It was edgy, even risky, not to mention a nontraditional method of storytelling. But last Sunday's front-page narrative on Aquarnetta Porter and her journey toward redemption is a perfect literary illustration of why we as a society need to keep newspapers around.
What other medium is going to tell a 3,000-word story about a former prostitute and crack addict with HIV?
Judging from the outpouring of tears, love and admiration from readers, most of you understood this.
There was the lone reader who threatened to cancel his subscription because Aquarnetta's story was on the front page instead of the Life page.
"This paper's starting to resemble a weekly paper," the man railed in an e-mail. "Why don't we just rename it The Noogan Holler Gazette?"
We could rename it that, I suppose, but a name that catchy probably has been registered as a trademark already.
Yes, I'm being facetious and sarcastic.
Feeding a drug addition with sex from strangers is not a lifestyle. It's a hell from which Aquarnetta is working tirelessly to climb.
Scores of other readers recognized that. I cannot say it better than they did in e-mail after e-mail.
"Never have I been more moved by a newspaper article than after I had completed the 'Coming Clean' report ...," a local nurse wrote reporter Joan Garrett, who covers the courts beat for us.
Wrote another woman: "The story you wrote for today's Times Free Press on Coming Clean was so powerful and well-written -- it could not have been told any better. I hope that [Aquarnetta's son] Isaiah will continue to excel, and that Aquarnetta can stay clean for good."
A Signal Mountain woman wrote: "Your article in Sunday's paper about Aquarnetta's journey touched me personally. Having worked with single, inner city mothers this summer, I had my eyes opened to the daily struggles they face. I had empathy for these young moms but I was more distressed about the impact of this type of environment on the young children of these moms. Some seem destined to start off with no chance in life at all."
And finally, from another Signal Mountain reader: "Many thanks for an outstanding contribution to our comprehension of the overwhelming courage and persistence it takes for those in less favored positions to merely exist. I know that we are all pulling for this challenged woman to succeed, and you have helped her - and many others - immensely."
We will continue to tell these types of stories, through words and photographs, because these stories are at the heart of what we do. They're important.
Beyond that, who else will?
Stories like these require huge investments of time and other resources.
Before last Sunday, we didn't know what kind of feedback this story would generate. Now we do, and you readers made the effort worthwhile and gratifying. You also validated the importance of journalism and storytelling.
J. Todd Foster is executive editor of The Noogan Holler Gazette and can be reached at jtfoster@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6472.