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About

About Decaturish.com

Decaturish.com is published online from DeKalb County and in Decatur, GA 30030. The quickest way to reach us is at [email protected]

We provide news and information about Decatur and its neighbors throughout the Atlanta Metro area. This company was started with some basic ideas in mind:

  • to promote responsible content creation, meaning that we will never ask our contributors to produce content for free.
  • to create a site where our contributors will almost never hear the word “no” when they want to try something new. News should be interesting and innovative.
  • a news product that strives to provide the same transparency we expect of our government.
  • a news product that’s always accountable to its readers. Without you, we wouldn’t exist.

Advertise with us. To advertise with Decaturish, click here or email [email protected].

Become a Paying Supporter. If you like what we do, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support will keep our content free for everyone. Supporters will be eligible for special deals from our advertisers and insider info about what’s going on with Decaturish. For more information, click here.

Decaturish has been cited in national publications, including The Washington Post and USA Today

How to Contact Us

Got news tips (anonymity guaranteed)? Suggestions? Questions? Want to submit an opinion letter? Email [email protected]. Please note that if you have an event announcement, the best way to make sure it gets posted is to send it the week of, so it can be publicized in the days leading up to the event.

Got a correction? We strive for accuracy in everything that we do and rigorously fact check articles prior to publication. If you see something that isn’t quite right, please let us know so we can correct the record. Email [email protected] and we’ll set things straight.

Caught a typo? Please alert us via email, [email protected], or in our comments section. Be kind. Decaturish is run by humans and humans make mistakes.

Want to comment on a story? To read our comments policy, click here.

Want to submit a letter to the editor? Send it to [email protected]. Note: Letters may be edited for length and content.

To read our Privacy Policy and Terms of service, click here.

Decaturish.com’s mission statement and community standards:

Mission Statement 

At Decaturish it is important that coverage recognizes and represents our diverse community. We will do our best to present factual information that represents multiple points of view. 

Community Standards

Decaturish follows the Code of Ethics set forth by the Society of Professional Journalists

lion_memberbadge_horiz.300Additionally, we hold that:

  • Crime coverage should be centered in a place of neutrality. Race should only be used when relevant and coverage should prioritize threats to the community and should avoid reinforcing stereotypes.
  • We recognize that content on the internet is always accessible. As such, crime stories should be followed through the court system until there is a resolution. Because of this policy, we do not name crime suspects unless we intend to follow their cases through the court system until there is a resolution.
  • Clear conflicts of interest, situations involving the publisher’s financial interests or personal relationships will be acknowledged and another reporter will be assigned whenever possible. 

‘Right to be forgotten policy’

Decaturish strives to balance fairness and accountability when reporting stories about crime and other controversial topics. We acknowledge that people learn from their mistakes and that those mistakes should not always follow them throughout their lives. We also acknowledge that people accused of crimes who are exonerated or have their records expunged should be allowed an opportunity to request the removal of their names from Decaturish. 

Effective Jan. 10, 2024, Decaturish will begin accepting requests for removing certain information from articles as part of our new “right to be forgotten” policy. 

Articles eligible for this consideration are articles two years old or older that have appeared on Decaturish.com. When we approve a request, we will remove the subject’s name from an article and submit a request to have the article de-indexed in Google search results, which will prevent the article from appearing in Google searches. 

Please note: We do not have control over content we did not produce that has been republished on our website. Likewise, we do not have control over content on other websites that link to our reporting or websites that republish our stories. Also, search engines have no obligation to honor requests to de-index content. This process is also not available to public figures, like elected members of local governments or high-level employees of local governments or companies. 

Applications may be sent to [email protected] with “right to be forgotten” and should include: 

– A link to the article or articles in question

– A three to five-sentence explanation about why you are requesting removal. 

– Any documentation in support of your request, like a court record

All removal requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Decaturish team. We will consider the nature of the request, the age of the persons involved and the impact these stories had on the community at large. When appropriate, we will consult with other media ethics experts to guide our decisions. 

We will amend this policy if needed.

