CEO/president C. David Baker
"on his way out?"
Any semblance of a pretense that objective coverage of the Professional Football Hall of Fame on the part of The Canton Repository came crashing down on August 14th with the announcement by The Professional Football Hall of Fame (officially, The National Football Museum, Inc) on August 14th that Publisher James (Jim) A. Porter had been made a trustee of the organization.
From a HOF press release (The Stark County Political Report, [Stark County's ONLY reliable source of Pro Football HOF news] not copied) of Tuesday, August 14th:
08/14/2018
Five new members were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Trustees at its recent annual meeting. Joining the Hall’s board are: Brian J. Barker, founder & chairman of AFS Logistics, and a Limited Partner in the Atlanta Falcons; Brian S. Belden, vice president sales & marketing, The Belden Brick Company; James A. Porter, publisher of The Canton Repository and GateHouse Ohio Media; John A. Sirpilla, founder, Encourage LLC; Robert A. Zmudka, senior vice president and chief commercial officer Rail North America, GATX. Barker and Zmudka had served on the Hall of Fame's Advisory Board.
... (large print for emphasis added)
Such is the SCPR's assessment of what Porter as publisher has done to tarnish the reliability of The Repository on all things Professional Football Hall of Fame with regard to its Hall of Fame Village Project (HOF-VP).
There can be no purer example of "conflict-in-interest" that Porter has involved himself in.
Porter already has shown he is conflicted on his priorities in choosing between HOF interests and the public interests (even before being named to the Professional Football Hall of Fame Board of Trustees) in that he tried to arm twist Stark County treasurer Alex Zumbar into doing something that Zumbar's government provided lawyer says he in his official capacity is not allowed by law to do.
The Zumbar bullying attempt is not the only Porter overstep. He has tried the same with the Stark County commissioners.
And he continues almost weekly to in his Repository column diss anybody who questions the viability and accountability of the HOF-VP.
But what does one expect from a man who reportedly accepted a "let us entertain you-esque" trip to New York City at the invitation of financier Michael Klein over the Christmas holiday period in 2017?
If accurate, every time Porter writes on the HOF-VP The Report thinks he has an ethical obligation to print a disclaimer in line with what Repository editorial page editors require of those writing letters to the editor.
Now that James A. Porter is a Professional Football Hall of Fame trustee, where do his loyalties lie if he, in his capacity of being a trustee, learns information that might be detrimental to the public interest of protecting the public's investment in the HOF-VP?
Who has ever heard of a newspaper publisher who appears to be disinterested in accountability to the public on the part of the HOF-VP team in the light of the HOF project folks soliciting/accepting taxpayer assistance?
What will it be like now as a member of an elite body that includes the likes of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell? It appears that Porter is easily "starstruck" which is not a quality that the reading public should want in a newspaper man.
While The Report believes that the reporters at The Rep know the real story regarding the troubled HOF-VP, this blogger does not believe that Porter and those on executive row at Stark County's only countywide newspaper allowed them the space and journalistic freedom to report what is really going on at 2121 George Halas Drive, NW, Canton, Ohio.
On June 9, 2016, The Repository became with great fanfare "the official newspaper of the Professional Football Hall of Fame," all to the chagrin of its reportorial staff.
Executive editor Rich Desrosiers apparently was assigned the task by Porter to reassure (?) the print newspaper reading public (a vastly diminishing breed these days) that the official relationship would not affect the thoroughness (i.e. reporting the whole story and not just "cherry picked" matter) and objectivity of Repository publisher (Porter) approved articles/stories appearing in The Rep on the HOF-VP, to wit (an excerpt):
On Thursday, the unofficial became official. The Canton Repository and the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced a three-year partnership to designate the paper as the “Official Newspaper of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.” The agreement calls for enhanced marketing and advertising opportunities between the entities and special content generated about the Hall.
What does that mean, exactly? Maybe more important is what it doesn’t mean.
It doesn’t mean the newspaper will lessen its responsibility to the community to report objectively, dispassionately and accurately about the Hall, its business and the continued development of the $500 million Hall of Fame Village project.
Hmmm? Desrosiers cites the "older than Moses $500 million" cost for the HOF-VP. Right under his and Porter's noses and, of course, the "collective" noses of the Professional Football Hall of Fame Board of Trustees, the projected cost of a fully completed HOF-VP has escalated to over $1 billion.
