Cleveland's Voice for Social Justice

PD Defender in Chief

2007-12-04T14:57:00.000-05:00

Reader Representative versus the Current Editor Representative

Did you read the Ted Diadiun column on Sunday December 2? (Don't bother trying to find it on the web--they place it in a secret location at cleveland.com) I read his defense of a stupid cartoon that was highly offensive, and tried to remember one time that he criticized his own paper. I can only think of one time that the someone in the paper criticized the coverage in the Plain Dealer--and I was not even sure if it was Diadiun. It was that front page photo of the suicide from Carter Manor that generated a great deal of internal criticism and public apologies. I do not believe that Diadiun could ever be considered my representative as a reader. He is the Defender of the Editors. Why not just admit it? With the stupid cartoon, he could have suggested an editor's note about how stupid it was and how the editors realized that it could be controversial. He just dismissed the readers who felt offended. If I dismissed some of my constituency when representing NEOCH at meetings, I would be fired. Hey, Ted, represent all of us, and stop dismissing our opinions. We all have important opinions and the Reader Rep. needs to sit at that table and speak up for those who were offended.

Brian

Challenge Appointed/Elected Officials

2007-11-28T14:04:00.000-05:00

Spend Time with Their Family??

I do not understand why the media allows elected officials or executive branch appointees to get away with saying that they want to spend more time with their family. The executive and legislative branch officials have a solid term of service. These guys understood the length of service when they were appointed or won their election. They all hide behind "I want to spend more time with my family" when they resign. Were they caught off guard that the term was two, four, or six years? Did they not understand the job when they raised their hand to recite the oath of office? It is a fake excuse, and the media should challenge them when someone utters those fake words. "Sir, are you sure that your family wants to spend more time with you?"

Brian

Homeless Families Overwhelming NY City Shelters

2007-09-05T13:48:00.000-04:00

NY Times: Sept. 4, 2007 -- A Challenge to New York City's Homeless Policy

There was an interesting article in the NY Times yesterday concerning the huge number of families who are staying in New York City homeless shelters, in spite of the fact that they are technically "ineligible" to do so. New York City is claiming that since these families have the ability to stay with friends or family in other apartments by "doubling up," they are voluntarily draining the system of resources and time.

I believe New York City is greatly overestimating the generosity of its residents, as well as the laziness of these families. While "doubling up" can be preferable to staying in a homeless shelter, especially many of the homeless shelters in New York, it is not a realistic solution. The families in the article are right to protest and demand a better solution.

Many landlords have rules against additional roommates who are not on the lease, and most apartments are really not feasible living spaces for multiple families. Few would find it acceptable for New York City to tell families they couldn't utilize emergency shelter because they owned a car or a tent. An overcrowded apartment is probably better than a car or a tent, but not necessarily by much.

While I understand that New York City may not necessarily have the resources to provide proper care to the estimated 28,000 people utilizing its shelter systems, they should be able to come up with a better answer than "go find a different place to crash."

The reality is that most people don't enter the shelter system until after they have "doubled up" for a period of time already. As these living situations become untenable, people move on to the shelter system. Many others attempt to live in their vehicles, and still others avoid the shelters entirely for a host of valid reasons. City planners across the country have to realize that shelters are typically a last resort for people, not the first step.

Another thing I would have liked to see the article address is the reason for the huge increase in homeless families; "record numbers," according to the article. This is a direct result of the Bush administration's useless policy of fighting so-called "chronic" homelessness to the exclusion of really helping anyone else.

As Brian so aptly described with his

Skittles simile

on NEOCH's blog, it is an exceedingly stupid waste of resources to chase the hardest and most resistant clients with the most resources, and screw everyone else in the process. The nation has seen a huge increase in homeless families as a result of this diversion of resources, and it was already difficult to find appropriate housing for families in the first place. Additionally, many cities, like Cleveland, have few, if any emergency shelters where families can stay together after they've become homeless. If the same is true for New York City's shelters, then it takes even greater gall for the New York City to whine as if these families were lining up for a free stay at the Ritz.

Posted by Kevin

Plain Dealer Features Grapevine Photography Program

2007-08-07T14:34:00.000-04:00

Cleveland's own Minister of Culture, Michael Heaton, wrote an excellent piece in the Cleveland Plain Dealer yesterday about the ODDC (Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council) -funded Grapevine Photography program. Heaton interviewed several of the students for the piece, as well as social justice photographer Steve Cagan, and me.

I thought Heaton did an excellent job weaving all of the elements of the story together, and he was extremely personable and friendly during the interview and in other conversations. I've only seen the version of the story published on Cleveland.com, so I didn't get to see which photos ran with the piece in yesterday's paper (I was out of town), but I definitely enjoyed the article.

Works by homeless photographers on display

Anyway, check it out if you get a chance, or swing by Phoenix Coffee on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland to check out the photos. -Kevin

Grapevine Photography Program Celebrates Successful First Year

2007-07-25T16:22:00.000-04:00

In late March, The Homeless Grapevine started a photography training program under a grant from the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council. Noted Cleveland photographer Steve Cagan readily agreed to instruct the students.

The students, comprised of currently and formerly homeless individuals, were set loose upon the City with cameras, and have already captured a number of thoughtful and
provocative images in a short amount of time.

The photos are currently on exhibition at Phoenix Coffee on Superior Avenue in
downtown Cleveland. Proceeds from the sales of the photos at Phoenix and elsewhere will benefit the artists themselves and help sustain the program in future years.

Future plans for the photography program include exhibitions in other local venues, and providing a space on NEOCH’s website for interested parties to purchase prints from these artists. Keep your eyes open for updates on NEOCH’s website, www.neoch.org, and stay tuned to watch the careers of these budding artists unfold.

For more information about this or other programs, please contact Kevin Cleary at 216.432.0540, or email kevincleary@neoch.org.

Top right photo: Students Howard Singleton and Jerome Pleasant pretend not to notice their picture is being taken during a class in April. Bottom left photo: Student Gary Waterbeck examines his photos after uploading them. Bottom right photo: Social justice photography guru and class instructor Steve Cagan describes the camera's menu options to student Cindy Miller on the first day of class. All photos in this release by Kevin E. Cleary.

A Grapevine promise

2007-07-23T15:22:00.001-04:00

Unlike some other media outlets, The Homeless Grapevine will not attempt to ruin the ending of "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows." On a side note, how is it that both iPhones and Harry Potter books were both handled with more security than many countries hold their nuclear weapons? -Kevin

A few Quick Media Thoughts

2007-05-15T12:57:00.000-04:00

Go Away Channel 19/Where is My Invitation?

Last night Channel 19 "Action News" aired a report on the heat/cooling in our building. Don't they have anything better to work on? Aren't there any more poor people to pick on? Shouldn't they be spreading stereotypes about panhandlers? Can't they beat up on the Mayor or the City Council instead of wasting our time with this story? No, they sent the notorious Catherine Bosley out to interview staff in our building about the bizarre letter from our landlord telling us to stop complaining and identifying women as the cause of the problems. While the landlord note was offensive, it did not rise to the level of wasting the precious airtime of a television news channel. We did not comment, because Channel 19 is on our banned list, and why annoy our own landlord?

We made a good decision, because the landlord actually came off looking sympathetic. It is very difficult to make a landlord look good, but Channel 19 did it. Just for a little context...last night while Channel 19 was handling the "naked female wrestling story" and the "toughen up" landlord story, a group of homeless people was surrounded and attacked by 20 young kids in Cleveland. We have had a week of attacks on homeless camps by young people with two people hospitalized. Last night, the camp was surrounded and homeless people were attacked. The two who were attacked are scared and moving today and were absolutely unaware how inappropriate NEOCH's landlord is.

My Invitation Must have Got Lost
I never got my invitation to the Doug Clifton, Editor of the Plain Dealer, retirement party. That is so strange; I don't know what happened? Clifton was on Monday's WCPN Sound of Ideas. There was something new that I had not heard from Clifton before on the show. While trying to defend his tenure at the PD, he talked about that controversy over sitting on the two stories last year out of fear of violating some court order. This was just after the jailing of Judy Miller and the threat to those reporters who got info. about the Scooter Libby release of the CIA identity of Valerie Plame. He made it seem that the source material that he was sitting on was not that reliable along with the legal implications of revealing information under court seal. I have heard and read a lot about this story, but this is the first I heard that the information was shaky.

This brings up new questions with regard to the story. My biggest question is why the hell did he ever even mention this non-story publicly. I believe it set journalism back in the United States. For those who hate the media, they were saying, "I am glad that Justice Department took a tough stand against the media. It is working to shut the media up, because the PD had to back down in Cleveland in revealing secrets." Those who are big free speech advocates (like me) will say, "The media are wimps, and would not stand up to the Big Bad Justice Department." No good could have come from the release of the information that the PD was sitting on two stories especially now that we find out that the story was not solid. I hope that new editor, Ms. Goldberg, will have more backbone to stand up to Larken and the publisher and especially to stand up to state sponsored Censorship. Maybe she can figure out what happened to my invitation as well.

Brian

Free Concerts Will Honor Daniel Thompson

2007-05-10T18:43:00.000-04:00

Come see Drumplay play this weekend and help support The Homeless Grapevine! Hope to see you there! -Kevin, Managing Editor

WHEN & WHERE:
8 p.m. Friday, May 11 -ConsciousNest (20150 Lakeshore Blvd in Euclid)

8 p.m. Saturday, May 12 -Sandy Chanty (5457 Lake Rd. in Geneva-on-the-Lake)

Press Release:

Free Concerts Will Honor Daniel Thompson

Poet Daniel Thompson received posthumous honors in 2005 from the City of Cleveland when West 2nd Street was renamed “Daniel’s Way” to commemorate the poet. Today, Thompson’s friends continue to remember and strive to honor his legacy.

Drumplay, a band with whom Thompson frequently performed, is releasing a new album that features performances by Cleveland’s own “Bread Poet.” The band will be kicking off the release of their album, “Who’s Listening?” with two live benefit concerts, both starting at 8 p.m. on May 11^th and 12^th.

The May 11^th concert will be held at ConsciousNest in Euclid (20150 Lakeshore Blvd), and the following night’s show will take place at the Sandy Chanty in Geneva-on-the-Lake (5457 Lake Rd.)

Both events are free and open to the public. Donations are requested to benefit The Homeless Grapevine newspaper, an empowerment project of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. Thompson regularly published his poems in the paper, and even paid to print a special issue in 2004, shortly before his death, to help the Grapevine avoid a brush with bankruptcy.

According to James Onysko, front man for Drumplay, the release of “Who’s Listening?” marks the Crystal anniversary for two important milestones: the founding of Drumplay, and one of Daniel Thompson’s titular honors.

“With this CD release party, we celebrate our 15 years; and it is also 15 years for Daniel Thompson as Poet Laureate of Cuyahoga County – having been so named on April 1, 1992, by the Cuyahoga County Commissioners. We dedicate our new ‘Who’s Listening?’ to our poet warrior,” said Onysko.

For more information, contact:
James Onysko
james@drumplay.com
216.429.1152

or

Kevin E. Cleary
kevincleary@neoch.org
216.432.0540

Media Takes on Ending Homelessness

2007-04-29T19:58:00.000-04:00

Can We End Homelessness in 10 Years?

It is increasingly rare to hear about homelessness on the radio, and last week Justice Talking on NPR featured an entire one hour episode on homelessness. So, we should not complain about any media exposure, but I really get frustrated when they relegate homeless people to the feature section of the program and save the debate for the "experts". We have talked about this bogus 10 year planning process to end homelessness that the Bush Administration is pushing. Justice Talking, one of the best weekend programs on NPR (not currently heard on-air in Cleveland), did a good overview of the issues and talked to people from around the United States. Margot Adler interviewed the point person for the Federal Government, a few local homeless social service providers, and the researcher who came up with this stupid focus on long term homeless people.

Roosevelt Darby of Philadelphia was also on the show at the very end. He is a highly intelligent advocate who happens to have had a history of homelessness. Darby is on the National Coalition for the Homeless' Board of Directors, and has thought long and hard about solving homelessness. Why did he not get to weigh in on the theme of the show: can government end homelessness in 10 years? He has a good story about his getting off the streets, but he also has a unique perspective on the ending homelessness. I wish that they had started with Roosevelt's story and then had given him a chance to answer the question about how he would end homelessness. Darby also could have given his opinion about where the feds are going wrong with their plan.

Justice Talking reporters interviewed Phil Mangano, the best spin doctor within the Bush Administration. (Yes, he is better than Dan Bartlett or Tony Snow.) He heads the Interagency Council on Homelessness in Washington DC, but he spends very little time in the nation's capital. The reporter treated Mangano as some kind of rock star and treated him to softball questions. They should have pummeled him with questions about the federal commitment to ending homelessness. The guy travels enough to to run one of the big shelters in Cleveland. He does ribbon cuttings in all the major cities that are completing these plans, while he knows in his heart that these have no chance of making any difference in America. He knows that without income support to afford rent, universal health care (even for those with a mental illness), and a massive federal infusion of decent, safe affordable housing we have no chance to do anything but manage the problem.

His job is to get all the federal agencies (HHS, Labor, Education, HUD, Veterans, etc.) all on the same page toward ending homelessness. This has not worked in New Orleans, which is the become the living breathing sign of our failure to address poverty in America. He cuts ribbons in Pittsburgh while his boss cuts their public housing budget. Then he flies off to Topeka, Kansas for the christening of their 10 year plan to manage homelessness--only the media is told that it is a plan to end homelessness. I have the utmost respect for everyone who attempts to make it a better day for their fellow travelers looking for housing. There is no more honorable job then domestic violence hotline worker, or shelter monitor, or outreach professional even if most of the time they cannot solve people's problems. Mangano is one of the people that I have nothing but contempt for because he has the power to make a real difference in the United States, but instead he spends his time counting to 10 and making strategic planning consultants rich throughout the United States.

Brian

Hold the Vanilla With My Morning Coffee

2007-04-04T21:21:00.000-04:00

Plain Dealer Story Misses the Point

This morning the Plain Dealer had a story about a strip club and the City possibly helping to relocate the club to another location. I am the one who gave the Plain Dealer this story, I just wish that someone else had written the article. I have never been a big fan of Susan Vanilla's skills as a journalist, and this story reinforces my belief she often misses the big picture. The story was what will happen to the 150 guys who sleep at Aviation High School every night. The real story was that the City and County have struggled with this for over one year, missed a few deadlines at this point, and have not resolved the issue. Who the hell cares about a strip club unless this is a big stomping ground for neighbors like bored reporters from Cleveland's only daily?

There are huge changes ahead if and when Aviation closes, and I am sure people would read the story without the sex angle added. What makes a shelter so unsafe that the feds want it closed because it is near the airport? Will Cleveland turn away from the guaranteed access to shelter because of overcrowded conditions when Aviation closes and there is no overflow? How many more people will choose to sleep on Superior Ave. after Aviation closes? Who is making these decisions and have homeless people commented on this plan? Why would the County not ask any experts (maybe like homeless people who actually sleep at the shelter) to review the plan? What is the largest shelter going to look like after closing Aviation and adding another 60 guys who do not want to join a program or work with a social worker? How can we afford to pay so much for the motel, when the women's shelter still needs to be made into a real shelter and not just two buildings that happen to be next to each other? I could go on with the good questions that could be asked, but I wish the Plain Dealer had asked them and not focused on the stupid strip club.

Brian

A New Plan

2007-03-29T22:06:00.000-04:00

Solving Homelessness One Story at a Time

We have had 20 years of failing to solve homelessness, so I am suggesting a new course of action. As you may have seen Jack Hanrahan became homeless in Cleveland after living it up in Hollywood. Last week the Plain Dealer reported on former writer, Jack Hanrahan's story of rags to riches. A day later there were offers of help from all over the city. The story was picked up far and wide in blogs and in newspapers across the United States. Just by writing a story, The Plain Dealer staff were able to solve someone's homelessness. If they could do one story a day on a different homeless person, they could solve 365 people's homelessness in one year. They may have to make up some stories about doing make up for Chuck Norris or a local homeless woman starring in one of the Ed Wood classics, because the public seems to be more sympathetic to the plight of homeless people who were once famous. This is not to say that the Hanrahan story was not true, I am sure that the Hanrahan story was true, but there are about 1,000 similar stories everyday on the streets of Cleveland. This demonstrates the power of the media.

If you read the latest Homeless Grapevine you will see that the average homeless social service providers is only able to find around 25 people housing per year in Cleveland. In fact, only one or two programs in Cleveland found over 100 people housing locally in a one year period. If the Plain Dealer accepted my strategy, they would be the first or second best housing placement agency in the community. C'mon, Larkin do something for the good of the community--become a housing placement agency by turning O'Malley out to do one feature story a day and significantly reduce homelessness.

Brian

My Generation: Why my younger sister is one of my heroes

2007-03-26T23:16:00.000-04:00

by Kevin E. Cleary

Years before Tom Brokaw wrote his famous book “The Greatest Generation,” I was being clubbed over the head with the notion that my generation was a complete waste of DNA. I sit on the cusp of two demographics, Generation X, (aka the post-Boomers) and the generation that is being called the Millennial generation. Neither is particularly renowned for its volunteering spirit or selflessness.

Growing up, I always resented the implication that my generation would sit idly by while Hitler conquered the world, that somehow, we were all worthless and ungrateful brats. I’ve always felt that there are good people and bad people of every age, race, gender, and creed, and still do.

But, I’ve got to tell you, MTV and the mainstream media do very little to promote the idea that anyone under 65 cares about the world at large. I have shaken my head in disgust at shows like “My Super Sweet Sixteen” in which spoiled rich kids compete to have the most opulent parties. I have watched the rise of reality shows in which backstabbing and promiscuity are enshrined as virtues; and I have seen teenagers become a threat to homeless people more dreaded than Cleveland’s brutal winters.

It’s easy to believe the cynical notion that my generation cares only about celebrities, iPods, and themselves. It’s hard to argue that Gen X-ers or Millennials are making real contributions to society when all that you see on television is the near-constant fulfillment of our carnal desires. But I maintain my faith in humanity when I think about people like my younger sister Katie.

Katie is 21 years old, and a junior at Kent State. She works hard and studies hard every day, and could very easily be spending her much-deserved Spring Break on a beach in Florida somewhere. Instead, she ponied up a large sum of her own hard-earned money to take a bus down to Biloxi, Mississippi this week to help rebuild an area that is still devastated by the hurricanes of 2005.

Personally, I think Katie would have shown this volunteering spirit and concern for others even if our parents hadn’t drilled it into us, but I must say that I am amazingly proud of my little sister. There is no reason other than her inherent kindness that she is spending this week in obscenely humid weather doing hard, physical labor. By contrast, I did nothing but complain when my Spring Break was absorbed by the unintentionally complicated process of getting the latest issue of The Homeless Grapevine to press (more on that in a later post). When Katie told me of her Spring Break plans, I was quietly ashamed that I had whined so much.

But as proud as I am of my sister, I also have to say that she is not entirely unique in our generation. While Katie is an exceptional person, I cannot say that her kindness and volunteering are entirely unique. For example, a few weeks ago, I had the privilege of making a presentation to Katie’s residents (she works as a resident assistant at Kent) with Erin Huber, who is the founder of Covering Cleveland. Huber is somewhere in between Katie’s age and my own (I am 25, for the record). Huber started Covering Cleveland several years ago when she was still a teenager, and has spent her “free time” distributing blankets to homeless people ever since.

Then there are the countless AmeriCorps VISTAs, Peace Corps, and other service volunteers, many of whom are also under 30. These individuals get paid less than minimum wage to address the world’s toughest problems, and many help form the backbone of our nation’s non-profits. They selflessly contribute their time, creativity and drive to helping others, and I find it a shame that their efforts are never forwarded to counter the claim that our generations are worthless.

Lets Try this Again...

2007-03-21T09:46:00.000-04:00

Maybe License is the Wrong Word...

There seems to be some confusion over my use of the word "license", so let me try this again. How about a "Seal of Approval" by a reputable Journalist Society offered to journalists? Just as the fortune tellers...I mean...weather people are now monitored as Meteorologists how about the same structure for their partners at the anchor table? Each station wants to trump its competition by featuring as many Meteorologists as possible. How long ago would the Godfather of weather people, Dick Goddard, have been replaced by a cute young woman reading the forecast if there was not this competition for accurate forecasts by meteorologists. There is some regulation and oversight of these weather people and I assume that their seals can be withdrawn if they start predicting snow in July.

