Back when it started, TBO.com was a pioneering website, easy to navigate with lots of good info fed into it from a robust Tampa Tribune and WFLA-TV newsroom.

Today, 15 years after its birth, TBO.com is the growth engine on Parker Street for Media General, but it is a shadow of itself content-wise. It also uses video poorly (given all its access to video from owning the top-rated local TV station) and has an absolutely incomprehensible and unnavigable blog structure.

That hasn’t stopped its owners from celebrating, as this official statement crows:

August 11, 2009 –  Today, TBO.com celebrates 15 years of serving the Tampa Bay community online.   August 11, 1994 marked the first date of online publishing for TBO.com, making The Tampa Tribune one of the first newspapers in the nation with a dedicated news Web site.

… Today, TBO.com serves more than 3 million unique visitors each month with well over 20 million page views every month.  TBO.com recently introduced new interactive elements to its site including VIPIR Interactive Radar from Storm Team 8 allowing users to zoom down to street level and view storms just above their neighborhoods.   TBOsnap.com launched as the new user video submission tool, allowing Tampa Bay residents to record news and report it straight from their video cell phones via e-mail to myshots@tbosnap.com.  Also as a leader in mobile Web technology, m.tbo.com recently released news and weather videos on the iphone platform and is receiving record views from TBO mobile iphone users.

“The biggest change in 15 years has been the growth of digital news – first on the Web, and now on mobile and social networks. We’re proud of the team that’s dedicated to the success of this 24 hour news service and that continues to work every day to make us Tampa’s No.1 source for breaking news,” says TBO.com’s Content Director, Loren Omoto.

Brian Blair: the political action figure, fighting for the rights of parents everywhere

You knew this was coming: Brian Blair has started his comeback bid after being cleared of child-abuse charges in a fight with his sons, even as he also fights elections law charges in connection with checks he accepted during his failed 2008 campaign.

Blair, in an exclusive sit-down with News Channel 8 set to air tonight at 11, said:

As he reflected on the incident, Blair found two problems. First, parents must be able to physically discipline their children without fear of arrest. Second, elected leaders should adopt a curfew.

“Parents are afraid to discipline their children, afraid someone will pick up the phone,” and call police, Blair said.

So let’s get this straight: Blair’s new political profile will include pushing for a law allowing parents to hit their kids and pushing for something that has already been ruled unconstitutional, the government curfew.

News Channel 8 is touting this interview with Gayle Sierens. Let’s hope Gayle explored this whacky scenario a bit more:

Here’s how the night started, according to Blair:

He had been at a charity event and ended the evening with some friends at a Beef ‘O’ Brady’s having chicken wings and beer. “Nothing excessive,” he said.

Blair woke hungry about 3:30 a.m. and decided to cook salmon. He heard a commotion near the front door and found his two sons, Brett, 17, and Bradley, 14, along with two of their teenage friends.
“Needless to say, I was upset,” Blair said.

OK, non-excessive beer drinking, salmon at 3:30 am. Anyone out there believe that version??

RICHMOND, Va., July 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Media General, Inc. (NYSE: MEG – News) today reported net income for the second quarter of 2009 of $20.6 million, or 90 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $532.2 million in the 2008 period, which included a non-cash, after-tax impairment charge of $532.1 million. The current quarter included a $7.1 million after-tax gain on the sale of a CW television station in Jacksonville, Fla., a $3.6 million tax benefit that resulted from a favorable determination concerning a state tax issue, and $7.5 million of tax benefits attributable to the company’s first-half results from continuing operations. Excluding severance expense from both quarters, and last year’s impairment charge, income from continuing operations before taxes was $3.8 million in 2009’s second quarter compared with $2.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

“A 23-percent decrease in total operating costs year-over-year was a major contributor to the company’s improved operating results, helping to offset a 20 percent revenue decline. Actions driving the lower expenses included reductions in force across the company, a furlough program, a suspension of matching in the company’s 401(k) plan in 2009, and the final freeze of the company’s pension plan effective May 31, 2009. Service accruals ceased in the partial freeze of the plan in 2006 and now future salary increases do not affect retirement benefits. Media General has implemented many difficult but necessary expense reductions that strengthen our ability to weather the deep recession and recognize the reduced revenue streams available in our business. As a result, we are in a stronger position to take advantage of an economic recovery,” said Marshall N. Morton, president and chief executive officer.

“Our aggressive cost elimination actions were particularly evident in our Publishing segment, which generated a $12 million profit in the current quarter compared with $6.8 million in the prior-year. Publishing revenues declined 20.3 percent in the second quarter, about the same as the first quarter. We saw the rate of Classified advertising declines abate somewhat in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of 2009, mostly in the automotive category, and particularly in our Florida, Virginia and Alabama markets. The decline in Retail advertising in the current period was also less severe than in the first quarter of 2009.

