Blinksportsnews247The Cleveland Browns released a statement Thursday regarding their future stadium plans. While reiterating that the team is currently trying to siphon off millions of dollars from the city of Cleveland to pay for stadium renovations, the statement also acknowledged that the Browns have begun exploring other potential stadium options at several additional locations in Northeast Ohio and quote; Readers of local Cleveland real estate blog NEOtrans wouldn’t be surprised by Browns sudden admission that they are looking for sites for a possible new stadium.
That’s because NEOtrans said earlier in the day that the team and owners are very close to buying 176 hectares of land on the outskirts of Brook Park. Clevelanders who rely on the city and its largest newspaper, The Plain Dealer, to keep abreast of local events likely would have overlooked Browns statement, however, because the paper did not publish stories about a possible Brook Park purchase before or after the team’s comment.
A major newspaper being hijacked by a small local blog is not very significant, but this case received special attention because The Plain Dealer and reporter Chris Quinn decided to cover the ER story. In a long and strange article published yesterday under the headline: Why didn’t we run the Browns Stadium story? We are not pawns in this chess game, and quote; Quinn stated that his article did not involve the possible purchase of Brook Park or Browns for moral and ethical reasons..
Was it a chess move, or was the announcement that the Haslams may purchase a suburban site? Could the Browns perhaps negotiate a better deal with the city if the possibility—whether true or not—was made public on news platforms? Would Bibb be more likely to provide more money now that almost all news outlets are speculating that the Browns may move to the suburbs?
There can be no pawns in our newsroom’s chess game. Thus far, this story does not live up to our standards. The Browns’ statement, which is equally ambiguous and offers just enough information to agitate the media, and the city’s hazy press release about carrying on with negotiations are all that we have. Both are available for reading below.
You may argue that we should have reported the statements, but journalism is not transcribing. It is accurate. The claims are untrue. They rotate. To discover the truth, we do not yet have enough information.
Chris Quinn
It’s all well and well for a newspaper to avoid being spun, and there’s a good chance Quinn’s theory—that the Browns are only attempting to create a lot of commotion over proposed new stadiums in order to intimidate the city into providing funding for renovations—is true. Quinn may have seen Thursday’s discoveries as not noteworthy, in which case it would be prudent to ignore them from your newspaper and get on with your day. Quinn, however, chose to use this as an occasion to loudly praise himself rather than quietly carrying out his duties.
There’s a lot here to dispute on. On our team, there was a passionate disagreement. If you don’t agree, please don’t hold the editors and reporters accountable for how the Browns or the city were covered. I picked up the phone. You may make fun of me if you want to. Just so you know, we would have made money from advertising if any piece on this topic—any story—had been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people on our website. Revenue is secondary to doing the right thing.
Chris Quinn
Quinn, who previously wrote a similar column explaining why The Plain Dealer did not report on a letter written by 22 anonymous people claiming to be current or former employees of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, calling for the agency’s board not to renew CEO Grace Gallucci’s contract, seems to be indulging in this kind of resentful chest-thumping on a regular basis. Quinn wrote, “It’s not fair,” at the opening of the letter. Over the course of her twelve years as the director of the Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency, Grace Gallucci has been a devoted public servant who has actively participated in countless conversations on the future of our area.” He concluded with the following paragraph:
I should also mention that in 2015, Gallucci and I were in the same Leadership Cleveland class. Since then, I’ve only had one or two professional conversations with her. She and I didn’t talk about this column.
Chris Quinn
Hey, what happened to all that nonsense about The Plain Dealer’s esteemed pages not being tarnished by blatant spin?
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