I am not suggesting that you have to go to Journalism school to get a "seal of approval. " I am also not saying that you have to get a "Seal of Approval" before you write anything. I am just saying that if you want to be identified as a journalist then you have to agree to certain standards of fairness, balance, and quality reporting on the facts. Many professions must get a seal of approval or license to operate, and we cheapen the practice of journalism by not setting some standards. Does a beautician or a contractor or a psychiatrist have more impact on our life than a journalist?

We regulate professions for health concerns, the spread of infectious disease, and public safety. Why can't we view tabloid yellow journalism as the spread of distortions that undermine our democracy? If reputable journalists do not get together to shut down the tabloids, they will continue to lose credibility in our society. The first amendment will be meaningless, if there is nothing left to defend. Who is going to rise up to save Channel 19 or Fox News or the ability to see death, blood and sex on the evening news?

Brian

The Fifth Estate

2007-03-13T13:03:00.000-04:00

Last week, Brian wrote a post expressing his frustration with journalists and called for an internal association to "license" journalists. That post, which is further down on our page here, or can be read at http://homelessgrapevine.blogspot.com/2007/03/licensing-of-journalists.html incited a lot of comments (well, 8 comments is a lot for this blog) from the likes of Roldo Bartimole, John Ettorre, and others.

I thought I would throw my two cents into the mix here. Here goes...

I think the need for a journalism degree has hampered the profession in many respects. My experience with journalism classes is that you spend a lot of time doing facile AP Style book exercises and very little actual journalism.

From my understanding, copy boys used to be able to work their way up the system to become reporters, thus Jimmy Olsen (the actual Jimmy Olsen of "Superman" fame, not that Tabloid News hack Ed Gallek) was a cub reporter. Individuals who were experts in their field could also become newspaper writers later in their career.

I think this apprenticeship model and the ability to move upward in a company on merit were better than the current environment. As another newspaper man, Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) once remarked, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." I think the current environment puts too much emphasis on schooling, and not enough on actual reporting ability.

Furthermore, as journalism has become increasingly professionalized, so have all the other jobs in the field. It's almost impossible to imagine a copy boy or girl working his way up to become Editor in Chief of The Plain Dealer without first being extruded through college, a bunch of lower-circulation papers in far-flung towns, a flogging by Feagler, etc.

There's also the instinct to protect one's own, as Mr. Ettorre mentioned, which has undermined reporting. In the old days, there was a friendly competition amongst reporters for the same paper, but there was also competition for the same stories even in small towns from other papers. Now, the competition is between corporate entities to see which can have the most profitable news department by spending as few resources as possible.

All in all, I would say that the blogosphere has been a boon to reporting, if also a huge pain in the ass to the reporters themselves. Sure, the public still gets non-stories and Tabloid News, and Ann Coulter, but many blogs have also appointed themselves as media watchdogs and "citizen journalists." It's a lot harder for news monopolies to control and spin the news when a million angry bloggers (right or left wing) are watching your every move.

My father and his best friend became friends on a precursor to the Internet: billboards and newsgroups. Even then, members of the group were going to great lengths to disprove each other's claims. One newsgroup member drove across several states to check out a book from a library to prove false another member's claim to have served in Vietnam.

I think, just as one essential function of the fourth estate is to keep government honest, an evolving function of the blogosphere is to keep the media honest. Certainly not every member of the blogosphere will perform this function, and some will do it better than others. But I see the benefits of what I call the fifth estate greatly outweighing its detriments in the marketplace of ideas. We would do better to empower the watchdogs than to attempt to enact another echelon of control within the journalistic community.

-Kevin, Managing Editor, The Homeless Grapevine

P.S. In response to Mr. Ettorre's concern that Brian is ignoring the Constitution, I would say emphatically that he is well-versed in its tenets. I believe you may be misinterpreting his statements. Don't forget this administration's tendency, and the tendency of all administrations (Republican or Democratic) to ignore the Constitution when it is "inconvenient."

The Problem with the Plain Dealer

2007-03-11T12:20:00.000-04:00

How to Improve Cleveland's Daily?

The Coalition has received a great deal of ink this last week, and that is a good thing. I am very appreciative of all the work of the Plain Dealer, and the stories dedicated to poverty. The reporters are great, and should be given more discretion in the stories to cover. After all, they know a good story and they are closer to the average reader than the editors. Anyway, here are my suggestions, as the average reader, to increase the readers so there will be no further decline in the staff. I am trying to help their bottom line by increasing their circulation.

First, they need a better website. It takes way too many clicks to find the news. That is the heart of website, but everyday the web people seem to move the news to a new place. I always feel like there is this hide and seek game with the news on the Cleveland.com website. Also, when I click on Metro News why do I have to go through national news? I just want to read about Cleveland or Ohio. I do not turn to the Plain Dealer for news on Iraq, Bush, Congress, or stories from Los Angeles. In the information age with computers, the Plain Dealer needs to give us the news from Cleveland and from the perspective of Clevelanders. They could have a page of links to national stories that are summarized in the daily. A total redesign of the Plain Dealer website is a must to increase web traffic. I like the Opener blog, and we need more of that.

Second, throw away all but a summary of the national news within the paper. I am too busy to have to wade through the national news when I can go to the New York Times, Washington Post and all the other news outlets that do a much better job. I don't even have cable, but most people do and by the time the story is in print it must have already appeared on CNN and MSNBC about 40 times. Any national news should be written by Cleveland reporters and tell us how it impacts me. Tell me how the Federal budget is going to effect RTA or CMHA or the Cleveland Public Schools. Just give a page or two of the most important stories and let me know that more information is available on the website.

Give the local reporters the chance to put in a lot of stories and do not cut them down to a few hundred words. That series that started today on the Sunshine Law was nice and enjoyable to read. The Medicaid Story from today is important and every aspect of the budget should be analyzed in just as much detail. Reporters should be given the opportunity to spread their wings and write. They should all write a lot and every day. They should write about regional government everyday. They should write about the poorest city in the United States everyday. They should write about job creation efforts everyday. They should write about the growing health care crisis in every paper that is pushed out the door.

Fourth, the Plain Dealer covers some things in depth, but then ignores most of the City. They need to diversify their selection of topics to cover. They have this great book review section on Sunday. What about similar efforts for music, television shows, blogs, photography, painting and modern art? They could take a weekly look at college radio, workers comp claims, housing starts, health care discoveries, the Ohio National Guard activities in Iraq, the state of civil rights, and anti war efforts. The Plain Dealer could dedicate the same space to Labor as they do Business. There should be as much space dedicated to democracy/government as is dedicated to Sports. The Plain Dealer should significantly expand its consumer affairs section to take on utility issues, mortgage lenders, telecommunication companies, and health care providers.

Finally, we need some more profiles of everyday people. The business section on Sunday has turned into the lifestyles of the rich and famous with these lengthy features on the Presidents of KeyBank or University Hospital. How about some similar space to the lady who gets up every morning to open Starbucks and then cleans up the McDonald Building at night so that her kids can eat? How about a feature on my elderly neighbor who had to spend 9 hours waiting in the emergency room of Huron Hospital when she was sick? How about a story about the mail carrier who delivered mail on February 14 over mountains of snow?

Hope that this helps. Get rid of Brent Larkin/Dick Feagler and take up my suggestions and I would consider subscribing again.

Brian

Licensing of Journalists

2007-03-04T11:26:00.000-05:00

Fourth Estate? Then Act Like It

I have no problem defending the Balco Reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle or the blogger who is sitting in jail for not handing over the tape of the anti-war protesters that damaged a California police car, but these reporters seem to be the exception rather than the rule. For every champion of journalism who write stories about Walter Reed or Extraordinary Rendition Flights, there are two reporters at Channel 19 who care very little about society. For every Seymore Hersh there are five Michelle Malkins or Ann Coulters. With citizen journalists spreading like wildfire in blogs, we seem to have one Froomkin created, there are five extremist blogs proclaiming the assaults on homeless people everyday.

Lawyers have a role to play in this discussion. While there are many scummy lawyers and a million more lawyer jokes then journalist jokes, they have a governing structure in place. The Bar Associations' license lawyers and enforce rules. So, in theory, a lawyer who is abusing his authority can be brought up on maleficence charges and have their ability to practice law stripped. This means that if a lawyer breaks the law they lose the ability to practice law. Why can't we do the same for journalism?

The Society of Professional Journalists must start licensing journalists or the government will start doing it for them. We need to start taking this practice seriously and separate the real journalists from the fakes. The decisions made by journalists have consequences for ruining people's lives or for causing grief, suicide or even murder. The genocide in Rhwanda were carried out using the radio commentators to urge citizens to kill Tutsis. If journalists want to be taken seriously they must figure out how to separate the real from the O'Reilly types. They must set up a structure to license journalists with an enforcement mechanism to strip bad journalists from practicing their craft. Then the disgraced could go about their business as outsiders commenting on the news but not pretending to be journalists.

Brian

Interaction with the Media

2007-02-08T21:03:00.000-05:00

Difficult Time for Homeless People

Yes, these have been some hard times for homeless people. The media wants to know why would anyone be outside in this horrible weather? Now, I am sure that the young woman and men who come to ask questions are fine upstanding citizens who care about the world, but they don't make them like they used to. Reporters of the past knew everything about everything. If they did not understand why homeless people slept outside, they became homeless for a period of time to find out. If they wanted to know about low income workers they went to work at a temporary labor company. If they needed to know about the health care crisis in America, they hung out on the front lines in the emergency room. There were no embedded journalists or journalists camped in the relatively calm green zone. Journalists were on the front lines. It seems that those days are gone, and so now the height of investigative journalism is watching perverts in the library.

Anyway, the pretty faces that grace our television every night don't really understand the people that they cover. This is fine if they were detached observers, but now they are wearing their ignorance proudly on camera. They wonder out loud about how crazy it is to reject shelter. They criticize the criminals even before conviction. The announcers specialize in empty banter between stories, but do not understand government, power, or how things work in this world. I am not sure that many of the journalists of today are prepared, but certainly television journalists are more prepared for the runway then the broadcasting of the news.

Brian

Carl Monday, Please Don’t Get Mad at Our Vendors for My Actions

2007-02-07T12:25:00.000-05:00

by Kevin E. Cleary

I want to apologize to any Homeless Grapevine vendor who gets rejected by Carl Monday. It’s my fault, don’t blame Mr. Monday.

Two weeks ago, one of our vendors, Arthur Jr., called me during one of his regular shifts selling The Homeless Grapevine at the West Side Market. He breathlessly reported that he had sold this national celebrity and local investigative reporter a copy of our latest issue.

Arthur Jr. was very excited and talked at length about how nice Mr. Monday was, and how he had seemed receptive to Arthur Jr.’s suggestion that homelessness should get more coverage in the media. The whole time he was talking, alarm bells were ringing in my head. I’ve been looking everywhere for hidden cameras ever since.

Then, last week, another vendor, Mike, came into the office to get papers. He started telling me about one of his recent shifts at the Market, and was quite upset. The conversation went something like this:

“You know who’s an a**hole?” asked Mike.
“The President?” I replied, half-joking.
“No, Carl Monday! I asked him if he’d like to buy a copy of The Homeless Grapevine, and he yelled, ‘No!’ all angrily and stormed off.”

I was then compelled to explain to Mike that, to the best of my knowledge, Cleveland’s Investigative Reporter bore no hostility to him in particular. I explained that I had Photoshopped Mr. Monday’s head onto SuperHost’s body to make an amusing picture, and that Mr. Monday had probably seen it in the paper and hadn’t found it that funny.

I even watched the news with trepidation last night, as Mr. Monday was reporting from the West Side Market. But it turned out he was just following people around to see if they washed their hands after going to the bathroom.

I was saddened to hear that Mr. Monday’s final report on WKYC will take place tonight, also from the West Side Market. I must say that following people into the bathroom with a camera seems beneath him as a final report. After all, I’m sure he could find some other 17-year old kid masturbating in a library, or some more smokers in the Justice Center parking lot to use as his final “gotcha.”

But perhaps he’s saving these for when he returns to Channel 19's Tabloid News. In the mean time, I’m still watching for hidden cameras and am washing my hands after every time I Photoshop.

On that note, I’ve decided to stop using the SuperHost picture of Mr. Monday. I don’t want to put the paper at risk by offending him, and I’d like Mr. Monday to read our paper in the future, so our vendors can earn a living. Therefore, I present our new mascot, Blake Friday:

Jesus Returns to Cleveland

2007-01-23T01:49:00.000-05:00

Did I say Jesus? I meant Connie Schultz. I know I'm only the fake Editor of The Plain Dealer, but it seems a bit ridiculous to me to devote 1390 words to a profile of a returning journalist. I understand that her husband is a senator and that's unusual. But this front page story (at least on Cleveland.com, where it was listed as a Top Story) was just a paean to Schultz. How do the other journalists and writers at the paper feel about this? I have made jokes about doing a tribute issue of The Homeless Grapevine to myself. But I have never seen such fawning praise of an individual writer published by the same paper who employs that writer; at least not one that masqueraded as a feature story.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy Schultz is back. We need more people paying attention to poverty in this area, and The Plain Dealer is lucky to have her on their staff. But most papers would have just sent out a press release and maybe paid some other people to advertise her return. I suppose that since The Plain Dealer serves as Cleveland's News MonopolyTM, they figured no one else had a high enough circulation to promote the paper properly. After this, what's next? A 4 page story about how hip "Minister of Culture" Michael Heaton is, and whether or not he will cut his hair? When you're done reading it, don't miss WNCX's 17 hour tribute to the musical genius of Michael Stanley...

http://www.cleveland.com/ohio/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/116945936048710.xml&coll=2

Posted by Kevin E. Cleary,
Fake Editor of The Plain Dealer

My New Job

2007-01-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

I certainly see some challenges ahead for my tenure as the Editor of The Plain Dealer. First, there will be the wrangling over parking spots. Feagler has had his eye on Clifton’s spot for quite a while, and he won’t take kindly to me moving in. He’s been vying for it by complaining quite a bit about a hernia, and then going off on long diatribes about how they used to be called “himnias” until political correctness and voting rights for women came along.

The Plain Dealer has also taken a lot of heat over political endorsements. I’m going in with the operating assumption that other voters think like I do and vote against whomever the paper recommends. We’ll be taking the reverse psychology approach to our endorsements in 2007. Instead of telling you who to vote for, we’ll tell you NOT to vote for the candidates we support. I think this will go over much better than our previous policy: talking about how bad a candidate is, their incompetence, etc., and then recommending them anyway.

I also plan to keep a longstanding tradition alive. Regardless of the season or other world events, Cleveland Browns coverage will always eclipse everything else. If Winslow gets injured, the entire front page will be an enlarged copy of his X-ray. There are only three exception to this Browns rule: 1) if LeBron James leaves Cleveland for more money, 2) if the Cleveland Indians win the World Series, and 3) if Art Modell is finally hung by a mob like Mussolini. For instance, our front page the day after Superbowl Sunday will focus on which Browns players watched the Superbowl from local bars, and which player had the nicest mansion and hi-def television.

To those politicians fearful of a new reign at the PD, I promise we will do what we have always done. We will bury embarrassing news about politicians we like and excoriate those we don’t. Pat O’Malley’s next DUI or abused spouse will be kept from the public eye as much as we can help it. If the powers that be want us to put a lid on how many jobs and citizens keep leaving Cleveland, we’ll make sure it stays a “Quiet Crisis.” However, if Carl Monday or Ed Gallek starts talking about you, we will have to break this agreement. Just promise not to do anything colossally stupid enough to make me break the Browns rule...

Posted by Kevin E. Cleary,
Fake Editor of The Plain Dealer

Goodbye Doug Clifton

2007-01-20T08:48:00.000-05:00

Grapevine Staff Ready to Step Up

It looks like we will probably be losing Kevin Cleary, the Grapevine's Managing Editor now that the PD Editor has announced his retirement. It is a natural progression to move from Managing Editor of the Grapevine to the more challenging job of Editor of Cleveland's only daily newspaper. We are all resolved to waiting for the call from Publisher, Terry Egger, to begin negotiations with our own Kevin Cleary on his ability to construct a smoking area for hard working reporters at Plain Dealer Plaza as Editor. One day covering the front lines of poverty at the Grapevine to "On the Road to Glendale" following a group of reporters as they party their way to the College Football National Championship Game in Arizona.

Doug Clifton, as was widely reported, is retiring in June from a long career at the Plain Dealer. He brought home the bacon by delivering a Pulitzer Prize, but there were bumps in the road during his tenure. Clifton was not willing to take on the government over a couple of stories that they had government sources, but were afraid to go to press because it was likely that their reporters would have been thrown into jail on contempt charges. He was never able to convince the editors to represent the interests of the Cuyahoga County community over the business interests of a few members of the editorial board and the previous publisher. As editor, he certainly must take responsibility for some of the editorial endorsements that did harm to our community. I am still waiting for an apology for the second Taft for Governor endorsement over one of our own local politicians, Tim Hagen. By any measure and according to both Republicans and Democrats, Taft was a horrible governor and he certainly did great harm to Cuyahoga County.

Some of the inside baseball moves made by Clifton have done harm to the mother city of Cleveland. In an effort to raise circulation numbers among people who can afford to pay for a daily newspaper, Clifton has redirected reporters to the suburbs away from Cleveland stories. This has allowed huge stories within the city to get little coverage that we will all live with for decades and given mundane stories from Gates Mills a forum. The possible closing of the Third District police station, the explosion in foreclosures that the PD only recently discovered, and neighborhood wars going on over gentrification vs. housing affordability. I do not understand why the national news stories reprinted from AP, NY Times, or Washington Post reporters never explain the impact on Cuyahoga County.

In Clifton's first few years, homelessness received a lot of ink, but that wore off. Homeless people protesting did not translate to increased circulation evidently. Clifton certainly had a soft spot for human services, but was never willing to take on some of these dinosaurs in the non-profit sector on for maintaining the status quo and never solving any problems. Clifton's biography will tie him to bringing the Pulitzer to Cleveland, but behind the scenes the editors were trying to get Shultz to move away from the very stories that she won the award for. The editorial policy was certainly slanted to the business community, but I would also argue that it was hostile and even cruel to those struggling with poverty.

Clifton has kept or attracted some very good reporters to the paper. There are some talented reporters who need more freedom to bring us good stories. The daily newspaper is the leader in local news, and it is a missed opportunity to ignore the television news. The daily newspaper could do a lot more to criticize and demand standards from the other journalists in Cleveland. Competition is fine, but allowing the line between news and commentary to disappear at some news outlets has caused great harm to our community. I like the opening of the newsroom that Clifton has tried over the last few years. Are the other editors listening to the voices of poor people because of this process? See the heart of the problem is that a substantial majority of the residents of Cleveland cannot afford to buy the paper, and so the publishers market to the people who can afford to pay for the service. This turns away the other residents of the poorest city, and eventually the paper has almost no relationship with its host city.

Kevin Cleary, as the new editor, needs to do everything in his power to reach out to those who live in Cleveland. He needs to take to heart the often cited but mostly ignored maxim, "As Cleveland goes so goes the region." It should be a point of pride for Kevin that the majority of Clevelanders read the paper. With support of those living in Cleveland, an editor will have a great deal of freedom and can help the city move forward. Residents of Cleveland need to find the problems with police response time, crime, graffiti, education funding, and health care frequent topics for the only daily paper in Cleveland. They need to read voices that reflect the diversity of Cleveland from the problems of the Latino consumers trying to get groceries in the Clark Fulton neighborhood or the African American residents in the East Side trying to figure out if their local churches have forgotten about the needs of the neighborhood in favor of the middle class driving in from the suburbs. Kevin, we need the Cleveland Plain Dealer to reflect the interests and needs of Cleveland.

Brian Davis

Always Trying to Pick a Fight

2007-01-14T20:39:00.000-05:00

Channel 19 Hates Cleveland

I really believe that all the harm done to Cleveland by federal policies, foreclosures, NAFTA, and the Ohio Legislature apartheid system for funding schools are high on the list, but Channel 19 is certainly in the top 10. This tabloid news channel spreads more fear than the other stations combined. They condemn the administration on a regular basis even though the last two Mayors were very responsive to their tabloid demands. Jackson cleaned up the airport at the urging of Jimmy Olsen at Channel 19, and Campbell passed the panhandling ordinance at the behest of the station.

They routinely spread fear about crime waves, and feature the worst of our society. They routinely demand changes in the law, but never compliment the government for bowing to their wishes. They are an obstacle to progress and are an insult to the First Amendment. The most shameful aspect of all of this is that they boast being the number one television news broadcast. Now, I realize that they spin ratings, but how is this even remotely possible?

