Columbus Dispatch Sports Writer Slams Cincinnati: Too Catholic And Too Kentucky For OSU Football

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Rob Oller's commentary today is an attempt to explain why most Cincinnati-area college football recruits won't flock to Ohio State University. He says "historical, cultural and geographical issues hinder OSU from cleaning up down there." It's also "because of Cincinnati's large Catholic community." Apparently, Cincinnati Catholics just don't put as much faith in Coach Jim Tressel as true believers ought. The Queen City has wicked ways. A day after signing day, Oller even reached into his sportswriter cliche bag to quote a "media wag" whom he doesn't identify:

"Tressel has a reputation for locking down Ohio for the Buckeyes. If there's a crack, it's Cincinnati. Or maybe not. As one media wag pointed out, Cincinnati should not count. After all, it's really northern Kentucky. Or at least acts like it."

Columbus Dispatch Editor Ben Marrison: Marc Dann Aimed Threats Of 'Illicit Affairs' At Ohio's Editors

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- And it would have made quite a headline: Ohio's attorney general reportedly said he would spread rumors of sex scandals involving newsroom chiefs, sex scandals that would be false but damaging to reputations. The threat supposedly came after a Marc Dann staffer was reportedly seen at his condos in her "PJs," an outfit we now know was less than Friday casual. And it turned out Dann was boinking a female staffer, an accusation that he admitted is true. As for the editors, Marrison reports that Ohio's embattled attorney general "went so far as to threaten to fabricate allegations that newspaper editors who would report the story were also having illicit affairs." Marrison offers no other details. And I was unable to reach him when I phoned this afternoon to follow up on his eye-popping report. If Marrison really has the goods -- that Dann would actually consider smearing reputations to save his own skin and shut down journalists -- it sounds like the state's top lawyer and law enforcement official was treading close to blackmail, or extortion. It might be a path that state lawmakers might consider exploring as they weigh whether or not to impeach the attorney general.

Buckeye State Blog spotted the claim by the editor of Ohio's state capital newspaper. Marrison did not emphasize his tale about Dann -- he put it in the 17th paragraph of a 20-paragraph Sunday column. It was mainly about Dann's "fiery disposition" and the likelihood of retaliation and defiance by the attorney general, who was excommunicated Saturday by the Ohio Democratic Party.

As for Ohio editors having affairs: Who knows? Certainly, newsroom dalliances are not unknown. And was Marrison the specific target of Dann's threat to "fabricate allegations" that newspaper editors were shagging staffers? He doesn't say.

Columbus Dispatch Politix Journo Joe Hallett: Lists 'Best Of The Blogs'

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Columbus Dispatch political editor Joe Hallett is a wise reporter who understands Ohio politics as well -- perhaps better -- than anyone writing about this state. He's genial, informative and offers thoughtful analysis about his native chunk of Midwestern geography. He is familiar with the struggling farm towns, the growing suburbs and dying city neighborhoods, the actors and players, and the people who shape Ohio's fundamental political life. He doesn't dissipate like smoke after an election. He sticks around covering his beat.

So it was interesting to discover on DispatchPolitics.com the list of blogs that Hallett recommends, or the ones he has selected as "the best of the blogs." He's divided his picks into national and Ohio blogs, and there are 11 from this state, including those put out by the state Republican and Democratic parties. The Daily Bellwether was quite honored to be included on Joe's list, quite honored indeed. Joe's Ohio list of 11 tilts toward blogs from the parts of the state that include Columbus and regions north. It has blanks for Toledo and Dayton, and only The Bellwether from Cincy. Perhaps that is because there is not much statewide coverage; or statewide perspective is lacking in much of the Ohiosphere.

Under the National Category:
The Daily Dish
Power Line
Captain’s Quarters
Daily Kos
Tpm Cafe
Hit & Run
Unclaimed Territory
Pandagon
Tapped
The American Scene
Swing State Project
Politico.com

From Ohio

Buckeye State Blog
Right Angle Blog
Ohio Daily Blog
The Daily Bellwether
Writes Like She Talks
Brewed Fresh Daily
Pho’s Akron Pages
Blue Ohioan
Progress Ohio
Ohio Democratic Party
Ohio Republican Party

NFL Wants Journos To Wear Ads On Sidelines: Journos Protest

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A national organization of journalists wants the NFL to scrap a proposed game day rule that would force newspaper, magazine and TV photographers to wear bright-red vests with Canon and Reebok ad logos displayed on the vests. The two companies sponsor pro football, and working journos on the sidelines are concerned they would resemble NASCAR drivers, or Olympic skiers, while covering the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals and other franchises across the U.S.

