Oct 17 - 46/45 - McCain +01
Getting Back To The Point
Last Thursday Ben and I were asked to participate in an important conference call at about 4:15pm. In on the call was the top brass at the Beacon, Ohio.com, Ben, and me. The purpose of the call was to bring us up to speed on what had transpired that day. As was posted on The Point, Summit County Republican Chairman Alex Arshinkoff had called the newspaper voicing concerns over Ben's participation in the blog because he is a Republican Central Committee candidate. It was communicated to us in the call that the Beacon needed to look into some issues concerning a potential conflict and was suspending the blog until those were resolved. Ben and I agreed to refrain from pubic comment until a decision about how to proceed was made. After the call was over, the editors of the ABJ and Ohio.com put a post up on The Point explaining honestly to the public what was discussed with us.Ben and I talked a lot that night. We were shocked and frustrated that it looked like we were going to be canned after 24 hours. I was certain that the ABJ was going to pull the site because I figured whatever Alex had said wasn't worth their trouble. We got off the phone that night expecting the worst and ending with a joking conversation about whether we could still use the 24 hour experience on our resumes.
The following afternoon, we received another call and another request to get in on a conference call. Much to my surprise, the purpose of the call was to discuss how we could move the project forward. During the discussion they laid out for us their concerns and let us know what steps we needed to take in order to be able to continue with the project. The gist of it was explained in the statement they issued:
In this experiment, we asked Kutuchief and Keeler to disclose their political affiliations so that our readers would know they do, indeed, have partisan positions. Unfortunately for all of us, there was a misunderstanding on how that was to be done.What you see in the follow-up post from the editors are the terms I did agree to. Some details will be finalized this week, but I agree with the spirit of their statement and will do what I can to make sure that I do not create a conflict for them. We have a new disclosure details which will be added to our profiles on the site. These may not be up for a couple of days because we are still finalizing a few things, but it will happen soon. I felt that the requests made by the paper were reasonable.
When we restart next week, you will be able to click on their names and find biographical information fully disclosing their work history, education and political activity.
Their mission is to comment on politics important to Ohioans – from their distinct partisan positions. However, if they are playing an active role in a campaign – such as working for a candidate or running for office – they cannot use our resources in an attempt to persuade voters, and they cannot be paid. Pay and commentary may resume once that active role in the campaign ceases.
There are a few things that I hope everyone will take from this story. First, it is extremely important to remember that newspapers bringing on bloggers is largely unchartered territory. I don't fault the ABJ for putting our site on hold while they examined the issues that were raised. They wanted to take some time to make sure they got it right and I respect their decision to do so. Second, the statements posted on The Point by the editors accurately described the process as we saw it unfolding. Their honesty in citing Alex's phone call as the reason for the brief suspension opened them up to criticism, but to their credit they did so anyway because they believe in disclosure. They deserve credit for it.
Finally, now that the site is being relaunched, I want to make sure that everyone knows that Ben and I are not being muzzled. Ben has agreed not to post on the race for the new Chairman of the Summit County Republican Party and will not be paid until after March 4th because he is a candidate for Central Committee. It was a compromise necessary to alleviate a potential conflict of interest. There are some details still being worked out, but that is basically the restriction placed on us. Other than that, we are free to blog as we see fit. I want people to know that Ben and I have been a parters, and not a pawns, in the decision making process.
The easy decision for the ABJ would have been to pull the plug on this project and just move on. Many people, including myself, were pretty sure that is what they were going to do. They chose not to do that. Instead they are working with us to continue to move forward and take a chance. I'm sure there will be other issues down the road, but I'm confident that we will work through them. We are proud to be a part of this project and appreciate the working relationship we have with the editors of the ABJ and Ohio.com. I'm ready to get my ass back to work.
By Kyle - 1/28/2008
45 Comments:
I also wanted to thank my friends who helped me out during this event with their advice and counsel. I won't name those people, but they know who they are. It is when things get difficult that you find out who your friends really are.
I spoke to Ben earlier tonight and he gave me the news. Definitely a good thing for you both personally and the ABJ.
I am glad the ABJ was able to stay the course with "The Point". I think you guys do a fantastic job keeping us all up to date on the elections, the local politics, and the community. Good luck and I hope it's much better the second time around. We are all excited to read your next post in the ABJ!
And this precisely the reason bloggers and newspapers should stay out of each other's panties.
