This is insider stuff, but still intriguing (one hopes) to those who read blogs, political reports and newspapers, and care about the basics of the craft: accuracy, fairness and, hell yes, media personalities.

Especially when the latter includes a bright young shining star, Ryan Nees, 18 years old, of Kokomo, who for the past year has been tossing off incisive analysis for Brian Howey's well-circulated Howey Political Report. Besides that, Ryan's resume is worthy of -- well, banner headlines on the Howey blog, which he's garnered, along with lots of photos of himself looking thoughtful, which he is, for the most part. According to the PR, (all true), he's an activist who, at age 16, successfully sued the former GOP mayor of Kokomo over an email/political ethics issue; as a result, he became the award-winning darling of journalists; he was an intern last summer in Republican Sen. Richard Lugar's office (yes, despite being a Democrat); he's No. 2 in his senior class at Western High and -- well, the hype goes on.

Trust me, the kid is good. But not perfect.

In a 5/8 post, "JLT Should Seize the Party," Nees put the kibosh on both the "sputtering" state Dem elites and the presidential aspirations of Hillary Clinton, in light of Jill Long Thompson's somewhat surprising win over Jim Schellinger in the Dem primary race for governor.

'Twas "very readable," as we used to say, except for one major goof: Nees wrote that Jennifer Wagner, the Schellinger camp's press secretary, had sent out an email under the name of the previous press secretary, Robert Kellar, "signed by Kellar and e-mailed without his knowledge," wrote Nees. Sounds pretty darn sneaky.

Nees explained that the email Wagner sent was an effort to publicize Thompson's role in the 1992 House banking scandal, which is code for "bring her down." Thompson, a former U.S. representative, was one of many legislators caught up in that ancient overdraft mess.

Wagner -- herself a media darling, with her own following, but alas no closeups -- saw what Nees wrote, and she saw red. Blogger/attorney Gary Welsh broke the news on Advance Indiana that Wagner, a newly-minted lawyer, was leveling defamation charges against both Howey and Nees.

Welsh quoted Wagner's statement: "Not only is his (Nees') assertion not based in reality, but it is potentially damaging to my reputation, and he (Nees) offered it as fact with no attribution or basis. No such e-mail was ever sent by me or Robert."

Wagner demanded a correction -- she wanted her name cleared -- and she wanted the offending post removed from Howey's website. She contacted Howey, she said, because he is the publisher, and she considered him responsible.

Insiders know that Howey and Wagner have a ferocious little tit-for-tat history. Wagner considers Howey's work sloppy and error-prone, and she has made no secret of her disdain. Howey has referred to Wagner as "the nastiest woman in Indiana politics." This is a feud that goes beyond partisanship.

Howey ran a clarification May 11. He has chosen not to comment publicly about the issue, for now, but instead referred to the clarification (which states that Candace Martin of the Schellinger camp sent out the offending email).

Wagner is not mollified, however, and in this, she is right. All journalists know that there is nothing more important than a well-written correction that absolutely sets straight the record and removes any shadow of doubt about the original error. To the credit of the Indianapolis Star and other major newspapers, all corrections are not only overseen by an editor, and then another editor, and then another, and finally a copy desk, but they are also archived, so that anytime a reader or a reporter calls up a flawed story, the incorrect original information will not be repeated. Red ink is also involved.

Alas, the Howey report with the bad info is still floating around on the Internet.

Wagner, as most readers know, was a reporter at the Star, covering the mayor's office before leaving to do her own thing. Like Nees, she is young and gifted, although not quite so young. She is honed by the rigors of writing for a daily, with all its power, glory and grind. Among her best-known enterprises is the creation of the blog Taking Down Words, which, when she served as spokesperson for the state Dems, was filled with her own brand of smack, spice and sense. OK, and a little vinegar and venom as well.

Howey also has his list of solid accomplishments. He's a well-known writer, analyst, speaker and pundit. He too is a former reporter, having worked at several Hoosier dailies. He's got juice in political circles. He's tireless and hard-working.

But this is not about who is the more talented or better-liked individual of these two; it's about the issue of accuracy, and the old adage: check it out. If your mother says she loves you, Ryan, check it out.

Here is what Wagner has to say, which cuts to the chase -- a bit of a smack-down, but better now than later:

"If Ryan Nees wants to be considered a serious journalist, he needs
to play be serious journalist rules.

