If You Don't Want It On Microscoops, Don't Do It.

If I could blame Jason Williams on another generation I would, but I am fairly certain he is a Gen-Xer and my generation has it share of hacks, just like any other, but his latest column stretches into the territory normally reserved for NY Post Page Six gossip columnists.

POLITICS & JOURNALISM: It's been known in insider circles for weeks that Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters and WCPO anchor Tanya O'Rourke are dating. It seems that became more widely known this week, when Hamilton County GOP Chairman Alex Triantafilou posted a photo of him and his wife, Jennifer, standing alongside Deters and O'Rourke at a Christmas party. Why is this worth mentioning? Well, Deters and O’Rourke are high-profile figures in the community and you might see them around town together.

Williams is more than willing to help float this trial balloon in the air for Deters and the Republican Party. He's in their pocket and lives off their scraps scoops. What I judge this to be is an effort by the Deters Campaign to test the waters. They need to find out if there is going to be any flack for the divorced Catholic forming a high profile relationship. Williams is able to help serve that goal, while still being able to play the otherside, with his mouth watering for a new scandal that he can dive into.

This is just so tawdry. Williams is just begging for there to be controversy so he can defend Deters and O'Rourke.  The WCPO anchor will gain respect with Suburbanites with her affiliation with Deters, but any serious person who wants good journalism would not trust any story she is involved on. So any controversy that is made feeds into both Williams and Deters' playbook. Spin it on Talk radio, avoid questions, but attack, attack, attack.

Let's be honest, Joe Deters is fucking asshole. He is a huge problem for Hamilton County. He has been representing the Republican 'Establishment' he entire career and has let that influence who goes to trial and who does not.  He stands on the scales of justice and leans the way he wants, to help or hurt those he wants.  He is everything wrong with the Justice System in America and needs to be dumped to curb.

I don't care who he is sleeping with, however.  Local TV 'news' is bullshit anyway and if O'Rourke can keep clear of Deters or big Hamilton County Trial stories, nothing much will change. The bias on Crime stories is baked into TV news. The only risk is that WCPO producers will be dying for her to get more dirt on crime (the sexy ones) that they can sell to suburbanites.

Williams belongs on TV or radio.  He's a tabloid writer, who wants clicks and eye balls on him.  Truth isn't his focus (or concern), emotion is what he cares about.  Well, he cares about exploiting it in others. If he gets an offer to start a local version of Inside Edition, he should take it.

Also, as an educational side note to Jason Williams: people and specially musicians/composers can be icons too, not just buildings.