This Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial describes the potential of The Georgia News Lab. By Shawn McIntosh, AJC Deputy Managing Editor At a luncheon in our newsroom last month, we heard from a group of remarkable college students, all four on their way to a bright future in journalism. They’ve all been trained in the techniques of investigative reporting and have already produced work that is the result of the deep digging such journalism requires. That’s a pretty rare accomplishment for a student or even a young reporter just a few years in the business. Chelsea Cariker-Prince, a senior at Emory, worked with an AJC reporter last summer to examine the state’s spending — more than $100 million in three years — on private attorneys paid to represent the state. Terah Boyd, a Georgia State senior, has worked with Channel 2 Action News as an intern for investigative reporter Jodie Fleischer. Boyd said she got hands-on experience she could never get in a classroom — joining stakeouts, sitting through court hearings, sifting through stacks of documents and obtaining public records. “We produce these wonderful stories …
