This sign came to my attention via Kathy Wray Coleman's email blast - check Ms. Coleman's reporting at http://www.clevelandurbannews.com/ [1]. Anyway, my interest aroused, I went to take a look for myself (and took this image)
The Clear Channel Outdoor Communications [2] [3]bill board sign at the corner of East 35th Street and Community College Blvd. in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio is uncomfortable - in a potentially racist kind of way.
One reason I find it uncomfortable is that I haven't seen this bill board anywhere else - e.g. in Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, Parma, Chagrin Falls, Atlanta or Chicago.
Standing on an empty corner lot facing what is a local neighborhood street (as opposed to a cross town artery) just east of Cuyahoga Community College, and at the edge of Cleveland Municipal Housing Authority Outhwaite Homes [4], the sign strikes me as a threat to those who live in the area and to those who attend Tri C (Cuyahoga Community College) - not a bona fide public information campaign.
Because the context (in this case geographic at East 35th Street) is critical to the understanding of the message - read Marshall McLuhan on Wikipedia here [5] - more needs to be known about the motivations behind this advertizing.
At the bottom left of the sign (all today's signs consist of wide bed digitally printed plastic sheeting pulled over the frame of the bill board) it reads: "Paid for by a private family foundation".
Bizarre.
Why doesn't the private family foundation announce its identy?
Who is this "private family foundation" and did they have any input into the logistics of where Clear Channel located the sign - Yeah, we will hear that the placement was completely random - like the lottery - Yeah.
Could this be a racial hate crime?
Pretty weird.
Needs more research.
Wouldn't it be cool if the MacArthur Foundation [6] ( or any other organization), in addition to providing Genius Grants, would provide funding for investigative reporting?
That better world might be closer to this funding possibility because of the internet - we'll see with time.
But until the funding comes (and it probably never will) each individual is responsible for voluntarily - unpaid - reporting on what you see, on what you know, on what you see is wrong, unethical, corrupt.
So go out, use your eyes, and report back on the internet.
the only perk you get? You will sleep better....
FTR, a report about another Cleveland media campaign I didn't feel comfortable with can be seen here [7]
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| voter-fraud-private-foundation-funded-signP1600706.jpg [8] | 82.97 KB |
| billboards-mapweb2_1.jpg [9] | 118.03 KB |
| Voter_Fraud_billboard_parcel_taxes_on_E35.jpg [10] | 132.89 KB |
| ClevelandBillboards2_voter_suppression.png [11] | 201.52 KB |
