Prosecutor brought into Blade issue

Violation of Ohio law involving publication of false information alleged

The Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office has received a statutory complaint concerning conduct by The Blade. The issue involves alleged violation of law in Ohio that governs requirements that newspapers in the state must meet after publication of false information.

Toledo Business Journal (TBJ) parent, Telex Communications, Inc., filed a statutory complaint with the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office involving The Blade’s publication of false information in an article.

The article that used false information wrongly misled a reader to believe that the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland accused TBJ of plagiarism. After The Blade published its attack article against TBJ in September, the Cleveland Fed, in a written statement by a representative of the financial institution, denied ever making any accusation involving Toledo Business Journal. The Cleveland Fed statement advised that The Blade changed and misrepresented information that was given to the daily newspaper during an interview with a reporter.

The law in Ohio is simple and clear in this area. Section 2739.13 of the Ohio Revised Code states, “If any newspaper company, at any time, prints, publishes, or circulates any false statement, allegation, or rumor…, such company (newspaper) upon demand of any persons affected or of their representatives, shall print, publish, and circulate any statement or article setting forth in proper language the truth pertaining to such statement, allegation, or rumor…”

Following The Blade’s publication of false information about Toledo Business Journal, TBJ complied with Ohio law and presented The Blade with a written request to publish the truth about this situation. The request included a statement that identified all of the false information through the article, revealed that The Blade had changed and misrepresented statements given to it by the Cleveland Fed during an interview, and made it clear to readers that the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland never accused TBJ of plagiarism, as a reader of the original Blade article was wrongly led to believe.

Ohio law is clear on responsibilities of a newspaper when it has published false information. Section 2739.14 of the Ohio Revised Code states, “Whenever demand has been made for the publication of statements or articles… the newspaper company shall print and circulate the same in the next regular issue or within forty-eight hours following the receipt of such statement or article. Such statement or article shall be phrased in proper language and be printed without any additions to, or omissions therefrom…”

The complaint filed with the Prosecutor’s Office alleges that, following the request made by TBJ for publication of a truthful version of the original article published in The Blade, the daily newspaper failed to comply with the requirements of these statutes of law in Ohio.

The law in Ohio does not permit a newspaper to ignore requirements for publication of the truth. Failure of a newspaper to comply with the law in this area permits the filing of a statutory complaint by the affected party with the Prosecutor’s Office in the county where the alleged violation of the law occurred.

Section 2739.16 of the Ohio Revised Code, titled Refusal or failure to publish, provides specific remedies when Ohio law in this area is violated by a newspaper that refuses to publish the truth. This section of Ohio law states:

“(A) No newspaper company shall refuse or fail to print, publish, and circulate any statement or article if true …

“(B) Any person responsible for refusing to print, publish, and circulate any statement or article mentioned in division (A) of this section shall be fined…

“The prosecuting attorney of the county in which the newspaper is published, when complaint is made to the prosecuting attorney in writing of the refusal or failure of any newspaper company or persons to comply…, relative to the publication of such statements or articles, shall investigate the complaint and upon reasonable cause shall begin proceedings against the newspaper company or person and prosecute the same.”

Following The Blade’s alleged failure to comply with Ohio law in this area, TBJ filed a statutory written complaint with the Civil Division of the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office, headed by Julia Bates with John Borrell heading the organization’s Civil Division.

The statutory complaint was filed against The Blade whose publisher and editor-in-chief is John Robinson Block.

A number of attorneys in northwest Ohio, each with many years of experience practicing in the region, have spoken to TBJ staff. They have shared their thoughts and opinions, but prefer that their names are not disclosed.

Each of these experienced legal professionals has raised an important question that faces the statutory complaint that has been filed with the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office.

How will a legal filing against The Blade be treated by public officials in the judicial system in Lucas County (who must run for reelection)?

The Blade has a long history of working to damage (through personal vendetta campaigns) the name and reputation of community leaders, including public officials, who do not follow the direction given by John Robinson Block and his newspaper (see Personal Vendetta Exposed editorials at www.toledobiz.com).

How will this statutory complaint filed with the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office, involving alleged violation of Ohio law by The Blade, be treated in the judicial system located a few blocks from the offices of John Robinson Block and his daily newspaper?