June 2007 www.cincinnatibeacon.com FREE David Pepper on Where Clowning with Campaign Divergent the Charter Finance (p. 6) Views Collide Party (p. 8) The Cincinnati Beacon Black Males Under Arrest! by Michael Earl Patton, that " marijuana Senior Analyst usage between the races is ap- Get Published? Ever since Cincinnati en- proximately the What rubbish! acted its anti-marijuana same. And ordinance, thousands of census data When The Cincinnati people have been ar- shows the City Enquirer decided to infil- rested, earning perma- is 53% white. trate the blogosphere -- nent marks on their crimi- feeling intimidated by nal records. Many people the threat posed by who speak out blogs and the “new me- But how do these arrests against the"new dia” -- they unveiled look from the perspective j a i l p e n a l t i- over 30 blogs of their of race? es " under the This man is more likely to go to jail than white people. own and an interactive Cincinnati mari- feature called “Get Pub- From the law's inception juana ordinance " express have been arrested since It is interesting to note"the lished.” That way, they through May 10 of this concerns about African the"ordinance was enact- neighborhoods where could get free content year, 577 whites have Americans suffering pref- ed"for possession of small whites were arrested." from unpaid citizen writ- been arrested." For that erential enforcement. amounts of marijuana -- ers. same time period 3,644 not for drug dealing." The " following numbers b l a c k s h a v e b e e n Penalties may"include 30 reflect the arrests just for But this was not “citizen arrested. " 20 " people of days in jail for a first of- The average amount of the calendar year 2006 journalism” in a grass- unidentified race have fense and 6 months for a marijuana confiscated and do not include Janu- roots sense. It was a also been arrested second offense. during these arrests was ary through May 10"of this corporate attempt to along"with 2"Asians." 7 grams. " Analysis by year." Under the " Ohio Revised race of the arrests since monopolize the democ- The largest number -- 90, This means that about"6 Code,"possession of less the law was enacted racy of blogs. in fact -- were arrested in blacks have been ar- than 100 grams is not a show that"overwhelmingly Over-the-Rhine. But who needs The En- rested under the ordi- criminal offense, but it is the ones arrested are quirer’s nance for every 1 white." criminal under Cincinnati black." “Get Published!” (con!t on p. 2) feature, when you can Ye t s u r v e y s s h o w ordinance. " Thousands simply publish yourself! To learn more, just visit What’s Inside? cincinnatibeacon.com. Another 98º Star in a Then click the button labeled “Rubbish.” New Reality Show The Labor Report ....... p. 4 by Jason A. Haap, MA The gimmick Notes ‘n Dotes The Dean of Cincinnati should seem obvious at first A Closer ! Did Jeff Berding, Nick Lachey became a household name -- using the Look .......... p. 6 Chris Bortz, and Leslie when the Cincinnati native and member genre of reality of pop band 98 Degrees starred on a programming Ghiz get drunk off wine Lifestyle .... p. 8 during the City!s budget reality show. Now, another member of to make boy negotiations? If you 98 Degrees, Jeff Timmons, is starring on band members have any evidence, let a new reality show for VH-1 to be re- look ridiculous. Jeff Timmons Soapbox .... p. 10 us know! leased this fall. Recently, Timmons gave The Cincinnati Beacon an exclusive "The intent at first might have been to ! Have you seen this sneak peek at the upcoming program. make people look foolish," explained “The List” – man? Timmons. "The writers would put us in Cincinnati’s The premise of the new show (which has situations that made us less than com- not yet been named) was to take guys fortable, but we were used to doing Big Money from different boy bands to see how they things that make us look that way." Contributors would make music together -- so VH-1 .... p. 12 contracted Jeff Timmons, Chris Kirpatrick "We were all in 'boy bands,'" continued (from InSync), Brian Abrams (Color Me Badd), and Rich Cronin (LFO). The Big Beacon (con!t on p. 2) Party! .... p. 12 Page 1 June 2007 www.cincinnatibeacon.com FREE this overwhelmingly white and upscale try to pull together stories Black Males neighborhood." A similar discrepancy New VH-1 that don't necessarily hap- (con!t from p. 1) can be seen in the combined neighbor- Reality TV pen in real