Brian

Another Award for Grapevine

2006-12-25T16:28:00.000-05:00

Eggers Picks Grapevine for 2006 Top Ten List

Robert Eggers from DC Central Kitchen (Featured in Grapevine #78) wrote about his "Top Ten People and Places of 2006" in his blog. The Grapevine finished #9, and there is a good write up about Kevin and the other street papers. For those keeping track, his #1 was the national Non-Profit Congress that Eggers is trying to start. The entire city of Burlington VT made #4. Those liberal eastern cities always get all the praise.

Brian

Proof Grapevine Read by Power Brokers

2006-12-24T19:36:00.000-05:00

Jon Stewart Reads the Homeless Grapevine

On the last Daily Show of the year 12/20/06, it was revealed that Jon Stewart or one of his writers reads the Homeless Grapevine. On Friday 12/15/06, the Homeless Grapevine went to press and came out on 12/19/06 in Cleveland. In the Grapevine, Kevin wrote this:

"At this point, I am ready to take a cue from Peter Pan and Cleveland.com's commercials: I propose we all just close our eyes, clap our hands, and chant "I do believe in Cleveland, I do believe in Cleveland..." until it comes back to life like Tinkerbell...now where is my $80,000. "

Then on Wednesday of this week, this Jon Stewart exchange:

Stewart: "The call for more troops inevitably re-raised that whole winning question..."
Clip from Bush press conference--
Reporter: "Yesterday you said, 'We're not winning; we're not losing.' Why did you drop your confident assertion about winning?"
Bush: "My comments...(pause) The first comment was done in the spirit...(pause) I believe that we're gonna win (with a Bush-style chuckle).
Stewart: "That's your Plan? Your plan is 'I believe we're going to win.' That can't be your plan!...Unless...Oh, my God...He's Peter Pan...He's Peter Pan and Iraq is Tinkerbell...'If you want to win in Iraq everybody clap your hands (pixie dust descends on the screen and Jon is clapping his hands). I know that we could do it.' (Laughing) Oh, sometimes I am such a dick.

Proof positive that Jon Stewart and the Daily Show writers are reading the Grapevine. You can too by picking up a copy at the West Side Market or by subscription. Support your local vendor by buying the Homeless Grapevine newspaper. A side note...this commentary by Kevin has generated a lot of attention in its first week. Some of our partners are not too happy about the negative reviews for the "Heading Home" Report. I hope that they will send in letters to express their anger for the readers to see the other side of the story.

Brian

P. S. There was a nice story on NPR Weekend Sunday Edition this morning about homelessness and poverty in Cincinnati's Over the Rhine District. It was a good look at homelessness that is not so dissimilar to the problems that every city faces.

Grapevine 79 Hits Streets

2006-12-19T22:13:00.000-05:00

Red Issue Now on the Streets for Holidays

Support your local Homeless Grapevine vendor during the holiday season by purchasing a copy of the new Issue 79 newspaper. You can always find the Grapevine at the West Side Market or many times downtown around Cleveland State. The paper features news stories and commentaries about voting in Ohio, the hospital discharge policies, and the Resident Council at 2100 Lakeside Shelter. There is a look at the statistics on the poorest city with Census numbers, and a current look at the two organizations that support organizing around welfare issues--the Empowerment Center and Stop Targeting Ohio's Homeless.

Issue 79 has a less controversial poem by the jungle then his last submission and an expanded section on Local News. Kevin did a nice commentary on the release of the new Heading Home report on homelessness which will soon be on the NEOCH website under solutions. There is a page on National News briefs and the overview of the buddy gray memorial down in Cincinnati. As always the Grapevine has the corner on the market for 16 pages of depression. Now available by subscription with a electronic version available as well. Check it out now. Remember that the vendors keep the profits from the sale of the Grapevine--a true microenterprise.

Brian

Troy Smith Day in Cleveland

2006-12-13T20:56:00.000-05:00

ESPN Body Slams Cleveland

Today is Troy Smith Day in Cleveland!!! We do not usually comment on sports or sports news in this space, but don't worry this is poverty related. Troy Smith is the Ohio State quarterback who recently won the Heisman Trophy. As most know, he is the former standout from Glenville High School. Today the Mayor honored him with the key to the City, and he is poised to take a national championship in college football.

On Saturday night, Troy Smith was in New York City as the expected winner of the highest award in college football. ESPN covered the ceremony under the theory that some people will watch anything having to do with sports. ESPN, certainly the finest journalists in sports, did a profile of each of the three candidates for the Heisman. The Smith profile was the most insulting piece on Cleveland ever on television. They tried to show how Smith had overcome adversity to rise to the national stage. ESPN portrayed the absolute worst aspects of Cleveland, and the images were Texas Chainsaw Massacre scary scenes. Cleo Busby of ACT said that he thought a goat was going to appear strolling down the road in Glenville like Smith had grown up in a third world country.

Not that the public should expect much from an all sports network, but someone in Cleveland should raise a stink about this Horatio Hornblower story at our expense. They spread it on thick, and made Cleveland look like Hell on Earth. ESPN needs the rabid fans of Cleveland more than we need ESPN.

Brian Davis

Sexually Based Offenders Pretending to Be Homeless

2006-11-29T10:26:00.000-05:00

Media Still Misses Boat on Sexual Predators

In a bizarre video by Eric Mansfiel d and the usually trustworthy WKYC, they attack a "loophole to hide the whereabouts" of sexually based offenders in Megan's law. According to the report, "Police are powerless to stop [sexually based offenders] who claim to be homeless." Mansfield noticed on the Summit County website that many are claiming to be homeless, and therefore have an ability to move without the reporting requirments. I do not understand why the media always throws objectivity out the window when reporting on America's last boogie men: sexual predators.

Ramona Robinson declared it, "quite disturbing," and the anonymous woman on the street said that "we should be able to chose who lives on our street." Mansfield did not correct her to say that U.S. law does not allow neighbors to decide who lives on a street ever since the KKK was thrown out of running the government in the South. Mansfield identified this as a "growing statewide problem," but he did not identify what problem he was talking about. Since the shelters in Akron will not allow sexually based offenders to live there maybe the men Mansfield identified where in fact homeless. Where was the objectivity in his report? Why did he not ask "experts" about this "claim" of homelessness? How did this get by the editor? Then WKYC throws in the towel on fairness by allowing the reporter to end the story with a comment about how disturbing this whole situation is in our community.

Why is it surprising that if every community in the state puts your picture on a website when you are released from prison with a sexually based offense that no landlord will rent to you in any neighborhood? Why is it a surprise that many then become homeless? Why would anyone pretend to be homeless to get around the reporting requirement? When is someone going to start critically analyzing these laws? When are the reporters going to report that most sexually based crimes are committed by men who know their victims not by strangers waiting near a park or schoolyard? The entire story is so charged that reporters get out of control, which has led to very bad laws being passed for the past 10 years.

Brian

Panhandling Back in the News

2006-11-26T12:27:00.000-05:00

Cleveland City Council Debates Extending Limits on Speech

The 2005 panhandling ordinance expired in October 2006 because of sunset provision. NEOCH has not raised the issue with anyone because the law is so troubling and why disturb sleeping dogs? After the Emmy award winning fake news channel reported that the ordinance had expired, Councilman Cimperman got to work. That's right, the major banks have illegally ignored Cleveland for years and we are bleeding jobs forcing people to beg for money and food, but when word comes down the panhandling ordinance expired we saddle up for an immediate posse to correct the problem. Only three days after the story aired they had a hearing on extending the panhandling policy. The new proposal is a law that expires in three years, and still curtails speech in Cleveland.

The hearing was the day before Thanksgiving and the Council called at 10:30 a.m. that day to ask about my thoughts. I could not get over for the hearing having already scheduled a bunch of meetings and not being told ahead of time. I told the Councilman that called the same thing that I said last year, "NEOCH has no issue with an aggressive solicitation ordinance, but limiting where people can ask for money is wrong." I explained that the 20 feet from an ATM, telephone, a pedestrian standing in a line or at an outdoor restaurant was a preemption on speech. If the courts say that asking for money is a constitutionally protected form of speech then there should not be restriction on where that freedom can be exercised.

I have only heard from a Plain Dealer reporter who reported that there will be one more hearing, but the proposal is the same and extended for three years. This is a bad law, and allows Police to threaten panhandlers. After there is a realization that this law will do little to help the panhandling problem, the backers will have only two choices. The popular approach in other cities is to make the panhandling laws more severe (see Akron, Cincinnati, or Dayton) . The smart approach is to find alternatives for those who turn to begging for money.

If any panhandlers need help in challenging this feel good law, NEOCH would be happy to help find legal assistance.

Brian

Food Insecurity??

2006-11-25T12:43:00.000-05:00

Homeless Now Will Be Condominium Deprived

The major media covered this issue well in ridiculing the Department of Agriculture for changing the name of hungry people to the "Food Insecure." I really have no problems with the use of the term, but the report on this story was spotty across the country. Just because government decides to use a euphemism does not mean that the media cannot use the word "hunger." I noticed the Oregon paper used "Hunger" in their headline, but most used Food Insecurity. WCPN did a nice job on Wednesday (they have a podcast on their front page right now) with a discussion about "food insecurity." Representatives of the Food Bank, West Side Catholic, and the Center for Community Solutions discussed the state of hunger in Cleveland.

The other problem with the reporting was that this new wording caused confusion among the reporters nationally. The Department of Agriculture divided the hungry population into two new categories--"very low food security" and "low food security." This made it difficult to compare previous year's reports, since these were new categories. The number of people who were actually hungry in America increased by 100,000 people since 2004. Most of the headlines said that there was a drop in food insecurity. This drop was only for those who do not have enough food on a regular basis, but were not hungry.

This is why people are skeptical of government. They change the statistics to suit their own political needs. This is similar to the Department of Labor redefining unemployment during the Reagan administration so that the numbers went down. Some commentators reflected on the holding of the report until after the election. I am sure that this report will be forgotten before the close off retail business on this first holiday shopping weekend. Politicians and media don't get excited about food insecurity, which is unfortunate. The 10.8 million people in America who are in fact hungry need some discussion about this issue. They need to discuss why it is so hard to get food stamps (thanks WCPN for raising this issue). They need to relate this to local policy and how many hungry people there are in American cities. How does hunger differ in rural and the urban settings? We all understand at the base level the concept of hunger, but food insecurity sounds like a high school science project.

Next year, in an effort to appeal to Cranky Editor Feagler we are searching for a more high brow, scientific word or series of words to replace "homelessness." Here are my entries, but you are welcome to submit your own:

1. Condominium Deprived
2. Efficiency Insecure Individuals
3. Nomadic Expeditionists
4. Transmigratory Self Contained Pioneers

The last one maybe too high brow for America. It might be better for Europe. What is your choice for the "food insecure of the homeless world?"

Brian

Why does the Plain Dealer Insist it was a Smooth Election?

2006-11-11T17:52:00.000-05:00

Homeless People Do Not Consider this a Smooth Election

I do not understand why the Plain Dealer keeps insisting that this was a pretty good election or at least better than the last election. Is it just because they got results faster then in May and so they are happy? The two precincts NEOCH staff monitored had serious problems. There were three other precincts on the near West Side that had similar disputes between the observers and the poll workers. There were 14 polling locations that had to stay open late. I can't believe that we picked out the two bad precincts to monitor and the rest were great. I think that there were widespread problems with security, provisional ballots, equipment, identification, and training of workers.

The problem was that media representatives should have been inside--not just to take pictures but to act as observers. They needed to be at selected polling places to watch the set up and throughout the day. They needed to watch instructions given to voters, and they needed to make sure that the electronic voting system was secure. Right now, only representatives of a political party are allowed to watch the process and that was less than successful in some places. Where is the Plain Dealer getting this information that everything was smooth? I view these statements in much the same way as the words of the embedded reporters in Iraq. The Elections Board picked which places media could go, and they were there for only a short period of time.

I hope that the Plain Dealer will go back and do some independent reporting on this issue. I hope that the Democratic Party will issue a report of all the problems. I hope that the Greater Cleveland Voting Coalition and Cleveland State will do some independent research on the process and if it worked. Whatever happens, the state legislature has a lot of work to do to put a real election reform law in place. Maybe the new Secretary of State can help with some of these issues and propose guidelines for the legislative branch of government. Certainly, my faith in the voting process was shaken by watching the voting process from 6 am to 8:30 p.m. on November 7.

Brian Davis

From the Holy City of Cleveland, OH

2006-10-25T13:21:00.000-04:00

Insane Opinions by Kevin E. Cleary

There was a story on NPR last night that followed a military translator in Iraq talking to Iraqi citizens in a remote village. The translator responded to their concerns in a condescending tone, repeatedly told them that they would see results when their own government “stepped up” in the coming year, told them not to worry about militias, etc. The man and his son asked the translator for a number of things that their village no longer had, such as a refrigerator and X-ray machine at their local clinic. Each request was met with, “I’ll see what I can do.” Finally, the two men asked for AK-47s to defend themselves. That request was met, and the men were given certificates proving that they were allowed to carry the guns.

Essentially, these men had several reasonable requests denied, were given half-hearted and empty promises, and after ten minutes of condescension from the Occupier, were given AK-47s by the same Occupier. I can’t imagine why we’re having so much trouble dealing with the insurgency in Iraq...

For some reason, this reminded me of how we treat homeless people here in America, and if we should just give up the pretense and try the same approach here. Already, we ask homeless people to stand in long lines to get on waiting lists, we treat them with condescension at almost every turn, the health care we provide is generally slightly better than in Iraq, and we promote the idea that things will magically become better once local governments have “stepped up” and implemented 10 Year Plans.

Really, our treatment of homeless people is little better than the way we seem to be treating Iraqi citizens. In Iraq, we invaded a country that had not attacked us, sacked their despotic leader, but then let chaos run amok. We somehow still have the nerve to question why Iraqis aren’t grateful for this, and treat them like this chaos is entirely their fault. In America, we have sacked the funding for social programs, concentrated an immense amount of wealth in the hands of a few, kept wages low, and let economic chaos run amok as jobs have evaporated.

The fundamental difference is that here, we don’t give homeless people AK-47s to defend themselves. With hate crimes against homeless people on the rise, they may need them as much as Iraqi citizens. Also, if we had armed militias of homeless people demanding social change, our government might actually respond to their needs. But, then again, probably not.

Digital Subscriptions Now Available!

2006-10-23T15:08:00.000-04:00

Now You Can Feel Safe at the Airport?

2006-10-07T12:42:00.000-04:00

Cleveland's own Tabloid TV station is at it again!

Boasting that, in January, Channel 19--Tabloid TV "challenged "Mayor Jackson to do something about the homeless sleeping at the airport," Friday night they reported that Cleveland Hopkins airport is now enforcing an old trespassing law prohibiting anyone from being in the terminal unless they are flying or are picking up someone.

Included in this 'piece' was a past interview with a woman who said she had no choice but to be there because she lost everything she owned. Another clip from May showed a homeless man sleeping on the floor surrounded by bags of his belongings with the reporter telling him to "clean this up a little bit."

Acknowledging that the city needed time because of wanting "to team up with mental health workers and others" and that the Hopkins representative interviewed had said that they didn't want to "target the homeless but get them the services that they need," 'Ace' reporter, Jimmy Olsen, couldn't resist making this last comment... "Next time you go out there to take a trip or pick someone up, you no longer have to feel like you have to keep looking over your shoulder."

Seems like I should be fearfully looking over my shoulder for those self-proclaimed 'honest and fair' reporters from Tabloid TV rather than the homeless. After all, unlike the homeless, the Tabloid TV team are (shhhhhhhhhhhhh) 'EVERYWHERE!'

Cindy
Homeless Grapevine writer

Latest Grapevine Looks Toward Future

2006-10-06T16:37:00.000-04:00

Press Release
For immediate release
October 6, 2006

For more information: contact Kevin at (216) 432-0540
or email homelessgrapevine@neoch.org

Latest Grapevine Looks Toward Future

A new issue of The Homeless Grapevine has just hit Cleveland streets! Our latest issue includes an in-depth interview with Robert Egger. Egger is the Founder of the DC Central Kitchen in Washington, DC, which collects and distributes donated food to the area while training its clients in the culinary arts. Egger is also the former Interim Director of United Way of America and spoke to the Grapevine about the history of the non-profit sector, his frustrations with it, and where he believes they are heading. He also discussed his efforts to change the sector, including the upcoming Non-Profit Congress.

Our loyal readers will also eagerly devour the profile of one of The Homeless Grapevine’s oldest and longest-serving vendors, Arthur Price. Price has been a constant presence at the West Side Market and on Cleveland streets for several years. The article details his individual struggles throughout life, and his family’s inter-generational battles with cancer.

Families are also struggling to stay together when faced with homelessness, according to a commentary in our latest issue. The commentary decries the county policies which forces families to break up and by forcing them to stay in different shelters. This commentary also chastises the religious shelter, Zelma George, for requiring parents to provide proof of marriage just to gain admittance.

Homeless individuals won’t be able to stay at the airport either, according to a brief in our Local News sections. The Local News also discusses the City’s ongoing discussion about Bird Flu, as well as the brewing battle over a local Furniture Bank. Additionally, we examine the priorities of the Second Homeless Congress, and the Cuyahoga County Election Board’s Misinterpretation of the new voting regulations.

This misinterpretation was also a big concern at the September meeting of the Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance Meeting in September, which we also cover in our latest edition. The article also discusses Cuyahoga County’s extremely high foreclosure rate, and the need for a Hosuing Trust Fund in the county.

As always, Northeast Ohio’s Street newspaper has much more, including original commentaries, poetry, photographs, and a new cartoon from local artist Mike MacMillan. The Homeless Grapevine is always available at the West Side Market, The Whispering Willow Coffee House near Lakewood on Madison and W. 117th, at the NEOCH offices, or from any licensed vendor. A complimentary copy is enclosed for your records.

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Channel 5 Finds "Sexual Predators"

2006-10-03T17:35:00.000-04:00

Bad Reporting on WEWS TV

WEWS has done some intensive investigation (searched the County website) and came to the "shocking revelation" that over 100 sexually based offenders "live" at 2100 Lakeside Shelter. This is not news and Joe Pagonakis, who claims to be on my side, interviewed one staff person about the number of offenders and the 960 feet from a school. He reported that there is some thinking that they are going to move the men. Where he got this information no one knows?

So, what information did Pagonakis not report? First, the County sheriff is the one that sends sexually based offenders to the shelter. They have previously screened the shelter for "placement." Where should these guys go? They cannot find housing anywhere else in the city that is not within 1000 feet of a childcare facility. It can be assured that the shelters do not want sexually based offenders inside, but their mission is to provide a safe place not to enforce bad laws. Pagonakis never reported how bad this law is for the public and the children it is intended to protect. Most sexually based attacks against children are done by someone that the kids know and trust. Keeping men 1,000 feet away does not protect children; it just makes it harder for unbalanced people to find stability. We have now added new complications to these troubled individual's lives, and many are forced to live in shelters and on the streets.

How many sexually based offenders can we fit in the lobby of Channel 5, so that Joe can keep an eye on them? I am sure that the shelters will not mind turning the responsibility of watching the hundreds of troubled individuals kicked around by the state government over to the news media. Then we can find out if Channel 5 claim of being on "your side" includes sexually based offenders.

Other News...
The new Grapevine is out, and it is the best value for your $1 in five years. 20 pages for the price of 16. It is another colorful issue with a great deal of information. There are poems by those who live on the streets as well as a feature on one of our long time vendors. We have an extended interview with the founder of DC Kitchen, and a commentary on the shelter policy of breaking up families. It is on the streets now and sold by local vendors who keep the profit from the sale of the papers.

Stories the media is missing...
We comment in this section on the news media coverage of local poverty issues. I am going to start listing news stories that the media is not covering. For this week...The Housing Choice voucher program opens once in five years here in Cleveland. The applications for the lottery are out for only two weeks. Last time 36,000 people applied for 6,000 vouchers. CMHA sent out 75,000 applications to area libraries and government offices and nearly all were gone in a couple of days. By the first weekend, all the libraries had given out all of their applications. It is going to take 5 days to get new applications printed from California, and then the low income of Cleveland will only have a couple of days to pick up an application. No word right now if CMHA is going to extend the deadline or at least extend the distribution date past the deadline. This is a good story that is not covered by the media. Over 100,000 are looking for applications for a lottery for a house in the poorest city in the United States, and are having a hard time.

