WEWS is talking about "better neighborhoods", in the suburbs so far.

 

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/better-neighborhoods/blog-of-newschannel5-25-day-25-city-building-better-neighborhoods-tour

 

They are doing a bang up job with Maple Heights, or as they call it "Maple Height's".  They even included the street I grew up (to the extent that I did at all) on, Corkhill Road.  Or as they call it, "Cork Hill Drive".

 

And I am sure some of the students at the high school, which is near the police station, would appreciate their reference to the nearby "police state".

 

No budget for editors? :-D

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/investigations/newsnet5-report-claiming-haslam-indictment-posted-in-error

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/investigations/newsnet5-report-claiming-haslam-indictment-posted-in-error

 

I was googling news on the Browns yesterday and saw that report come up! I was astounded. So I clicked on it, and saw that it had been deleted.

And another charming article by the peerless Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com

 

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2014/06/20/clevelandcom-publishes-later-takes-down-post-prompting-commenters-to-come-up-with-baby-names-for-lebrons-unborn-daughter

 

Cleveland.com Publishes, Later Takes Down Post Prompting Commenters to Come Up With Baby Names For LeBron's Unborn Daughter

 

Is this better or worse than the IS SHARON REED LEBRON'S BABY MOMMA Pulitzer article?

 

http://usatthebiglead.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/heaton-report1.jpg

 

And this is our region's major print and online newspaper? Just a tad disgraceful, even with both articles' removals.

 

 

I find it repulsive that there are message boards setup to breed racism!

And another charming article by the peerless Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com

 

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2014/06/20/clevelandcom-publishes-later-takes-down-post-prompting-commenters-to-come-up-with-baby-names-for-lebrons-unborn-daughter

 

Cleveland.com Publishes, Later Takes Down Post Prompting Commenters to Come Up With Baby Names For LeBron's Unborn Daughter

 

Is this better or worse than the IS SHARON REED LEBRON'S BABY MOMMA Pulitzer article?

 

http://usatthebiglead.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/heaton-report1.jpg

 

And this is our region's major print and online newspaper? Just a tad disgraceful, even with both articles' removals.

 

 

 

It's a matter of going for speed, trying to compete with the internet.  Someone gets a "bright idea" like this, and they go with it.  They don't run it past the cynical veteran reporters or editors who will accurately predict the inevitable results. 

I find it repulsive that there are message boards setup to breed racism!

 

It is an avenue for those people to say what they are not man enough to say when they are not hiding behind their keyboards in the security of their own home or their mom's basement.

Does anybody know the process in connection with posting of news articles by the Northeast Ohio Media Group on Cleveland.com?  Does the reporter just post without review or does an editor look it over.

 

I have read two articles in the past couple of hours with glaring grammatical errors.  I know when I post on this board or send a quick e mail and read it over later I am always catching mis-spellings or grammatical errors that I made, but I am not a professional reporter and it starts to get a bit embarrassing reading this stuff.

I used to post articles to cleveland.com. And yes, I could directly post articles to it -- and THEN an editor would read it over and make corrections, revisions, etc. But it wasn't the preferred way to do unless it was a breaking news story. If it wasn't a time-sensitive piece, then I was asked to send it to an editor first and they would post it using my name.

 

If you saw a non-breaking news story on there, then it tells me an editor wasn't available to proof it (such as them being short-handed, etc).

Do they have a copy editor team?

Wasn't there a memo going around that told writers to ask their spouses to proof their articles for them?

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2014/04/02/northeast-ohio-media-group-knows-it-has-a-typo-problem

 

Northeast Ohio Media Group Knows It Has a Typo Problem

 

How can you avoid typos?

 

"I suggest that when you finish your posts, you add an extra reading just to scan every character. And do it in the blog software, not in Word. Many of the typos are in headlines and cutlines, and I suspect the reason is that you paste in your post from Word and then dash off cutlines and headlines in Movable Type.

