Story by Tom Beres
CLEVELAND — There’s good news galore in Cleveland, especially downtown Cleveland.
Friday’s ribbon-cutting opening the new Convention Center is just the latest example.
And there’s been lots of national attention about the filming of the new “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” movie.
But in the mainstream media, bad news tends to drive out the good.
And over the last two years, folks in Dubuque, Iowa and Walla Walla, Washington have likely seen multiple stories with a Cleveland dateline that the city would rather didn’t happen.
There was the trial and conviction of serial killer Anthony Sowell.
The Cuyahoga County corruption probe sent about 60 officials and business people to prison, including the big fishes — Jimmy Dimora and Frank Russo.
A video of an RTA driver smacking a rude passenger went viral.
The national networks picked up on the recent story of adults wreaking mayhem at a kindergarten graduation.
The November massive police chase and what amounted to a circular firing squad that left two unarmed suspects dead got some attention.
Imagine the wall-to-wall TV attention there would have been if the city’s police cars were equipped with dashcams.
The discovery and release of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight became a global story. Ariel Castro’s court appearances bring cameras galore and a fleet of satellite trucks.
City Hall Communications Chief Maureen Harper says there were contacts with 400 media members from outside of Cleveland.
Harper and her staff track and monitor national stories about Cleveland.
She attempted to have personal conversations with reporters to say some good things about the city.