Brian

America's Darkest Day

2006-10-02T00:10:00.000-04:00

Media Misses Saddest Day for Democracy and the Rule of Law

In the scandal over Representative Mark Foley of Florida and the other news of the day, the media failed to mark one of the worst days for democracy in the history of the United States. The passage of the bill that gives the President the ability to interpret the Geneva Convention and prevents detainees from seeking help from the courts is one of the darkest moments in American history. The story was covered from the angle of the deal that was struck, but gave little mention to the historic shift this marks. The reporters did not even comment how this new law when signed will make it difficult for them to do their jobs. They will not have access to citizens of the world that our government abducts or makes disappear. These Congressional so-called "moderates" gave away the farm, and Lady Liberty received a mortal wound.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was recently in Denver and said, "If we want to live in peace, we have to realize we are all members of the same family." He went on to praise the United States to the students gathered for a conference on Peace, "You taught us no government worth its salt can subvert the rule of law. We believed you," he said. "That's part of what you have as a gift for the world. Then how can you commit Guantanamo Bay? Take back your country." We have undermined all of our leadership on the world stage for the last 100 years. We are now the country operating outside of UN conventions. We are the country making people "disappear." The idealism expressed with the creation of the Peace Corps have disappeared with the passage of this bill. What took forty to sixty years to build has been lost in the last five years. This terrorism trials bill is the final nail in putting arrogance and disdain for the rest of the world into U.S. law. Why is the media silent?

Brian

Super Monday

2006-09-10T16:52:00.000-04:00

Brian may or may not remember saying he was going to provide a Photoshopped Carl Monday as SuperHost

back in June.

But I remembered... enjoy. -Kevin

A Response to PD Columnist O'Brien's Witless Piece

2006-09-08T01:58:00.000-04:00

Commentary by Kevin E. Cleary

I usually try not to criticize other people named Kevin, especially other writers named Kevin. It’s this thing we Kevins try to do for each other, as a professional courtesy. But Plain Dealer columnist Kevin O’Brien’s recent column was probably the worst drivel I have read in years. It reminded me of why I stopped reading The Plain Dealer in the first place.

His piece was titled

Let's play dead Air show? Come on, peace activists, show some imagination!

I will say that O’Brien definitely showed some imagination in this case. He conjures the mental agility to condemn peace activists who were arrested for praying (yes, you read that properly, praying!). Now I knew that cell phones can disturb certain airplanes, but I had no idea that the power of prayer was such an immense threat to our nation’s finest declassified military equipment. Someone at the Defense Department should look into that.

He deftly criticizes the irrelevance of these protesters while promoting the hype that they would turn into “disturbing-the-peace” activists. Funny, when I read the whole thing again, I discovered that he doesn’t even mention the praying. It was probably just one of those silly little cases of conveniently ignoring facts, like he accuses the peace movement of doing.

Another ironic thing is that O’Brien himself is quite playful with numbers while accusing the activists of inventing the Iraqi civilian death toll out of thin air. The Washington Post extrapolated the Iraqi civilian death toll to be at least 100,000 people in October of 2004. Granted, The Washington Post may as well be The National Enquirer compared to the fine pages of the venerable and inscrutable Plain Dealer. O’Brien states “Even if by some chance he picked the correct nice, round figure out of the air... the civilian body count would make Saddam snort in derision.” I understand that we’re less evil than Saddam, but is that really the standard we should be using? I mean, if we stay under 6 million, we can still claim to be less evil than Hitler, and if the casualty currency inflates to Stalinist proportions... the sky’s the limit!

Speaking of the sky, O’Brien also uses some clever bits of metaphor to call the 9-11 terror attacks an air show, and suggests that the peace activists should stage one of their own. I knew some neocons were fond of violence against people who didn’t attack us, but this just seems to be taking it too far. I especially enjoyed the White-House-Talking-Points-Memo-style pivot from bashing critics of the Iraq war to the chest-thumping mention of 9-11. I could almost hear John Ashcroft singing “Let the Eagle Soar” in the background while reading it.

The most confusing part of his rambling diatribe was O’Brien’s lead-up to the 9-11 pivot: “I took a look back in The Plain Dealer archives to see what kind of coverage the Peace Show got when it started, back in 2001. Couldn't find a syllable.” At first I thought he was trying to make the point that he hated Hippies in the pre-911 world. You know, before it was fashionable. After all, if the Air Show in 2001 was also on Labor Day weekend, the protests would have occurred before Iraq attacked us on September 11, 2001... No, wait, I’m sorry, I think it was France that attacked us then.

Anyway, it got me thinking about the massive number of other war protests that happened before we actually invaded Iraq. I realized that Mr. O’Brien was right. There was barely a syllable of coverage in any of the newspapers about those, especially not in Cleveland’s only daily newspaper.

My favorite line though, had to be the Limbaugh-esque “On the way home, buy yourself a flag -- an American one -- and hang it out. Resist the urge to burn it this time.” Sure, it’s cliche’, but that line made me feel really sad that I missed the Peace Show. If I’d known that the peace protesters were going to use the power of prayer to set a flag on fire, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. That must have been awesome! I just thought there were going to be, like, warplanes flying and stuff, and I saw no reason to pay another $20 bucks to see equipment our taxes already funded.

O’Brien’s column is a prime example to me of the right-wing’s continually contorted logic: Anyone who is against the war in Iraq wanted Americans to die during 9-11, is simultaneously irrelevant and dangerous, and is really just a closet member of Al Qaeda. He applauds the arrest of five praying peaceful protesters, and then claims that this somehow shows the First Amendment is “alive and well.” So, apparently that whole bit about “freedom to worship,” and freedom to “peaceably assemble” is really just window-dressing for the important part of the First Amendment: O’Brien’s freedom of “the press.”

Get Your Car Washed on Friday to Help a Good Cause!

2006-08-23T15:11:00.000-04:00

Mayor Jackson Puts Cleveland Back on Map in Latest Homeless Grapevine

2006-08-15T12:58:00.000-04:00

Press Release

For Immediate Release: August 11, 2006
For more information, Call (216) 432-0540, or email kevincleary@neoch.org

A brand new issue of The Homeless Grapevine has just made its debut on Cleveland streets! Issue 77 features an exciting first for our paper: an interview with Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson. After years of hostility from previous administrations, including Mayor White’s efforts to shut the paper down, Jackson shared his vision for “putting Cleveland back on the map” and his plans to help homeless people transition into stable housing and employment. Our readers will also find coverage of the recently held Truth Commission in Tremont, which “put poverty on trial.” Inside, Domestic Violence Center Director Cathleen Alexander responds to the Grapevine’s call for more DV shelter beds in issue 76.

Cleveland’s Voice for Social Justice has much more, including:

* Funding shortages have forced Lutheran Metro Ministries to close Community Legal Services, and how other legal programs are responding.
* Coverage of the first-ever Homeless Congress.
* Our Editorial about Akron’s latest draconian panhandling law. The Grapevine featured the most extensive coverage of Cleveland’s panhandling ordinance last year in its series, “Can Cleveland Handle Panhandling?” The series recently earned The Homeless Grapevine honorable mention in the 2006 Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism.
* Jackson, Miss. Mayor Frank Melton however, won’t be winning any awards from homeless advocates any time soon. A special guest-commentary from the National Coalition for the Homeless’s Acting Executive Director Michael Stoops castigates Melton for his “homeless curfew” and other actions by comparing Melton’s policies to forced internment of Japanese citizens during WWII.

As always, Northeast Ohio’s street newspaper has original commentaries, photographs, poetry, state and local updates, and more. The Homeless Grapevine is always available at the West Side Market, The Whispering Willow Coffee Bar near Lakewood on Madison and W. 117th, at the NEOCH offices, or from any licensed vendor.

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Brett on Radio A Bad Idea

2006-08-13T07:39:00.000-04:00

Regina Brett Takes Over WCPN on Fridays

I have said it before and I will say it again, I do not like newspaper people on the radio. There is good reason why their first job was a newspaper gig. It is clear that there is a skill to hosting a radio show that a writer does not usually have. Now, Regina Brett has taken over the Friday 9 to 10 .m. slot on WCPN. This is a very bad idea, and I hope that it ends soon. She is being championed as a Rock Star coming to the lowly radio station. At 10 a.m. on Fridays, WCPN features that news roundup hosted by Diane Rehm or her endless supply of substitutes, which I like and try to listen to every week. That is the kind of thing WCPN should try. Regina Brett, Bill Rice, and Tom Beres could sit around with a qualified moderator to talk about the local news. That would be a good show. (Please no Dick Feagler!!!) It can be nothing like Feagler and Friends where the moderator is the main show. The guests should be the stars not the blow hard moderator.

I just don't like Brett's preachy sound on the radio. I don't like listening when it sounds like she is lecturing me. I also think that she thinks that she is smarter than the rest of us. She seems bored by the callers and guests because she knows everything in the world. The only thing that she struggles with is technology and dead air and microphones. I have actually have come to enjoy listening to Cindi Duetschman Ruiz at 9 a.m. I don't like the topics that are chosen as much as I used to, but Cindi does a good job keeping the show moving.

Brian

Homeless Grapevine Receives Honorable Mention

2006-08-05T08:06:00.000-04:00

The Homeless Grapevine was recently entered in the Knight-Batten competetition for innovations in journalism. 109* entries were considered, and many of the winners involved technological innovations in journalism, such as a database of Congressional votes, a website analyzing health news, and more.

The Grapevine's relentless and extensive coverage of Cleveland's panhandling ordinance received Honorable Mention from the Knight-Batten Advisory Board Judges. According to their website, our series, Can Cleveland Handle Panhandling? received a "pat on the back for [a] job well done." You can see the winners and other honorees online

here.

For more of our extensive coverage on panhandling, check out the Editorial in Issue 77 of The Homeless Grapevine, which has just hit Cleveland streets. Issue 77 also features our first-ever interview with a Cleveland mayor, Mayor Frank Jackson! Be sure to pick it up at the West Side Market, the Whispering Willow Coffee Bar on Madison & W.117th, or from any licensed vendor. Full press release coming soon! -Kevin

*Number corrected. Originally, I believed that over 200 entries were submitted, but upon re-examination of J-Lab's website, I have revised this to reflect the correct number. -Kevin

Free Press vs. Dawg Pound

2006-07-21T21:45:00.000-04:00

Browns Retaliate Against Bogus News Station

This is a real tough one for us here. As you know, we at the Homeless Grapevine hate Channel 19 and the Homeless Coalition boycotts this tabloid news station. Now, we find ourselves in a difficult situation over the freedom to report the news.

It seems that two weeks ago the only station in town to broadcast the 9-1-1 tapes of Al Lerner's relative calling for help over the drowning of his niece was Channel 19. The fake news channel decided that the viewers must hear the anguish, fear, and sadness of a prominent Cleveland family. This angered the owner of the Browns so much that he cancelled Channel 19's contract to broadcast the pre season games and all access and the designation of official local station of the Cleveland Browns. I am sure that the Browns warned the networks not to broadcast the tapes, and only 19 wanted the ratings so much that they went forward.

The Browns are not the best corporate citizens in the world, and Channel 19 is the worst news in Ohio. Do we support the freedom to broadcast anything that is news worthy even it is a little creepy and voyeuristic? Or do we support the Browns for taking a stand with a station that long ago crossed the line? Will the other stations stand by the Channel 19 or jump at the chance to broadcast the games? This is a silly question, because principled stands went out with button shoes. Every other station will jump at the chance to broadcast the games.

I can't decide which evil is worse. We will take a pass on this, but it is nice to see Channel 19 suffer for their horrible pseudo-news programs.

Brian

The British Have Taken WCPN

2006-07-10T23:31:00.000-04:00

Does the BBC Think that They Own the World???

I have to admit that I have a huge bias against British people throwing the King's English at me, and so I am very disturbed by the programming trends at WCPN. Maybe its because they still carry that silly concept of a King or the fact that we created this wonderful country after casting off English oppression, but I really can't stand listening to BBC or British announcers. I always feel like they are lecturing me. I know that it is not politically correct, but I can't get over it.

So WCPN has decided to catch the British wave and now has four national programs, and then that British and Irish local music show on Sunday. They have the BBC World Service overnight, a new program everyday at 1 pm called The World Have Your Say and then their 4 p.m show The World. Finally, on Sunday they have that annoying word game with the annoying and catchy name My Word. Which raises the question: Do these guys think that every news program with a British guy must have the word "world" in it?

We beat these guys, and now we have to be told how to look at the world by the British. I mean aren't there any Americans who can tell us about the world? Are we so hated in the rest of the world that no American can report on world news? Isn't there any labor news or poverty news that we could hear about that would be more relevant to Cleveland? How many British people are there in Cleveland that they need so much BBC news? They cancelled a show centered on news for the African American community for The World Have Your Say. The 1 p.m. slot has featured African American hosts for five or six years, and now we have some opinion show from around the world. Bring back News and Notes or some program about the problems in America's urban cities--public radio.

Brian

TV 5 Stages the News?

2006-07-05T17:03:00.000-04:00

Cameraman Fined for Staging Flood Coverage

Here is proof that we need a media summit...Two weeks ago in Huron County, a Channel 5 cameraman was accused of asking young people to ride their bikes behind a reporter who was talking about flooded streets. Cameraman Gary Abrahamsen pleaded no contest because he said it would be too expensive to challenge the charge. Plus he was facing the words of the kids and two adults who witnessed Abrahamsen asking the kids to ride their bikes in the flooded street. Finally, the police and all of the viewers of Channel 5 saw the kids riding their bikes in the raging water, and thought where are these kid's parents?

This whole story is bunk. The female reporter had to be involved in setting up a good background for her report and at least should have been identified and charged. It may be too expensive to fight in court, but integrity is priceless. The only thing that you have in the business of news is your credibility, and so if this was a false allegation then Channel 5 had an obligation to fight the charge. Anyway, this is the reason we need a neutral party to pass judgment on violations of journalistic ethics. Someone needs to protect readers/viewers/and listeners from bogus news. There needs to be some disciplinary organization for journalists so that we can have some confidence in the information that we are receiving. If there was a neutral third party they could investigate the charges, and the station and cameraman would be obligated to respond. A $145 fine for staging the news is pathetic for undermining the credibility of information exchanged over the public airwaves.

Brian

Grapevine Will Not Reveal State Secrets

2006-07-02T17:41:00.000-04:00

We Need a Media Summit to Work Out the Rules

I watched William Keller of the New York Times on Face the Nation today on CBS. As one of the least senior members of the press, I am deeply troubled by what is going on with journalism in America. We need a major gathering of journalists to hammer out some standards. We need bloggers, news readers representing television, independent weeklies, magazines, print and radio journalists to develop standards, punishments for infractions, and a complaint process. Here are where we find ourselves in 2006:

We have had scandals of fake news at nearly every major media outlet in the country from Jayson Blair to the Dan Rather with his Bush National Guard story.
The viewers of television news are increasing hearing opinions seeping into the news especially at the local level. We hear the anchors calling people scum bags or acting as though the subjects of news are guilty upon arrest.
Are the television news readers really journalists or entertainers?
Journalists have a spotty record of protecting the first amendment. See our posts about panhandling and the press, but there are plenty of other examples.
The Wall Street Journal editorial criticized the New York Times for publishing the government invasion of financial records, a story that the WSJ news department also published. This is certainly a new low in protecting an ideology over free speech.
The media has missed huge stories over the last six years including the bogus Weapons of Mass Destruction, the total failure of the intelligence community to figure out huge life transforming events, the purchasing of democracy by corporations, and the destruction of the American safety net.
The purchasing of news with public relations firms, government propaganda, and video press releases passed off as news is becoming increasingly prevalent.
The problems of opinion pieces looking like news, and confusing readers or viewers is an issue.
The Washington Post's reader representative misrepresenting facts and openly hostile to the emerging blogger community is one example of the poor state of the ombudsman. This resentment of the blogger community also goes deep into the heart of most newspapers in the United States.
The last two wars undertaken by the United States have involved "embedded journalists." Has this worked and served the best interest of Americans?
Many of the journalists make guest appearances giving their opinion on television and radio programs. How do they maintain balance if they are constantly preparing for their next television appearance?

Anyway, we have huge issues that need addressed. Our only solution is to write a letter to the editor that may or may not be published. We have all this space on the internet, why can't all of our letters be posted? Why can't there be some punishment for journalists who sell out the First Amendment? Why can't we see the results of a mistake like we did with CBS News? The journalists of America are losing our trust. I feel sorry for Mr. Keller and the New York Times for having to endure the attack by the administration, members of Congress, and even other media, but he needs to respond with more than just "we are a convenient target." We need a Continental Congress for the First Amendment before 2008.

Brian

City Mission Gives Latest Grapevine Thumbs Down

2006-06-25T10:50:00.000-04:00

Current Grapevine Editorial Raises Concern

Grapevine #76 is out on the streets, and has generated some controversy. In an attempt to offer some balance, Grapevine staff reached out to those groups and offered space in the next issue. I ridiculed the Office of Homeless Services Advisory Board as basically a discussion group, and we offered the chairs space to rebut my comments. We offered the Domestic Violence Center space to provide their perspective on the decrease in DV beds. The big issue in the current Grapevine was the four letters regarding City Mission's shelter for families called Laura's Home and the editorial we wrote. We hope that all these groups take advantage of our offer and provide their side of the story.

We did get a call from the City Mission director who was disturbed that we did not try to resolve this issue through the Coalition out of the public pages of the Grapevine. The two editors who wrote this editorial thought that it was clear that we had a long history with the City Mission and private complaints did not work. Newer City Mission Director, Rich Trickel, felt that we should have given the grievance process a chance before doing the editorial. He also said that we had confused the readers because it looked as though we had attempted to resolve these issues unsuccessfully and then wrote an editorial.

I am sorry for the confusion, but we painstakingly detailed our process for complaints in the editorial for the purpose of saying that our normal process does not work for City Mission and St. Hermans. From the day we put the City Mission staff on the "Wall of Shame" for meeting with the Mayor of Cleveland to talk about his policy to sweep homeless people, neither the Coalition nor the Grapevine have had a good relationship with the Mission. Their staff have called for my resignation, and have started groups to undermine and oppose efforts of the Coalition. We have filed grievances on behalf of clients, and have published previous negative reviews of the City Mission shelters without a reply. So, City Mission staff felt that since their was a new administration, we should give them a chance before going public with our concerns.

I knew that their was a new administration, but I did not know that the staff wanted a new relationship with the Coalition. I also do not feel the editorial was that significant. It clearly stated that "if these letter writers are correct..." then there needs to be better oversight. We do not say that the allegations are true, but they should be investigated and all shelters need better oversight. What is so wrong with that? I hope that they take the opportunity to respond and give their opinions on the letters by former staff.

Brian

Latest Grapevine Prays for Change

2006-06-20T16:40:00.000-04:00

Press Release
For Immediate Release: June 17, 2006

For More Information, Call: (216)432-0540 ext. 102 or email kevincleary@neoch.org

Latest Grapevine Prays for Change

The latest salvo of social justice journalism has just been launched onto Cleveland streets: Issue 76 of The Homeless Grapevine is now available! Our front page describes a recent health care forum in which politicians listened to a litany of grievances against our stratified and fractured health system, and also applauds the outreach efforts of John Carroll University students in an article about the Labre Project.

Inside, readers will discover a scathing commentary about how Cuyahoga County is failing victims of domestic violence through paltry funding and a severe lack of appropriate shelter for women and children fleeing abusers.

Issue 76 also features the unveiling of a brand new community service: translating letters written in government-speak into understandable language. The contrast between the recent Office of Homeless Services's letter to the Mayor and reality is laid bare in this revealing piece.

Cleveland's Voice for Social Justice reaffirms its place as an essential community bullhorn for calling attention to the myriad problems of homelessness in this issue. Several letters were sent to Grapevine staff detailing a number of issues with the new management at Laura's Home, a program of theCity Mission. Shocking tales of intimidation, harassment, fear, and punitive discipline streamed in from ex-employees, a former director, and a resident. We responded by publishing their letters, and with our focused Editorial calling for reform.

Another one of our original commentaries describes how the pathetically low federal minimum wage is encouraging undocumented immigrants to stream across the border for employment, and discouraging most Americans from taking those jobs. The commentary describes an innovative concept called the universal living wage which ties the federal minimum wage to the local cost of housing.

As always, Northeast Ohio's Street Newspaper has much more, including original poetry, like the recent winners of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless' s Poetry Contest who are featured in our center pages. Don't miss our original feature articles, photographs, commentaries, state and local updates, and more! Pick up Issue 76 of The Homeless Grapevine at the West Side Market, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless office, or from any licensed vendor.

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Rough Weekend to Watch TV

2006-06-13T22:18:00.000-04:00

Al-Zarqawi Death and Autopsy

On every channel, both local and national news, we had five days of All Zarqawi all the time. Why the framed picture of a dead terrorist? Why the excruciating detail about everything from the autopsy, to the mission, to the final moments. I had to tune it all out. I was afraid that any minute they were going to string Zarqawi upside down in the middle of the green zone. I was sure that they were going to announce that American forces were going to walk by and spit on him and throw rotten fruit at him. Certainly not a high point for the American media who feasted on death, blood, and the rain of bombs on top of the terrorist. Isn't this jubilation over death similar to the terrorist's reaction to their exploits?

