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Letters to the Editor, Cincinnati Citybeat, May 10, 2001

Tip to My Alternative Brethren

Every time CityBeat has written about something about which I know personally, it has screwed it up, either factually or in tone, but usually both. This record of misinformation remains unsullied with the report of my departure from The Cincinnati Post (Porkopolis, issue of April 26-May 2). I think I counted a substantial error in every paragraph of a five-paragraph item. That's a remarkable achievement.

I am not leaving as any kind of protest. I've been working for newspapers since 1973, and I've been in my current job for the better part of a decade. I've helped cover tornadoes, floods, scandals, the social, educational and technological upheaval of the last decades, race riots, Pete Rose's career and fall from grace, a World Series and two Super Bowls. It's been a great run. But now it's time to stop setting the alarm at 3 a.m. and ease back just a little from the 60-hour weeks. I plan to accept the buyout -- the very same buyout for which you reported I am not eligible. I'm going to cash the check anyway.

I was a little surprised your reporter didn't even bother to call me for comment. (Tip to my alternative brethren: That's a little tool we in the mainstream press use to verify information before we print it. Of course, the downside is that you can't print every half-assed rumor that slithers in the door.)

Of course, no one at The Post is happy about downsizing the newspaper. It just makes it even more difficult for an afternoon newspaper to report on the community and compete -- and not just against a morning newspaper, but television, radio, the
Web and everything else vying for your attention and time. But there are two things the talented staffers at The Post know how to do: report on the community and compete. You'll be hearing from them for some time.

Bob Kraft
Managing Editor
The Cincinnati Post