So against my better judgement, I started my morning at cleveland.com. Right from the start, an OPINION article caught my eye: One Man's Arduous Journey to Financial Literacy is Worth Following on his Blog: Justice B. Hill.
I know someone who has a blog. Me. How can I get in on some of that cross promotion action at cleveland.com?
Opening line: "The idea struck my friend Darnell Mayberry as sound.."
Alright, stop right there. I'm not friends with anyone on the content side of cleveland.com. That door shut before it was opened.
But without debating the quality of the Money Talks Blog, I noticed something about the financial angle of cleveland.com itself.
The author, Justice B. Hill, doesn't work at cleveland.com anymore.
Justice B. Hill grew up and still lives on the city’s East Side. He practiced journalism for more than 25 years before settling into teaching at Ohio University. He quit May 15, 2019, to write and globetrot. He’s doing both.
So let me get this straight. Justice B. Hill is somewhere over 50, but quit journalism in order to write? That's quite an indictment on cleveland.com. He still lives in Cleveland, but the other more pertinent question is: Why would an editor keep Hill around? If cleveland.com's business model is to keep downsizing local reporters and build a roster of agenda-pushing editors, stringers, paid content creators and syndicated content, you might as well lock the doors now. That's not real local news.
Speaking of locking the doors, I actually work with a guy who was downsized by The Cleveland Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com.
"Dan" worked the trucks that dropped the newspaper bundles off every morning all around the city. Right around the time that the PD went from home delivery 7 days a week to 3 days a week, and despite over 30 years on the job, Dan was part of the last round of massive layoffs in the company.
Dan wanted to stay, but his boss warned him to take the buyout, because there weren't anymore buyouts to be had, only terminations.
Because I keep writing about editor Chris Quinn, I went straight to the my source Dan for the inside scoop.
Fred: Hey Dan, you ever meet editor Chris Quinn?
Dan: Ha, no. Editor's preferred to fly to New York than walk across the building and talk to the rank and file.
Fred: Do you know any of the guys that are still in that building?
Dan: Almost everyone I worked with was let go. In case you didn't notice, the newspaper business is dying. The one guy I'm friends with, that's still there, says that building is empty.
I delived the Plain Dealer on Cleveland's west side as a kid. It taught me money management and how to get up early (4am) for work. I have an account with Cleveland dot com. I am a INDIANS (never be the Guardians) fan, Left this dying city for safer, less progressive pastures and would not go back there or ANY LARGE U.S. city even if they gave me a mansion with a BMW in the driveway and a million bucks. What good is all that if you have look over your shoulder every time you leave the house?