This interview (recorded 7/9/24) with Rich Weiss was originally published by Cleveland Conversations on 2/11/25.
Continue reading2024 Collaborative Journalism Summit panel:
How community colleges are fueling local news ecosystems
2024 Collaborative Journalism Summit DAY 1 — May 9, 2024, 1:00 p.m.
How community colleges are fueling local news ecosystems Community colleges across the country can play a critical and catalyzing role in local news.
By equipping more people to participate in gathering and sharing reliable information – particularly those who have historically been excluded from, and harmed by, legacy media – community colleges can function as collaborative hubs that connect people in their communities with opportunities to get involved in the local news ecosystem.
Continue readingCommunity Media Roundtables by Neighborhood Media Foundation
Neighborhood Media Foundation exists to strengthen existing neighborhood and community media, to foster new media outlets in underserved communities, to provide funding and expertise to overcome obstacles for small media outlets, and to build networks of assistance and collaboration between small media outlets anywhere in the world where there are communities. Our startup project, the convening and support of NCMA-CLE (Neighborhood & Community Media Association of Greater Cleveland), has helped spark or sustain a list of 15 (and growing!) new and longstanding ethnic and community media produced by and for community members in our focus area of Cleveland, Ohio. Our community-media-only roundtables with newsmakers are an example of our cooperative, collaborative work.
Continue readingMayor Bibb Community Media Roundtable on WOVU 4pm March 22
Tune in to the conversation with Mayor Bibb LIVE on Friday, 3/22, on WOVU.org!
Mayor Bibb Cleveland Southeast Side Town Hall 2023
Mayor Justin Bibb hosted a town hall meeting on Wednesday, November 8th, at 6:00 p.m. to discuss Southeast Side initiatives. The event featured a panel made up of key members of the mayor’s cabinet, including representatives from public safety, building and housing, and public works. The discussion was moderated by Richard T. Andrews, editor and publisher of The Real Deal Press, and president of NCMA-CLE, Cleveland’s ethnic and community media network. This was an opportunity for community members to learn about the upcoming plans for the Southeast Side and ask questions. Residents of the Southeast Side attended in person at Bethany Christian Church or watched the livestream on the City’s Facebook channel (video courtesy of TV20 Cleveland, distributed by Neighborhood Media Foundation).
Mayor Bibb’s Strategy for Cleveland’s Southeast Side
‘You Ain’t No Big Man’: Videos Show Cleveland Police’s Disparate Response to Kids in Crisis
By Cid Standifer | The Marshall Project – Cleveland
This story is a joint project of the nonprofit The Marshall Project – Cleveland and Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join the free mailing lists for Eye on Ohio or The Marshall Project, as this helps provide more public service reporting.
An ambulance was already outside the East Side Cleveland home, its lights flashing, when the police officer arrived one evening in December 2020. According to body camera footage from the incident, the aunt of an 8-year-old with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder said the boy was “acting crazy.” At one point, she said he had climbed out a window onto the house’s roof.
Continue readingCleveland Community Media Producers Hold Roundtable with Mayor Justin Bibb
At the Neighborhood and Community Media Association of Greater Cleveland first press conference with Mayor Justin Bibb, time allowed each news outlet just one question for the mayor. Below are the questions from the members of the Neighborhood and Community Media Association [and other community media producers] and Mayor Justin Bibb’s responses.
Chuck Hoven, Plain Press
A number of years ago at Walton School I sat in a session with grade school kids and they were asked a what if question. What if they could have whatever they wanted for afterschool programs at their school. And the kids came up with maybe seventy or eighty things within about a half an hour – everything from a sewing club to their own soccer field.
What I wanted to ask you about is the Comprehensive Extracurricular Activities Program. In the late 1990s the Cleveland Browns Stadium was given a tax exemption. The Cleveland Schools were promised that they would be made whole – they wouldn’t lose the tax dollars that would have come from the stadium. It was supposed to be two million dollars a year. And for the first decade it was $2 million dollars a year.
Continue readingMayor Bibb Statement on Protests in Cleveland
On the morning of June 24th, Mayor Justin Bibb issued the following statement on demonstrations in Cleveland resulting from the overturning of Roe v. Wade:
“The City of Cleveland continues to support our citizens’ First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceful, lawful demonstration. Over the last two days, there have been multiple demonstrations in and around downtown Cleveland, with more scheduled for today.
“I understand and feel the anger caused by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. This is a ruthless attack on women and their reproductive rights and an insult to our predecessors who fought so hard to protect these rights.
“I ask that you continue to protest peacefully. We cannot let actions of frustration minimize the fight for our freedoms.
“As mayor, I want to reassure you that I am determined to mobilize every resource and legal mechanism within my power to protect women’s safety, health, and right to choose.
“The Cleveland Division of Police has detailed personnel and resources to each of the demonstrations in order to ensure that participants and members of the general public remain safe. At this time, there have been no arrests associated with the activity.
“Please stay safe.”
Former PUCO chair texted he knew FirstEnergy charge was likely unlawful, but company would keep money anyway
Texts about the $456 million charge may further undermine public confidence in the PUCO.
by Eye On Ohio Staff, Eye on Ohio
May 20, 2022
This article is provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism in partnership with the nonprofit Energy News Network. Please join the free mailing lists for Eye on Ohio or the Energy News Network, as this helps provide more public service reporting.
Newly disclosed texts from a former head of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio suggest he knew a grid modernization charge that cost ratepayers nearly half a billion dollars was “likely to be found illegal and could not be refunded.”
Former PUCO Chair Asim Haque and former FirstEnergy Vice President Michael Dowling exchanged text messages on the same day the Supreme Court of Ohio held the charge unlawful. Challengers in the case had argued that the commission’s order imposing the charge basically had no strings attached to make FirstEnergy take any specific actions to modernize the grid.
At the same time, the court ruled against refunding the charge. By that time in 2019, Ohio ratepayers had spent roughly $456 million.
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