An email from David Lay:

George,

It looks like the PD is using a photo of mine you linked to:

http://www.brewedfreshdaily.com/2007/08/20/nice-work-by-david-lay/

They used it on the cover of yesterday’s Friday magazine, and on their website (toward the bottom).

They did this without my permission (or permission of the Lakewood Observer, which published the photo).

Just thought you’d like to know…

-Dave

Either that or send them an invoice for the licensing fee (double it like they do if you don’t pull a permit).

I’m really grateful for this. Nice work, Tim. Thanks for the link, Jill.

Today’s Plain Dealer in a Post

Here’s a sneak peek of Roldo’s column:

Do you ever get a feeling reading the morning newspaper that it isn’t in the business of news anymore?

The news that does slip into the PD is sparse and not very tasty.

Back in the 1970s when Cleveland newspapers were grasping for ways to upend Dennis Kucinich (you may notice the Pee Dee’s addiction remains), the press critic at the Village Voice Alexander Cockburn wrote, “There is almost nothing so repugnant to humankind as a newspaper in Cleveland.”

Times may have changed; that criticism stands.

You want to ask the old hamburger ad question – Where’s the beef?

The beef has disappeared from the menu as newspapers scuffle and fumble around trying to attract the attention of non-newspaper readers with chitchat, too many worthless graphs and oversized photos. Or on the other hand, emotionally long series of human tragedies.

The paper has been failing to offer the space required for analysis of community decision-making, the information that greases the wheels of a democracy. Surely, the most important task for a general daily newspaper…

Also included is his take on the Sweeney-Lipovan dispute.

CoolCleveland.com - Roldo Link Reporters Snooze To Avoid Displeasure Of Bosses

CEP is right on:

The headline to this article really got me fuming — and not just because I’m a friend and supporter of Emily Lipovan, but because it shows the journalistic ineptitude (or perhaps malice) of the PD.

EMILY LIPOVAN HAS MADE NO HARASSMENT ALLEGATIONS!!!!!!

Even the article points that out when it states in the third paragraph:

Councilman Joe Santiago said last week that Lipovan told him Sweeney sexually harassed her. On Monday, Lipovan publicly accused Sweeney of directing one of his top aides to snoop on her computer, but she declined to comment on the sexual harassment allegations.

Seems that the only person who’s made allegations of harassment here is Joe Santiago. Everybody assumes that the harassment, if any, was directed at Emily. Lest we forget that the office of Clerk of Council employs and supervises numerous people. Has anyone considered the possibility that the harassment, if any, is more universal and that Emily may not have been a direct target of harassment and is not sure of her footing about making such allegations on behalf of others, i.e. maybe they don’t want someone to make such allegations on their behalf…?

Don’t miss the click thru especially for the feeding “the increasingly voyeuristic appetite of the citizenry created by reality t.v.” context.

Cleveland Equanimous Philosopher: A Perfect Example of How the PD Slants the “News”

Read this from Tom Blumer.

BizzyBlog » Joel Kotkin and Bill Steigerwald Go Off on Big-City Pols and Journos

Lots of info from Bill after this pithy postscript:

As usual, a useful public discussion of crime and what to do about it would be much easier if the media gave us less speechifying and speculation, and more actual information to think about…

Roger comments on the same matter, but with a different angle:

Since Mayor Jackson took office, I have personally attended at least a dozen or more local community events (events that most people would consider insignificant in the grand scheme of things) where Mayor Jackson has not only been present, but accessible to the people. I have seen him stand and patiently wait until every citizen present who wanted to bend his ear a little bit had their chance; I’ve seen him pose for countless pictures. I couldn’t agree with Mansfield Frazier more that Mayor Jackson is all substance and no flash.

But, (there’s always a “but”) — people are feeling less safe in their homes and neighborhoods, and that is just a fact.

Whether that fact is based on reality or is created by the distorted view of the world the news media brings us is of import, but doesn’t change the resulting fact. My only criticism of the Mayor is that he has not found a way to get his message out on a wide-scale basis to help the body politic understand as a group that things are under control; that he has a plan and is not just reacting to news reports; there are reasons behind the decisions he is making and what those reasons are. I don’t want dog and pony shows just to placate the news media. The mayor has proven that he is a greater leader and communicator on a one-to-one and small group basis. He needs to find a way to communicate to the whole city in the down-to-earth, matter-of-fact way he communicates on a smaller scale…

This is going to sounds snarky, and probably biased since I’m a tech guy—but come on—last time I checked, we’re in the internet age. Give the guy a blog, podcast, a youtube video. Get it transcribed and do something like the East Cleveland Observer. Run off freakin’ handbills or something. Hundreds of millions of people around the world do it every day. Heck, the Mayor of Youngstown does.

Happy to have both Roger and Bill in the MTB network of blogs.

Callahan’s Cleveland Diary » Blog Archive » Murder, the mayor and the media

Steve FitzGerald (President of the Cleveland SPJ) sent me a link to this PDF where the lead story is about Jill and the case of Faulkner vs. National Geographic.

This time, from Bill Callahan:

Considering the paper’s recent behavior on the convention center tax issue, the spectacle of the PD wringing its editorial hands over issues of procedural integrity and “the will of the voters” is pretty comical.

But their complaint is also BS — at least with respect to the broadband money…

Click thru for the examples.

Callahan’s Cleveland Diary » Blog Archive » Third Frontier broadband money: What we voted for