 

Even better, ask a colleague to read your stuff before you post it. Or your spouse. Or your significant other. I can’t tell you how many times my wife has caught typos in my stuff. In a pinch on something really important, you might even send something to Andrea, who, it turns out, is the most eagle-eyed finder of typos I’ve ever met. She’s merciless."

 

Our flagship physical/electronic newspaper, ladies and gentlemen.

 

Wow, that's incredible.  A couple years ago I wanted to start a blog with screenshots of all their typos but I was too lazy to actually do it. 

And what the hell is this?  I know they have a disclaimer and all, but they are fictionalizing the news!  Stick to reporting the facts, not turning it into a story!

 

The Hunt for Heroin: An informant and a pistol-whipping, Part 1

June 2010  — Snitches, they're called in the street. In our office, we call them informants. Without them, we can be blind. With them, we get on the trail of the bad guys.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/06/the_hunt_for_heroin_an_informa.html#incart_river_default

 

 

Editor’s Note

This story is part of a series that is completely based on public documents filed in the courts by investigators and the U.S. Attorney's office. The documents present the government's theory about what it describes as a Cleveland heroin ring. Charges have been filed against a number of defendants, but none of the people identified in the series have had their days in court and are presumed innocent unless convicted. The non-traditional presentation of this case is through the eyes of the investigators in a composite of what the public records reveal. Investigators did not agree to be interviewed for this series.

 

 

And what the hell is this?  I know they have a disclaimer and all, but they are fictionalizing the news!  Stick to reporting the facts, not turning it into a story!

 

The Hunt for Heroin: An informant and a pistol-whipping, Part 1

June 2010  — Snitches, they're called in the street. In our office, we call them informants. Without them, we can be blind. With them, we get on the trail of the bad guys.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/06/the_hunt_for_heroin_an_informa.html#incart_river_default

 

 

Editor’s Note

This story is part of a series that is completely based on public documents filed in the courts by investigators and the U.S. Attorney's office. The documents present the government's theory about what it describes as a Cleveland heroin ring. Charges have been filed against a number of defendants, but none of the people identified in the series have had their days in court and are presumed innocent unless convicted. The non-traditional presentation of this case is through the eyes of the investigators in a composite of what the public records reveal. Investigators did not agree to be interviewed for this series.

 

 

 

My initial reaction was like yours.  But after some consideration, this isn't a bad way to use what they know but can't prove.

 

In a way it's like Les Roberts's "Whiskey Island".

Friends, I have been posting on urbanohio.com for 5 or 6 years now and at times have been guilty of hyperbole.

 

However, the following article from the ESTEEMED Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com is without question the worst thing I have ever read on the website. Worse than the constant attacks on Lebron. Worse than the desperate pleas to Lebron. Worse than the bizarre responses as to why they don't report the race of criminal suspects. Worse than the casual and inappropriatedly placed polls about Cleveland Heights safety. Worse than the PD's obvious cover-up and complicity of the corruption plaguing the city and county. And even worse than the very ugly format of the website itself.

 

I give to you this:

 

http://www.cleveland.com/obrien/index.ssf/2014/07/cleveland_needs_a_crash_course.html

 

Cleveland needs a crash course in Republicans: Kevin O'Brien

 

Mr. O'Brien, you are without question a piece of $hit as is your employer for publishing this pathetic piece. F-k both of you!!!!!

 

 

^O'Brien is without a doubt a total tool. You should have seen his editorial on the Hobby Lobby birth control decision by the Supreme Court. In the headline to that article he mentioned "the left's dislike of freedom."  I love how Republicans are so concerned about "freedom."  Except, of course, when it involves women, gays or minorities.

No need to turn this into political bashing over one dumba$$ writer and newspaper. The PD is pathetic though. They seem to keep getting worse. The fact they keep adam ferrise around, a guy who clearly can't write or spell and has suspicious motives shows how pathetic they are.

