Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Photo courtesy of here.

In a message released this morning, Christopher Smitherman, president of the Cincinnati NAACP, claims The Cincinnati Enquirer never contacted him about how many signatures the NAACP has gathered in the effort to put a jail-tax on the ballot.  This is just another chapter in The Enquirer’s continuing exercise in propaganda, supporting the big-money interests behind a prison-industrial complex that disproportionately incarcerates black people.

"The paper has no idea how many signatures we have collected to date because your President has not shared that information with the public,” stated Smitherman in a message to NAACP members.  “This is a game by the paper and others to discourage our efforts.”

“I feel good about our progress on the collection of signatures,” continued Smitherman. “I am aware that misinformation was given over the radio yesterday. All of us must stay the course and do our individual job.  Our goal is to get our referendum petition on the ballot for a vote. Stay focused on the objective and do your part for the collective. Taxation without representation is wrong.”

So what is going on here?  Blogger Nate Livingston recently wondered why an Enquirer article didn’t cite information from the NAACP.  Now, we have discovered their propagation of rumors doesn’t even include data from the NAACP, which is the main sponsor of the drive!

This is irresponsible reporting by the region’s main news source at worst, and complete ignorance at best.

Thank you for reading (and printing from) The Cincinnati Beacon.