Tampa Is…?

Investigative journalism is crucial.  In addition to exposing unethical immoral and illegal behavior, sometimes those journalists find simple (but expensive) stupidity and laziness.

Back in 2004, Greg Neal of Keystone Ventures envisioned a Tampa Sports Centre near Raymond James Stadium.  A couple of months later, HCC envisioned a retail complex including a hotel, conference center, restaurant, medical complex, public pool and sports facility in their “Front Yard” facing Dale Mabry.

In early 2005, Neal approached HCC, and suggested he could build the world-class sports-medicine destination with a luxury hotel and a culinary institute.  Four hundred jobs would be created, and students could learn from sports nutrition experts and hotel management programs.  In return, HCC would guarantee low rental rates on 40+ acres to Keystone for fifty years.

HCC was rightly intrigued, and asked for a proposal with details.

After collecting proposals from them and other parties in 2006, evaluators for HCC placed Keystone fourth behind Cheeseburger in Paradise, Steak N Shake, and a hotel from a George Steinbrenner company.  Although they found problems with the Keystone proposal, those top three did not include using the facilities for education, and HCC leaders kept Keystone on the short list. 

HCC then paid $768,000 to a real estate firm to oversee the project, and that firm gave HCC more specific reasons for denying Keystone’s proposal, such as a lack of experience and unfavorable lease terms.

In an email sent in May 2007, HCC VP Ron Wolf suggested they look out for “smoke and mirrors” from Keystone at a scheduled meeting.  They met with Greg Neal again, and were again blown away by his excitement and vision.  Seems they forgot about the smoke and mirrors, and were still talking about the grandiose opportunities in March of this year.

Luckily, the St. Pete Times took an interest in the story.  Doing the job that HCC leaders, HCC evaluators, and an $768,000 hired gun should have done, SPTimes reporter Thomas Lake has found that Greg Neal is full of sh*t. 

A St. Petersburg Times investigation of Neal’s claims and credentials found nearly 20 statements that were exaggerated, misleading, disputed, or downright false. And public administrators repeated some of those claims in official documents without independently confirming them.

What an outrage!  You would think that these basic background checks would be PART OF THE PROCESS by those entrusted to evaluate the proposal, yet none of it was discovered until the paper got involved.

Of course, in an attempt to save face, HCC plans to give Greg Neal an opportunity to address these new concerns in a meeting next month.

Thanks to Thomas Lake and the St. Pete Times for uncovering this nonsense.  It’s a damn shame we must have journalists doing the job of lazy, uninspired “leadership.”

If you have not yet had the chance, you might want to go cast a vote for Creative Loafing’s annual Best of the Bay 2008 issue.  They will CLOSE THE VOTING ON WEDNESDAY.

There are categories for your favorite:

• Neighborhood
• Place to Volunteer
• Art Gallery
• Overrated Thing About Tampa Bay
• TV Newsperson
• Radio Personality
• Restaurant
• Local Zero
• Troublemaker
• Piercing Parlor
• Thrift Store
• Local Politician (and Worst!)
• Local Band
• Cuban Sandwich

And, of course, your favorite Tampa Bay area Local Blog.

Make sure you vote for your Best of the Bay favorites by 5pm on Aug. 20, 2008.  Creative Loafing will publish some time next month.

“We don’t have a mandate to share editorial. We’re so local in our orientation, it’s never made any sense to do it that way. I think we’ve got six or seven film critics around the company now. If you put your efficiency hat on, could one film reviewer do the same job for everybody? Perhaps, but that connection to film and the local community is something I’m proud of. I’m (more interested in trying) something that really takes this talent and creates a national Web site out of it.” — Ben Eason, Creative Loafing CEO, in an interview with St. Petersburg Times’ TV/media critic Eric Deggans discussing Creative Loafing’s purchase of The Chicago Reader and the Washington City Paper; published August 19, 2007.

After those assurances made almost exactly one year ago, Creative Loafing has let film critic Lance Goldenberg go.

