How should the Observer handle "Hard News"?

[Mark Crnolatas]

If you look at the thread on the pedophile, you'll see two posts, one of my own asking a question, and one of Jim's in reply.

I'll restate a portion of my question here for the sake of convenience.

Part of what I posted on that thread was this:
"...should the Observer get into the gritty areas? Investigative reporting? Obviously this is a matter for the publisher, and the decision-making members of the staff to decide. Us mere mortals can voice opinions, post what is on our minds, but at this point of the birth, then evolution of the L.O., the question of where should it go, news wise, might need to be discussed once again. Those areas can get extremely "gritty". Public records, sometimes, can be shocking. What is spoken about, is usually fodder for some degree of discussion, but what goes unsaid, many times holds dark content behind the silence."

By the way, my question refers to our city only.

I'm reasonably sure most of you have a list of possible topics that CAN be explored, investigated, names made public, dirty laundry being aired, as the saying goes. The pedophile thread suggests this. Jim suggested that I should take the lead on this new thread, so here it is. What are your thoughts on this matter?

Should the Observer get into hard news? To what degree? Who's toes are you willing to step on? How far are you willing to go? In the movie, "The Untouchables" Sean Connery had a line he delivered to Kevin Costner, who played Eliot Ness, "Once you step through this door, there's no turning back".

Then the question(s), after determining IF this is a direction to travel, are, what is on your mind? What topics, areas, what doors should be opened, and reported on and such. Let the discussion begin.

Mark Allan (Crnolatas)
_______________________
"A society or group of people exist soley in it's ability to maintain an atmosphere of peace and civility. It's failure is directly relative to the degree of the lack of these conditions".

[Jim O'Bryan]

Mark


First this would be a great thread to throw out on it's own. "How should the Lakewood Observer handle hard news?" We get in many heated discussions over this at our meetings. Feel free to take the lead on this.

But the Lakewood Observer was not created to be "Up With Lakewood." It was created to build the Lakewood Brand, which I see as slightly different, and our Mission Statement would reflect a much closer view of what we are trying to do, "Have Lakewood and it's residents know more about their city than any group has known about their city in the past, or ever."

The paper was also started to "amplify" civic intelligence. This would mean take some of the resources LO has and get the views, ideas and opinions of the residents, businesses, and politicians, and get them into the open where ideas can be presented and discussed. Lakewood is a city in Transition, you and I have spoken about this many times. We have some tough issues ahead, but I have also spoke to people that have some very innovative ideas that would make Lakewood one of the best locations in the country to live, work and raise a family. However some of these ideas cannot be presented in sound bites. Tom Powell-Bullocks "A City In Transition" is a perfect example. A 12 piece 48 page outline is too much to throw into someones lap, so we break it down into 12 sections, and surround that with information that would help people make their own minds up.

While groups like LakewoodAlive present and "education" on the need for economic development in Lakewood. The Lakewood Observer presents a vast cornucopia of various ideas to make everyone in Lakewood more prepared for the future.

A perfect example of this would be Community Currency. An idea put forward by Denis Dunn at council. Everyone thought he was joking, the LO Advisory did not. But Denis feel foul of only being able to get out sound bites. The fact remains if you explain how the our money is made and backed, then make people aware of how The Federal Reserve works, then show repeated examples of Community Currency working well in Toronto, Ithaca, and other places, and tone down the rhetoric about it "saving" a city. Then people can clearly see that Community Currency makes sense for some, not for others, but COULD have a small place in the future of Lakewood. But that discussion will take pages and pages and months if not years to make. Something other papers would never give the subject or our city.

The Observer is working on some very "tough" stories that have fallen in our laps, but when it comes to hard news it demands very good fact checking. This takes The Observer longer than some, but does not mean we are not willing to go there.

Another example would be the murder on Brockley. I called the police and was given, "You are not going to report on the murder are you?" My answer was, "How does the only newspaper in town, over look the only murder in town?" The policeman I was talking to agreed. I then asked, "Random act of violence or did the murder know his assailant?" When the reply came back that they had history, I was relieved, and we decided to work on the story in a different way. Before we could run our piece, arrests had been made. So we reported the good news about arrest, and the fact that it was not random.

Unlike any other board in town, or in the country, the advisory board really rarely meets to discuss politics, or where this experiment is headed. We are almost 99.9% dependent on watching where the residents and businesses of this city take it. This is one of the reasons we find it exciting and the rest of America watches in amazement to see how they could bring the party to their hometown.

One final note since I wrote this, our "Open Source" model has brought about some very impressive finds, and the resulting mix could never be predicted. We have awards winners working side by side with novices. To date the score is about 50/50. Some off the street writers(contributors) have brought amazing stuff to the table. Much of this I believe has to do with passion. On the flip side some of our "professionals" have credentials that would be hard for a large paper to pay what alone a small fish-wrap like the Observer. One night at an early meeting we noticed that we had a million dollar crew, we have doubled or tripled that in following issues. They share their words and efforts because the believe in the project, the city, and their neighbors.

[Donald Farris]

Hi,
Thanks for posting this thread.