I will never oblige Kevin O'Brien by clicking on one of his ignorance-based hate-happy mind-dumps. Why a man with so little experience with anyone other than people who look just like him can hold a job sharing his thoughts is mind-boggling. But then again, I shouldn't be surprised. The PD keeps him around. It's a newspaper serving the largest population in NE Ohio but can't make it as a daily while the Akron Beacon Journal, Lorain Morning Journal, Elyria Chronicle Telegram and Lake County News Herald all can.

Oh come on, that was meant to be a tongue in cheek parody and it was actually a pretty good one.  Especially the reference to the sensitivity training.

If that's what qualifies as good parody in your book, I feel sorry for you.

Oh come on, that was meant to be a tongue in cheek parody and it was actually a pretty good one.  Especially the reference to the sensitivity training.

 

You cannot be serious.  You can't. 

Have you read any of his other posts? Of course he's serious.  Sad.

Not to pile on E Rocc, but this was a particulary venemous, ugly, mean-spirited and embarassing article. The PD should have never published it

Didn't read it yet, but I just don't get Kevin O'Brien. Does he really mean what he writes? Is he actually a Troll?

 

[edit] I actually don't think it was that bad. He was attempting to be funny. But yep, he's trolling!!

He is a bit of a contradiction. If you ever see O'Brien on Feagler & Friends or Ideas with Rick Jackson, he seems like an intelligent and thoughtful guy. And then you read his hideous columns and just feel disgusted.

 

I think the article is in bad taste for many reasons, one of which being it'll get far more exposure than his usual trite due to the RNC's announcement. It makes all Republicans look like idiots and frankly makes the city look pretty bad and uneducated too. Our columnists and half-assed newspaper represent the city on some level, and this is who the PD chooses to write the weekly right-leaning columns? A complete embarassment.

He is a bit of a contradiction. If you ever see O'Brien on Feagler & Friends or Ideas with Rick Jackson, he seems like an intelligent and thoughtful guy. And then you read his hideous columns and just want to hide in embarassment.

 

 

I feel the same way about Connie Schultz ha ha. But yeah, I usually cannot figure out the point that Kevin O'Brien's is trying to make. I am going to guess that he's trying to be Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert.

This is actually the least bad O'Brien column I can ever remember reading. It wasn't quite good, but some of it was cute- like the comparison of GOP delegates to midges and the sensitivity training thing E rocc liked. I think O'Brien is nuts, boring, and a bad writer, but I'm surprised this particular piece is generating a reaction.

 

[Edited for typo]

O'Brien is clickbait. Do not oblige him. Enough people already do.

And that O'Brien article is just a little worse than last classic here:

 

http://www.cleveland.com/readers/index.ssf/2014/07/the_complex_issue_of_identifyi.html

 

The complex issue of identifying suspects by race: Ted Diadiun

 

Ted clearly has no idea what he's writing about or where he's going with the article, and there's a complete lack of structure and coherence with these ramblings. My god, he's all over the place and never remotely answers the question. The guy was given an impossible assignment, so I don't really blame him completely...but god what an awful piece this was. It should never have been published.

And that O'Brien article is just a little worse than last classic here:

 

http://www.cleveland.com/readers/index.ssf/2014/07/the_complex_issue_of_identifyi.html

 

The complex issue of identifying suspects by race: Ted Diadiun

 

Ted clearly has no idea what he's writing about or where he's going with the article, and there's a complete lack of structure and coherence with these ramblings. My god, he's all over the place and never remotely answers the question. The guy was given an impossible assignment, so I don't really blame him completely...but god what an awful piece this was. It should never have been published.

 

It's the biggest damned if you do, damned if you don't aspect of journalism these days.  He didn't want to write about it, and it shows.  Ted's one of the few modern journalists to be successfully sued for something he wrote (it went to the USSC) and he's been a tad gunshy ever since.

 

The fact is, it almost doesn't matter anymore because when it's left out, people of all races simply assume the suspect in question is black.

 

As for O'Brien, he pretty much wrote that piece for those of us on the right.  It's sort of a parody of the way conservatives see how we're stereotyped by Democrats and liberals.  I can see how those to the left would miss that.

