Frances Strickland Stopped By Today: Ohio's First Lady Was Going Door-to-Door For Hillary

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Unfortunately, The Daily Bellwether wasn't home when she rapped on the door in Amberley Village for some primary-eve politicking. It was a beautiful afternoon with the temp in the high 60s, perfect for canvassing. But The Bellwether had a dental appointment when Ohio's First Lady paid her unscheduled visit. Still, the local TV cameras caught her for a presidential election segment on the evening news, and did an interview in the front yard. Mrs. Strickland left behind a flier that says Hillary is, "The only candidate with the experience to deliver solutions for American families." There was was nothing negative in the message, which listed the following five reasons to vote for Hillary:

1. Jump start the economy for America's middle class.
2. Ensure ALL Americans have quality, affordable health care.
3. End the war in Iraq and restore America's leadership in the world.
4. Give every American child a world-class education.
5. Fix NAFTA and institute trade policies that put American workers first.

On Obama's Ohio NAFTA Mailer: Cincy Enquirer Omits Key Details Favoring Hillary

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Today's Cincinnati Enquirer carries a 31-paragraph story called "Clinton Rips Obama." It is the biggest story in the Sunday paper. It is long on political drama, but shallow on crucial detail. Nowhere does the Enquirer story mention that the Long Island tabloid Newsday admitted last week Hillary never used the word "boon" to describe NAFTA. Yet Obama cites Newsday as the source for the quoted "boon." You would not know that from reading today's Enquirer. The Cincinnati newspaper seems to have short-shrifted its readers about a major ongoing development in the Democratic presidential primary.

The Gannett Co. Inc.-owned Enquirer -- which covered Hillary's Cincinnati appearance where she publicly scored Obama for distorting her words -- totally failed to dig into or mention the running back story about 'boon.' But details have been widely reported by Ohio's political bloggers, including the Daily Bellwether, for more than a week, and are available here. The Enquirer's shallow journalism makes it appear Hillary has no evidence on which she can base her counter-punch against Obama. Just two paragraphs are given to the "boon" dispute, and neither specifically mentions that Newsday itself said it had mischaracterized her position. Here's the Enquirer:

"The second mail piece says that Clinton called NAFTA a 'boon' to the economy -- a statement that might hurt her with thousands of Ohio workers who believe their jobs disappeared because of the trade agreement.

"Clinton said she never used the word 'boon' in describing NAFTA, saying that a newspaper mischaracterized her position."

But Newsday had already admitted Obama was "misleading" voters by putting the boon in quotes. Here's what Newsday posted on its Web site:

"Obama's use of the citation in this way does strike us as misleading. The quote marks make it look as if Hillary said 'boon,' not us. It's an example of the kind of slim reeds campaigns use to try to win an office. That said, we should have been clearer."

The New York Times today went deeper than the Enquirer and reported:

"It was not the first time the Clinton campaign had seen the trade flier, which cites a Newsday article that says Mrs. Clinton believed the North American Free Trade Agreement was a 'boon' to the economy. Mrs. Clinton said the newspaper had since corrected the article. (Editors from Newsday responded on its Web site last week, stopping short of a correction but saying, 'Obama's use of the citation in this way strikes us as misleading.')

As the NYT and others noted, the Obama campaign still contends its use of the word 'boon' is proper. Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in an e-mail, "Everything in those mailers is completely accurate." Of course, that didn't appear in the Enquirer, either.

Huffpo's Beverly Davis On Ohio Primary: March 4 Is D-Day For Dems

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- The Huffington Post has surveyed the Ohio battleground between Obama and Hillary and says both campaigns now have their elite troops on the ground for a "killer match." New York-based writer Beverly Davis -- who normally covers Europe -- even managed to cite and link to The Daily Bellwether in the piece she filed today. Davis says no other state remaining on the primary schedule will have the impact of Ohio, where the Huffpo headline says Obama has now landed his A-team for D-Day:

"Behind the scenes of the Obama-Clinton race to capture Ohio's 161 delegates, the biggest jackpot of states still in contention, it will be a killer match between each campaign's point man: Paul Tewes and Robby Mook.

"Among campaign professionals, Tewes is widely regarded among the very most talented political organizers in the nation -- he's largely responsible for Obama's surprise win in Iowa, which proved that the 'inevitable' nomination of Hillary Clinton wasn't so inevitable and that white voters, independents, and women could be lured to Obama. Mook also comes with an impressive campaign record. He was Howard Dean's field director in the New Hampshire primary and a former deputy field director for the Democratic National Committee. As the state director for Nevada, he led Hillary Clinton's impressive win there last month, successfully wooing Latinos and women back to the Clinton fold."

This bit of 2008 campaign minutiae wasn't reported by Huffpo: Tewes and Mook went head to head in Nevada.

Cincinnati Enquirer: Clobbered Again, Playing Catch-Up On Another Scoop

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Both the Cincinnati Post and The Daily Bellwether reported Aug. 4 that the steamboat Delta Queen's parent company planned to end the sternwheeler's overnight cruises on the nation's inland waterways. Big news in an Ohio River town, especially since the Queen displays the word "Cincinnati" on its stern -- meaning the Queen City is considered the vessel's home port.

Now some two weeks after the news broke. the morning metro daily has noticed this story and put it on Page 1-A today. Again, the Cincinnati Enquirer was two weeks late in reporting the fate of the Delta Queen. Some would say that particular vessel personifies the Queen City's reputation as a river port and community. Some would say that particular newspaper personifies a sinking journalistic ship. Some would say that would be correct in both instances.

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."