Local writer Philip Booth broke the story Thursday with an eloquently angry post on his blog Scribe Life. That same day, St. Pete Times’ TV/media critic Eric Deggans blogged about his disappointment at hearing the news in a post on his blog The Feed. Deggans’ post included quotes from both Goldenberg and CL editor David Warner, as well as the full statement issued by Warner.

Acknowledging both of those blog posts and the overwhelming support Goldenberg received in comments on both blogs, CL writer Wayne Garcia posted briefly – almost begrudgingly – about Goldenberg’s departure on the CL blog Political Whore. Garcia’s blog post included a statement from CL editor David Warner, who said that the concern about this news is understandable because “Lance has been a reliably expert voice on film in Tampa Bay for many years.”

In his published statements (on Political Whore and The Feed) and his blog comments (on The Feed and Scribe Life), Warner explained that CL’s decision to release Goldenberg – who has been a freelance writer for CL, not a full-time CL employee, all these years – was based on “the fiscal realities that are facing everyone in the newspaper business.” Warner assured readers and advertisers (smart move on Warner’s part to be concerned with advertisers, because they ultimately control the fiscal realities in the newspaper industry) of CL’s commitment “to reviewing and reporting on the local film scene and the many film festivals Creative Loafing has always covered in depth.”

I have so many questions and comments that I don’t know where to begin.

I suppose I should start by acknowledging my discomfort in writing about this topic. I’m a blogger, remember, so technically I’m part of the newspaper industry’s problem in the first place. (I’ll save that discussion for another blog post.) However, I hate reading about the exodus of film/book/art/music critics over the past year or so. (33 film critics since January 2006, according to The Movie Cricket.)

I spent several hours today writing a long article about this, going through all my questions and reactions point by point. After re-reading my final draft, I realized that it didn’t work and deleted it. All of the thoughts that have been swirling in my head since I first read about Goldenberg’s departure relate to one central concern:

Will Creative Loafing continue to write about, support, critique and draw attention to local films, filmmakers, film festivals and theaters?

I certainly hope so, but Creative Loafing’s track record has me a little worried. The same week that Tampa’s CL let Lance Goldenberg go, Atlanta’s Creative Loafing laid off senior editor Scott Freeman and senior arts writer (and occasional film reviewer) David Lee Simmons. Jonathan Rosenbaum, head film critic for the Chicago Reader, retired in February after 21 years. Art/film critic Felicia Feaster left Creative Loafing in Atlanta in April. The Chicago Reader lost several talented, dedicated staff writers in December.

Hopefully, the national advertising agency Creative Loafing signed on with recently can bring in those crucial advertising dollars.

When long-time writers like Goldenberg depart, readers notice the difference. Readers also notice when a paper loses some of its local focus or replaces thoughtful critical analysis with brief infotainment sound bytes.

Local film fans will be watching.  I certainly will be, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

(cross-posted at www.tampafilmfan.com)

BlogOrlando 2008 is set for September 25-27 at Rollins College in Winter Park.

Voce Communications, in partnership with Rollins College will host the third edition of this FREE event that was open to bloggers and non-bloggers alike from Florida and anywhere else. We bring together a good cross-section of folks to discuss blogging, podcasting, public relations, social media, citizen’s journalism and other related topics. The event was as much a social/family gathering as it is a ‘work’ gathering.

BlogOrlando is held in the “unconference” format, which is a participant-driven conference centered around a theme or purpose. A “session leader” simply begins the conversation on a given topic, and the “audience” drives the direction of the discussion.

Hyku’s Josh Hallett brings together a good cross-section of folks to discuss blogging, podcasting, public relations, social media, citizen’s journalism and other related topics. The event is as much a social/family gathering as it is a ‘work’ gathering.

For BlogOrlando’s third annual event, I have again been asked to co-lead a session, this time with Chuck Welch of Lakeland Local. Our general topic will explore the meaning of “hyperlocal,” and attempt to find out what it is, how to find it, and why it’s important. Depending on audience requests, subtopics may include working with various media people (TV, radio, newspaper, websites), mining government and media data, creating maps (crime, business, etc.), ethics, and more.