^I didn't miss anything and I applaud brilliant humor and wit of all kinds - it's just lame.

Fox 8 Sends Angry Email After Communist Musician Criticizes Capitalism On-Air

Posted By Eric Sandy on Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 9:26 AM

 

There's nothing quite like the sheer ecstasy of softball television news, and — boy, oh, boy — Cleveland has plenty of it. The latest bout of goofball arrogance cropped up Saturday morning. Fox 8 didn't post this interview on their website, but it did show up on Youtube. Blessedly, Lakewood Citizen captured the link and contextualized this interview between Fox's Autumn Ziemba and Boots Riley of The Coup, who was performing at the LKWD Music Fest later that day.

 

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2014/08/25/fox-8-sends-angry-email-after-communist-musician-discusses-communism-on-air

Fox 8 Sends Angry Email After Communist Musician Criticizes Capitalism On-Air

Posted By Eric Sandy on Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 9:26 AM

 

There's nothing quite like the sheer ecstasy of softball television news, and — boy, oh, boy — Cleveland has plenty of it. The latest bout of goofball arrogance cropped up Saturday morning. Fox 8 didn't post this interview on their website, but it did show up on Youtube. Blessedly, Lakewood Citizen captured the link and contextualized this interview between Fox's Autumn Ziemba and Boots Riley of The Coup, who was performing at the LKWD Music Fest later that day.

 

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2014/08/25/fox-8-sends-angry-email-after-communist-musician-discusses-communism-on-air

How did they miss that this is the guy who had this cover in production on a certain day in our history, and opposed the record company's obvious decision to replace it:

 

 

^^intern journalism at its finest.  Well done Fox 8.  You deserve this.

Not sure why this Phoenix publication included Cleveland in its headline, let alone in this story, when Cleveland ranked in the top-10 in new construction jobs among U.S. metros. Or do stereotypes mean more than current data to this media outlet?

 

Worse than Detroit and Cleveland: Phoenix loses most construction jobs in US

Aug 27, 2014, 11:44am MST

Mike Sunnucks

Senior Reporter-

Phoenix Business Journal

 

The Phoenix area lost the most construction jobs over the past year of any U.S. metropolitan area, according to new industry jobs.

 

The Phoenix metropolitan area shed 4,800 construction jobs from July 2013 to July 2014, according to the Associated General Contractors.

 

...Phoenix’s poor showing puts it in company with Steubenville, Ohio; Newark, New Jersey; and Gary, Indiana.

 

The Valley had a worse percentage drop in construction jobs than the likes of Detroit; Cleveland; Scranton, Pennsylvania; El Centro, California; and Fairbanks, Alaska — all of which actually added jobs.

 

Detroit gained 600 jobs while Cleveland added 7,100 jobs, according to the construction group.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2014/08/27/worse-than-detroit-and-cleveland-phoenix-loses.html?page=all

What a horrible headline given the context of construction jobs. Lazy.

 

Good numbers for Cleveland though.

Ridiculous

The headline should just read:

 

Worse than Detroit and Cleveland: Phoenix

They actually acknowledge Cleveland's gains, but the passage is pretty garbled logically:

 

"The Valley had a worse percentage drop in construction jobs than the likes of Detroit; Cleveland; Scranton, Pennsylvania; El Centro, California; and Fairbanks, Alaska — all of which actually added jobs.

 

Detroit gained 600 jobs while Cleveland added 7,100 jobs, according to the construction group."

Not sure why this Phoenix publication included Cleveland in its headline, let alone in this story, when Cleveland ranked in the top-10 in new construction jobs among U.S. metros. Or do stereotypes mean more than current data to this media outlet?

 

Worse than Detroit and Cleveland: Phoenix loses most construction jobs in US

Aug 27, 2014, 11:44am MST

Mike Sunnucks

Senior Reporter-

Phoenix Business Journal

 

The Phoenix area lost the most construction jobs over the past year of any U.S. metropolitan area, according to new industry jobs.