I’m starting a new Saturday feature to wrap up news and blog posts you might have missed during your busy week. Here’s a look at the Week in Review:

New book blasts sportswriters for ‘hysteria’ regarding steroids – Mitch Perry. The WMNF anchor writes about a new book that lays the blame for steroid-mania at the foot of writers who aren’t aggressive. “The writers, the supposed experts, watched over the last 20-30 years as steroids became a very, very common substance. And they didn’t see it.”

Economic report calls Florida “a state in trouble.” The single most depressing (and real) assessment of Florida’s economic shortcomings we’ve ever seen. A must-read. (The graph above is from the report.)

POTUS and the Pope — Peter Schweitzer. Our contributors asks: if the US bishops are sideways with Barack Obama over his abortion stance, why is the pope so warmly receiving him?

Shadowy 527 group unloads YouTube attack ad against governor candidate Alex Sink (video). A Gainesville GOP leader is the face of the anti-Sink political group.

Bankruptcy judge sets auction date for Creative Loafing alt-newspaper chain. It is likely that two groups will bid in late August for ownership of Creative Loafing, pitting the company’s current management against lender Atalaya.

Political Whore Podcast #13: St. Petersburg mayoral candidate John Warren. The longshot, last-minute “community investor” and preservationist talks about lessons from history and how he would let downtown business owners handle panhandlers.

Crappy stadiums keep All Star Game from being played in Florida — Jim Johnson. Only two MLB cities have not hosted the mid-summer classic, Tampa Bay and Miami.

Pot, meet kettle: Sen. Jeff Sessions (once accused of being a racist) questions Sonia Sotomayor about being prejudiced. In 1986, Sessions was dinged by the Senate Judiciary Committee that he now sits on for a federal judgeship. The reason: He was tied to making racial comments.

Former Tampa Tribune columnist Dan Ruth has a new blog.

Hillsborough’s Moral Courage Award regains respect by ditching Ralph Hughes’ name — George Niemann. By our contributor who attended and spoke at the meeting where the mega-right winger’s association with the moral courage was discussed.

The Audacity of Pork — Kelly Cornelius.

By Catherine Durkin Robinson
PoHo contributor
Catherine Durkin Robinson is a “feminist mother of twins” and a political blogger, working under the title Out in Left Field.

When Alexandra Zayas from the St. Petersburg Times called to talk about the Channel 8 protests, I couldn’t have been happier. Intelligent, friendly, compassionate — Zayas understood the topic and had done the research. She was covering the protest and surrounding story, gathering opposing points of view from friend and foe alike.

Hers would be a well-rounded story. I could just tell. So I was happy to contribute a verse.

But then the editors at the Times dropped the ball. They reassigned Alex and gave her story to Ileana Morales, whose account of the protest is half-assed.

I’m not blaming Morales. She was probably working on a tight deadline with a word-limit more appropriate for elementary school book reports.

The blame lies with the St. Petersburg Times. When they give more space to stories like this one about a horror film, one can’t help but wonder why an important media event like the Channel 8 protests got barely 260 words.

Unlike this video, their article doesn’t quote Nadine Smith, Lorna Bracewell, or any of the major players who could articulate a compelling argument.

I’m not just bitching because she left out my point of view.

I’m bitching because the article makes it look like a handful of troublemakers took to the streets when in reality there were over a hundred well-informed protesters. Mentioning the freak show who put a swastika on his poster is also telling. That idiot doesn’t even come close to representing the majority of intelligent people who braved the heat and abuse of drivers simply to make their voices heard.

I may have disagreed with their premise, but gay rights activists in our community deserve better than they got. Watch out St. Pete Times. Or those red shirts might come for you next.

Now, on his blog, Daily Dave 3.0, he writes about his mixed feelings about whether to join yesterday’s protest of his former employer, Media General, for broadcasting the anti-gay Speechless: Silencing Christians hour-long paid television show on the same evening as St. Pete Pride.

He ultimately decided not to join the Red Flag Rally, but most interesting are his recollections about how his former employer treated GLBT issues. Here’s what he wrote, using the acronym MFE for “my former employer”:

I worked for MFE from 1999 to 2008. During that time, I received mixed signals about the company’s views on GLBT people, including its GLBT employees. My recollection is that gay men and lesbians were accepted in the newsrooms, but that sensitivity about GLBT issues — in fact, all minority issues — declined exponentially as one progressed higher up the organization chart. This is a generalization, and there were some exceptions. At MFE’s parent company in Richmond, Va., I sensed a similar inverse relationship between (a) the size of someone’s paycheck and (b) their level of sophistication on GLBT issues and commitment to a diverse workforce.

I’d like to point out that these are my personal opinions: my own impressions and feelings, synthesized over nearly 10 years with MFE. I speak for no one else.

