The plane truth, and Ohio democracy

We keep getting emails from readers asking why we have not covered the story about the Cleveland Browns trashing an airplane that flew them to Cleveland after their week of practice at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia last month.

Readers tell us they see many accounts about this trashing all over the internet. They wonder why we are protecting the Browns.

We’re not. There’s no story here. This is a prime example of why people should consider their sources whenever they read anything on the internet. We earn our reader’s trust with high standards for fairness and accuracy, which are in full view in this case. (We’ve also been busy with Issue 1, as I describe below.)

The plane story began circulating when someone waiting to fly on the same plane that had been used by the Browns was delayed. That person claimed -- in a FlyerTalk.com chat room for travelers -- that gate agents (plural) told him a pro sports team had “trashed” the plane, causing the delay.

Deductive reasoning made clear that the Browns had used the plane. (Also, when he boarded, he found a Browns menu.) He posted on FlyerTalk that the pilot apologized repeatedly and said the plane had been left in the most disgusting condition he’d ever seen. “Apparently there was tons of garbage, spilled food and drink everywhere,” the passenger posted.

Note the use of the word “apparently” -- not the most certain of descriptors.

Consider what we have here. Hearsay from an unnamed pilot and unnamed gate agents, posted online by an anonymous traveler who admitted never having seen the inside of the plane in its purportedly trashed condition. That’s hardly the kind of concrete information on which we can base a news story.

It was enough, however, for countless websites to run stories, all based solely on what I describe above. I don’t link to them here because that would serve their purpose, to get web traffic for balderdash disguised as news. If you Google “Browns trashed plane,” you’ll see an endless stream of them.

We did check this story out. Our Travel Editor, Susan Glaser, spotted the original FlyerTalk post and let our newsroom know. We cover the Browns exhaustively, and if the allegation were true, we would publish a story.

On the record, United Airlines adamantly denied that the Browns trashed the company’s jet. Also on the record, the Browns made the same denial. On top of that, we had common sense. The plane was delayed only by 30 to 40 minutes. If it had truly been trashed as described, with food and drink everywhere, a deep cleaning would have taken longer.

While countless others published obviously questionable hearsay as fact, we used our high journalism standards to determine we had no story.

I think those high standards are one of the reasons we’ve received a steady flow of emails and text messages this week to thank us for our exhaustive coverage of Issue 1. That’s the sleazy attempt by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman to persuade voters to give up their ability to change their constitution. It is the most craven attempt at crushing democracy I’ve ever seen in this state, and Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected it.

Months ago, when Issue 1 was first proposed, we dedicated ourselves to covering it with everything we’ve got, on every platform. The Legislature put it on the ballot in a special August election not a year after those same lawmakers had outlawed August special elections – because hardly anyone votes in August elections. They counted on apathy to slip Issue 1 through, and we committed ourselves to thwarting that aim. We wanted everyone to know about it.

As people began to learn of Issue 1, some panicked, worried that apathy would, indeed, allow this terrible amendment to pass. Knowing that we have powerful platforms, they reached out to us to ask us to do more.

We did.

All told, we published at least 67 fair and accurate news stories about it, most by our chief political writer Andrew Tobias, who became the state’s foremost expert. We published 7 editorials pointing out the craven, power-grabbing way LaRose and others were trying to get Issue 1 adopted. We published 18 opinion columns and almost daily letters to the editor. Issue 1 was the first subject of discussion on more than 30 episodes of Today in Ohio, our news discussion podcast. On 11 days, issue 1 was the subject of the weekday text messages I send to subscribers. (You can subscribe for free at joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn.) And it was the subject of an Ask Me Anything, hosted by Andrew on Reddit.

On top of that, we published absentee ballot applications online and in The Plain Dealer repeatedly on Sundays.

We did our job. The voters did theirs. Turnout more than doubled the predictions, and in Northeast Ohio, where our readership is concentrated, you can see what happens when people have detailed information from responsible newsrooms. Both red and blue counties in Northeast Ohio rejected it soundly. Despite LaRose and Huffman trying to make Issue 1 partisan, both Democrats and Republicans in Northeast Ohio recognized why Issue 1 would be terrible. They did not vote in lockstep with their parties. They used independent thought to deem Issue 1 a sinister move to deprive us all of the ability to change our constitution.

We appreciate all the kind words you’ve sent us. We’re proud of the work we did. But you should know that you make it possible. Without you, we can’t do our job.

Whether it’s about a plane that wasn’t trashed or the most cynical power grab in Ohio history, your support through subscriptions, suggestions for coverage, news tips and criticisms make us what we are.

Many of you have been thanking us.

But all of us thank you.

I’m at [email protected].

Thanks for reading.