"He knows where to find me, as does Brian. All they'd have had to do was ask, and I could have shown them the records I referenced in my e-mail.

"But they didn't bother to ask because it's more fun to write about speculation as though it's true....

"So, by way of an official statement, I guess I'd say that I'm disappointed that Brian published the work of someone who clearly wants to be considered a real journalist but who does not understand the difference between fact-finding and fact-invention. Anyone who knows me knows I have a pretty thick skin, but I'm not willing to sit idly by while someone makes things up about my professional actions.

"Calling me names is one thing; making things up and repeating them as truth is quite another. Finally, this isn't a blog. It's something that people pay money to receive. They need to know they're getting a quality product."

Ryan has apologized, as was reported on Advance Indiana. In a phone interview today, he was pleasant and gracious, but he refused to discuss the correction or how he made the error originally. "I have to defer to Brian. I have not discussed talking about this with him."

Howey is preparing his own statement. He expects to release it Thursday.

Oh, dear. Much ado about nothing? In one sense, yes. A rather windy post for such a small matter. Was anybody hurt? Well, yes. Was anybody killed? No.

But on the other hand, this is also about the basic principles: truth, fairness, accuracy. We want people to keep reading...so we better get it right.

Which brings us, optimistically, to the future: Howey is going on vacation. Wagner is contemplating some new moves. Nees is going to Yale. To study -- of course you know -- political science.

Maybe lessons there will be simpler than on Indiana blogs and political reports.

Drove down to see the Colonel yesterday to pick up some money for the ducks.

The Colonel is Col. James Raney, who runs an auction house out in the woods a few miles back of Cloverdale, in the heart of east Put-man County. The ducks are plastic decoys purchased en masse at another Put-man auction house a couple years ago, in a foolish moment, then resold in part at the Colonel's Friday night shindig. Time to clear out the ducks. All several hundred of them.

The Colonel is no slouch. He's written a book on ginseng, (self published, $5), and he can build or sell almost anything. He showed me the little cabin he's putting up out in the back, behind the auction barn and not far from his own small log home. He calls the new place his "love shack." He's using sassafras logs and old windows he picked up somewhere, and so far he has invested $1.50. That's how folks out here live.

As I was leaving, he said, "Who you votin' for, girl? Obama?" (The Colonel and I go way back). I said sure, and asked him the same. "I guess Obama," he said. "I don't like Hillary, can't stand her. But I am worried about Obama getting elected.

"The boys I hang with," he continued, with my encoragement, "they say they like him, but I think when they get in that voting booth, they won't pull it for him. They'll go for McCain." That's somewhat understandable, as rural Indiana is red and redneck, and McCain stands for God, honor and country (and what got us into the war).

But what is the problem with Obama, I said, although I feared I knew the answer. He looked down.

"Is it the race?" I asked.

"Yep."

I gave my usual arguments, although I hoped and trusted the Colonel was already hip: Obama is a person of high character and accomplishments, he comes from nothing, he embodies the American Dream, he can cross party lines, (unlike Hillary, who has enemies on both sides), he's the change agent. The Colonel indicated he was solid with all that. He just wasn't sure he could convince his posse.

So we parted, on a rather gloomy note.

Then I remembered that the Obama sign I put up on U.S. 40 near Manhattan (my home place) didn't last a day. Just like my "Stop the I-69" madness sign, placed on my own property for God's sake, the Obama sign also offended some good old somebody enough that he/she stopped the pick-up and removed it. Period. End of story.

We all need to start talking about this, especially those of us who live in the Heartland which seems to be the heart of the problem. The Washington Post finally is, with a story today, "Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause." I hate to report that some of the "incidents" took place in Indiana. But I am not surprised.

Let's not hide this under cover. Obama supporters and Dems in general, and Republicans too, need to confront their own racist fears and prejudices as well as those of friends and acquaintances. The country may have come far, but not far enough in every corner. Time for those of us who see a bigger vision to speak out.

Here's the link to the Post story, picked up on Drudge this a.m.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051203014_pf.html

Read it, and then let everyone know: we will stand up to racial attacks, no matter how subtle. Let there be no tolerance in this great nation for intolerance.