life the way they hoods of Clifton and University get depicted on the screen. Other neighborhoods where more than Heights." As mentioned above there Show At the end of the day, it is 20 whites were arrested in 2006: 42" in were 20 whites arrested, compared to about entertainment." (con!t from p. 1) the Central Business District"and along 120 blacks. the riverfront, "29" in East Price Hill, 25 "I was actually asked to be Timmons, "so no matter in West Price Hill, 25 in California, and These data are very troubling, and on a couple of reality what, as much as we were 21 in Fairview." The Cincinnati Police show that the law seems to be en- shows, like The Surreal well received, we all had Department sometimes combines forced in a racially biased manner. Life," Jeffre continued, "but negative reactions to our Clifton with University Heights, and " I have no interest because music or our image. We when they do that the combined neigh- The data are"from the Cincinnati Police it seems to me that they had already been through borhoods had 20 whites arrested for Department statistics, which can be are just trying to make that kind of scrutiny." possession of small amounts of mari- found in the Cincinnati web site, people look like clowns juana. www.cincinnati-oh.gov." Click on De- because that is profitable. partments, then Cincinnati Police, then Perhaps the challenges of They are really not inter- In case you were wondering, there was Statistics." 2006 and 2007 Part I and overcoming a genre de- ested in the stories of who 1 white arrested in Hyde Park under this Part II Arrests were examined." Only signed to make people look those people actually are." ordinance. " There were 7 blacks ar- drug arrests under section 910-23 of ridiculous is easy to over- rested in Hyde Park, which certainly the Cincinnati Municipal Code (posses- come for a boy band mem- "If people are looking to does not reflect the racial composition of sion of less than 200 grams of mari- ber. Of course, there still see reality on TV," con- juana) are included. remains the question of cluded Jeffre, "then I sug- how the production team gest non-commercial chan- will edit together the mate- nels, like Free Speech TV rial. and Link TV on Dish Net- Tu r n F r e e d o m C e n t e r i n t o work." O h i o R i v e r M u s e u m "I haven't seen any of the edits, so who knows how Despite the "unreality" of that will turn out," admitted the genre as a whole, the offered at After all, it was the Ohio Timmons. "I trust the team prospect offers someone The Free- River that symbolized around this show." like Timmons a chance to dom Cen- freedom. But the theme showcase some of his ter? "Ohio River" just lends other projects. itself to so much more But not everyone from 98 I remember that it could become a Degrees has such trust in the big pen more effective tourism the reality show genre. "I'm working with a lot of w h e r e spot, and a more likely up-and-coming artists -- s l a v e s repeat destination loca- The Cincinnati Beacon’s some female artists and used to be tion for Cincinnati resi- own Justin Jeffre offers a rock bands," said Timmons. sold. Okay. dents. different perspective. "I'm doing some non- Interesting, traditional approaches." According to Timmons, the I guess. As with the CMC, the "Having been on a reality But after place could combine in- VH-1 program is not a ca- show, and seeing my reer boost, but an opportu- seeing it formation with family friends be portrayed a cer- once, there friendly, attractive, and nity for some of his projects tain way, it is obvious to me to gain exposure. seems little interactive exhibits. that while something like reason to Aquariums with Ohio The Newlyweds may have return. River animals. Incorpo- been one of the more 'real- "We didn't think it was go- Slave Museum rate Tall Stacks with the istic' shows on TV, there is ing to be a launching pad for our careers," said Tim- by Jason A. Haap, MA There's a movie by concept. Include a river- no question that the cam- mons. "It ended up being The Dean of Cincinnati Oprah. Not bad, I sup- boat section, with mod- eras change things," ex- pose. But again, I see no els, and hands-on things plained Jeffre. "Producers really funny." The Freedom Center reason to return for a for kids. (called "The Slave Cen- second viewing. ter" by African American On Ohio River Museum critics) remains a I remember lots of text would touch on so many doomed project.