This list was cross-posted on www.ClayDuda.com.
Thanks for everyone that nominated friends, co-workers, and even themselves.
This top-10 is completely subjective and based on my (@ClayDuda‘s) interactions and observations (along with a few other factors) through our @CSJournalism account. Since picking any top-10′s is so subjective it’s important to say that these picks are mine and not the Center for Sustainable Journalism’s as a whole.
At the bottom of this post you’ll find a list of all the Atlanta journalists we considered. If your name isn’t on there and it should be feel free to add it to the comment section for contact us on Twitter. We’ll update the list as frequently as possible.
It’s also worth noting that we only considered journalist’s personal account, excluding some accounts (such as @AJCCherokee, for example) that serve more as news outlets even though there was a face or individual journalist attached to it. However, these accounts are listed along with the rest of the journalist at the bottom.
(drum roll please…)
Top 10:
- @ThomasWheatley – Posting 2a.m. articles about the Beltline project for Creative Loafing and constantly engaging in conversation with other media mongrels and readers. Plus, he has a picture of a space cat as high profile picture. Points for originality.
- @marynmck – She writes about disease outbreaks. Your life may depend on following her.
- @austinlouisray – The vast majority of his tweets don’t link to his articles… or anybody’s, for that matter… and he hates spam as much as I do.
- @EWErickson – He has a True Reach of 2,000 while most of us are struggling to hit 200. You couldn’t ignore him if you wanted to.
- @MayorOfPonce – Another Creative Loafer constantly putting out witty, off-beat tweets. Recently covering hot girls in Batman shirts.
- @LindsayOAtlanta – A balanced cross between ScoutMobber, blogger, and reporter. Get media insights, area happenings, and coupons all in one place.
- @JeffSchultzAJC - It’s Jeff freakin’ Schultz… plus I had to throw in at least one sports reporter to keep the hooligans off my back.
- @dyanabagby – She covers everything from snow flurries to politics without driving Bit.ly traffic.
- @dombrady – Look at his Twitter stream. It’s a constant conversation, not a one-sided bullhorn. This is how social media is supposed to be used.
- @SpaceyG – The only one with enough backbone to post a list of Atlanta’s Top 10 Media D****bags on her Tumblr and refuse to recommend anyone for our list.
The List:
[...] This list was cross-posted on http://www.SustainableJournalism.org. [...]
It’s an interesting list and gives me a lot of new people who find and follow.
I do, however, take issue with your inclusion of Grayson Daughters (a.k.a. @SpaceyG). Although you may find her entertaining, she’s not a journalist – print, web, opinion, aggregating, multimedia or otherwise.
She’s a crank who uses the web to nurse personal grudges and make slimy personal attacks. Her online “popularity” is a testament to her early-adopted enthusiasm for expressing herself through technology. She contributes nothing to the local public discourse resembling journalism.
Dave O’Brien is by far the best tweeter from the AJC, how come he wasn’t even in consideration?
Sorry for the delays on approving the comments. It’s been a busy week.
@Andisheh – I guess your response would be a testament to the big question “what is a journalist?” 11Alive’s hyperlocal sites even have a place for “citizen journalists” to sign up and contribute to the site. You’re entitled to your opinion like everyone else. The only point of contention I’ll bring up with your argument is you say:
“…she’s not a journalist – print, web, opinion, aggregating, multimedia or otherwise.”
Well, what is the difference between an opinion blogger and an opinion journalist? I’ve read works by Grayson Daughters that qualify as works of opinion journalism, whether printed on paper or on the web.
And everybody on Twitter is an aggregator at least every once and a while.
@Bartolo – The list was not, and still isn’t (I’m sure), all inclusive with every Atlanta journalist on Twitter. I did my best to thoroughly research and include everyone. My apologies for missing such a notable character. If you’d like to include his user name I’d be happy to add it to the list.