Other sessions at BlogOrlando include Business Marketing with Social Media, New Tools for Journalism, Monetizing your Website, Online Professionalism, Politics, and many, many more. Take a look at BlogOrlando 2008 Sessions for the lineup thus far.

In past years, Journalists, PR folks, website managers, and bloggers have gotten much out of the unconference. Those of you who have any interest at all in the future of internet communications may also want to check it out - after all, it is FREE.

Locals already registered to attend include Ashli Cooper, Michael VanDervort, Michael Bishop, Tribune food guy Jeff Houck, WordPress Developer (and Brandonite) Mark Jaquith, Jim Johnson, Dustin Mooney, David Risley, Derrick Daye, Cathalain Carter, Darby Critendon, Carrie Currie, Aaron Bates, Lakeland Ledger’s Barry Friedman, and more.

I hope to see an even larger contingent of Tampa Bay area bloggers, journalists, and website enthusiasts out there this year, so please go register for BlogOrlando 2008.

For four years the Tribune and the Times have been bashing county commissioner Brian Blair, and when we finally get a chance to vote him out of office they turn around and endorse the Bozo?!?

The Tribune’s endorsement column begins with a few understatements:

[Blair] often appears less thoughtful, less farsighted and more strident than his colleagues.

and,

He joined the majority in an unwarranted assault on wetlands protections

“Joined the majority?” As chair of the EPC, he led the assault, largely as a favor to his developer buddy Stephen Dibbs. He has relentlessly continued to attack our wetland protections ever since. Just last month he tried again to get the rules weakened. As I reported here, he didn’t seem to understand the issues and lamely resorted to reading a developer’s letter aloud. Yet the Tribune says he doesn’t do this anymore:

When he first joined the board, Blair seemed uncomfortable, often reading from a prepared statement that seemed to have been prepared by someone else. But as he learned the issues, Blair found his voice.

Pay attention, Tribune editors! Blair is still (constantly!) reading from the developers’ scripts.

The Times endorsement starts out less flattering,

Since winning election in 2004, Brian Blair has championed silly issues, peddled paranoia and marched to the command of the building industry.

They agree with Don Kruse, Blair’s Republican challenger in the primary, that his “mistakes” include:

Blair’s effort to roll back protection of environmental lands, his focus on roads at the expense of mass transit, and his ties to development and other special interests.

According to the papers, Blair is bad on the environment, but good on reining in spending. Guess they forgot that when the environmental issue was the lake in his own backyard, he blew a million dollars of our tax money on his own personal pork project.

The Tribune also endorsed another incumbent, a member of the anti-wetlands “Gang of Four” equally deep in the developers pockets, Ken Hagan. Sticks readers may recall that both Blair & Hagan kicked off their campaigns with big fundraising parties hosted by the kingpins of the local development lobby, including Hung Mai, whom they had just appointed to the Planning Commission in a disgusting display of cronyism. Both incumbents are hip deep in the good-old-boy network that has over-developed our county for the sake of their own careers with no regard for the citizens they are supposed to serve.

Looking at the two Republican primary races, those voters have a very qualified candidate running against Hagan: Tom Aderhold. Blair’s opposition, Don Kruse, is less experienced in community issues than Aderhold, but that is no excuse to put your seal of approval on Blair.

People are hungry for change and our newspapers are peddling the same old Shinola. And they wonder why their readership is plummeting. If you want to give them a clue about what their readers expect from them, write the editors of the Tribune and/or Times.

Hagan’s District 2 race will be settled in the primary. The winner of Blair’s primary will face the winner of the Democratic primary among Denise Layne, Kevin Beckner and Joe Redner. Blair’s district 6 is county-wide.

