The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Visuals that make a powerful point
It was the medical gown that drew me in.
Somewhere, in some medical procedure, I must have worn a gown exactly like Richard Watkins drew for our “Doctors & Sex Abuse” series. As soon as I saw it, I felt it viscerally — the vulnerability of being partially naked and completely uncomfortable in a doctor’s office.
That’s one of the reasons we decided to use Watkins’ illustrations as a strong anchoring element for our national investigative series. His drawings put us in a place no newspaper photographer would be able to go — inside a doctor’s examining room, where patients are in a partial state of undress and doctors have license to touch them.
The vast majority of America’s 900,000 doctors are professionals committed to service and would never abuse the power imbalance of a doctor/patient relationship to take advantage. But some do — and as our investigation reveals — are too often forgiven by medical regulators and returned to practice.
We’ve been talking about using a unique visual approach for an investigation for quite some time. More than a year ago, investigations editor Lois Norder suggested we look for an opportunity to use a graphic novel approach to tell an investigative story. Graphic novels, like comic books, use sequential art for storytelling, and topics can range from the traditional superheroes to adult themes. After reading the renowned graphic novel “Maus,” about a Holocaust survivor, Norder was convinced we should use the approach to draw younger audiences to our work.
Other news organizations have also experimented with different visual approaches to investigative material, including notable stories from the Center for Investigative Reporting (now called Reveal) and ProPublica.
“Doctors & Sex Abuse” was too deep an investigation to tell entirely through illustrations and comic-style panels but Norder and Watkins were game to try for at least one of the stories. I asked Watkins to give us a few sketches and quickly became convinced we should modify the approach to illustrate every major piece in our series. We knew it would work for our website and decided to take a chance and do something different in the printed newspaper.
Many readers have agreed with that decision. Watkins is an extraordinary artist. He’s been drawing since second grade, taking after his big brother. He graduated from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit with an art degree.
A career newsman, Watkins has been on the design side of the newsroom for most of his years, working on the “layout” of news pages and the design elements. He gained technical background as a web producer, and we brought him on our news applications team to marry his design and tech skills. That’s a big asset when deciding on the look and feel of a project as big as “Doctors & Sex Abuse” as it appears on the web at doctors.ajc.com.
I asked him what was difficult about this project. “I’ve never done graphic novel-style illustrations before,” he told me. “There was a lot of research plus trial and error until I developed my own style.” Some of that trial and error included how to depict characters. Graphic novels can have strong characters — villains and heroes — and we thought it was important to avoid the sinister, sneering bad guy you might see in a comic book.
He started every illustration by reading early story drafts and having conversations with the reporters to get more clarity on details. A rough penand-ink sketch on paper was a start, often submitted to refine the idea. Then he would do more on the sketch until he was happy with the perspective, angle and details. After that, Watkins would scan the sketch into the computer and use Photoshop to add color and texture.
The series includes actual illustrations of real events — such as the story of Swanee Owen going undercover to catch an abusive doctor — and also representative scenes that are not meant to depict specific people. The authenticity of both was essential and had Watkins researching things like the modern style of stethoscope and typical layout of an examination room. On the “real” panels, it was important to be not just authentic but extremely accurate — so Watkins had to ask questions, for example, like whether a patient was wearing pants or a skirt.
One thing that gave him a huge edge in the accuracy — he’s spent a lot of time in doctors’ offices. He was diagnosed with Stage III colorectal cancer in 2015 — thankfully now cleared — and went through both surgery and chemotherapy.
“Dealing with cancer gave me a unique perspective on this project,” Watkins wrote me in an email about his work. “All of my exams and tests really gave me a sense of the vulnerability we feel as patients when we see a doctor. As well as the trust we automatically give them and The Atlanta JournalConstitution wants to explain openly to readers what we do and why. Discuss this column and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s coverage of other areas at editor Kevin Riley’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ ajceditor. how it must feel when that trust is violated or broken. I wanted those emotions, above all else, to be conveyed in my work.”
His visual choices came from what he saw and experienced — exam rooms, gowns, pill bottles, surgical gloves. Even the color palette of the project was influenced by the many blues he saw in the hospital.
“My experience with cancer treatment left a lasting impression that I will never forget. I’m very grateful to be a part of a project like this, where I can use that experience in a positive manner.”
We’re grateful too, to have Watkins on the team.
Watch for more of his drawings in today’s new installment of the series at doctors.ajc.com and in upcoming segments between now and year’s end. He talks about his experience and technique in a video at doctors.ajc.com.
Now, about that graphic novel. We’ve used a few panels in this project but have not yet told an entire story through Watkins’ illustrations. Keep an eye out if you are interested, because we plan one before the end of the year.
I asked Watkins about his favorite image in the series, and it’s the one that so moved me, the “open gown” illustration. “If you have ever had to put on one of those exam gowns, you know how awkward it is to wear and tie one up before a doctor comes into the room,” he said. “I feel almost everyone can relate to that image.”