I was happy to see the LO assist in seeing Justice carried out in the "gritty" case you mentioned. Great work by all those involved.

I was rather shocked, however, by the LO's position on covering Issue 14. In another thread, I asked if it would be possible for the LO staff to look into this important Issue and present us with the facts. I don't care if they take a position on it but I just wanted to see answers to some of the questions other posters and myself have with that issue. I know that without those questions answered I'll have to vote No on it. Here's what Mr.OB said, "We do not have the ability to tackle issues in the way you are discussing. We have a mostly volunteer staff, and a good legal group of advisers, however, we just do not at this time have the fact checking ability. We are looking into growing in that direction, but it takes a mass of human hours that have not be allocated to the Observer yet."

I know Mr. Austin covers City Council meetings. I thought this paper was going to cover Lakewood politics. But, I guess it doesn't have the resources. Sad.

I would prefer the LO look below the surface on these issues that are(?) important to Lakewood. But, as you said this wonderful paper is under the direction of others, (that probably know better than me). So, I'll gladly enjoy what we do get from the paper, even it it doesn't cover Lakewood politics.

[Jim O'Bryan]

...I would prefer the LO look below the surface on these issues that are(?) important to Lakewood. But, as you said this wonderful paper is under the direction of others, (that probably know better than me). So, I'll gladly enjoy what we do get from the paper, even it it doesn't cover Lakewood politics.

Don

You are killing me! If you want to write the 14 story, write it. You know exactly what is happening with the paper. You have been to meetings. We are not running from any story, any issue. It is discussed in open forum by real people.

Something I should of mentioned early in the Issue 14 thread. The mayor called me with Vic Nogalo in the office, and asked me if I had any questions. I said "Mr. Mayor I'm pretty busy, can I get back to you?" I never called back. Knowing that you have been the the atom smasher I call an office I know you can understand.

As for the fact checking. We have a couple real good fact checkers however as we depend on volunteer human hours we accept what they are willing to give. Bill Call is one of the best I have run into. Besides crunching numbers on 14 (his thoughts are posted here), he is working on 3 other stories. All very important.

On the political front, as we are new and have no mechanism in place, we decided to NOT endorse ANY candidate, and I think that is still the best. We have invited all to come to a "discussion" that will be podcast. To my knowledge everyone agreed. The Observer has been chosen by Lakewood's League of Woman Voters to distribute their political material this year.

EVERY Candidate has been invited to join a forum that addresses their single biggest complaint on-line-being hijacked and attacked by nameless people that hid behind faux names. The fact that some still haven't signed on, might give a person to think Why?

Don, isn't it better we present what we can "find and verify" at let residents make up their minds?

Finally, your family has been big supporters of the Lakewood Observer. You, Lynn, Hunter and Savannah signed on early and gave needed support to what you have indicated is possibly the most important project going on in Lakewood. Your family, each one, has stepped up to the plate, and submitted stories on a variety of issue. Every time sensitive piece ran, immediately, the other stuff was used when it was hot. Your two very well written stories on Computer Security, and Links, which are not time sensitive have been posted to the website, and sit in the well for when we need some non-time sensitive filler. But they are in the queue.

My point is, if you are that passionate about the subject, write it, or help the Observers write it. You know we will give you all the help we can, and it will run, especially if it is time sensitive.

Thanks for making me smile, been a long production week. I needed the tweaking.

As for Stan reporting for the Observer on Issue 14, because he heads up the Pro-14 group! It is not that he didn't offer, and offer, and offer, and offer. We just thought he might be a little biased.

[Mark Crnolatas]

One thought might be this. IF the choice is made to get into the gritty, dark areas, I suggest this. The L.O. omit doing investigative type news involving our city's politicians and safety forces.
What is decided though is up to the members, but this is my suggestion.

We had a thriving (until 9/11 hit) Private Investigation and Security Officer agency, state licensed, insured, extremely well trained and well experienced in all facets of both areas, for almost 15 years. We both were in the fields for over 12 years before having our own licensed agency. We would take any investigation but those two areas. Our reasoning was built on other agencies' problems in these areas. Political type things tend to have potentials to get expensive beyond what funds would be available, or practical. If the L.O would have a few million dollars in the coffers to throw around in court cases, legal fees, and various other expenses, well, you might get my drift there. In the case of safety forces, the police depts usually have a chief's court. Any irregularities are brought in front of the chief. Cleveland PD has such a setup. I'm sure Lakewood has the same or similar.

It's my belief our own safety forces don't need Lakewood's only paper as a watchdog.

Just my own opinion.

Mark Allan (Crnolatas)
_______________________
"A society or group of people exist soley in it's ability to maintain an atmosphere of peace and civility. It's failure is directly relative to the degree of the lack of these conditions".

[Jim O'Bryan]

Mark


I am just curious what these dark little secrets are?

I will be honest, we are working on some hot stuff, but really not Watergate Hot.

We thought we had a hot one and a story we will run it, but by the time we checked facts, we found that the city and people involved were working very hard but quietly to get things resolved between both parties, for the good of the city, and the residents. This is a good thing.

