Truck scatters antiwar protest
This guy will get off light. It was interesting to hear the various opinions on talk radio today. Jay Love of 1230 the Buzz was critical of Mike Allen, yes a shock, and wondered why the truck driver was not being charged with attempted murder, as I asked yesterday. Mike McConnell of 700WLW was basically tacitly condemning the man's actions, but he and most of his callers clearly understood why this guy might be upset. Mike said "he went a little overboard."

It is typical that Jay took the position he took, and Mike took the position he took. Jay is anti-war, while Mike is pro-war. Both incorrectly addressed the issue, Jay was over playing the seriousness of what happened, and Mike was making light of it, even stating that his station would report any information on a "defense fund" for the trucker if one is formed. The issue of the "defense fund" came up when someone called the newsroom at WLW asking if one had been set up. Not surprisingly this issue did not make the Blogosphere, but flags on fire trucks was hot-hot-hot with the knee-jerk stupor-patriots.

Other Coverage: WLWT, WCPO, Post, WKRC, and Dawn's Life.

Cole vows to be 'team player'
The question still is unanswered, which team: the boycotters or the City?

Scoop: Poor Reporting on Iraq Weapons Claims
Peter Bronson of the Enquirer is criticized on a New Zealand Website:

Even so, the next day, columnist Peter Bronson (Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/23/03) was still writing, "The Scuds he swore he did not have were fired at Kuwait, and Iraq was launching lame denials while the craters still smoked." Apparently the corrections of the earlier, incorrect reports had not reached even all of those whose job it is to follow the news.

Peter did use this in his Sunday Column, but seemed to not be checking his sources. There are no reports that have been verified indicating the Iraqis have launched Scuds. Peter is not the only journalist to make this mistake during the war. Umm Qasr was reported has been under control several times before it was finally relatively under coalition control. Columnists get some leeway for this type of error, but nearly all reporters on the major TV outlets made this error regularly, which is where I would surmise Peter got this information from, most likely from the cheerleading FOX news. This report originated from FAIR.org, a liberal media watchdog.

Dems back Cole for council
I am torn on this. Yes, she was the 10th highest vote getter, but the Democratic Party did not endorse her, even though she is a registered Democrat. Why was she not endorsed? Was it her lack of experience or false projections of unelectability? Her stance on the boycott as reported by the Enquirer is one of a true politician:

On the boycott: "My stance has always been that it's important that we work to bring the community together. It's mostly about economic issues, and we all want to improve on those issues and move the city forward."

With comments like that she will fit right in with the rest of weak-kneed hacks on city council. She needs to take a full stand on the boycott. If she supports it, she should not be picked for council, and will create a nasty fissure on council that will solidify opinions, creating a more polarized city.

Police Arrest Trucker, Say He Drove Toward Protesters
I hope this fool was just trying to scare the protestors and was not really trying to kill them. I wonder why he was not charged with attempted murder? I can only assume that the protestors were never in any significant danger. I would like to know if this man was listening to any particular radio station, or is he a regular listener of a particular show/station or other specific media outlets? With all of the talk radio ranting, it is no wonder that people's anger would be purposely juiced up by some radio/TV hosts. People are being demonized for the most trivial of things. Next thing we will see are Mt. Adams partiers trying to run over Main Street partiers, oh the humanity.

Chris Anderson comments on a variety of topics today: Canada, Great American Ballpark, and Baghdad vs. Beirut.

City Beat News Editor Arrested During Anti-War Protest
Greg Flannery, news editor of City Beat, was arrested on Friday during the anti-war protests downtown. Mr. Flannery's charge was obstruction of official business by refusing to move from the middle of a downtown street, according to court documents.

In the past I have strongly criticized City Beat's news coverage for being more opinion and less news, basically practicing what has become known as advocacy journalism. Many would not call it journalism at all, but in today's media world where everyone is a journalist, even I might qualify as one, making that charge against Greg or City Beat would not be fair. I do find this kind of participation in a news event to be a big problem. If Greg reports on this issue, I think it will be a huge blow to his credibility. The charge of creating news could be easily and correctly made. I hope Greg assigns another reporter to the story, and that he leaves out coverage of the local protest in his weekly column. A good journalist rarely gets involved with the story. That is why advocacy journalism is something I do not consider to be valuable journalism. It comes across more like propaganda one might read in the Worker's World.

The Enquirer and the Post both reported on the protests, with only the Post reporting the 6 arrests. I guess the Enquirer reporter left the protest early and missed the arrests.