Today, I got the amazing opportunity to be a Media Correspondent for the East Lake Foundation in partnership with Drew Charter School. During my time visiting the beautiful and illustrious East Lake Golf Club, home of the TOUR Championship, I had the chance to see amazing players like Brian Harman and Russell Henley tee off on #1. I was tasked with shadowing the renowned Donnell Suggs, Editor-in-Chief of the one and only Atlanta Voice newspaper. I was able to get a sneak peek into Donnell’s interests and work. Before his tenure with The Atlanta Voice, he worked in various roles with the Atlanta Business Chronicle and the New York Times. He is a father to a step-daughter who has just started to follow in his amazing footsteps. She’s decided to go into journalism as well.
As Donnell and I were walking around, I was able to get a glimpse into his life and see how it truly works. Being able to get to know Donnell was truly one of the best experiences of my life. One of the most interesting things I found out about him is that as a journalist, you always have to keep a pen and paper with you at all times. Even when you think the story isn’t there, there is always something worth noting. It truly just depends on what and how you decide to cover it. Donnell gave me some great tips on following my interest in journalism as a career. As Editor-in-Chief of the historic minority newspaper, he is always faced with a lot of different challenges, but he does not let them deter him from the work he does. Working as a journalist from 1999-2025, Donnell Suggs knows that reporting is truly his calling, and he wouldn’t change it for the world. His interest in journalism started when his English teacher recommended he start a newspaper at his high school. From there, his eyes lit up, and he knew that journalism was exactly what he wanted to do. Seeing his name and his picture in the newspaper led him to realize how happy he really was reporting. The rest is history. One of the first things Donnell covered was high school basketball. Although it wasn’t something he was initially interested in, he stuck with it, and now he is able to cover any sport anywhere in the world.
Donnell is someone that is never afraid to shake hands with anyone and speak up. In the short time I was with Donnell, he encouraged me to remember that “you are in the space you’re in because you earned it, and as long as you are able to follow your path and stick with it, you will be an editor just like me or even better. You can travel around the world and network and meet with many different people.” A lot of people think you have to necessarily “know” what you’re doing to do it, but Donnell started out only knowing what he wanted to do and not knowing how to do it. The biggest takeaway from my experience shadowing Donnell Suggs is that life is what you make it. So own it.
In addition to the opportunity I had with Donnell, I was able to go behind the scenes and sit in on a talk show while 680 The Fan was broadcasting live from the So Cool Zone at the tournament. Seeing Cellini and Dimino talk about the NFL live was eye-opening. I used to believe that it didn’t take much to set up a camera and begin broadcasting live to a large audience. What I learned is that everything is carefully orchestrated from the back end, and they have to ensure what they say is timely and accurate. They had scripts lined up as they were taking notes on
what the person on the other end was saying. They were asking questions to understand while also keeping the conversation interesting enough for people to want to listen to what they were saying.
Chuck Palmer is another amazing person I had the opportunity to meet. He serves as the General Chairman for the TOUR Championship, which means he leads the volunteer corps, a critical component of the tournament. Although our conversation was brief, it was also informative. We spoke about the shift in the atmosphere this year following the passing of Tom Cousins, but how he is truly excited to continue his legacy with the TOUR Championship. Spending time in the Media Center and seeing how many different people attend to report on the tournament was an amazing sight to see. Knowing that I have met one of the people who truly runs the tournament is something I honestly can not put into words.
Meeting all of these different people and seeing how the community truly comes together for the TOUR Championship is something I recommend everyone try and do. I even learned that the TOUR Championship covered all adoption fees for some adorable shelter dogs at the Atlanta Humane Society earlier this year. My experience has led me to realize that the TOUR Championship in East Lake is more than just golf. It is about bringing people together to create an impact in the community.
By Destiny Downie, Drew Charter School Senior