This website is not affiliated with any other private for-profit company. Opinions are those of the individual authors.

Meet the Team

Dan Whisenhunt, Editor & Publisher

Dan grew up in Alabama and moved to Atlanta in 2011. He began his career at the Anniston Star in Anniston, Ala. After that, he worked at the Times Free Press in Chattanooga, Tenn. as the county government reporter. His first job in Atlanta was with Reporter Newspapers in Sandy Springs, Ga., (now called Rough Draft Atlanta) where he worked as assistant editor and digital content manager

He started Decaturish in May 2013 as a personal project. He envisions Decaturish becoming a news website that covers all of DeKalb County. He can be reached at [email protected]

Advertising Sales

For advertising inquiries, please contact [email protected]

Zoe Seiler, Reporter

Zoe Seiler joined the Decaturish staff in May 2021, and had been freelancing for us since 2019. She covers Decatur, Avondale Estates, Kirkwood, East Lake and sometimes Clarkston. She covers local government meetings, school board meetings, community events and a little bit of everything else. You’ll probably see her around town quite a bit. If you have story ideas for Zoe, she can be reached at [email protected].
Zoe was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa. She is a 2019 graduate of Simpson College, which is in Indianola, Iowa. During her time in college, Zoe wrote for her college newspaper for three years and served as the news editor for two years. She interned for a local start-up newspaper, The Indianola Independent Advocate, during her senior year and after graduation. She loves telling stories and getting to know her community.

Nicki Salcedo, Contributor

Nicki Salcedo is a Decatur resident and Atlanta native. She is a novelist, blogger, and a working mom. Chances are good she is the room parent for your child’s class at school, and she is doing a terrible job. She has a degree in English and Creative Writing from Stanford University. Despite her West Coast education, she considers herself Southern by sensibility, if not by birth. Southern things include talking to ghosts, saying hello to strangers, and waving to drivers with nice manners. Nicki is active in Atlanta’s writing community. She is the author of the novel “All Beautiful Things” and “Intersections” based on her essays from Decaturish.

You may see Nicki and her family walking around town. She doesn’t recommend doing the same. Get a cat. Stay at home. But if you do see her, please say “Hello!”

Dean Hesse, Contributor

Photographer Dean Hesse grew up in Decatur and currently resides in Stone Mountain. He began his freelance career as a stringer covering local events for the DeKalb News/Sun in the 1990s and attended the Southeastern Center for the Arts Professional Photography Program. He worked in a professional photo lab as a custom black & white printer for wedding and portrait photographers back in the film days and his photography has appeared in local and national consumer and trade publications.

George Chidi, Contributor

George Chidi is a politician, activist and journalist who writes the weekly “George on Georgia” column for Decaturish.

Katrina Junkin, Operations Consultant & Designer

Katrina grew up in Alabama and graduated from The University of Alabama with a degree in digital communications. She learned the ropes of newspaper layout and design at The Anniston Star before moving to Atlanta to work at MailChimp for nearly 9 years. Now she’s helping run things at Decaturish and designing our own digital version of a publication each month.

She is a big nerd who enjoys video games, bullet journaling and embroidery. In the spring and summer, you will find her trying to live at Lake Martin, her happy place.

Lucas Hill, Contributor

Hello! My name is Lucas Hill and I am an 18-year-old high school senior at DeKalb School of the Arts. I am co-editor of my school’s paper, and I love to write, both articles and fiction. In my spare time, I play the drums and guitar, write, and read comic books. I have been working as an intern with Decaturish since the summer of 2022, and have had an awesome time learning from Dan and Zoe and gaining experience in journalism.

Anila Yoganathan, Contributor

Anila Yoganathan is a UGA graduate who grew up in Tucker. She specializes in in-depth reporting, including topics involving the environment and small businesses.

Jaedon Mason, contributor

Hey, I’m Jaedon. I am a contributor to Decaturish and a sophomore at GSU. I have a political background, working for campaigns and several non-profits focused on civic engagement. I am also an Art history major, excited to learn more about and share all things creative happening in our community.