A tipster saw the Indianapolis Star's vice president for everything Ali Zoibi zipping around town in an Indianapolis 500 Pace car last week.

So I called his office this morning to get confirmation or denial. Why? It's interesting to us that Gannett, with all its faux emphasis on ethics and avoiding the appearance of conflict of interest, if not the actual deed, would allow its senior guy to take such a huge favor from the 500 folks.

Here's how it went, after the operator connected me to Ali's suite:

"Good morning, this is Lisa."

"Hi, Lisa. This is Ruth Holladay. I'm calling to see if Ali Zoibi is driving a Pace car this spring."

"Well, why would you ask that, Ruth?"

"Because I heard he was, and I'm curious."

'I just don't know why you'd be asking."

"That must mean he is driving one. I guess that's my answer."

"Just a minute. You can ask him yourself. He's in. I'll connect you."

Long pause.

Lisa, back on the line. "I'm sorry. He doesn't take your calls."

"OK. Thank you."

Click.

So Ali has got himself a cool car. And the (big) wheels keep on turning...what a tool.

(Can anyone comment on the ethics essentials of this issue, according to the Gannett protocol? The rules were always: reporters can't accept gifts. Any food had to be consumed within like 20 minutes, or some silliness. Gannett makes a big stink out of not accepting freebie tickets for its reviewers, etc. -- a policy I think is good. So what is the deal? What is good for the goose, isn't good for the gander? Can Tim Evans get a Pace car? Matt Tully Is there a powder pink model for Babs? What's the deal?)

Have a great day.

Check out Mr. T:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvSCZpZpww8&feature=related

And, my card from Guy was nothing from Hallmark. Too simpering. Instead he made his own, "to one tough mother," and quoted one of America's saints of the labor movement, Mother Jones, aka Mary Harris "Mother" Jones. These are the words she spoke as she was speaking in 1902 to miners. A federal marshal approached and told her she was under arrested. She told him she'd be right along. "Wait till I run down," she said. Then she finished her speech, and said:

"Goodbye, boys; I’m under arrest. I may have to go to jail. I may not see you for a long time. Keep up the fight! Don’t surrender! Pay no attention to the injunction machine at Parkersburg. The Federal judge is a scab anyhow. While you starve he plays golf. While you serve humanity, he serves injunctions for the money powers."

Buddy Jim Hall, a refreshing, humorous new voice to the rural Indiana blogging scene (www.deeboner.com) wrote a couple weeks back to let me know that this blog was on the chopping block at the recent Society of Professional Journalists' annual banquet.

Oh, ouchy? Not a'tall. As a member of the Abdul Hakim-Shabazz school of thought -- there is no such thing as bad publicity -- I was curious enough to get in touch with the ever-talented writer Lou Harry, who for four years has served as emceee for that shindig.

I asked Lou if he was digging away, and here is what he said:

"It was part of a bit talking about all of the Star spin-offs. Indymoms.com, indypaws.com, indyfelons.com, indypopes.com,
indyalbinos.com, indylaidoffstaffers.com, and of course,
pleaseshutupruthholladay.com..."

Hilarious.

Almost as rich as what Jim Hall shared, about his experience with the gala:

"I got a third-place for magazine writing for a piece I did for Brian Smith and his defunct Greenwood Living magazine. Thank God I got paid for it before it folded after four issues (smile). My wife and I spent $90 on the banquet tickets and $20 to enter the contest. So, that was $110 for a piece of paper that wasn't even framed or laminated. I put it in a $3 Wal-Mart frame, so that brought my investment into my Mickey Mouse third-place certificate to $113."

Let's sing the chorus again, writers and toy writers: There is no such thing as money in the craft. And it ain't a profession -- one reason not to join the Society of Professional Journalists. Please, get over yourselves.

Finally, an update on the prolific Lou Harry, the arts and entertainment writer at Indianapolis Business Journal. The guy is a book machine. He and Todd Tobias have two new titles coming out: The Entourage Handbook and Kid Culture. Plus Lou is now writing under the pen name Louise Harriet (it's a manual for husband-training). (Really).

So please, check 'em out:

http://www.sterlingpublishing.com (for Harry's books) and

http://www.deebonner.com (for Jim Hall's take on life in Shelby County, or Shebby, as the locals call it).

Signing off from Put-man.