Brian

Press Losing Their Backbone?

2006-06-11T23:07:00.000-04:00

Hardly Guardians of Free Speech These Days?

There are some disturbing trends over the last year with the media compromising free speech in the United States for ratings or cowardice. How is there not more outrage over the domestic telephone monitoring by the National Security Administration? It seems to me that they should be advocating revolution or at a minimum impeachment of the Attorney General. Then ABC News and others claim that the government is spying on the telephone calls of reporters and still not much anger.

Their colleagues were jailed last year in protecting sources and no protests from the media. They are prevented from talking to anyone at Guantanamo Bay--no protests? They are slaughtered at unprecedented numbers in Iraq, and yet are criticized for not reporting the happy news in Iraq. There were no protests of all the secrets kept by this government from the energy task force to the Bush Administration's relationship with Jack Abramoff or Tom Noe. What has happened to the media?

Locally, those who are unpopular do not share the same free speech protections as the rest of society. Carl Monday attacked libraries for allowing people to view porn on public computers. Sure, this is creepy and we should be allowed dope slaps for anyone we catch looking at porn in the library, but the media should never be on the side of shutting down the free exchange of ideas, content, or words. Anyone who violates this principle should be kicked out of the business, and forced to dress up like SuperHost and read copy for the third place local news station in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The Plain Dealer never came to the defense of panhandlers last year when the City passed the offensive law restricting their speech. Then a few weeks back they supported the state legislation limiting protests at military funerals. The PD should never be on the side of limits on speech. Yes, protesting at a military funeral is highly offensive, but how did we get to this point in our society that this activity is necessary? Free Speech Zones. We have pushed protesters so that they are no longer even seen by the President, so what choice do they have? The media and courts have allowed government to trample on the Bill of Rights in the name of public safety. The only way to get attention today is to disrupt a military funeral. Everything else is either ignored or not in the same zip code. Don't get me wrong those nutjobs protesting at the funeral of a fallen soldier have a special reservation in hell, but it is inappropriate for the guardians of free speech to condemn this activity.

If I had the time, I would give you a photoshop version of Carl Monday dressed as SuperHost. "I can't believe you did this to me. You read my news."--Ron Burgandy

Brian

New Grapevine Out

2006-06-11T21:01:00.000-04:00

News of the Streets or Soul Crushing Depression??

The new Homeless Grapevine is out and on the streets. The best (and only) regularly published newspaper entirely dedicated to homelessness and poverty has a new edition available. The Grapevine was the only media to attend the health care hearing at Trinity Cathedral, and the story appears in the new Grapevine. We feature a story of the Labre project at John Carroll University, and the story shocking decrease in Domestic Violence shelter beds in Cuyahoga County.

There are four letters about a change at Laura's Home written by former staff and clients. It seems that the change in leadership and the movement of Angeline Christian Home into the shelter has had a negative effect on the shelter. The Grapevine editorial board is asking for reform and oversight of this privately funded shelter.

We translate a letter to Frank Jackson from bureaucratic language into English. There is the summary of local and national news about homeless people, and a special maze by Copy Editor Tanya Goff. So, go get the latest Grapevine at the West Side Market or other locations in the Downtown area. We have had 75 issues to learn, and we are finally starting to get it right.

Brian

Irresponsible Journalism

2006-05-23T22:55:00.000-04:00

Almost Made it Through Sweeps!!

Sweeps week ends this week, and we almost made it without a blatant attack by the local media on homeless people. Leave it to Channel 19 to stick it to homeless people for ratings. With the recent attacks on homeless people and the insurance scam resulting in the murder of two in LA over the last month, one would think homeless people would deserve a break. Jimmy Olsen and the crew at Channel 19 are just embarrassing to the profession. Can't the real journalists in the city take action and condemn these guys? I mean if a psychiatrist is constantly acting like a fool in public the licensing board would suspend then prevent the psychiatrist from ever practicing.

Jimmy Olsen was at it again with homeless people sleeping at the airport. He even told one guy to clean up and said that this guy sleeping at the airport smelled. Is this really necessary? What kind of crazy journalism is this? The Mayor was great: saying things are happening, and just because no one told Channel 19 does not mean nothing is happening. The worst part of these stories is the interview with the terrified pedestrian-- "Man on the street" stuff. A woman was afraid to actually sit down on a bench because of the number of homeless people at the airport. I kid you not. The airport has to be the most stressful place on the planet. We have terrorists, problems with the airplane, fear of being forced to sit in the middle seat between a drooler and an insurance salesperson, and now the fear of sitting on a bench after a homeless person, all taking place at the airport. They have no shame.

What would Mayor Olsen have the real Mayor do arrest homeless people for purely innocent behavior? If the police arrested these airport sleepers, then the Coalition would sue. The City would be in court for a couple of years and then discussions of real solutions would be impossible with all the lawyers in the way. The other news readers and reporters need to separate themselves from these jokers at Channel 19. Jimmy Olsen gives the entire profession a bad name.

Brian

Successful Annual Event

2006-05-06T19:07:00.000-04:00

Awards, Gifts, A Look Back and a Look Forward

The big news from last night's NEOCH Annual Meeting that was well worth the price of admission was the reaction of Kevin Cleary winning the gift certificate for some free automobile gas. The Coalition gave out the awards for Volunteers of the Year to two attorneys who volunteer with the Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance Program--Michael Shapero and Michael Farrell. Marcia Bufford was named advocate of the year because of her six years on the board and her previous work as a VISTA with NEOCH. Tom Beres was named Journalist of the Year by the Coalition for his consistently fair treatment of homeless people over the years.

Beres gave an acceptance speech about how grateful he was to receive this award. He talked about the current state of the media. He said that he always tries to treat people with respect including those down on their luck. Beres talked about one of the previous blog entries posted on this web diary. He talked a great deal about his attempt maintain ethical standards in his reporting. He also mentioned his most recent story about homelessness when he caught up with the Mayor while he toured the local shelters. Renita Jablonsky, a great reporter in her own right, acted as host for the evening. She did a great job with keeping the event flowing, and introduced Tom Beres.

Phyllis Cleveland said a few words as the new Council person from Ward 5 even though she was not feeling well. She felt that this was an important event, and came out while trying to recover from a bug. The crowd and Board were very appreciative of the kind words by freshman Councilwoman Cleveland. We got to catch up with old friends during the wine tasting.

The Coalition presented their Annual Report including highlights from last year and a brief look at the future. This will be available on the website in the very near future. Overall, it was a great event. The 50/50 raffle was successful especially when the Rasey's donated their winnings back to the Coalition. Teri' Horne, Denise Cooper, Johanna Keenan, and Meg Wilson did a tremendous amount of work to put the meeting together. Good music, good food, and good company--wish you were there.

Brian

Why Don't TV Stations' Apologize?

2006-04-29T22:00:00.000-04:00

Homeless Man Did Not Shoot a Police Officer at Hopkins

The first reports from WKYC-TV and then others were that a homeless man was killed after shooting a police officer at Hopkins Airport. This turned out to be wrong. When was the last time you remember a television station apologizing for making a mistake? WKYC had on their website for the entire day that a homeless man was responsible for the shooting. They did not issue a correction or an apology that I could find. (This was not Tom Beres who NEOCH is giving an award to next week at their Annual Meeting--whew.)

I think that the Police identified the man as having loitered in the airport before the shooting, and the media just naturally assumed homeless. Because they used the word loiter, the press immediately thought homeless. Then there is this press virus where one media will use the other media as a source, and eventually it becomes a "fact." This is especially true at a "breaking news" story. Rumors get reported as facts, journalists become gossips, and the story becomes one giant game of telephone. Thus is born the Daily Show and the ability to make fun of the news with "fake news."

If they would just admit their mistakes with the same gusto and graphics that they reported the bad information in the first place, we could accept the mistakes. We need to give the media some lessons in reporting on poverty issues. They always seem to report the myths and stereotypes. Why can't they just say they are sorry? Anyway, the Plain Dealer and Associated Press did not seem to use the word homeless with any of their stories. They should be congratulated.

Brian

Homeless Coalition Annual Meeting

2006-04-25T14:21:00.000-04:00

Coalition to Give Out Award for the Journalist of the Year

Tickets are available for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless Annual Meeting. There will be the best collection ever of quality reporters in one location in Cleveland. The Coalition is giving the Journalist of the Year award to Tom Beres of Channel 3. Also, outstanding journalist, Renita Jablonski of WKSU will be the host for the evening. Grapevine staff and writers will be present at the event rounding out the collection of great journalists gathering in one room.

The Grapevine also assisted in judging a poetry contest for the Annual Event. The two winners will be present at the Wine and Words annual meeting and will read their poetry. All the top submissions will be published in the next Grapevine (Issue 76).

Time is running out to sign up for the Coalition for the Homeless Annual Event "Wine and Words." If you want your name listed in the Annual Report reservations need to be in by Friday. Final Reservations need to be made by next Thursday May 4 at http://www.neoch.org/annual_event_signupform2006.htm.
May 5 at Massimo da Milano 6 p.m. Wine Tasting and 7 pm the event starts at the Corner of West 25th and Detroit Ave.

The Evening will feature:

50/50 raffle
Hosted by Renita Jablonski of WKSU-FM
Winners of the NEOCH/Grapevine Poetry competition
A few words from Phyllis Cleveland Ward 5 City Council Member
Awards to Tom Beres of Channel 3 for Journalist of the Year
Advocate of the Year: Marcia Bufford
Volunteers of the Year: Michael Ferrell and Michael Shapiro who volunteer for Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance.
Fine Italian food from Massimo da Milano
And a look back at the last year by the Coalition for the Homeless staff and
Board.

For information, please call Teri' Horne at NEOCH at 216/432-0540

Brian

Larry Petrus's Ideas for Improving Cleveland

2006-04-20T12:44:00.000-04:00

Dear Sirs: This concerns the downtown area. First of all, Putting up a lot of boutiques and more restaurants isn't going to do it. All those do is fill the pockets of the owners or whoever put up the money and cater to the tastes of suburban folk. There's enough of those kind of eateries already and they only segregate people from the rest of the community. There's a parking lot, I believe , just west of the square that could be converted into a park. There and the square should be made family friendly where perhaps some outdoor sculpture designed for kids are installed. A competition could be held for that. The idea is to attract families who can stroll down paths or sit on benches and just converse with others. Instead of having art shows in some far off town south of Cleveland, invite them to set up on the Square on special days in the summer, and have an art Fest with music. Also invite the art group of Cain Park to do the same. Get a jazz group out of the dark bistros in the Warehouse District and have them play on the Square, or even a combo from the Institute of Music. Homeless Grapevine could set up a booth. Some homeless should be screened and organized to take turns to man the booth and perhaps serve coffee and just show folk that they are real people too. The whole idea is People. Do things for the people and not just think in terms of money and providing investment opportunities for entrepreneurs. What we need to do is not for them and their profit, but for the people for their soul. That's the key to success for Improving Cleveland. Sincerely, Larry Petrus, Rocky River.

Come Celebrate Daniel Thompson's Birthday

2006-04-07T17:15:00.000-04:00

An Announcement from Daniel's Friends

Dear Friends/Poets,

Daniel Thompson, Cuyahoga County Poet Laureate, would have turned 71 years on April 21. Join us in a night of celebration in a free concert performance by Drumplay with his comrades of Cleveland + Kent - wordsmiths/friends who knew and loved our poet-warrior. Daniel succumbed to leukemia on May 6, 2004.

This will be a benefit concert for The Homeless Grapevine, a monthly newspaper (to which Daniel contributed), produced and distributed by the homeless through an empowerment project of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.

All proceeds will benefit this NEOCH newspaper, and its continued operations. Limited edition CDs/cassettes and books/posters of Daniel Thompson and Drumplay (and other artists) will be available for purchase to help this worthy cause.

Freewill donations will be accepted; and a representative from NEOCH is attending to talk about issues facing the homeless in 2006.

WHEN: April 21, 2006 from 7-11 p.m.
WHERE: Algebra Tea House (Little Italy) Cleveland, Ohio
2136 Murray Hill Road
(216) 421-9007

WHY: You know why!

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
James Onysko
james@drumplay.com
(216) 429-1152

Kevin Cleary
homelessgrapevine@neoch.org
216-432-0540

Delores Manley's Idea for Improving Cleveland

2006-04-06T14:54:00.000-04:00

Clean up the abandoned buildings and renovate them into small apartments and let the people who cannot afford high-price rent pay what they can afford. For a small room, include utilities and use the money for cleaning and renovating other buildings and so on. Even though there are homeless people out there in the city of Cleveland, at one time they had jobs like contractors, remodelers, plumbers, and etc., but their luck has gotten the best of them. These people do know how to fix up businesses, paint, etc. And have job training in the buildings where people reside, so there would be no need for them to pay for transportation or worry about the weather.

My example of how renovating abandoned buildings will work: if a person could pay at least $100.00 a month and the building has 13 rooms for rent then that will be $1300.00 paid every month on the small loan for materials for remodeling, taxes on the building, etc. What is left over can be put into a fund to buy and rehabilitate more properties. Also take donations for buildings being fixed up and have job training in the building so the tenants can eventually find better jobs and move into nicer places. In the mean time, the owners of these buildings would see $1300 a month coming in, instead of a vacant building that is just costing money.

Tim Ferris's Suggestions for Improving Cleveland

2006-04-03T15:54:00.000-04:00

CORRECTION- We posted the link to Mr. Ferris's blog incorrectly in our original post. The following post is unmodified except for this correction. -Kevin 4-7-2006

This was originally posted on Brewed Fresh Daily (one of the links on the left side of our blog) in response to our recently posted Editorial. Thank you to BFD for posting it, and thank you to Tim Ferris (http://timferris.blogspot.com) for responding.

One Response to “Cleveland’s Voice for Social Justice: Cleveland Needs Your Ideas to Improve City”

1.

Tim Ferris

says:
April 1st, 2006 at 7:26 am

Just on the streetscape side of the issue, take out the parking meters, the advertising kiosks (can we see the numbers on these monstrosities, please?), and all newspaper boxes. Get all wires & cables underground, in all the neighborhoods, into utility trenches. Ban overnight parking, as they do in the suburbs, wherever it’s remotely possible–have the streets clean and vacant at least once each day. The police say it’s a tactical plus. Institute a program of street cleaning, as they did years ago in Atlanta. Dissolve 85% of all the 501c3’s, and give 10% of the savings directly to the poor and the homeless, so they’re at least not poor any more and homeless only if they want to be. Put the rest of the savings into safety and maintenance. Dream up programs to incentivize use of public transportation–emulate a lifestyle like that in Boston, or New York City.

Cleveland Needs Your Ideas to Improve City

2006-03-31T16:06:00.000-05:00

An Editorial

The Homeless Grapevine has proudly borne the self-proclaimed title of “Ohio’s Most Depressing Publication” for over 12 years. The competition has gotten a little crowded since the sunny coverage of the Clinton years has waned in most of the “liberal media,” but our laser-like focus on homelessness and poverty and the fact that our home-base is in Cleveland have helped us keep our title from these upstart challengers.

In addition to this tradition, we have also been one of the premier outlets for homeless people to get their voices into the media. In a media market that typically only mentions homeless people during the holidays or for scare-mongering and/or the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes (see our Local News on page 7 for Channel 19’s most recent egregious example), we have tried and succeeded at being a diamond in the rough.

Often, the concerns of our writers and commentators have been geared toward improving specific programs, or airing grievances about the conditions in certain shelters, or the condescending and harmful attitudes of certain “care providers,” etc. While all of these have been important to serving our mission, we feel that we can provide a platform on wider issues in the community as well.

Too often in Cleveland’s history, our leaders have sought silver-bullet fixes to Cleveland’s myriad woes. Each initiative, from Gateway to building a Convention Center, is billed as being the unique solution that will magically solve Cleveland’s problems in one fell-swoop. Ideas are proposed behind closed doors, and decisions are frequently made with little community input, and usually even less input from homeless people.

As Mayor Jackson’s interest in taking an unannounced tour of homeless shelters would suggest, we may finally have an administration in this City that is not openly hostile toward us or homeless people, nor do we have an administration eager to ignore the issues and concerns expressed in our paper. Thus, the time is ripe to widen our forum and give those who struggle to survive in this city a chance to propose more ideas to make Cleveland a healthy and stable community.

We want to hear everything: ranging from ideas about new community projects to tearing up all the parking meters or easing vending license fees. We want to hear any idea that could improve Cleveland in any way whatsoever, for specific people, or Cleveland in general.
For instance, Cleveland’s nationwide reputation is still marred by our river that caught on fire more than a generation ago. Why don’t we turn that around by pushing for innovations to make Cleveland simultaneously environmentally and economically friendly? Our large number of fast-food restaurants could easily be tapped to make Cleveland a leading bio-diesel capital. We might even be able to get Willie Nelson to move here.

Our universities could pioneer tele-commuting programs for commuter students that could easily be retrofitted for downtown companies. Parking and traffic congestion would be greatly reduced, and many of our citizens would be freed from the necessity of car-ownership or filing onboard the RTA.

We could open up homes that were closed from drug-busts during the White administration to rehabilitation by homeless people. The sweat equity they would put into their homes could be assigned a financial value, and homeless people in Cleveland could move from shelters into the beginning stages of home-ownership. The possibilities are endless, and there is no telling from whom great ideas and subsequent accomplishments will come.

It would seem that everyone except those who actually live in Cleveland recognize our City’s potential. A large part of that has to stem from the disenfranchisement of our citizens, especially our homeless citizens, from participating in Cleveland’s planning processes. Homeless people have a huge stake in seeing Cleveland succeed because it will mean more jobs, better-paying jobs, will become available for everyone.

Back in June of 2005, The Homeless Grapevine started a weblog, http://homelessgrapevine.blogspot.com. Thus far, it has been a forum in which we have discussed the media’s coverage of homeless issues, but we would like it to be more than that. We would like to open up this weblog as a means to collect and publicize the ideas of those who seek to improve Cleveland. The best entries will make their way into our humble pages, which get sent to intelligent movers and shakers in Cleveland, as well as people in high office in state, local, and federal government.

Working together and sharing ideas, we can all make Cleveland a better place for everyone. We can actually take advantage of all of our potential and astound the naysayers in other cities. We can’t change the weather, but we can change almost everything else if we work together.

To submit your ideas for improving Cleveland, send email to homelessgrapevine@neoch.org. Please write “Improving Cleveland” in the subject line.

Or, send a letter to
“Improving Cleveland”
Homeless Grapevine
3631 Perkins Ave. #3A-3
Cleveland, OH 44114

All submissions will be published on our blog, and the best will be reprinted in future issues of the Grapevine.

Latest Grapevine Gives Bullhorn to Homeless

2006-03-31T15:57:00.000-05:00

Press Release
For more information call 216-432-0540
or email kevincleary@neoch.org

A fantastic new issue of The Homeless Grapevine has just been dropped on Cleveland! Our front page explains the dangers faced everyday by homeless people and singles out Ohio as the 4th most dangerous state to be homeless. The article, based on the National Coalition for the Homeless’s Hate Crime report, mentions the beating of a homeless individual on Public Square by two young men with a stick, and another individual who had a brick thrown at him as examples of Ohio’s intolerance toward homeless people.

Further evidence of the dangers of homelessness can be found in our center pages, where we mourn the individuals who died from homelessness in Cleveland in 2005. Over 40 individuals were known to have passed away in 2005, and a candlelight vigil was held in December to honor them.

On a slightly more positive note, an interview with Rick Oliver and Ann Poston of Mental Health Services details the efforts MHS underwent to house approximately 850 men, women, and children who came to Cleveland last year in the wake of the Gulf Coast hurricanes. According to the interview, Cleveland was the only area of the country to house 100% of the Katrina evacuees seeking assistance, and did so with a paltry $200,000 from FEMA.

But, for those in New Orleans, the situation is decidedly more grim. A commentary submitted via email details former staff writer Pete Domanovic’s experiences in post-Katrina New Orleans, saying at one point, “I have never witnessed so much corruption and mismanagement in my life.”

Domanovic’s commentary is one of several in Issue 75 that were submitted from distant locales, proving that Northeast Ohio’s street newspaper is a premiere venue for getting the voices of homeless people into the media. For instance, in this issue, we catch up with Joseph Smith, a man we interviewed in Issue 72 (“Local Homeless Man Lives Outside of Shelter System”), and he describes the struggles he has faced since moving from Cleveland to Kentucky last year. Additionally, former Grapevine writer and author Bridget Reilly (Real Life in the Marginal World) contributed a commentary to this issue in which she discusses the historical roots of US poverty policies and the negative effects they still engender today.