 

The Phoenix metropolitan area shed 4,800 construction jobs from July 2013 to July 2014, according to the Associated General Contractors.

 

...Phoenix’s poor showing puts it in company with Steubenville, Ohio; Newark, New Jersey; and Gary, Indiana.

 

The Valley had a worse percentage drop in construction jobs than the likes of Detroit; Cleveland; Scranton, Pennsylvania; El Centro, California; and Fairbanks, Alaska — all of which actually added jobs.

 

Detroit gained 600 jobs while Cleveland added 7,100 jobs, according to the construction group.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2014/08/27/worse-than-detroit-and-cleveland-phoenix-loses.html?page=all

 

Good job at calling them out on their BS.  I wonder if a company rep respond?

does cleveland.com have some sort of system where they post user specific stories based on previous clicks? if not, why do they report so many crimes in cleveland heights?  maybe it's just because i live there, but it seems they post stories about crime in cleveland heights much more often than other suburbs.  or i guess there is zero crime in other suburbs?

^Wow...I was just thinking the same thing a few minutes ago (all this reporting on CH "crime") when I read a headline about a guy chocking his girlfriend.

 

I had a thought....a few months back (I cannot recall the specific incident...I do think it was something serious) the PD and Cleveland Heights got into it in connection with CH refusing to release public documents (it might have been a police report among other things) and the PD was having a hysissy fit over it (probably quite rightly).  I noticed ever since then a constant bombardment  of crime reports from CH (many of them very serious and in need of reporting but many just plain ridiculous...things that happen all over the county ever day and that are just ignored because they aren't worth reporting).

 

I am thinking that the PD told the troops to now camp out at the CH police department and get a copy of every police report filed and do a story on it no matter how minor to teach CH a lesson.  In other words don't mess with us.  This seems very plausible to me given the reporting that we have been seeing on line.  No much CH can do about it.  Lesson, don't get in a fight with somebody who always has the last word and a huge platform.

^^I've been wondering the same thing. 

 

Switching gears, hat tip to Cleveland Scene (http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2014/09/12/19-action-news-wants-to-know-why-all-these-arabic-people-are-hanging-out) for flagging this piece of hard-hitting investigative journalism:

 

http://www.19actionnews.com/story/26462678/why-is-a-downtown-cleveland-park-crowded-deep-into-the-night

 

SMH

does cleveland.com have some sort of system where they post user specific stories based on previous clicks? if not, why do they report so many crimes in cleveland heights?  maybe it's just because i live there, but it seems they post stories about crime in cleveland heights much more often than other suburbs.  or i guess there is zero crime in other suburbs?

 

NEOMG has about seven "reporters" who do nothing but sift through police blotters and write crime reports. The reason CH is focused on more is simple. They rile people up and generate many more hits than the others. Just take a look at the amount of comments they get. Most of the other crime stories and blotters they post draw flies. I read the blotters each week and it's obvious very few other people do because nobody comments not even when its something notable. Under NEOMG, it's all about the clicks and since CH stories draw them in (just like the Richmond Hts mayoral "scandal"), they will keep promoting them.

It's a combination of both.  Mwd711 is absolutely correct that it generates a TON of web traffic.  Local racists get all giddy when they see any news of crime in CH because they HATE communities like CH and are desperately seeking vindication for their views of the City and 'diversity'.  But the other suggested reason is very real and I had a conversation with a CH cop about this just a few months ago.  Apparently, when that incident happened, the Chief not only would not give the reporter what he was entitled to have, but he made him wait for several hours in the lobby just to tell him to get lost in the end.  Then, when the report is finally released, it is improperly redacted.  The current campaign is payback.  The City knows it and, frankly, the PD is winning this fight.  The Chief was in the wrong, no doubt about that.  Whether that justifies the smear campaign is questionable at best IMO.

 

All that said, violent crime is up a bit in CH.  Nothing too drastic and certainly no one can claim that the City was all peaches and ice cream in recent memory, but its hard to deny that there has been an uptick.... especially with crimes committed in CH by non-CH residents.

