a man of (angry) letters

I just received an email from my uncle, David, who used an excellent article by The Telegraph's Travis Fain, which you can find here, to resurrect an argument we've been having since I wrote my first story about the massage parlors in June. The following is my response to his letter, which featured these points:

1) The article references what my uncle calls "a false arrest" at All-American Spa, which is run by his friend Valerie, who was arrested during one of the raids.

2) He correctly notes that there have been "no convictions or charges for trafficking or child prostitution."

3) He claims that the 17-year-old girl I wrote about in my follow-up, who worked at All-American Spa, "mistated her age when she voluntarily applied at that spa."

4) The police never should've been raiding the massage parlors and so it's really good that they are "focusing on real crimes with real victims like the rash of shootings and robberies"

5) Quote: "I think it is time you printed an apology to the spas."

Hey Uncle,

What I noticed first is that if the MPD can't even find the actual owners of the spas, then they probably aren't going to be able to substantiate a human trafficking charge either. That doesn't mean there isn't trafficking anymore than their inability to find the owner means there is no owner. The absence of a legal charge does not equate the absence of a crime. The reason RICO charges exist are to put murderers behind bars when they can't prove the murder but can follow a paper trail to find out that fiduciary laws were broken. Secondly, what I noticed is that there is still plenty of reason to believe that there is or was trafficking in one if not more of these establishments. The fact that some are linked to spas in other areas and several of the owners are believed to be out of the country. The exorbitant rental fees to live in the parlor itself. And then, just this week, someone I've known for a while confessed that she was locked up on a DUI charge the same night that the first raids took place and was in a holding cell with several of the prostituted women. There were three or four of them that spoke no English at all. It's still very hard for me to imagine a woman--a foreign national with no English language skills--wanting to come to this country to become a prostitute of her own free will. I'm still afraid that you're so defiant about the likelihood of this because you formed a friendship with Valerie and feel the need to defend her on a personal level. Further, you feel like defending this is the same as defending your political belief system. I agree with most of your principles, and as I've stated several times before, I'm not concerned with free will prostitution, but I don't believe it exists in the majority of these situations. I think if you spent as much time researching the positions opposing your viewpoints as you do looking for figures to substantiate your claims, then you'd see a different picture. I don't believe that you're wholly wrong, but I certainly don't think you can extrapolate from Valerie's case that ALL the spas in Macon are run like hers is. In fact, in light of the fact that neither Travis Fain nor the MPD can find the owners you said you spoke with, I'm wondering how much you actually know about what goes on in those places. As far as the 17-year-old lying on her application. Every job I've ever held copies your driver's license and social security card when you're hired. Did she have false documents? Further, does her supposed lie mean that Valerie didn't employ a 17-year-old as a prostitute? I have no apology to offer or make at this time, so I'm not going to. That said, as I've said before, if I'm completely wrong about this, I will very happily admit it in a very public forum. It would be an absolute joy to me because me being wrong would me that innocent or misled or abused women were not forced into prostitution and slavery in my hometown. As you might've guessed, I am unbothered by the possibility of being wrong because it would be a good thing. However, if you are wrong about your position, it is a very bad, bad thing. If my cynicism about this situation leads the police and the public to demand proof that girls and women aren't being trafficked, then great because human trafficking is known to exist in this country and it's best not to be blind to that fact. As you surely know, there are many people who have taken after your stance--not only pretending that this is an innocent business, but pretending that this has strained police resources to the point that they aren't able to enforce other laws--do you feel as confident about your example and the possibility that you could be wrong? You could be encouraging people to turn a blind eye to a great evil (I would consider slavery a great evil) when it may have been more appropriate for you to ask on behalf of the people everywhere that the police investigate to the fullest to protect innocent people from this awful treatment. Hell, if your friends in the massage parlors are as good as you claim them to be, wouldn't they want to stamp out any association (which is a real association established by cases all over the globe) by eliminating the idea that they partake in such a heinous practice? If I'm wrong, what's the worst that happens? A few massage parlor owners, managers and workers have to deal with the inconvenience of being observed and arrested. Only five have shut down for good, so you can't say it's ruined so many businesses. If you are wrong then you've stood up for the rights of massage parlor owners over the rights of girls and women forced into prostitution against their will. I'm still much more comfortable with the risk that I'm wrong and you're right. If you think a lawsuit against the MPD by Valerie, the owner of an American spa, is going to justify your position, then you're short-sighted. When I wrote that article, there were nearly 20 AMPs. They've still only raided 11 of them. Of those, five have closed shop. That one--All-American Spa--being a simple, free-will whorehouse does not in any way mean that the obvious potential for human trafficking has been eliminated. All it means is that it isn't happening in that one. There are still about a dozen more. As for the cops focusing on so-called "real crimes"... A1) I am convinced that our police force NEVER STOPPED trying to keep people from shooting and killing other people. B2) I am convinced that it is the MPD's job to investigate the likelihood (based on the fact that in other cities with a disproportionate amount of AMPs also had human trafficking) of the enslavement and trafficking of girls and women is taking place inside city limits. I guess you can see where I stand. If you'd like to respond to me, please respond to the points I've made because I believe I've heard your argument clearly. If not, I'm open to hearing it. All I ask is that you breathe deeply and suppose for a moment that you could be wrong then weigh the consequences. Remember that it can take years to build a case (hasn't the indictment against C. Jack entered its second year?) and to explore the leads (it took the Telegraph months just to learn that it couldn't learn the identities or whereabouts of some of the business owners), so it would be foolhardy to rely SOLELY on your gut feeling from having talked to a handful of people on your visits to these AMPs. Hope you're doing well. Tell everybody I send my regards. Later, Chris

