Welcome to EYE ON CLEVELAND.  With the 2016 Republican National Convention a little less than a year away, the four of us have chosen to voluntarily cover news, features, human interest, and other aspects of what is happening in and around Cleveland and Northeast Ohio as the eyes of the world train their sights on our area.

We have several common objectives with EYE ON CLEVELAND. They include:

1. To present a “younger adult” (ages 18 to 30) perspective on the City we call home, and to also share that with young adults who live in Cleveland/NE Ohio or who will be visiting here in July 2016. Expect videos, features and profiles aimed at younger adults, written or produced by younger adults (save Mr. Kerezy, who’s not all that young). In that vein, DO FOLLOW us on Facebook and Twitter (see below…).
2. To try to provide a “one stop shop” for summaries of news and information about the upcoming Republican National Convention. In that vein, we won’t be writing a lot of stories; however, we have every intention of providing synopses of some stories which we see in local, regional, and national media – and including links to these stories, thus making EYE ON CLEVELAND an important resource for people interested in the Convention’s activities, and the City’s progress in its preparations for the convention.
3. To focus on the important people in/around Cleveland who are newsmakers, “movers and shakers” so to speak, with respect to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. We do plan to place profiles of these prominent leaders on our blog page and our web site, both named Eye on Cleveland.
4. To help student journalists become better at what they do. Much of the original content for this blog site and this web page will come from students Robby Fenbers, Portia Booker, Sara Liptak, or other students who contribute to EYE ON CLEVELAND as the Convention draws closer.
5. To provide an “ historical perspective” on the process. We will have occasional “Throwback Thursday” postings about events in the history of the Republican Party as they pertain to Cleveland. For example, Abraham Lincoln was President-elect when he stopped in Cleveland and gave a speech in February 1861.  Don’t be surprised if you see a posting about this on the blog and web site 155 years later, come February 2016.

EYE ON CLEVELAND will NOT fixate on any one candidate or issue.  We’re not political reporters, and we have no desire to do so.  We do desire to cover Cleveland – our own backyard – as it grows and prepares to host the Republican National Convention.

We also are not competing with professional reporters, editors or news directors.  We will “shout out” excellent professionalism when we see it, and Cleveland is fortunate in that it has a lot of outstanding political reporters and editors. We want EYE ON CLEVELAND to become a resource for those interested in the Convention, as well as a writing “practice ground” for students at Cuyahoga Community College, Kent State University, and Cleveland State University.  Additional student volunteers will be welcome to join our effort.

John Kerezy                                                        Robby Fenbers
Portia Booker                                                      Sara Liptak

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK & TWITTER AT:

facebook.com/eyeoncle

twitter.com/eyeoncle

EYE ON CLEVELAND IS

PORTIA BOOKER:  Booker is an aspiring journalist. She started her career in journalism at Cuyahoga Community College, where she served as Editor in Chief for the award winning newspaper “The Voice.” Currently Booker is a senior at Kent State University, pursing a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism. Booker hopes to one day have a television talk show or work on The Today Show.

ROBERT FENBERS: Fenbers is a journalism student at Cuyahoga Community College. He began his journalism studies in 2013 and has continued to improve his craft. Fenbers is currently the Editor/Sports Editor of “The Voice” student newspaper and has been responsible for a complete revival in the paper’s sports page. He is skilled in both video and audio, having put together numerous video projects and audio beats for stories. During the sports season he is actively covering basketball, football and soccer. Fenbers is also a two-time Press Club of Cleveland award winner. In 2014, he won first place for Best Sports Story for a Two-Year School. He placed second for the same category in 2015.

SARA LIPTAK: Liptak, 23, has a passion for mass media and journalism. She is currently a senior at Cleveland State University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Promotional Communication. Recently, she landed a spot on Cleveland State’s alternative student newspaper “The Cauldron” as an opinion section editor. With a background studying at Cuyahoga Community College, she learned about different platforms of the media, held the title of Editor in Chief on “The Voice” student newspaper, and received her Associate of Arts degree. 

JOHN KEREZY: Kerezy, who is 50-something, has won more than a dozen writing awards and is a contributor to Public Relations Society of America publications. He has dabbled in politics going back to the late ‘70s.  He also worked briefly in Washington, DC, as press secretary to U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Most of Kerezy’s professional career has been in public relations, until he began teaching at Cuyahoga Community College in 2004.  He moved up through the faculty ranks there, and is now associate professor of Journalism/Mass Communication.  Kerezy was co-founder of the “You Too” Social Media Conference, held annually at Kent State University, and includes Booker, Fenbers and Liptak among his hundreds of former students.