Chris Quinn

1 month ago | cleveland.com | Chris Quinn

Good faith by elected leaders was a prerequisite when Ohioans structured their state government, with a framework designed to hash out proposed laws through a series of legislative committee meetings before the state Senate and House voted on them and sent them to the governor. No one seemed to contemplate that we might elect people to the Legislature who eschew good faith and work secretly to carry out personal agendas based on culture wars.

1 month ago | cleveland.com | Chris Quinn

Americans have always believed that theirs is a government of the people, by the people, for the people, but a clear message we heard at the town hall we hosted Wednesday evening is that Abe Lincoln’s description no longer fits. Especially that “for the people” part. Over and over, people stood to tell us that the government is failing them, in so many ways, and they don’t want to be powerless to stop it.

1 month ago | cleveland.com | Chris Quinn

You can define a town hall several ways, but for us it is the chance for people to ask questions or be heard in a public setting on issues that are important them, which is the goal of the meeting we will host on Wednesday. Our newsroom is not in the events business, but when I suggested half in jest that we might host a town hall in the absence of such sessions by Republican members of Congress, your reaction was swift and overwhelming.

2 months ago | cleveland.com | Chris Quinn

“Your job is to just report the news.”I get messages like that from readers about once a week. They complain about our opinion content or a slant to our reporting – never with clear examples -- and say all they want are the facts. Seeing the world in such clear black-and-white terms must be wonderful, but the complainers could not be more wrong. Our duty is to the truth, and getting at the truth these days requires innovation and the tossing of some journalistic traditions.

2 months ago | cleveland.com | Chris Quinn

“But I’m not afraid.”I was so proud of Leila Atassi when she used that line in a recent column about government efforts to censor our freedom of speech. She thought some might label her as anti-Semitic for thoughts in the column, but the issue was so important for her that she put aside any fears of reprisals. I used to think most Americans were of such a mind.