New Political Web Site Makes Uncertainty Exciting

AKRON, Ohio, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Just in time for Ohio's move into the national political spotlight, a recently launched Web site at http://politics.ohio.com is adding exclamation points to the question marks that followed Super Tuesday's election results. The first of its kind for the Akron Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, politics.ohio.com combines the controversy of high-profile bloggers with real-time news coverage of national, state and local politics by the Beacon Journal and newspapers all over Ohio. Besides bloggers Ben Keeler and Kyle Kutuchief, lifelong friends but political foes, the Web site will feature monthly interviews with Dr. John Green, director of the University of Akron Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, beginning next week. The site also serves as a political portal, with news and information from and links to Ohio newspapers, government sites, voter information from Ohio's 88 boards of election, presidential candidates' sites, city governments of Ohio's major cities and more.

"Our objective is to provide the best source of information relating to Ohio's role in politics at the national and local level from all perspectives," said Linda Lyell, head of Ohio.com and vice president of online operations at the Beacon Journal. "Being a swing state, politics in Ohio has always had a buzz about it. We built this site based on capturing that noise."

Following its launch in late January, politics.ohio.com immediately stirred up controversy when a question of impartiality temporarily silenced the site's bloggers. Alex Arshinkoff, Summit County GOP chairman, took exception to the newspaper's use of blogger Ben Keeler, who supports - and openly acknowledged on the site - attempts to unseat him. A few phone calls and full disclosures later, the bloggers went back up.

"We believe that discourse is imperative for an informed electorate," said Doug Oplinger, Beacon Journal managing editor. "Freedom of speech and the exchange of ideas are an integral part of our democracy. We want to engage that process."

Founded in 1839, the Akron Beacon Journal serves readers in Summit, Medina, Portage, Stark and Wayne counties and all Northeast Ohio through Ohio.com, its affiliated Web site. The Beacon Journal and Ohio.com are owned by Sound Publishing Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Black Press Ltd. of Canada.