Why no BJ staff coverage of Cleveland captives case?

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      C O M M E N T A R Y
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BY JOHN OLESKY (BJ 1969-96)

The biggest news story in years in Northeast Ohio, which happened 40 miles north of the Beacon Journal's building, had no BJ reporter or photographer covering it.

CNN has been all over it. Cleveland TV stations are all providing wall-to-wall coverage, and have extended their normal newscast hours to do it. The Plain Dealer has extensive articles about it. 

But the BJ has been using Associated Press and New York Times articles to cover this tremendous event in its back yard. There were no articles by staff reporters. There were no photos by staff photographers. Even the editorial cartoon about the house of horrors and the Cleveland Police dispatcher in the BJ was by an outside editorial cartoonist.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight got no more coverage from the BJ staff than if the decade of imprisonment and rape happened in California or Nebraska or Maine.

This is a newspaper that won four Pulitzers, journalism's highest award, for its reporting. Newspaper staffs, including at the BJ, have been decimated. Travel costs are examined closely. 

But it's sad to see it come to this: Failure to staff a story that has rocked the nation, even though it's just up I-77 from Akron. 

I asked BJ management for comment, and promised to run its explanation verbatim. I'm still waiting.

 BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore emailed this response to my commentary: 

John

Hey, that's the pattern these days. Look at the Chardon shootings. No local coverage. 

As far as this old newsman is concerned, journalism is really in toilet here. They've got the talent but nobody wants to spend the necessary dollars.

Tom