Inside, readers will also discover that Mayor Frank Jackson took an unannounced tour of Cleveland homeless shelters in an effort to better understand the issues facing the homeless community. Mayor Jackson met with elected representatives from the various shelters, and stressed that he would work with homeless people, care providers, and the Coalition for the Homeless on the large number of issues which came up during the tour.

As already discussed, The Homeless Grapevine always features original commentaries. An enlightening commentary about the Bush administration’s “six year old war on American Cities” takes the Bush administration to task for its efforts to “weaken cities politically and starve them by cutting finances.” The commentary brilliantly weaves a segment from Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report to underscore its message.

One of the running themes of Issue 75 is the idea of grassroots democracy, and increased citizen participation. To that end, our Editorial asks homeless people and all of our readers to submit their ideas to improve Cleveland. Citing initiatives from Gateway to the controversial Convention Center, the Editorial derides the historic tendency in Cleveland to seek “silver-bullet” solutions to its woes, and calls for greater citizen participation in Cleveland’s future. The Editorial promises to publish all idea submissions on The Homeless Grapevine’s weblog (http://homelessgrapevine.blogspot.com), and will reprint the best suggestions for improving Cleveland in future issues.

As always, Cleveland’s Voice for Social Justice has much more, including original poetry, feature articles, photographs, and more! Pick up Issue 75 at the West Side Market, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless offices, or from any licensed vendor.

###

Where did this Euclid Story Come From??

2006-03-24T13:02:00.000-05:00

Media Drops the Ball of Euclid Voting Rights Story

So, the Bush Justice Department has filed a complaint about voting problems in Euclid, Ohio. This is the first African American discrimination complaint filed by the Bush administration in Civil Rights division of the justice department. There was a 2001 complaint that was started during the Clinton administration, and a suit against African Americans suppressing white votes in Mississippi. It must be really bad in Euclid if the Bush administration is actually acting. So, how is that I have not heard anything about this problem from our local media? These slackers at Justice picked one city in the entire United States to come down on so that it seemed like they were actually doing something before Congressional hearings begin in April, and this is the first I heard about problems in Euclid?

I talked to a few other people who read the daily paper every day, and no one had heard of this problem in Euclid until today. Imagine that we had all those voter suppression activities in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004, and this is the first complaint filed by the Justice Department. There has never been an African American selected for the Euclid City Council despite one-third of the population are African American. We need the PD and public radio get on these kind of stories before they are broken by the Bush Administration.

Brian

NEOCH to Give Media Award at Annual Meeting

2006-03-20T20:43:00.000-05:00

NEOCH to Award the Journalist of the Year 2005
This blog contains information on the sad state of the media. Every once in a while we compliment the media on their coverage of poverty. At the NEOCH Annual meeting, the Coalition will give out an award to the Journalist of the Year 2005. The tickets for the Annual meeting are reasonably priced and will take place at the lovely Massimo da Milano restaurant on May 5, 2006. Please join the Coalition as we look back on 2005 and look forward to 2006. For more details call NEOCH at 216/432-0540.

Not To Criticize Real Democracy But...
I love the Meet the Bloggers and listen to them whenever I can. Those guys do a great deal of quality work for free, and it feels wrong to criticize. They are the future of real democracy, and most likely the future of journalism. I listened to the Eric Brewer interview, and have to say that it left a lot to be desired. It just seemed like a lot of tossing of softballs, which Brewer seemed to indicate at the end of the interview. I am not a big fan of the corporate biased PD, but they cannot be all wrong all the time with regard to Brewer. I mean no one asked about the inappropriate crack about the former Mayor's weight. What could be so important that he had to break in to the Mayor's office to be sworn in during the Christmas break? He ran Onowar's campaign for Mayor, did he not realize at that point there was something wrong? Why was he so vicious with people during his journalism days? The guy was charming, but so many totalitarian dictators in our past were as well.

The New Grapevine will be out within a few days..

A Few Updates

2006-03-11T13:49:00.000-05:00

Mayor's Visit, Red Cross Month, and Bear the Police Dog

Channel 3 did an excellent overview of the Mayor touring the shelters. Beres made the point the Mayor said that he wanted to be judged on how the City treats the least of us, and he was following up on that pledge. Good story and good digging out that story since neither NEOCH or the City did a press release before the event. If we could just convince them to get rid of non-news from their program (sports, weather, entertainment) it may be worth sitting through the commercials. On second thought, no. Full coverage of the day at the Clevelandhomeless blog.

Sorry, we have not posted for a week, but it has been a very busy week.

Sun Press News Courier Herald...
There was a small piece (big for Sun News--small for the NY Times) about a split vote over the proclamation of Red Cross month in Cleveland Hts. Three out of the Seven council people voted against the resolution. What an embarrassment for the Red Cross. A symbolic act that means absolutely bubkis passed on a 4 to 3 vote. If I were the Red Cross, I would have asked that the resolution not come to the Council to avoid the embarrassment. I would provide a link, but could not find it on their website.

Which brings me to the poor state of the Sun News on the web. Please separate from Cleveland.com at your earliest opportunity. It takes forever to get to the Sun Section of Cleveland.com, and then only a limited number of stories are available. They also do not have a good way to search just the Sun News or to see a flavor for the news across all neighborhoods. You have to go to each Sun news paper that you want to read and then read the headlines--"Is Independence part of the Sun Herald or is it part of the Courier, forget it?"

Dog Bark Busts thieves
Why is that no media mentioned how great it was to have Commander Wayne Drummond as a resident of the City of Cleveland, so that while he was walking his dog he could solve crimes? During this last week, Drummond was out in his neighborhood off duty from his job as Commander of the Sixth District, walking his dog when he spotted two teenagers breaking into a car. Doesn't this undermine the argument by the police that ending the residency rule will have no impact on the City? The story was only mentioned as a cheers and jeers in the Plain Dealer, and there was no mention of the residency rule. If we allow the police to move out of their city of employment as the State legislature recently voted, "Bear" the Dog might never have received his cheer from the PD.
Brian

Acting Homeless And No Sweeps Week???

2006-03-02T23:28:00.000-05:00

Famous Tabloid Personality Becomes Homeless For a Night

I can't believe they bumped this story from sweeps week in February. Sharon Reed dressed up as a person with many layers of clothing to spend the day "homeless." I know that this stunt was done weeks ago. It is remarkable that they held this story until March. Hey, Sharon, if you are going to try your hand at panhandling use some of your natural gifts--not so many clothes. While the stereotype is that panhandlers are drunks who can barely talk, most panhandlers are business people that use their talents to get as much money as possible. The goal, afterall, is to stand outside in the freezing cold or burning heat for as little time as possible by getting as much money as possible.

So, she did a little panhandling because, as we all know, most homeless women are panhandlers? Then she went to the women's shelters to make fun of those who snore, those who do not like the food, and those who pay no rent. She certainly did a good job criticizing the women who have been in the shelter for 2 years and have had the nerve to complain. She met a suspected racist bully. In case you did not get the message: this woman deserved to be punished with homelessness (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). She kept her self respect for her one night of homelessness and did not complain about the charity that she was receiving. My hero--Sharon Reed. She was floored that people would still be homeless with "all the government programs that [she] had just learned about." Did she cross over into the twilight zone? Because I have worked with homeless people for 12 years and am not aware of any government programs for non-disabled single people. No, Sharon, public, assistance for "lazy people" was squeezed out of the system over a decade ago. I am sure that to Sharon Reed this was like crossing into the twilight zone. It was a disgusting display of shallowness to be sure.

On Friday, I would like to see Ms. Reed dress up in a suit and pretend to be a journalist. She could talk to other journalists in the city about why they continue to work even though most of them don't make much. She could go around and try to get subscribers or advertisers like other journalists? Then sleep in her car to follow up on a lead provided her by a shady guy in dark glasses while criticizing her bosses who do not understand the art of journalism.

The most disgusting part of all this story is that we live in the richest country in the history of the world and she condemns a women who expects more. We see money, waste, materialism every night on television, and this is pounded into us from a young age. Then we show up at the shelter having lost nearly everything and Sharon Reed is angry that we are demanding, "More please." How dare the peasants on the bottom bunk expect better food, better treatment by staff, or government help? How dare the peasants (who are Sharon Reed's viewers) become angry? It seems that maybe the shelter sold the women out by allowing Channel 19's Diva into the facility. Is it possible staff cannot stand to see the women complain and stick around the place for two years? It would be improper for the staff to condemn these women, but they can have a women who spends more on herself on Friday night than most of the women make in a year come in and do it for them. Can't the real journalists in the country patrol themselves and bounce out tabloid stations like Channel 19 and Fox News to restore honor to the profession?
Brian

How About Labor News on WCPN?

2006-03-02T23:02:00.000-05:00

Every Day We Hear Business News, but What about the Other Side of the Issues?

Every Friday WCPN has 5 or 6 minutes with Scott Ralston on local business and every night a half hour with Market Place. Then an hour on some weekend business report at 3 p.m. on Saturday. That is a great deal of time on business news. How about some balance in this huge union town? How about at least a weekly show on Union issues like mine safety or Wal Mart's impact on our community? How about an expose' on the Teamsters policy of forcing the temporary workers (even those working only one day) at the IX Center to pay a $100 initiation fee while they get no benefits? How about a look at the Air Traffic Controllers after 25 years of disbanding of the PATCO union? There is plenty of news from the labor movement. How about some balance from our public radio station?

Brian

Thank You to the Plain Dealer

2006-03-02T22:27:00.000-05:00

Plain Dealer Story on our Quarterly Teach In

A big thanks to the Plain Dealer for the story about our Teach In from Monday 2/27/06. The article talked about the number of churches that go down to Public Square and attempt to feed homeless people. This is a huge issue considering the number of people who need food who stay at 2100 Lakeside and the Community Women's Shelter. Harvard Study Group Coordinator, Jane Campbell, first raised this issue. It is troubling that she never followed up. We certainly do need some coordination of these services. We need some order Downtown, and we need the churches, synagogues, and mosques to take back the leadership of solving homelessness. For too long they have been relegated to handing out band aids when they need to be the lead neurosurgeon on this problem.

Anyway, the Teach In was successful with 42 people attending. A good panel of homeless people and some wonderful information from the local homeless services providers. We are updating our website to reflect some of these ideas for volunteers in the community. Next one will focus on homeless women look for more details on our website.

Brian

Not Much Local News

2006-02-25T12:53:00.000-05:00

Is WKYC Channel 3 the Only Real News Station?

Why was WKYC TV the only television station to play the full State of the City Address by the Mayor? This seems like it is an important enough event that other stations should have broadcast the entire speech. I was not home, but did watch it on their website. I am not sure if it was only on their webcast or if they showed it on TV as well, but it was good that they felt it was important enough to have the entire speech broadcast. Thank you, but next time how about leaving the three partisans at home. We don't need to hear from Patmon, Weingard, and Eckhart. Three former politicians are the wrong people to comment on the state of the city. If anything they are part of the past that helped get us in the state we are in. How about hearing from a few teachers, or a janitor, laborer, and a temp. worker on their reflections on the Mayor's speech? Next time, maybe. I still think Tom Beres is the best of the television reporters.

Brian

Plain Dealer Congrats

2006-02-19T14:10:00.000-05:00

Plain Dealer Gives Space to a Homeless Individual...

There was a real fine piece in today's Plain Dealer. Of course, I am biased, but it refreshing to hear from citizen journalists (the basis for the Homeless Grapevine). Richard Swartz, one of the men who was sleeping at the airport, talked about his experiences. He wrote about how rough it was in the shelters. He talked about the reasons for sleeping at the airport. It was a very good piece--check it out in today's Forum section of the Plain Dealer. You should even spend the buck fifty to see the picture that goes with the story. It is a pic. by Scott Shaw that seems to represent how society has grown to ignore homelessness with a blur of three men in front of a white brick wall with a homeless individual sleeping on the sidewalk.

I hope that Mr. Swartz is rewarded with a good paying job for bearing his soul on the pages of the PD. He brings up a few issues that are constantly ignored by the mainstream social service providers. The need for pay to stay places with some degree of privacy, and the need for places that homeless people can store clothing and important documents. After 9/11 it became harder to afford storage. Greyhound stations became off limits and the other places with lockers raised their prices or closed all together. We had a homeless guy working on this issue in the past, but nothing ever materialized. I hope that Mr. Swartz keeps talking about these issues. Most homeless people are so traumatized by the experience that they never reflect on them after they find housing. Good luck Mr. Swartz, and thanks for the words.

Brian

Rating the Television Websites

2006-02-18T18:11:00.000-05:00

News Stations Websites:

Since we try to comment on local media, and it is very difficult to watch the local television stations with all the commercials, I rely on their websites for updates. So I am going to rank the three television news stations websites:

WKYC-TV Channel 3 Grade C+
They have a pretty clear and easy to use website. It seems as though there is a great deal of content missing, or it is quickly removed to avoid clutter. It would be better if they were archived by date. Their news section is available after only two clicks from their main site, which is good. They have both written content as well as some video content. There is not a great deal of clutter on the site. One problem is that the video is denied by Norton software so those have to be disabled to view the videos. This is not an issue for other video content on the web. They also do not have the commercials before viewing the video which is good. We get to see both the investigative stories and the best tv political reporter Tom Beres. Overall fair with room for improvement.

WEWS-TV Channel 5 Grade C
Their website is pretty clean and easy to use. There are very few videos available. Most stories are written content only. There are very few videos on the site. I like the news archives so you can view stories by the day they happened. The site seems to have all the news and investigative stories available. The big problem is that you have to disable Norton to get the videos to work. They have the commercials before the video, which is very, very bad. The other issue is that I could not get it to work using Mozilla. The videos only seem to work using Internet Explorer. They are very small with video distortion even when small. Leon Bibb looks like an alien from another planet with their video player. Needs work and they need more video content since they are a television station.

WJW-TV Fox Channel 8 Grade D-
Almost not a website. They have very little content, and no videos. They actually use AP stories for their news summaries. They do provide a portal for Fox TV national news, which lowers their score by one entire grade. Easy to access, but the layout is not very impressive. They do have the annoying ad in the same space as the content. When clicking on the archive the first thing that you see is some survey. The archive is below this form, which is easily missed. No chance to see any local Fox news reports or investigative reports. Very useless website. It is very hard to make fun of Fox 8 if they do not provide us the content.

Pretend News Station Review:
Channel 19/43 Tabloid Website Grade B-
Setting aside the poor content that is a sorry excuse for news they actually have a pretty good website. In fact, they have the best compared to the three real news stations. It is a little cluttered, and it would be better if they archived the story by date. The videos run without turning off Norton and they are clear. They lose points for having an advertisement before the video starts. When I click on a video, I am asking for that content, not an ad then that content. It is deceptive to put the advertising first. They seem to have all their stories on your website including those that are made up or exaggerations. They have a good feature that a viewer can click which videos they want to watch so that they run one after the other. Start doing real news and they would get to compete with the other television websites.

Brian

Coordination of Fundraising??

2006-02-11T16:56:00.000-05:00

How about an ideastream Reservoir?

In the past before the flood of good will that created the ideastream, there was no coordination of fundraising. So, when WCPN spent way too many hours asking for money one could switch to WKSU for relief. The same was true when the more sedate WKSU did their fund raising. No longer. For some reason, they are coordinating their fundraising and they seem to fall on the same days. This week we were treated with the valentine's day fund raiser. There are large numbers of single people, a great deal of divorced people, and those unhappily married who find Valentine's Day the worst day of the year. In fact, that group may be a majority. Do we have to tie fund raising to such a depressing day for so many?

Brian

A Solution to NPR's Panhandling

2006-02-09T22:54:00.000-05:00

Kevin E. Cleary

Clearly, NPR’s fund raising strategies need to be improved. Apparently, public airwaves were one of the few places Cleveland’s horrible Aggressive Solicitation Law didn’t cover in its prohibitions. As the Operations Manager for a program of a small non-profit, I understand that raising money is hard. But I would like to offer my humble suggestions here to relieve other listeners and to assist NPR’s fund raising efforts.

Much like the technology already exists for the United States to become more energy-independent (ethanol or bio-diesel hybrids, you hear me Detroit?), there already exists a technological solution to NPR’s seemingly rapidly recurring financial doldrums: the V-chip. If you were to effectively implement this tool of censorship, NPR’s pledge drives could disappear, in more ways than one.

Along with the other fabulous gifts NPR provides to donors, like coffee mugs and Driveway Moments anthologies, you should offer a specially modified V-chip. The V-chip will have a timer on it which equates roughly to the amount of money someone has donated. The V-chip will then block donation solicitation programming on NPR for a specified amount of time. Listeners who pony up with some funding get to skip the pledge drives. Free-riders have to endure the guilt-a-thons.

For instance, at the $30.00 level, a loyal listener could be rewarded with a month’s worth of nag-free programming. At the $500.00 level, a loyal listener could be given the gift of a year without pledge drives and their choice of a year without Prairie Home Companion or Tales from Lake Wobegone. If you’d like to reach conservative pockets, you could offer a “Red”-chip for $1000.00 or so that blocks all criticism, constructive or otherwise, of the Bush administration and its policies.

I think this solution works to everyone’s benefit. NPR will gain significantly as more donations flood member stations like WCPN, loyal listeners will get a pass on the pledge drives, and I will have the satisfaction of helping to keep NPR’s engaging and informative programming on the air. All I ask in return is another fantastic coffee mug and a free lifetime pledge drive pass; or failing that, some free air time to solicit money for The Homeless Grapevine.

When is a Blog Not a Blog...

2006-02-08T21:59:00.000-05:00

Is the Plain Dealer political blog really a Blog??

I just got back from Washington D.C. and checked in on the Cleveland.com site. If you start a blog and do not allow comments is that really a blog? Are they afraid that it will damage their ego if some jerk calls the "almost-bloggers" a jerk? I do not understand why some of the notes are not covered as stories in the real paper? Do they not have enough sources to be considered legitimate journalism? There are all these different voices covering politics in the almost-blog, but there are only a couple of stories in the actual Plain Dealer about politics. What are the rest of these guys doing at the paper? Are some of these almost-bloggers janitors or mechanics at the paper? I like the insight, but I do not understand any of it. There is no explanation of the standards used for these "almost-blogs."

Brian

Are They Sending Us Secret Codes....?

2006-02-08T21:54:00.000-05:00

Lots of Sexual harassment on WCPN

I could be wrong, but I do not remember any stories about sexual harassment on WCPN in the last few years. Now, in the last three weeks we have had at least two maybe three hours dedicated to the subject. Are the women at the station sending us a secret coded message? Is there some bad behavior going on at the station and these shows are a call for help? Should we call the police?

Brian

Let the Sweeps Weeks Begin

2006-02-05T02:38:00.000-05:00

The Tabloid TV Station Opens with a Body Check

Sweeps weeks opens with Channel 19 out for blood and it does not matter if an intern gets hurt. They had the nerve to do a live feed from in front of Fox 8 headquarters off East 55th to bring us the hot story that months ago an intern was sexually assaulted. This is a horrible crime that should not be cheapened for ratings during sweeps weeks. Would this have made the news if this intern at any other company in the city, and would the story have been held until February sweeps weeks? The "report" allowed some cheap shots at the competition under the guise of caring about a young intern.

Again, we have the issue of creating news where it does not really exist, which seems to be an epidemic at Channel 19. The worst was the soap opera style re-enactment of the events. [By the way, we are not watching these painful assaults on television news, but downloading them online.] If William Randolph Hearst were alive and involved in television, he would own a Action 19 News in every city in America. If the attack on Fox 8 is the first of sweeps week, what do we have to look forward to with future broadcasts? A human sacrifice or maybe just a re-enactment of an execution?

Brian

2006-01-31T15:52:00.000-05:00

Sunday Plain Dealer in Record Time

2006-01-29T12:34:00.000-05:00

Sixteen Minutes to Look at the Entire Sunday PD

Record time to plow through the entire Sunday Plain Dealer hoping to find a piece of journalism or opinion piece that is engaging. I start out in the "Forum" section, which is actually hard to find these days. Debate on residency law interesting in the letters, but everything else boring or badly written or both. Go to the metro section again very little of interest. Maybe one story that was of any interest. Then the voluminous front page section, and not one thing interesting. Don't pay then you do not get to play with Petro--Is that news? How about an expose' on the fact that men dominate the play by play announcing in major American sports? Or dedication of some ink to the revelation that America is not held in high regard in the world? Anyway, some promising headlines in the front section but nothing panned out. Nothing in Arts or that hip section called PDQ. And finally Business and Sports were a waste of space this week.

