust, but to create a space for vulnerable, candid conversations about the state of journalism. We talk about how we make decisions, where we struggle, our personal biases, and the conversations that are ongoing long after we hit “publish.”
🔎 Transparency requires introspection. At Rough Draft, we’re committed to digging deeper into the issues and communities we cover, and this podcast is a platform for us to voice those concerns while digging a little deeper into ourselves, too.
🎧 Subscribe here to catch our next episode, and the second story in this newsletter is a little hint at what we will be covering.
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I was catfished by AI
🤖 As a Millennial, I feel like I could spot an AI image, video or song a mile away…or so I thought until this week when one of the artists I’ve followed on Spotify for the last eight months had “AI Persona” placed under their name. Now, this label wasn’t there when I started listening to them. And I will not say who it was, because honestly, I’m still in disbelief. The artist had multiple albums and singles, and I enjoyed listening to their music for a relaxing car ride or in the background while working.
It got me thinking: how many people are listening to artists they believe are real musicians, when the music OR the artist themselves was created by AI? And who profits from it?
💾 The Google search rabbit hole brought me to this NPR article about the growing fight over who profits from AI in the music industry.
☀️ Atlanta’s liveliest cemetery music festival returns to Oakland for its 48th year! The iconic Sunday in the Park ft. Tunes from the Tombs festival is back today from noon-7:30 p.m., blending live music, history, and family fun in one unique experience. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Who do you follow, who do you listen to?
I have gotten this question many, many times since being in the broadcast media industry. If I’m being honest, I have a select few podcasts on rotation. Being a mom of two young kids, finding time to listen to an hour-long podcast isn’t easy. Most of the time, I listen to parts of a week’s episode, but it still counts!
🎨 Coming from “City Lights,” I need my weekly arts and culture fix, and I get it with The ATL Arts Collective podcast. In full disclosure, the host, Kim Drobes, was my former managing producer on “City Lights,” BUT she has created something very special and needed for Atlanta’s art scene. In a city as culturally rich and diverse as Atlanta, there was a gap in arts and culture coverage, and Kim has delivered with this eclectic group of rotating contributors who share stories of Atlanta’s creative community.
📰The AJC’s podcast ”Flagship” is a great way to catch up on Atlanta’s weekly top stories with some fun flair of getting to know the reporters. I especially enjoyed their story on the Dahlonega Gold Rush, since my hometown, Dawsonville, is one city over. Yes, the place where Bill Elliott was born and raised, and where the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame is located.
📝 I’ve followed The Free Press for a few years now, and really enjoy their style of storytelling. They don’t pull any punches, have an intelligent and witty group of journalists, and make a concerted effort to share both sides of the aisle. There’s always a constant stream of hot takes and brutally honest perspectives on their Instagram.