The workarounds, especially the deferred payments solve nothing from an ethical standpoint.
The other issue is that you guys are basically providing offshore labor to the newspaper, covering stories and issues that should in fact be covered by ABJ staff, at a greatly reduced salary.
glad they're keeping y'all online. however, i am surprised that anyone is listening to alex at this point...
Mencken,
Kyle and Ben are a new feature that is only on the web. I don't see how this effects the current Beacon staff. Also, they aren't being hired as reporters but political commentators. There is a big difference.
i remember someone said that bloggers and traditional jouralists don't compete. i thought it may have been Menck. But no Menck is saying they are competing for jobs/wages. so i guess they do compete.
either way, any conflict that a kyle or ben could bring is no different than any person on the editorial board of any newspaper.
TimFitz: Sleep well knowing that I know the difference between journalism and opinion.
What's happening at the ABJ is that they've decimated the newsroom staff. So everyone boo-hoos about the decline of the mainstream media; how biased its become, how they don't cover anything anymore, and how rolling up what's left of the ABJ wouldn't scare a puppy. So the ABJ's solution is to further muddy the waters by getting in bed with bloggers rather than using resources to strengthen their own credibility and staff.
I'm guessing that Kyle and Ben believe this project enhances their reputation. Maybe so, but to me, their perspective has been narrowed. Ben's not able to comment on the party chairman's battle?
The biggest political story in the county ? Yikes, you guys rolled over faster than the Colorado Rockies.
Deferred payment to get around a conflict of interest problem? Shit, if a Dem pulled a stunt like that, Ben would have two weeks of material and righteous outrage. Transparency doesn't change anything.
Maybe you guys just learned how hard it is to be a politician... having to cut deals to stay in a race.
Welcome to the Dark Side.
Hey......the Beacon did the right thing by reassessing the situation and now moving forward.
Good to know they weren't
that intimidated by Dictator Alex.
Mencken,
The restrictions in the terms we agreed to only apply to blogging at the Politics.Ohio.com website. Ben is free to continue to blog about the Ashinkoff / Coughlin race on The Keeler Report however he wants.
Mencken,
Any thought to changing your name to THE DARK SIDE? No one does it better
Actually they call me The Awful Truth.
Really Kyle, what's the upside of this venture if your scope is restricted?
Chuck: Editorial board members are forbidden to make political donations and work on political campaigns.
what's more relevant, some no-name person that donates $100 and makes some phone calls for a candidate, or someone that writes articles ready by thousands that lambasts one person, while endorsing another????
My take: any position Ben Keeler could take is pretty much irrelevant compared to what a syndicated columnist puts forth.
"Real journalists" are allowed to advocate and make endorsements, but act like everything is even if they don't donate directly to a candidate. That is Hillary Clinton logic, in my opinion.
But we can agree to disagree.
Are you suggesting that ethics depend on how well known or relevant you are ?
Which "real journalists" are you referring to?
Thanks everyone for your support.........
Obviously I would have thanked you sooner, but it was in our interest to wait until today to comment.
Kyle,
I have just one concern about a line I read in the article - it says "Indeed, this is a limitation of freedom of speech. Kutuchief and Keeler know that they have a choice – maintain their own sites where they have complete freedom – or experiment with us in creating a central location for Ohio politics and elections that promotes public discourse while staying within the spirit of the law."
I just want to make sure the ABJ doesn't think that you are not still "maintain[ing] your own site". The "or" concerned me.
BTW - I am SO thrilled that the ABJ saw this through. I would be extremely disappointed if they bowed to Alex.
i am saying that if a newspaper lets its big name writers make overt political endorsements of a candidate, they should not then act like it is unethical to let some low level employee that has a very small voice make a little political noise.
endorsing a candidate and making speeches about it is a political gesture. making a donation is a political gesture. making phone calls for a candidate is a political gesture. working to improve your local GOP part is a political gesture.
If one of those is allowed, then all of them should be allowed. Especially, when all alliances are fully disclosed.
You obviously don't agree and that is fine.
Kyle,
Congrats on keeping the project alive.
I don't see what the problem is. Technically Committee Members aren't elected officals (they don't file ethics reports, for example), thus being a candidate for such office shouldn't be seen as a direct conflict of interest. If Ben wins, he won't be the tipping point in the race for chairman. I think this is a case of a fish out of water on ABJs part.
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