We had been doing a bunch of work on the noise coming from Lakewood Center North. But while we were working on it, the city now has them in court. Again, the city beat us to the "dirt." This is a good thing.

Right now Dan Slife just finished a hard hitting look into Street Gangs. As you have often spoken to me about Lakewood's direction, I think you will find the next "Slife of Life" to be very interesting.


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[Mark Crnolatas]

As I mentioned, the pedophile thread prompted the question.

I don't know of any "dark secrets", in our city. I look at it as a matter of percentages and the times. It's been a long time since people have parked their cars and left windows down, doors unlocked anywhere in the city, as a matter of habit. How many times have we heard this statement, "we never had to lock our doors to our houses back in the '50s".

For example, some time ago, the name of convicted sex offenders was published. The people on our street were shocked at how many were living on our street and within a block or so all around.

No one can predict what might be found. I simply ask SHOULD the L.O. look for these things, purposely? Or should that type of news reporting be left to others who are in that business. I found over the years, if you look for something in particular, you become attuned to it, and eventually, you'll find it. Then it has to be dealt with. That part, in relation to the L.O., is where the expenses could lie. Liable suits, invasion of privacy suits, you name it. Besides criminal courts, there is the civil courts. Even if your right, sometimes you have to spend huge sums of money in courts just to prove you are right, all because you wrote a story telling the facts about someone or something, that might be illegal, immoral or what have you.


Mark Allan (Crnolatas)
_______________________
"A society or group of people exist soley in it's ability to maintain an atmosphere of peace and civility. It's failure is directly relative to the degree of the lack of these conditions".

[Jim O'Bryan]

Mark


We are splitting hairs instead of looking at the big picture.

Let's use your example. Number of people on you street that are registered sex offenders?

Seeing how you are the closest to this, and you other amazed neighbors, wouldn't it be you that first rings the bell at the Observer Website? Encourage your neighbors to join the discussion? Then see if they could get any traction at The Observer office for any assistance they might need. Finally we assigned a writer to handle the reporting job, and run the report.

But this is thinking in the box, Lakewood Observer is way outside the box, way, way outside the box.

Mark you are a reporter for The Lakewood Observer, as are your neighbors. Do not get caught thinking small like some have, think big, think crazy. So you and your neighbors sign on and mention you are writing the story. You ask for help on-line and ANYONE that is interested in this subject can jump in and help. You drop into the most powerful feature of the Observer our "Resource Area: where you just mention you are doing a story on, "Sex Offenders," "Historic Homes," "Eminent Domain," "Break-walls," "Building Islands," whatever, and Lakewood Library's Tech Team will find everything they can to give you all sides of the debate without bias to help YOU write the report. We let editors read it and make sure you are not embarrassed by grammar, typos and in the tough stuff double check the facts.

Actually it is easiest to understand with, The Inmates are now running and reporting on the asylum. This is one of the reason most major media ran with leaving The Observer out of the Brother Petty reports, It strikes fear in their souls.

The Lakewood Observer has a better archive and staff that most papers in Ohio. Paul Tepley said it dwarfed most things he witnessed in the world of traditional press. Instead of a reporter that has 30 other stories coming out and interviewing you, and chopping it down to a 10 word sound bite, YOU can get the whole story out.

Combine Tom George's open door policy, and an open source media, and you have a city that can make huge leaps quickly. Are we there yet? No, but it not for lack of trying. We are still trying to get out the simplest of thoughts. You can now write the story. As this is soooooo crazy, City Hall is learning and taking strides in coming up to speed. But City Hall is trying, and EVERYONE at City Hall has been amazingly open. The Police Department is coming up to speed, but again, in the traditional world of police/media most police departments have been burned, but we are working to gain more of their trust. In the Brother Petty story, we knew things early on that the police did not want out, cause it would have ruined their investigation. Most notably that he kept a journal of his exploits. There was no sense to publish this fact, as it would have only caused some to flee, and make it that much harder on the police.

The paper was created to amplify civic intelligence, and as proven by the Petty story, RITA, Snow Shoveling and other stories bubbling around, it also makes the city better and safer, and that will only grow as more and more write, post and Observe.

Last week something really good started to happen. People started calling and stopping me and saying, "You know what is wrong with OUR paper?" "You know what story I want to see in OUR paper?" "Does OUR paper take classifieds?" The city is collectively starting to get it. The Lakewood Observer office/advisers provide the residents, businesses, and civic group of this community 16-48 blank pages every two weeks, and asks them for their stories to fill it. It is truly an amazing project.

This is why i get frustrated when some of the smartest and brightest on this forum say, "It will be nice when The Observer can do..." As I have told so many at City Hall, The School Board, The Chamber of Commerce, Churches, Civic Groups, "Write the story, because I can assure you that you do not want me writing it. It will be biased heavily to the left and will sound like some damn hippie wrote it. Write the story. Write your story. Just write it."

So how many sex offenders do you have on the street? How many are pedophiles, how many are rapists, how many are plea deals and for what. The let's look at how many Rocky River, Fairview and North Olmsted have. Let's take a sampling from Euclid, Cleveland Heights, and Chagrin Falls. Let's write the story and let's get it right.

Thanks for the note.



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