A new record 16 minutes to get all the way through the entire paper. There is no way it is worth $1.50. I keep hoping that maybe there will be something of interest in all those pages. Something funny or that keeps my attention beyond the headline or something that is captivating. I want to know about the new Mayor settling in. I want to know about county development plans, efforts to bring jobs to Cleveland, or interesting people who are making change. How about a look at how all these boring stories in the front section effect Cleveland? How are the elderly doing with the new Medicaid rules in Slavic Village or at Riverview apartments? I want to know what Campbell is doing now. What is happening in the fight against AIDS in our community or TB? There are just so many interesting stories, and I just have to wonder on Saturday night when they put this paper to bed are they proud of the content or is it just another job? In the age of the internet: content is king. If you cannot give us original content that we cannot find a thousand other places you will die. I want those 16 minutes back by the way.

Brian

Two Quick Points on Local Media

2006-01-25T20:56:00.000-05:00

Praise for Scene and WCPN Still Needs Work

Just so we are not accused of only presenting negative impressions of the local press. There were actually three good articles in this week's Scene Magazine. Three is my personal threshold for "worth the price of admission." Yes, you are saying that those publications are free, but that would be wrong. I always have to wade through an overwhelming amount of advertising fat to get to some red meat. Anyway, good article about the museum and the bad decision to close for one year or more. I hate having the museum closed. I truly miss it. If there were only an Aquarium in town that I could go to? The one thing they missed in the story is how can we afford a new prom dress for the Art Museum at the same time MOMA is going to move? I am sure that somehow they are going to stick all of us with the tab. What about a rule out of the parent's handbook for all playgrounds (artistic or otherwise) that once they turn eighteen they are on their own?

The second good story was the story of the cops protecting their own. Actually, any story with a Terry Gilbert quote is good. How much do you want to bet that you can choose a Terry Gilbert silhouette for target practice at the local Cop shooting range? They do a good job for the most part, I just wish that they would root out the bad cops on their own, and not defend those with anger or race issues.

The third story was about the car dealerships scam of jacking up a person's credit score after they leave the lot. This was a good story because my old work neighbor Phil Althouse was quoted. Props to a good lawyer fighting the good fight. On the scale of scummiest jobs on the planet car salesman is number 4, so what do you expect? Still a good story.

T__ed t_ lis_en to WC_N, but th__ kep_ __tting in _nd _ut

Paul Hackett was on WCPN this morning and they still have not corrected their technical problems. It still keeps cutting in and out. Embarrassing. Hackett sounded good and will be tough competition for Brown. Dan, when you summarize a person's answer try to make it less confusing not more. For example"So your answer is 'yes'." If it takes more words to summarize the point then the original answer, you have stopped communicating effectively.

Brian

Forgot to Comment on the Aquarium

2006-01-22T11:15:00.000-05:00

WCPN Featured an Hour on an Aquarium in Cleveland

On Tuesday, WCPN dedicated an entire hour of precious public airwaves time to the proposition of recreating an Aquarium here in Cleveland. There were a large number of questions that did not come up that should have. I sure do not want to stop progress or prevent people from boosting the tourism industry, but how about a fair share of resources to those struggling with poverty? If Cleveland is one of the poorest cities in the United States and at least one-third of the populations is living below the federal poverty level, then in a democracy shouldn't we spend public resources to directly benefit the poorest in our community in the same proportion as the population? In fact, the funds that go to the wealthy in our society who do not need public assistance could be redirected to poor people. This small percentage would not have much of impact, but the symbolism is important.

Anyway, the Aquariums that were cited as models Baltimore and Boston are $21.95 and $17.95 for adult admissions. Certainly, not within the budget of the majority of the citizens of Cleveland. So, shouldn't the reporter should have asked, "Is it appropriate to spend public dollars on a tourist attraction in a city with so many huge problems?" Didn't the Boston Aquarium have serious financial problems and have to layoff 20% of its staff in 2003? Didn't the Detroit Aquarium (101 years old) close last year, and they are trying to fund raise to re-open? Can we support two aquariums in the same region in two struggling cities? With the Oregon, Tampa, and Long Beach Aquariums struggling to survive in cities that have oceans, how do we expect to make this work in Cleveland? Anyway, it seemed that there was too much cheerleading and not enough critical thinking about this issue.

The fundamental problem is that when there are a large outlay of public resources the people who pay the piper should be able to enjoy the tune.

Brian

Important Business

2006-01-21T21:26:00.000-05:00

Good Luck in Finding the Reader Representative

So if you click on Ted Diadun's picture or the "Read it Now" link on the front of Cleveland.com news section, you get the December 12 Reader Representative story. It is actually very difficult to find the current story from the reader representative on the Plain Dealer website. You can go to the newspaper search and get his stories, but that seems to be the only access. So, he has written three stories in 2006. (Nice work if you can get it.) The three big stories were bias in the newspaper, which was actually interesting in an inside baseball kind of way. The second story was about the use of the word "sucks." Who cares? And the first story was about how they got the mine story wrong like nearly every other paper in the country. As we continue to say, there are so many issues, the reader rep. could write a story a day and not address all the problems.

King Arthur: I am your king.
Woman: Well I didn't vote for you.
King Arthur: You don't vote for kings.
Woman: Well how'd you become king then?
[Angelic music plays... ]
King Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. THAT is why I am your king.
Dennis: [interrupting] Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
Brian

Channel 19/43 Banned by NEOCH

2006-01-17T17:07:00.000-05:00

Clean Up Your Ethics before You Call

This is not new news, but the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless has long ago stopped talking to Channel 19 and 43. We have made fun of them for three months on this blog, but there is a serious side to the harm caused by this tabloid style broadcast. They call people punks, perverts and thugs on their newscast every night before these people are tried or sometimes even charged. For example, those evil young people who beat to death a homeless person in Ft. Lauderdale were identified as punks. NEOCH staff would never defend these young monsters, but we are certainly not neutral on the matter. The news and news people are the Fourth estate of government, and are observers to society, crime, and government. They are the neutral observers who are instructed to treat suspects as innocent until proven guilty. What if the police had arrested the wrong person? Would Channel 19 apologize for calling these young people punks and thugs? How do you make it up to someone for labeling them a pervert to millions in error? As much as we were not big fans of some of the things that went on in the previous administration, the treatment of the previous Mayor was wrong and inappropriate. It is voyeurism that we know we should not look at, but can't help it. It is the Jerry Springer Circus pretending to do news. There is no way that any self-respecting journalist could work for this outfit.

Anyway, NEOCH long ago banned Channel 19/43 from our weekly press release list. We do not e-mail or call their reporters, and today we have decided not to respond to calls from their reporters. Somehow, they found out about the Symeon Hurt memorial and showed up. We did not invite them, but they came anyway. It would have been inappropriate to turn them away at such a somber event. We could not stand them always making out homeless people to be criminals, sex offenders, and the root of all our city's problems. That older Foghorn Leghorn guy who does crazy commentary rants about how unsafe the downtown is because of homeless people contributed to our position on Channel 19. Certainly, Jimmy Olsen making up news stories has contributed to us banning the station.

Today, a self-identified "news reporter" called seeking comment on the Convention Center evictions. We ignored the call. I talked to the Plain Dealer, Channel 5/ONN, Free Times, and Fox today, but we have decided to ignore any tabloid entertainment outlets. There are many who would say that any publicity is good for the cause. The problem is that the TV outlets have a great deal of power, and very little opportunity for democracy. They do not have a "letter to the editor" section. They do not have any feedback mechanism, and the FCC has not removed a television station's license since...well...never. Fairness is out the door, and with Channel 19 standards and ethics are out the door. They can edit a comment to make the person look like an idiot, and TV is not a venue for deep thinking.

So, no matter how it harms the cause we will no longer respond or talk to any reporter from any news operation practicing tabloid style news. We are not going to help you beat up on people already struggling to find space in our society.

Brian

The PD Gives Us Plenty of Material...

2006-01-15T19:56:00.000-05:00

The Big News..
Alex "The Snake" Machaskee is retiring after 406 years or something like that. The man who made sure the PD endorsed Bob "Elmer Fudd" Taft is leaving. The Governor voted worst governor in the United States by Republicans! This is the Governor who is worse than every Republican and every Democrat in the country in a ranking by Republicans who hate Dems. Then he made sure that the PD sat out of the Kerry/Bush contest according to insiders. The most important endorsement that a major newspaper makes every four years, the PD sat out. The most secretive and hostile administration to the press since the early 1970s was nearly endorsed as a President worthy of a second term because of Machaskee. As far as poor people are concerned, we have not had a friend in the publisher of the Plain Dealer.

You can do all the benefits and charity work, but that does not make up for pro-business at the expense of the little guy policy of the paper. After all, maybe if we had universal health care, universal living wage, and housing now for all, we would not need as much charity work. No doubt rich people would not have as many dinners and events to attend, but there would be fewer poor people. I am convinced that we are going to get a conservative Bishop to replace Pilla, and I fear we will get a more conservative publisher of the only daily. Take cover Connie, and you left wing liberal reporters there are storm clouds on the horizon.

Homeless at Airport from Sunday
On Sunday, the Plain Dealer had a story on homeless people in the airport. (I am not sure it is good to link to the PD since after two weeks we have to pay.) Anyway the story combined two Channel 19 stories from last week. This is a humiliation for the PD to follow tabloid news to a story. Usually, if the PD gets swept they make up for it by looking at the big picture. This did not happen with this story. In fact, it really did not forward the story very much. The reporters were not able to verify the possible hate crime that led to the eviction from the Convention Center. The photograph of a person sleeping is never appealing. The story did not go into any details about why homeless people do not like the shelters and choose the sleeping with all those planes. (Those people in North Olmsted hate the planes flying over all the time?) The worst part of the article was, "After the mayor learned of the property damage, which was estimated to cost $15,000, he told police to put homeless people on notice." But which Mayor? The incident took place on December 27 during the Campbell administration, so tell us which Mayor were they referring to? It is unclear. Why is the local response to homelessness either shelter or the streets (airport and convention center)? We need some answers from the PD.

The Human Rights Story also Sunday
The Plain Dealer covered the Truth Commission hearings. Ten paragraphs spared for people pouring out their hearts about living in poverty in the richest country in the world. The Cleveland Homeless talked about the Truth Commission on their blog. This was also not the best in journalism because of the many questions left unanswered. What is the information going to be used for? How many people testified? Was there new information provided by those testifying that readers may not be aware of? Were there other civic leaders present to hear the testimony? Did anyone offer any advice to these people suffering the negative effects of free capitalism? More space for the writer to explain all of these would have been helpful. How about one fewer ad for Cleveland.com, and more actual news stories?

Cleveland Receives Homeless Windfall??
In the first week of January, the PD covered a story that we have yet to talk about, because it is so confusing. It detailed the large amount of cash the City was getting to address homelessness. This is the exact opposite of the story that appeared in the latest Homeless Grapevine (Color Issue 74). So, the Grapevine said we lost $1 million from last year and the Plain Dealer said we gained $1 million from last year. Typo? Drunk reporter? Visually impaired reporter? No, this is actually a case of spin from the federal government. Plain Dealer fell for it. The Grapevine did not.

See, the problem is that two years ago the Feds decided to add all the funds from housing renewals into the pool of homeless dollars. This makes it look like there was this huge increase in funds, but it is not a real increase. The renewal of these housing vouchers are for individuals who have not been homeless for five years, and do not meet any definition of homelessness. So the reality is that real homeless dollars decreased by $1 million, and the feds padded the budget to deflect criticism. The basis of all magic is diversion, and the current administration are full of master magicians. The problem is that in the next year and four months, Cleveland is going to be short by as much as $1 million to keep current projects operating. There is going to be a crisis that could result in the closing of one shelter in Cleveland. How are we going to explain this to the Plain Dealer? "I know you reported that we got additional dollars last year, but now we are in crisis?"

Well, rest assured that the Grapevine got it right and the PD got it wrong. The Grapevine will not let you down in the future. We may be fascinated by Monty Python, but that does not make us wrong.

Brian

Thank You for Broadcasting the Alito Hearings

2006-01-11T21:09:00.000-05:00

Nina Totenberg for Supreme Court Justice!!!
We have complained about WCPN here in the past (and they do not seem to be listening because two PD people have appeared since). But we should compliment them for broadcasting the Sam Alito hearings to the U.S. Supreme Court or the "Is there a Question in your ramblings or can I kick back with a cold one" hearings as they are affectionately known. I have to sit in many meetings during the day and listen to people drone on and on when they could ask a question in 20 to 40 seconds, but nothing like some of those Senators. It is a wonder that there are not more fisticuffs in Congress. Still, we have to thank public radio for doing their civic duty.

In listening to the hearings and the analysis during breaks, I really believe that Nina Totenberg would be an excellent Supreme Court justice. She explains everything in a clear, concise and even handed manner. She asks questions in a respectful, but diligent and determined fashion. She seems smart and has a huge knowledge of Supreme Court history and cases. She would be great on the bench. Sign her up.

Brian

Our Reader Representative is On Vacation???

2006-01-09T08:55:00.000-05:00

What happened to the PDs Reader Representative?

"Reader Representative Ted Diadiun fields your complaints (and compliments), answers your questions, explains the newspaper's decisions to you and carries your concerns to the folks who produce The Plain Dealer every day. He writes a weekly column that is published in the newspaper on Sundays and responds to your comments on this blog."

So, is our reader reprentative sleeping on the job? He has not posted anything since December 12, 2005. If he is my representative, I do not remember giving him an entire month off? I do not remember approving that long of a vacation. I usually have about two and half weeks of available vacation that I do not have time to take at the end of the year. My philosophy is that if you have the ability to take more than three weeks off in a row, then your job is not really necessary. This is sad that the Plain Dealer does not respect the readers more.

There were a lot of problems over the last month that we could have used help with. I sent him a question about apologizing for the Taft endorsement. I also asked about the use of City Mission in the Holiday Spirit campaign since they are a private evangelical organization with no public oversight. Bill Callahan posted something over this weekend about the PD not mentioning the owner of the West Virginia Mine Disaster on their pages. Why has the PD not done more about the Bob Ney scandal and how that may touch other Ohio Republicans? Did the PD handle the problems Pilla had in his tenure properly in the 25 year retrospective stories? The last post was concerning Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas on the same day, and how should the PD handle this problem. Who Cares? We need a reader representative who addresses the problems with the only newspaper in our town, and does not take four weeks off.

Brian

Slow News Night...Pick on Homeless People

2006-01-06T23:40:00.000-05:00

Jimmy Olsen Questions Homeless Sleeping at the Airport

Our cities best reporter is at it again picking on homeless people sleeping at the airport. Why hasn't Fox News picked this guy up yet? Ed "Jimmy Olsen" Gallek broke the troubling story of homeless people sleeping at the airport--NEXT TO YOUR BAGGAGE!!!! They actually said "next to your baggage." I added the large letters and the four exclamation marks.

First, a few issues with the substance of the story:
1. Why would a homeless person steal your bags when they have a good place to sleep that is warm for the night, and the police are not harassing them?
2. Were there any problems with bags being taken at a higher rate in Cleveland then say Pittsburgh? Or is this just a slow night and we need someone to pick on and homeless people were an easy target?
3. Aren't there similar issues in other cities, so who really cares?
4. Aren't these people just trying to survive, and so we begrudge them some space at the airport where they are not bothering anyone?
5. The woman on the streets or in this case in the airport said, "Sure, I worry for my kids." Your honor, I object to his leading the witness!

So, we established that Cleveland's Jimmy Olsen has no integrity, no ethics, is a big fan of closed doors, and now is willing to pick on the poor and defenseless on a slow night. Little Eddy Gallek is rocketing up the rankings in the presentation of the Shameless Man of the last 12 months.

The result of all this will be that police will crack down on homeless people who are not bothering anyone at the airport, because the Channel 19 attempt to make news. Those individuals will have to find another place to exist in our community. Shouldn't the police be working on something of substance like stopping crime? The new Mayor will eventually have to say something because Cleveland's own unfunny fake news is waiting for answers. All because of a slow night in the news department. How we long for the days of gangland killings, mob hits, or Browns players arrested for DWI.

Brian

Moses Cleveland Loves Social Justice

2006-01-05T00:27:00.000-05:00

Photos by Kevin E. Cleary. PhotoShopping by Kevin E. Cleary.

Could Dangerous Tabloid Reporters Be Prowling Your Neighborhood?

2006-01-02T22:22:00.000-05:00

Our own Ed “Jimmy Olsen” Gallek was at it again recently. Busting his favorite ratings-boosting target, sex-offenders, he made sure to show his disgust. When did television reporting move to the point where the reporter’s opinions are a centerpiece of the story? I have seen Ed Gallek interviewing a closed door so many times that I’m beginning to think it’s a running gag like on a Monty Python skit. Apparently reporting from the recently arrested offender’s listed address, our hero bravely asked the offender’s mother insulting and condescending questions through a closed door. How do we know that the alleged offender’s mother was actually behind that door? Isn’t it possible that Action News just has a stage somewhere with a closed door prop? They could easily hire an intern to yell things from behind the door in a high-pitched voice and make it seem like they were “live on the scene.”

Additionally, the actual sources for the report were given two-second sound bytes for the piece. The rest of the time was devoted to Gallek’s closed-door antics and some cheesy graphics of other areas in which, according to Gallek, “other local pervs have been found.” Does a reporter discussing such a topic really need to resort to calling these people “pervs?” Is Gallek concerned that viewers might mistakenly come away with the impression that he likes having registered sex offenders living near schools?

The reality is still that while no one wants sex offenders in their neighborhood, there really aren’t many places for formerly incarcerated individuals to go... let alone convicted sex offenders. Many regrettably end up as a burden on homeless shelters, who must juggle the concerns of caring for those in need with the threat of getting kicked out of a neighborhood. Sexually-based offenders once released, face job and housing discrimination over and above that of other ex-offenders.

Additionally, many municipalities continue to restrict where such individuals can live. One offender in another state wasn’t even allowed out of prison because he listed his mother’s address as his outgoing address. While he had been incarcerated, the boundaries had shifted, and his mother’s home had become off-limits. I interviewed Sgt. David Synkowski of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office for an article in Issue 73, and he told me that Cuyahoga County has a fairly sophisticated system that tracks which addresses are off-limits for sexually-based offenders. He also mentioned that they do their best to inform offenders about these limits to pre-empt problems like that faced by the individual in another state.

Yet that information was also missing from Gallek’s sensationalized report. The important aspects of the story are as follows: The man was arrested for living at an address directly across the street from a school, but left his mother’s address with the County. Upon a follow-up, the County discovered this and arrested him for this violation. In other words, the individual was arrested, presumably without incident. Not much of a story.

But Gallek’s sensibilities said otherwise. There are other “pervs” out there... possibly “even in your neighborhood.” Indeed, according to Gallek, the individual could be charged with another felony... but people like him often end up right back on the street. He then looks earnestly into the camera and asks, “Is there any wonder there’s a problem?” I think we at The Homeless Grapevine should start asking terrifying questions based on hypothetical scenarios in our conclusions too. Here goes...

Scientists say a meteor the size of Australia isn’t approaching the Earth at 800,000 miles an hour, but scientists have been wrong before. Can we really trust that we’re not about to be obliterated in the greatest cataclysm since the end of the dinosaurs? You decide. This is Kevin Cleary, reporting “live” from the parking lot of NASA Glenn.

And Now for Something Completely Different...Static

2005-12-31T13:48:00.000-05:00

Has Anybody Noticed How Technically Flawed WCPN has Become Since the Move?

"Announcer: You probably noticed that I didn't say, 'And now for something completely different,' just now. This is simply because, I am unable to appear in the show this week. Sorry to interrupt."

Can we request that WCPN move back to the studios on Chester Ave? Since the move to Euclid Ave there is noise, long pauses, static, crackles, and fade outs. It would seem that moving to snobby Playhouse Square, the yuppies that walk by to watch radio?? in the new studios would not tolerate all that noise. I appreciate commercial free public radio, but all the smooth announcers (Baer, Babin, and Jablonski) have moved on so at least we could have a technically sound broadcast. I mean with the newbies at the station stumbling and free-falling through the news at least we should not have to put up with all the other noise. The worst new trend, however, is putting Plain Dealer columnists on the air. Just because you have an opinion that you put down on paper does not mean that you can host a radio show. Keep those guys and gals over on Superior Ave at Plain Dealer Press and Prognosticators Plaza. There is a skill to keeping a radio show moving and getting the information from a guest or caller in a brief but not insulting manner (see Neal Conan--Talk of the Nation). These Plain Dealer columnists force me to turn to the jarring commercial saturated land of Jerry Springer. I hate commercial radio. It is so distracting to talk for 12 minutes about Iraq and then listen to five minutes of appliances, bars, and cars.