Let me clear my throat (Honkmaster Chris Remix)

"When you get the notion, put your backfield in motion."

– Gap Band, Doin' Da Butt

It's the Fourth. My brother is in the Army and my girlfriend is in the UK. Between the two of them, I've got a great contact high (patriotism style). But, in lieu of getting the tattoo I've always wanted—a gun-toting bald eagle clawing out the eyes of a baguette-chewing Frenchman in a field of flowers that have blossomed red, white and blue with Mount Rushmore above the horizon—I'm just going to speak my mind. (Though it might not be cheaper in the long run than the aforementioned full-torso panoramic ink.)

A possible title for the forthcoming diatribe could be "Separating the shit from Shinola: Cuz y'all just don't know!"

As I'm sure someone/s (i.e. – The {local} Man/s) hoped, a big deal was made of the massage parlor raids by the MPD and the Sheriff's Department. It got a lot of press and attention—people seem satisfied that our authorities are taking care of it. Nevermind that those places, for the most part, reopened the day after they were raided, some a couple days later. My point, if you don't get it, is that the article I wrote stirred up a reluctant fuss from people who'd rather not have to deal with it. They did what people do when they don't really care: a half-assed job.

{Note: This is not to say that everyone in authority in Macon-Bibb County cares not. Several do care, but they seem to be in the minority.}

{Another note: For me, this isn't about the morality of prostitution. I am deeply concerned that Macon is becoming a hub of international sex trafficking—i.e. – slavery and sexual abuse. That's the issue for me as a human and a journalist.)

I expect this nonchalance out of politicians because it's their job to play with smoke and mirrors until you're left with the illusion that your vote for them is a wise one. Unfortunately, I also expect it out of our local news media, though I wish I didn't.

Our news outlets aren't as interested in Macon as they are interested in making money off it. Maybe this is just the corporate thing, the way things are going in all formats. They'd probably argue that they're just meeting public demand, dictated by flawless focus groups and studies.

Bah! I know for a fact that most of the members of the local media—the writers and reporters—(with a few exceptions) are smart enough and more than capable of doing the work that used to define the old school journalist. I believe the problem is their leadership.

Go through the paper, watch the news, comb their websites. You'll see a theme develop. They all wait on something to come to them. They cover public meetings, reword press releases, rehash stories that are days (and weeks and months) old and look right past shit that's happening right in front of them. (And this is necessary, mind you—not a bad thing unless it's the only thing they do.) They report, instead of investigate, something the moment it happens. The only time they seem to follow up on something is when it isn't actually helpful—like the endless stream of stories about the Warner Robins Little League team.

Or, they bury the story.

The other day, The Telegraph's Julie Hubbard did a story about the "shadow superintendent" who the Bibb BOE pays to give advice to the actual superintendent, Sharon Patterson. (I'm oversimplifying here.) He's gotten like $600,000 over seven years from the BOE so far. Good story. Important. It matters. But it was below the fold on the front page. That's okay if there had been bigger, more meaningful stories.