I was out long before I came to MFE, and this never appeared to cause any tension among my immediate coworkers. I got to attend the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association conventions on the company’s dime — back when news organizations still had travel and training budgets, of course. I recall an ambitious diversity training program that included GLBT issues in the curriculum in the early 2000s.

However:

• At the time I left the company, MFE did not include sexual orientation in its discrimination policy. When I asked about this, I was told that it wasn’t necessary because MFE is based in Tampa, which has sexual orientation in its discrimination policy. This didn’t seem like a good rationale to me, as it probably doesn’t cover people working for MFE locations outside Tampa city limits, and it doesn’t send a message of inclusion for MFE’s GLBT employees.
• In 2005, the year after Massachusetts became the first state in the US to adopt marriage equality, MFE mailed a letter to each employee stating that its health care plans would only cover opposite-sex spouses. I felt that MFE was trying to say that in matters of same-sex relationships, the company was so adamant about not recognizing partners that it would even trump state laws.
• When I left MFE, the company still did not have benefits for same-sex partners. I can think of no other large media company that does not offer domestic partner benefits. When I would ask about this (every year, like clockwork, at the meetings to introduce the new health care and retirement plans) I would be told that the company was concerned about the cost of domestic partner benefits. I would point out that study after study shows that the costs are negligible, and the message it sends to GLBT employees and recruits is incredibly important.

I left MFE feeling mostly confused and frustrated about the company’s approach to GLBT employees. I certainly felt valued by the people with whom I worked, but I also sensed that the big decisionmakers at the organization and its parent company did not fully understand the value that comes from building an inclusive, diverse workplace.

Gays and straights alike carried red flags (a comment on a Media General exec who said the station viewed Speechless: Silencing Christians and “it didn’t raise any red flags”) and signs relabeling the NBC affiliate in Tampa Bay as News Channel H8 on Wednesday afternoon. More than 100 protesters gathered along Kennedy Boulevard in front of the station’s News Center to draw attention to the hate program that was aired for what they believe was $35,000 paid by a Christian group.

In a sign of political courage, Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder attended the rally and said of News Channel 8’s decision,”This is not who Tampa is. This type of hate is just not acceptable in our community.” Dingfelder is running for a County Commission seat, a demographic that is much more to the right than the city of Tampa where he has served two terms.

Watch CL video coverage of the rally after the jump.

Here they are:

CL will be staffing the protest and bring you coverage on Twitter and video we’ll post on the blog.

By Catherine Durkin Robinson
PoHo contributor

As we remember Stonewall and the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, the progressive community is understandably frustrated with the pace of our administration in bringing about real change.

They have a point.

Enough already with the military’s ridiculous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

And it’s about time we legalize gay marriage.

Yet after the stunning parades this weekend and the first official recognition of the movement by a sitting working US President, I’m filled with more hope than ever before.

Which is why I didn’t allow my blood pressure to rise when WFLA/News Channel 8 aired an “it would be disturbing if it weren’t so silly” documentary infomercial Saturday night about wicked gays trying to silence Christians. I urged my fellow libs to take deep breaths and see this program for what it was — a spoiled brat stomping his feet and holding his breath in the hopes of getting attention and that last piece of cake.

“Their world is ending, Mary,” I said with a giggle. “It’s falling down around them and they can’t do a thing to stop it. Let’s not be so reactionary. Pass the Sangria and shut the fuck up. I want to hear what these freakshows have to say so I can make fun of them later.”

My calls for calm were roundly ignored. Equality Florida and St. Pete Pride urged boycotts and asked supporters to write letters, send emails, and make phone calls (oh my) designed to make it all go away.

And yet the show went off without a hitch.

Either News Channel 8 wasn’t impressed or paradegoers were too busy using their mouths and hands for other pursuits.

It was, after all, a Saturday night.

But a few of my gays started screaming and using the c-word.

And that’s when I put my motherfucking foot down.

We should be extremely concerned when we start behaving like the tyrannical fundies we rail against. And the whole, “Would it be all right to allow Holocaust deniers to broadcast a program on Rosh Hashanah?” smacks of intellectual desperation.

Come on, we can do better than succumb to a lazy metaphor.

Let’s get angry about the lies the radical right spews under their crosses and from behind their Bibles. Absolutely, let’s laugh among ourselves about how funny it is that their movement is dying and true equality is within reach. Let’s counter illogical arguments with reasoned debate and religious mumbo-jumbo with good old-fashioned wisdom.

If we try to shut them up, their rallying cry becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Who needs that? Haters are like roaches, running for cover when the light of knowledge and truth shines upon them.

I prefer they stay in the light. It’s easier to aim the bug spray.

And besides, Mary, that’s how we’ll win.

Catherine Durkin Robinson is a “feminist mother of twins” and a political blogger, working under the title Out in Left Field.