^Wow...I was just thinking the same thing a few minutes ago (all this reporting on CH "crime") when I read a headline about a guy chocking his girlfriend.

 

I had a thought....a few months back (I cannot recall the specific incident...I do think it was something serious) the PD and Cleveland Heights got into it in connection with CH refusing to release public documents (it might have been a police report among other things) and the PD was having a hysissy fit over it (probably quite rightly).  I noticed ever since then a constant bombardment  of crime reports from CH (many of them very serious and in need of reporting but many just plain ridiculous...things that happen all over the county ever day and that are just ignored because they aren't worth reporting).

 

I am thinking that the PD told the troops to now camp out at the CH police department and get a copy of every police report filed and do a story on it no matter how minor to teach CH a lesson.  In other words don't mess with us.  This seems very plausible to me given the reporting that we have been seeing on line.  No much CH can do about it.  Lesson, don't get in a fight with somebody who always has the last word and a huge platform.

 

Yeah, not worth reporting like this.  This was on the FRONT PAGE of Cleveland.com today.  As you guys have indicated though, there are a lot of comments here, some of which are having the same discussion as us.

 

Cleveland Heights car thief steals $4; uses backseat as toilet

http://www.cleveland.com/cleveland-heights/index.ssf/2014/09/cleveland_heights_car_thief_st.html#incart_river

I think its worth noting that the PD isn't the one behind these stories. Its non-union cousin NEOMG is the culprit. There's plenty of occasions where stories that gets tons of hits don't get any play in the printed paper. Until recently, the Richmond Hts story was one of them. Those stories ended up in the Sun. It wasn't until Scene and TV jumped on it did the PD start to print stories on it.

 

Back in the old disorganized Cleveland.com, stories were often hidden especially crime reports.  The new format changes this and NEOMG is giving these stories big play. What used to draw very few comments is drawing hundreds today. Anything with potential racial overtones gets attention. The RH story is a perfect example. How many people spend any time in RH? It's not a major center of commerce. In general it's a small burb that few outsiders are familiar with. Yet NEOMG couldn't get enough of it since it had all the elements to draw people in. That's not to say it wasnt important but you can't tell me that the racial overtones weren't a big reason the media and readers ate that story up. Same goes for anything that makes a community look like its headed downhill. Shopliftings at Beachwood Place used to buried, now its front page news.

I think its worth noting that the PD isn't the one behind these stories. Its non-union cousin NEOMG is the culprit. There's plenty of occasions where stories that gets tons of hits don't get any play in the printed paper. Until recently, the Richmond Hts story was one of them. Those stories ended up in the Sun. It wasn't until Scene and TV jumped on it did the PD start to print stories on it.

 

Back in the old disorganized Cleveland.com, stories were often hidden especially crime reports.  The new format changes this and NEOMG is giving these stories big play. What used to draw very few comments is drawing hundreds today. Anything with potential racial overtones gets attention. The RH story is a perfect example. How many people spend any time in RH? It's not a major center of commerce. In general it's a small burb that few outsiders are familiar with. Yet NEOMG couldn't get enough of it since it had all the elements to draw people in. That's not to say it wasnt important but you can't tell me that the racial overtones weren't a big reason the media and readers ate that story up. Same goes for anything that makes a community look like its headed downhill. Shopliftings at Beachwood Place used to buried, now its front page news.

 

The whole PD/NEOMG thing is stupid to me.  It's all PD as far as I'm concerned.  They are both owned by the same parent company, right? 

^ Same owner but not under the same editorial staff and they don't share newsrooms. NEOMG has a bevy of young reporters. They tend to focus most on crime, sports and politics. I'm pretty sure they are in charge of Sun News. The PD is made up of more traditional beats and most of the more experienced reporters are under their masthead. Its a dwindling staff but in my eyes, the PD writing is much more polished and informative. The gossipy stuff comes from NEOMG.