No questions at all from the likes of Desrosiers and Porter and quite of number of other Stark County leaders (having places on the HOF Board of Trustees) all the while that they, the trustees, have steadily increased Baker's annual income to "at least" $675,000 and probably considerably higher than that as will be eventually revealed with the publication of Internal Revenue Service Forms 990s for 2017, 2018 and beyond as the become due.
Of course, if the National Football Museum, Inc (dba the Professional Football Hall of Fame) were transparent organization especially in light of benefiting from taxpayer monies we, the general taxpaying public, should know in advance of the 990s being published who inside the HOF organization is personally benefiting and to what degree?
And, of course, our local newspaper ought to be pushing for the revelation of that information in advance of the 990s being published, no?
Well, the SCPR for one is not buying Desrosiers' servile to Porter spiel. Nor are many Stark County political and government leaders as well as a whole host of everyday Stark Countians.
Rather than publish self-serving propagandistic pieces like Desrosiers' of June 10, 2016, he and his boss James A. Porter need to sit down with this blogger and "on camera" look the Stark County reading public in the eye and an answer the incisive questions of The Stark County Political Report.
Only the SCPR is equipped to put Desrosiers and Porter (and hopefully one of the bigs from corporate headquarters at GateHouse Media) on the spot of what appears to be a major breach of trust on the part of The Repository with the Stark County reading public when it comes to The Rep's coverage of the HOF-VP.
This blogger does not think that Porter and Desrosiers have the intestinal fortitude to undergo a penetrating journalistic interview at the hand of the SCPR.
Desrosiers has already breached one promise (made at his initiative) to have a discussion with the SCPR via telephone, to wit:
Desrosiers, Rich <rich.desrosiers@cantonrep.com> 12/11/17 at 8:33 PM
To: Martin Olson
... that we should talk
It's been a hectic several days with some other editors taking time off.
Perhaps later this week?
Thank you for your patience.
--
Rich Desrosiers
Executive Editor
GateHouse Ohio Media
rich.desrosiers@cantonrep.com
330-580-8310
"Moving Our Community Forward"
So what is a Desrosiers promise worth these days?
Apparently, nothing!
Besides the disturbing news that The Rep bigs are seemingly putting all pretense aside in Porter officially joining the HOF Board of Trustees that one can rely on the thoroughness and objectivity of The Rep on HOF-VP matters, the SCPR is hearing the interesting observations from Stark County community leaders about the future of HOF CEO/president C. David Baker.
These observations are being fueled by Baker himself. Baker, a man, who had the audacity to tell Commissioner Richard Regula he ought to resign because he spoke the truth about the NFL.
The Report is told that Baker has been repetitively telling various audiences (e.g. volunteers recognition dinner, gold jacket PFHOF update and other enshrinement activities during the recently concluded HOF week) that he has only months (starting at 5 and now to about 4) left on his current contract.
What is that all about?
Here is the list of speculations about that:
1. Tactic used to increase contract for more money.
2. Get people’s empathy (play on their emotion) maybe they actually contact the PFHOF via letters or calls to Board pleading on his behalf.
3. He is leaving to head up a new International Football League (Doubt this at this time as he is making over $700k maybe even as high as $900k annually)
4. He is getting out of town before project collapses and some other developer has to finish the project. (Like Henderson, NV - Union Village)
If the "getting out of town" scenario is what Baker is up to, it is conjectured that he is in line to become the head of the projected International Football League.
Moreover, The Report is told, that the hotel project is now said by Baker to start in October of this year. And, interesting enough, that Welty Construction Company will not be overseeing its construction or the parking garage project.
By the way, a highly reliable in terms of having real information SCPR source says that currently the HOF-VP still owes contractors $11 million.
Looming on the financial horizon is the requirement that HOF Village LLC or its successor in interest repay the "up to $100 million" bridge loan by March, 2019.
And that's not all.
Of course, there is not a word of all of this HOF-VP "inside" information that Rep publisher James A. Porter certainly must be privy to but appears to be withholding from the Stark County public which has a stake in the success/failure of the project in that taxpayer money has been invested in the HOF-VP.
Indeed, there is no way that Porter can sit down with the SCPR and on camera answer the incisive questioning of the SCPR.
And, of course, Porter as publisher of The Rep has the ability to stonewall any probing.
But there is a price to pay.
And what would that be?
Nobody should trust The Porter guided interpretation of the facts, figures and other HOF-VP material that appear in the pages of The Canton Repository!
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