Kit Jensen--you have big time homework for the new year: Fix the technical flaws at the new studio, hire a lot of new talent, and tell the PD columnists if they want to be on the radio call in like the rest of us. (If you feel bad for Feagler, put him in that glass studio on Euclid and tell him that he is podcasting all day, and see how long it takes for him to realize his mic. is not on. My guess is 8 months since his ego will be satisfied that people walk by all day and watch him as he talks and waves.)

Brian

2005-12-29T18:58:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd give our blogging friends the edge over those in the main stream media-- our press release a day early! I've been slacking on this here blog (which is shameful since I started it), but I promise to post more often. I fear Brian may run out of Monty Python lines sometime in the near future if I don't. Hope all are well, and Happy New Year! -Kevin

Colorful New Grapevine Hits Cleveland Streets

Press Release
For Immediate Release: December 29, 2005
For more information, Call 216/432-0540 or email kevincleary@neoch.org

Just in time for the holidays, a beautiful new issue of The Homeless Grapevine is hitting Cleveland streets! Our latest issue moves forward into the new year by debuting our first full-color edition, but still focuses on those who have been left behind. Our front page features an interview with Lutheran Metro Ministries’ Mike Sering about the difficulties ex-offenders face when they are released. LMM is responsible for running 2100 Lakeside, the area’s largest homeless men’s shelter, and Sering is LMM’s Director of Shelter and Housing.

Our latest issue also details the exciting premiere of Cleveland’s affordable housing website, HousingCleveland.org. The website is already receiving around 1,000 visitors per day and is free for both landlords and potential tenants. At the unveiling, Marty Gelfand of Representative Kucinich’s office presented a resolution congratulating the agencies, county and city offices, and people involved.

Issue 74 also includes recommendations for Cleveland’s incoming mayor, Frank Jackson. The open letter from the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless asks Mayor-Elect Jackson to set reasonable shelter standards, establish a 24 hour drop-in center for homeless people, and calls for the Mayor-Elect to seek resignations from the senior staff of the Office of Homeless Services.

Readers of our previous issue might be disappointed to see less profanity within Issue 74's pages, but may express profane thoughts upon seeing how much money is spent by the County in our 2005 Continuum of Care Report. The Continuum tracks the federal dollars transferred to Cuyahoga County for the purpose of eliminating homelessness, and some of the numbers are astounding.

The latest edition of Northeast Ohio’s street newspaper also features the profile of a formerly homeless man who has lived on Cleveland’s streets for the majority of the past 25 years. His observations of the decline of manufacturing, dearth of affordable housing, and changing times are not to be missed! The Homeless Grapevine embraced this holiday season in characteristic fashion: with an Editorial discussing the overburdening of small charities by eager holiday volunteering.

As always, Cleveland’s Voice for Social Justice has much more, including original poetry, the results of our 2005 Reader’s Survey, original commentaries, photographs, and more! Pick up our vibrant, full-color issue at the West Side Market, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless office, or from any licensed vendor.

###

And, now for something completely different... "How to Defend Yourself Against Fresh Fruit"

See the complete text of the skit here: http://www.intriguing.com/mp/_scripts/fruit.asp

(All sigh.)

Sgt.: We haven't done them, have we? Right. Bananas. How to defend yourself
against a man armed with a banana. Now you, come at me with this
banana. Catch! Now, it's quite simple to defend yourself against a man
armed with a banana. First of all you force him to drop the banana;
then, second, you eat the banana, thus disarming him. You have now
rendered him 'elpless.
Palin: Suppose he's got a bunch.
Sgt.: Shut up.
Idle: Suppose he's got a pointed stick.
Sgt.: Shut up. Right now you, Mr Apricot.
Chapman: 'Arrison.
Sgt.: Sorry, Mr. 'Arrison. Come at me with that banana. Hold it like that,
that's it. Now attack me with it. Come on! Come on! Come at me!
Come at me then! (Shoots him.)
Chapman: Aaagh! (dies.)
Sgt.: Now, I eat the banana. (Does so.)
Palin: You shot him!
Jones: He's dead!
Idle: He's completely dead!
Sgt.: I have now eaten the banana. The deceased, Mr Apricot, is now 'elpless.
Palin: You shot him. You shot him dead.
Sgt.: Well, he was attacking me with a banana.
Jones: But you told him to.
Sgt.: Look, I'm only doing me job. I have to show you how to defend
yourselves against fresh fruit.

2005-12-24T10:13:00.000-05:00

No News In Cleveland???

"Brian's mother: What star sign is he?
Wise Man #2: Capricorn
Brian's Mother: Capricorn, eh? What are they like?
Wise Man #2: He is the son of God, our Messiah
Wise Man #1: The King of the Jews
Brian's Mother: And that's Capricorn, is it?
Wise Man #3: No, No that's just him.
Brian's Mother: Oh, I was gonna say, otherwise there'd be a lot of them."
(A little holiday Monty Python)

So, the Mayor issued nearly a press release a day in September and October 2005. She even issued four press releases on the days before the election in November. Since November 7th there were only two releases issued and both announce the holiday meals in Cleveland. So, there is nothing going on in Cleveland except that poor people need to know where to eat a holiday meal? Are there so many poor people in the City that this is the only business going on? Could the press office be considered a political office engaged in electioneering since the they practically shut down on the day after the election? Not even a note to the voters about her loss or a note about the amount of money brought in from the red light cameras? How about a release on the festive decorations in City Hall or some mention of the sweet deal offered to her supporters in the Fire Department union and how that was not political payback? Maybe the Mayor is auditioning for a job at United Way and can point to her experience in notifying the residents of the City where to get a holiday meal in her final days? Happy Holidays, Mayor. Good luck in your next job, and thanks for letting us know where to get a free meal.

Brian

2005-12-23T21:37:00.000-05:00

What Happened to the Free Times?

This blog is dedicated to the Homeless Grapevine and to commenting on local media, so I was thinking what happened to the Cleveland Free Times? It looks nice, but there is no content to read. I always made sure to stop and pick up the Free Times for Roldo or Josh Greene or at least the small news/rumor items that were always interesting. Now, nothing. I do not look forward to picking up the paper. I miss Cindy Barber and Editor-in-Chief Lisa Chamberlain. I miss hearing the dirt on local politicians. I think that someone should be at every Cleveland City Council meeting or County meeting to get the inside scoop. I want some paper to publish those memos from stupid corporate radio stations. I want a paper that lists the golden parachutes offered by local companies. We all need a media outlet that will identify the hypocrisy of local politicians. The big question is: Can the print newspapers make a go of it in the age of the internet?

The blogs are great, but very few bloggers get paid to go to meetings, or to do actual investigations. Can the pornography and escort business sustain a paper to hire real reporters? With limited advertisement revenue, does competition improve the market or lead to a scroched earth with none of the paper's surviving?

I am sure that good content would drive the others out, and to the victor goes the spoils.

Brian

2005-12-13T16:38:00.000-05:00

Should the Media Apologize for Bad Endorsements?

The Grapevine does not endorse candidates because of the sticky situation with our publisher and their non-profit status, but I have to ask: If a newspaper makes an endorsement that turns out to be boneheaded do they have an obligation to apologize for that editorial? In the last State of Ohio election the Cleveland Plain Dealer endorsed Governor Bob Taft in his re-election campaign. Since his victory we have seen scandal, condemnation by the Plain Dealer, and repeated failures from his administration. It seems that there is not a week that goes by that we do not hear from the Plain Dealer a story about how bad this administration functions in overseeing the state. So, with all this negative press about the Governor, I had to ask Doug Clifton, Plain Dealer editor, when he was going to issue an apology. Here is his response.

"While we certainly wish Taft had lived up to expectations, I don't think we owe an apology for the endorsement. Again, people are free to take our guidance or not. Certainly we offer it in good faith but can't guarantee everyone we endorse will be a success. Often we endorse the best of a bad lot. That wasn't the case in this race because Hagen was a good man. We just thought Taft would be more likely to get things done given his party affiliation and that of both the House and Senate. "--Doug Clifton December 13, 2005.

Tim Hagen was the Democrat running against Taft. I believe this is the standard response listed on page 842 of Journalism 101 textbook under the Chapter "What do you say to remain credible after endorsing Adolf Hitler/Richard Nixon (insert name here) in your editorials?" The explanation did not provide much clarity so my only reply (by popular demand) is:

Customer: This isn't an argument! It's just contradiction!
Professional Arguer: No, it isn't!
Customer: Yes it is!
Professional Arguer: No, no, no!
Customer: It is!
Professional Arguer: No, it isn't!
Customer: Yes it is! An argument is an intellectual process! It isn't just contradiction!
Professional Arguer: Look, if I'm to argue with you, I have to take up a contracitary position!
Customer: Yes, but it's not just saying "No it isn't!"
Professional Arguer: Yes, it is!
Customer: No, it isn't!

Brian

2005-12-10T09:53:00.000-05:00

To the Media: I will answer your Questions...

The President has refused to answer your questions. How can we allow him to get away with not answering questions to anyone? He is not a king, but he is certainly acting like there was divine intervention in the 2000 and 2004 elections. "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme Executive Power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony."

So, I have decided to take one for the team and change my name to President George Bush in order to answer questions from any media outlet in the country. This would allow at least some balance in your stories. A typical story would read, "The United States President refused to answer questions, but President Bush said, 'We are going to be in Iraq for years and years because this administration very much is interested in nation building contrary to the rhetoric during the 2000 election campaign."

I would fairly and honestly answer questions in small bits of information perfect for print media quoting. I am terribly sorry that I do not look like the fun-loving vacation bound Texan for television. I am available for comment for late night deadlines or for those reporters who want to file their stories first thing in the morning in order to get into the bars or coffee shops to root out the injustice perpetrated by the CIA or Bill O'Reilly's list of enemies of the state. If you want an answer to your questions please e-mail me at clevehomeless@yahoo.com. Here is an example to prove that I am in fact qualified to answer questions from the U.S. Fourth Estate.

1. Sir, do you think that with your pledge to clean up government is in keeping with allowing Karl Rove to continue his duties while under this cloud of suspicion?
President Bush said: "This Karl Rove is a dangerous man as demonstrated by the invasion of a sovereign country like Iraq. I feel it is my duty to keep him in the White House. As the chief law enforcement officer in the country, I worry that Rove could commit any number of crimes if we let him loose in the United States. "

2. Which specific person within the administration first suggested that the United States invade Iraq?
President Bush said, "I was not really involved in the whole discussion, but I suspect that Cheney and Rummy were the architects of this nightmare. "

The real point is that our media has failed on the job of informing us. They have kept secrets from us, and have failed to investigate claims from the administration about homelessness, poverty, Katrina, Iraq, the economy, tax policy, election policy, education policy, terrorism, science, and the use of propaganda. It is astounding that our government has made people disappear from the face of the earth, and every paper in the country should assign reporters to investigate this abuse of power. Every paper in the country needs to stand up to authority and demand a response to these questions. While the Grapevine is a small homeless paper, this policy of disappeared people is the antithesis of everything American. Everyone needs to stand against this policy. Homeless people are largely forgotten by our society--an injustice of indifference, but a government that erases people from the planet is corrupt to its core. No holiday fun stories, no cute interviews by the media until we stop this policy.

2005-12-03T20:25:00.000-05:00

Stupid Local Media Story for the Week

Channel 19 News is at it again with finishing another week with the title of Champion for passing the bizarre off as news with their urinal cake in the OJ story. Apparently, a professor bought an OJ from a local fast food restaurant in a western suburb of Cleveland, and was ready to take a big gulp while taking some medicine when he found a one of those pink cakes from the urinal to make it smell better floating in the top of his OJ. The smart ass reporter made what should have been a 20 second story into "an investigative report." He sent a secret camera in to buy an orange juice without the urinal cake. Went into the bathrooms to make the startling discovery that this fast food restaurant did not use urinal cakes.

The big problem was that a whole bunch of questions were never answered. While the reporter was busy investigating, real questions went unanswered. For example:

1. Do urinal cakes really float or is that just for OJ?
2. Is this a case of one fast food joint attempting to ruin the business of another?
3. Since no one would take a used urinal cake out, this was most likely a new cake. Is a new urinal cake really harmful?
4. Does a urinal cake turn the OJ a different color?
5. Why doesn't this fast food place use urinal cakes, anyway?
6. Since the last product tampering case turned out to be false, shouldn't the reporter have scrutinized the person who found the urinal cake?

Our own Jimmy Olsen could have done a much better job.

2005-11-19T10:39:00.000-05:00

The Poem that Keeps on Giving...

We do continue to get complaints about the "Fuck the World" Poem. We have to wonder how many meetings the faculty and administrators had to go through to make this decision. One of the local Catholic high schools that is gender specific, but whose name we will not mention except to say that it could rhyme with Magnatius, have stopped the sale of the latest Grapevine because of the poem. It seems an angry poem by a homeless person is too much for the young people to handle (more likely too much for the parents with the large checkbooks). We have heard that the school is smarting from offensive banners that were hung in the gymnasium around race that angered African American students and parents. It seems that the banners were startling when the future Wall Street executives entered the gym for a discussion about race in America. They could not have another incident over offensive language, and so the Grapevine was kicked off campus. We are fairly certain that the future titans of industry and government studying at our local private schools are not aware of words such as fuck, and so therefore would be startled to read it in print.

Many of the catholic schools do a great deal for homeless people in the area with outreach and assistance. One winter we had one of the unnamed schools open up their gymnasium so that homeless people had a warm place to stay during the winter. But on the other hand, we must consider the number of gymnasiums, football fields or practice facilities that were built displacing poor people. I actually remember a few of those low income people saying "Fuck the World" when their homes were bulldozed for expansion of one particular high school.

I thought that it might be a good idea to pass out the Grapevine on the way into the confessional, but Kevin reminded me that using profane language or more accurately, reading profane language is not a sin. The sin is using God's name in vain, reading profanity is not a sin as long as it is not done on campus I guess.

Brian

2005-11-18T18:45:00.000-05:00

The END is Nigh!!!!!!!!!

I was driving to a speaking engagement today and was flipping through the radio channels when I heard a promo for our local Fox (Tabloid) News station. The first thing I heard was something along the lines of, "The END is Coming! Are we all going to die?!" I immediately panicked because I was behind someone with a bumpersticker that read "If the Rapture comes, this car will be driverless." I didn't want to risk slamming into them if they suddenly were carried up into the sky... my insurance premiums finally just got lowered, after all.

This was Fox 8's pitch for its upcoming "special report." Their website features a picture of the Earth, with the foreboding sentence "The END is Coming," followed by "Tonight at Ten."

How are we supposed to be bothered watching TV if the END is coming tonight at ten?! Shouldn't I be going over to my parents' house and hugging my mother and repenting and stuff? I frantically searched their website looking for information about the END. But there seems to be very little information about the END on their website, and it doesn't even make it to the national website. It's probably classified, like in that movie. We're pretty lucky to have such ace journalists in Cleveland who caught this story and are courageous enough to tell us about it. I'll be sure to be watching tonight from my duct-taped bunker/fallout shelter.

I do wonder how it is that Fox 8 managed to get this scoop and keep such a tight lid on it. I mean, a story like Armageddon is pretty huge, especially if it's happening tonight at ten. Even the Mayans gave us until 2012.

With the END so close I need to get a few things off my chest. First: Mom, I'm sorry about that time when I was a kid and I taped He-Man over your soap opera. To my sister, I'm sorry about the time I told you that the Tooth Fairy was using your teeth to build a weapon to kill Santa Claus. Also, I'm sorry about that time I filled a Santa hat with fake teeth and told you that she succeeded.

Dad, I'm sorry about that time I called 911 while Scarface was playing and the cops showed up because they thought you were a drug lord, and then I blamed it on Mom and you almost got divorced.

Finally though, I want to apologize to the loyal readers of this blog and The Homeless Grapevine. As a reporter, I really dropped the ball by not catching that the END is approaching so rapidly. If by some miracle, we avoid the END tonight at ten, please have pity on us and know that until the END comes, we'll still be there with other stories that even the ace reporters at Fox 8 don't report.

Reporting from a secure and undisclosed location with an "x" in lamb's blood painted on the door,

Kevin E. Cleary

2005-11-16T16:22:00.000-05:00

How Much News Will You Force Us to Watch??

Here is a sweeps weeks trick that I saw on Channel 43 at the 10 p.m. newscast. They teased a story that was "only on" their 11 p.m. news on Channel 19. So, we were watching the one hour long news on Channel 43, but we had to stay for the following half hour on their "sister" station to get even more news. This involved having to sit through the same weather, the same lead stories to find that one "new" story.

If the FCC were a real regulatory organization, they would not allow these joint operating agreements between two precious and limited free broadcast outlets. But then to have one outlet withhold news and force the viewer to tune into the other broadcast is criminal. How do we take these guys serious if they are doing commercials for their own entertainment shows and passing that off as news; having news reporters advertise news on their other station; and doing fake news stories about new products or trends that are actually product placement news? They have turned news into at best a commodity and at worst a platform for selling goods and services.

Brian

2005-11-11T18:01:00.000-05:00

Fake News Leads

On Thursday November 10, our high energy hero, Ed "Jimmy Olsen" Gallek created news where there was none with his story of Cleveland Police Patrol cars sitting in high crime neighborhoods--and this was the lead story. First, how is this news? Second, who cares? Third, how about a shot of Ed Gallek urinating on an empty police car in a high crime area--that would be news?

The whole story was confused in that it was not clear whether we were supposed to believe that this was good or bad. There were no studies, no other police forces interviewed. Just a few anonymous "Man on the Street" interviews walking down the street who thought that "it was a stupid idea." Again, who cares what some stranger says about this policy? Hey, how about an interview with a convicted criminal from jail asking if they are deterred by empty police cars? Gallek had the nerve to throw in a line about the need for manned cop cars instead to deter crime. When did we allow some silly reporter to start adding commentary to news stories with no balance from the other side? We have a new Mayor, rising crime, schools in trouble, and this is the lead story during sweeps? There isn't even any sex or blood in this one. Either go all the way with the tabloid angle or do real news--(Channel 19+43 =Channel 62?), but this fake news is wrong all the way around.

--Brian

2005-11-06T15:23:00.000-05:00

Do We Need the Humor at the End of the Broadcast?

So the local news is a half hour in length on Channels 3,5, 19 and an hour on 43 and 8. Add in sports (not real news), weather (again not real news but history and gambling), commercials, and mindless chatter and there is really only 8-10 minutes or 16-20 minutes of news on the hour long programs. The three local networks are cramming the day into 10 minutes. How is it possible dedicate 45 seconds to 1 minute on a lighter story at the end of the broadcast? On Friday night 11/4/05, Channel 3 had a "news" worthy story about a camel that continues to escape and wander down the road. Then the booming trusted voice in news, Tim White, made some smart ass comment that was vaguely sexual and that was the end of the news.

The blood, crime and sex are up front then there are commercials, scandal, weather, commercials, sports, and finally the funny story. Are the weather, commercials and sports so stressful that we need a funny story to relieve the tensions? Shouldn't the funny story be placed between the crime and the blood? How do we trust these broadcasters if the entire broadcast is just a prelude to the punchline at the end? Do they need to make us laugh as part of the local news like they are auditioning for the Tonight Show or Daily Show? Will somebody please answer all these questions? We need to know what the thinking is here. How about a full half hour of real news?

2005-11-06T14:38:00.000-05:00

In keeping with our coverage of the coverage, I've been debating covering the live debates between fake candidates on "The West Wing" tonight. I am, however, waiting to see if either fake candidate mentions homeless people at all tonight. I think it was shameful that in 2004 we devoted so much time to Swift Boating and useless controversies like gay marriage and spent so little time discussing the substantive issues which face our country. John Edwards seemed to be the only major party candidate to realize that there is a social divide in America between those who don't have to worry about procuring basic human necessities like food, shelter, health care, etc. and those who struggle every day to meet these demands.

Vice-Presidential candidate Pat LaMarche of the Green Party (see interview in Issue 68 of The Homeless Grapevine) actually put her money where her mouth was last year and conducted a tour of homeless shelters across America before the Vice-Presidential debates here in Cleveland. She wasn't able to stay in the Community Women's Shelter here in Cleveland, but she stayed with an individual who was formerly homeless.

The fake candidates tonight will probably not address the biggest controversy of our times because it hasn't happened in their world: the Iraq war. They may make passing references to spending large sums of money abroad while our own people go hungry, but I doubt it. It is my hope that these fake candidates will still spend time talking about our country's real issues, since our own leaders are still avoiding them.

Kevin
Operations Manager

(These comments about fake and real people are my own views and do not represent the views of The Homeless Grapevine)