I am deeply disappointed that our local papers don’t get this: If the citizens of this county re-elect these incumbents it will send a powerful message to all our politicians that no matter how many citizens send angry e-mail, picket the Governor, create anti-Blair blogs and anti-incumbent videos, and fill county center calling for their heads — they don’t need to listen to us at all because it will all blow over in time for the elections.

For the past month, Brett Favre wouldn’t get off of my computer, television set, radio, or out of my newspaper.

Yesterday, Trib sportswriter Ira Kaufman was convinced - certain - that Favre was going to end up with the Buccaneers, and so then Kaufman ended up all over my radio and TV.

Of course, we wake up this morning and find out that Favre is going to the Big Apple.

Thus ends this media circus.

I hope.

Update 4pm: Wayne Garcia hints around about TBO’s “sloppy and hyped journalism” in the matter.

This is rich.

The St. Pete Times theater performing arts critic rips the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center for putting on popular shows instead of being edgy and taking some “artistic risks.”

[Forever Plaid] is being produced for the sixth time in 15 years at the Jaeb Theater. Why is it being brought back when there is so much great theater that hasn’t been done here?

He’s itching for some Stephen Sondheim, which is perfectly fine.  But then he suggests you are a bunch of brainless dweebs:

… Sondheim can be challenging, and it is not a sure-fire hit at the box office, … but instead, the Jaeb has played to the lowest common denominator… 

It’s as if TBPAC is trying to appeal to those who never go to the theater.

Yeah, that’s you - the “lowest common denominator.”

David Jenkins does a great job in responding to Fleming, and suggests that the local newspaper not only doesn’t help with encouraging edgy, artistic performances

And don’t even get me started on the irony that the newspapers generally bend over backwards to write story after story on Spamalot! or The Lion King, but we fight tooth and nail to get any mention at all for a show like the Beijing Modern Dance Company or the Turtle Island String Quartet or a South American adult-oriented puppet troupe coming in to do Romeo and Juliet in Spanish with marionettes.

, but that they should maybe take a look at their own journalism industry for a great example of pandering to build an audience:

… hard news old school shows just didn’t pull the numbers, but hide a camera in a house where a guy is going to go try to pick up an underage girl and they’re through the roof. People are voting with their remote, and the market follows…

David’s a classy guy.  I would have put an image of a TBT* cover in the piece, perhaps with an observation that “It’s as if The St. Pete Times is trying to appeal to those who never read a newspaper.”

Freakin’ hilarious.

Great Job, David!  Best of luck with your upcoming production of Tim Robbins’ Embedded, coming soon to the Tampa Bay Performing Art Center.

Disclosure:  Sticks of Fire is a proud sponsor of Jobsite Theater.

It’s time once again for Creative Loafing’s annual Best of the Bay voting for 2008!

In previous years, we have been honored to be recognized by Creative Loafing’s readers and editors as being one of the top local websites:

• 2007 - First place Creative Loafing Best of the Bay 2007 - Best Local Blog, Readers’ Choice.
• 2006 - First place Creative Loafing Best of the Bay 2006, Reader’s choice for Best Local Blog.
• 2005 - First place Weekly Planet’s Best of the Bay 2005, Editor’s choice for Best Local Website.
• 2005 - Third place Weekly Planet’s Best of the Bay 2005, Reader’s choice for Best Local Blog.

We certainly are proud of these honors from all of you, and are happy that you are keeping Sticks of Fire on your reading list.

Alas, the time has come once again to see if we can still hang.  There have been a bunch of new blogs and bloggers started up in the past year, and some of them are simply fantastic.  We enjoy reading several of them, and any number of them could knock Sticks of Fire out of the top spot.

Of course, there is so much more to Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay than just websites. You can vote for the best neighborhood, your favorite art gallery, the worst road, the best thrift store, and so much more.  In fact, you must vote in 25 of the categories (there are 100 categories this year, and we list them all after the jump below).

Make sure you vote for YOUR FAVORITES by Aug. 13, 2008, and CL promises to publish the results on Sept. 17.

So vote for the Best of the Bay right now, or cut & paste the list of categories below in order to give ‘em all some thought.

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