This story was bumped because UGA VI—a mascot—died. Even though it was all over the Internet the day before, they figured a few more papers would sell if the picture was big enough to draw Bulldog fans. Worse, they kept running stories about UGA, even doing a memorial section on the website so people could say stupid shit like "Hunker down in peace, ruff-ruff."

I'm not trying to exalt my work or The 11^th Hour. In fact, we aren't doing this vital work either. Thing is, we're a "bar rag", an entertainment magazine. We aren't the daily. We're trying, with every issue, to become the community paper The Telegraph refuses to be, but our editorial staff doesn't exist outside of me. In the same issue that I'm writing the feature piece and political commentary, I'm writing a bartender profile and a couple paragraphs on fashion. Yes, we have some volunteer writers and Brad writes too, but that's it folks. We don't have the reporters—let alone the copy editors, proofreaders, section editors, etc.—that The Telegraph or WMAZ or even WPGA has.

Our daily paper has gotten on my nerves ever since I moved back to Macon, well before I even picked up an issue of The 11^th Hour. I guess it's because I expect more of them, that I was first introduced to writing in that building by people who actually cared.

Once this story about the massage parlors got ample attention, people wrote Letters to the Editor at The Telegraph. Finally, senior editor Charles Richardson wrote an editorial that was so sorry it shouldn't have even been printed. He claimed all the city/county needed to do was pass an ordinance and then keep moving. It's like he didn't even bother to check what he was writing about.

So, I wrote him a letter, politely trying to goad him into doing more work. His response was cynical. In short, the politicians weren't taking it seriously, only doing it for votes, he wrote, implying they didn't need to do anything else about it. I'd understand that attitude if they were actually doing something else worth a damn.

The day that first Letter to the Editor was published:

1.) Richardson wrote about Tiger Woods stunning victory at the US Open, linking him to Barack Obama somehow.

2.) On the front page, above the fold, which means it is where it can been seen through the window of a newsbox—usually reserved for serious news by actual newspapers—the story was about a man who raises peafowl.

3.) On the front of the local section, which now only slides into the front section—again above the fold—the big story was about a man who owns 1000 hats.

4.) Buried in the business section, The Telegraph announced that their parent company, McClatchy, was cutting jobs across the board. …I wonder why.

But they aren't the only culprits.

While I was putting together the most recent issue with little breakdowns about the contested races in this July 15^th primary, one of the campaign managers told me that they'd been approached by a local magazine that wanted to write an article about them. As they were setting it up, the person revealed that it'd cost the campaign $1000 but would include a full-page ad. The campaign refused the shakedown, despite being called back several times and told: "The other candidates are doing it." I wanted to vomit. The same folks reportedly charge $3000 for their cover, which is almost as disgusting.

You can figure out who without me saying. There isn't a lick of useful political information publication that wasn't bought, and frankly, the most important information may be who fell for that scam. Now, I'm not against political ads at all, but I am against the imbalance it creates when you don't offer ANY actual unpaid information for your readers. One day, X-Mart Adult Superstore will be on the cover with their feature story. That'd be awesome.

Once upon a time, there was a thing called "The Fourth Estate", and it existed in Macon, GA, too. The bulk of the news now—what passes for news because it's scandalous or bad—is actually just "hey something shitty happened". It may suck to read or watch, but it doesn't really impact your life. However, when there is relevant news, it either isn't prominently placed or isn't covered adequately. Every week, I have new examples. Lord have mercy, if I ever had a staff to work with, we wouldn't have this problem. Until then, I'm just going to do what I can and bitch about what others aren't doing.

"Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or a witty saying; it is a literal fact,--very momentous to us in these times. Literature is our Parliament too. Printing, which comes necessarily out of Writing, I say often, is equivalent to Democracy: invent Writing, Democracy is inevitable. Writing brings Printing; brings universal everyday extempore Printing, as we see at present. Whoever can speak, speaking now to the whole nation, becomes a power, a branch of government, with inalienable weight in law-making, in all acts of authority. It matters not what rank he has, what revenues or garnitures. The requisite thing is, that he have a tongue which others will listen to; this and nothing more is requisite. The nation is governed by all that has tongue in the nation: Democracy is virtually there."

– Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes and Hero Worship