Of course, the photojournalists don't work for the NFL. They work for independent publications like The Plain Dealer and Cincinnati Enquirer, or Sports Illustrated, or local TV. The NFL probably doesn't need them anymore -- it is so rich and successful that it can hire its own photogs and put them on the sidelines, then put their pictures online or find ways to distribute them through print channels that will pop up instantly. The old MSM will be squeezed out, and the dispute demonstrates how far their clout has eroded.

The Society of Professional Journalists is raising cane about the NFL plan and says the NFL should abandon the proposal before the preseason begins next month. Today, it sent a protest letter to the commissioner's office and all 32 teams. The journalist group's president, Christine Tatum of the Denver Post, explains:

"For the sake of the almighty dollar, the NFL is clearly willing to compromise press freedom and independence. The League should be ashamed. Journalists should refused to cover games before allowing themselves to become walking billboards. Defending a free press is a public service infinitely more valuable than play-by-play reporting from the sidelines."

Beg to differ. The news biz is built on advertising. The trucks that TV journos drive to the games are painted with signs touting the networks and stations that own them, logos that say, "Where the news comes first" and such. Is it such a stretch to wear a Canon vest?

Meanwhile, the newspapers are looking for new revenue streams as they decline. They should have sold logos for ads years ago. A real estate company, a motel chain, a car dealer would have paid dearly to have a highly visible logo in a stadium before 60,000 or more Browns, Bengals or Buckeye fans. Think of the logo decorating an Ohio newspaper photogs jacket or shirt, somehow clearly marked as an advertisement.

Or the paper should have put its photog in a jacket or shirt that proclaimed: Read The Dispatch!!!

But they never thought like that. And now that somebody is, they are p'oed. C'mon Society of Professional Journalists, do you think that the Americans who watch and attend football games are such dummies they won't recognize the ads for what they are -- paid product placement pitches that are not endorsements.

Hell, if I was running a newspaper I'd be talking to Budweiser right now about hats, pants and shoes.

Columbus Dispatch: Pirating A Blogger's Sea Story?

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Oh fiddle-dee-dee. A pirate's life for me. Is that Disney's ditty playing in the Columbus Dispatch newsroom these days? The newspaper seems to have dived into Davey Jones locker and resurfaced with this PEARL, a tale of lost ships that originally appeared in The Daily Bellwether in mid-January.

Those intrepid journalistic buccaneers at the Dispatch gave the news about side scan sonar being used to track down Lake Erie's shipwrecks ( a story that it told excellently, well written and well reported) a big ride. You can read a version that was picked up and circulated on The Associated Press wire
HERE. But it was a work of skull and crossbones journalism -- the idea for the piece appears to be lifted from this blog. Not the wording, but the idea.

Was there no thought, apparently, to give credit. Is the law of the sea story purloin or perish?

For days, there were there signals the pirates in Columbus were under sail. You could catch sight of "Dispatch.com" taking in pageviews on the Sitemeter. And, isn't this a coincidence? The Bellwether sea story ends with a bit about the Marquette and Bessemer No. 2, a ship that disappeared in December 1909. Its whereabouts remain the biggest mystery on Lake Erie to this day.

And how does the Dispatch version of the tale end. Eerily similar. "In December 1909, the Marquette and Bessemer No. 2, a 300-foot ferry loaded with railroad cars full of coal, left Conneaut in a gale for Port Stanley. The ferry was never heard from again."

The difference between blogging and journalism is this: Bloggers largely seem to be addicted to the notion that one gives credit where credit is due. Some journalists seem to be mired in the era of Count Swen Leats I. Count Swen Leats I was a sting pulled on newspapers years ago. Spell his name backwards and it comes out "I Steal News."