Tom LoBianco, Maryland politics reporter

Never write if you can speak; never speak if you can nod; never nod if you can wink.

So this is the April Fool’s Day joker who dressed up as a regal Mike Miller (Maryland’s Senate President) and paraded through Annapolis a few weeks ago. He stood in front of the Mike Miller Senate Office Building (that’s Miller SOB, for short) in the plot where the widely-rumored Mike Miller statue is expected to be placed. That’s not confirmed, of course, just another piece of Annapolis lore.

… And a little housecleaning and a few thoughts here, just because that white space that was hanging here before looked terrible. Hmmm, layout options. …

Thought #1: I really need a copy editor. I picked through that last post about Steele, Ehrlich, O’Malley and Dixon four or five times to clean up all the little spelling and grammatical errors, and I know there are more in there I have yet to spot.

Thought #2: Anybody want to comment on whether it’s easy to get in touch with me if you have questions or comments? My e-mail is up at the top right of the page, under that goofy mug shot, but some good folks have told me they have trouble finding it. So, open thread: Whaddya think? Should my e-mail addy be blown up in 24-pt type?

I’m having bad SAT flashbacks just writing this. But analogies are pertinent and are a pretty good way at drawing an intuitive connection, especially for a public with a short attention span.

So the state Democratic Party has gone hard after Ehrlich ever since it looked like his run for governor was inevitable (a few months ago now.) And the whole RNC sex club spending debacle has proven for very nice ammo (Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele was Ehrlich’s former second-in-command.)

Ehrlich, for his part, has been just as coy as ever when handling tough questions. “Who? Me??” is pretty much de rigeur. (Interestingly, one reporter who attended one of his press gaggles asked a colleague if Ehrlich’s always this weird. The short answer is: yes.)

So as this debate (or what amounts to a debate around here) grows, the pertinent question is who is O’Malley’s Steele? Or to flesh it out some: Who’s the goofball who keeps O’governor’s handlers on edge for fear of some strange sex-club scandal.

Perhaps it’s Sheila Dixon, Baltimore’s own guilty-without-being-convicted former mayor, and a benefactor of the O’Malley/Curran political machine.

Cheryl Kagan, liberal Democrat running to oust Montgomery County Democrat Jennie Forehand in the state senate, got the dirt on Facebook last week. Here are the goods:

(And if you want a real laugh, check the tags at the end of this post. The only person missing from that cast of characters is Willie Don.)

Here’s my spot from Sine Die where I spoke with NewsChannel 8‘s Bruce DePuyt about the end of the 2010 legislative session and its implications for the elections. Among some of the more interesting points we hit: why the budget shortfall pushed out most other major issues, and why hot-button social issues almost never crop up in Annapolis.

Big thanks to Bruce and his excellent cameraman for making me look somewhat professional.

Video is here. (Until I figure out why YouTube ain’t workin’ for me right now.)

“Sine Die” the last day of the legislative session, is spoken in Annapolis as “Sign-ee Die” as opposed to the proper Latin, which would sound like “See-nay Dee-ay.” It’s sort of a Bawlimer bastardization of the language, which is why it’s both lovable and universally accepted.

So the governor’s office sent out this press release earlier announcing he’d be taking quesitions on Sine Sie. Was it a “Sie” of relief? Regret?

(An excellent guest post from the inimitable Andy Schotz! – TL)

Recently, Tom LoBianco, the keeper of this blog, asked for my thoughts about when it’s OK for a journo with a possible conflict to step away and when a disclosure would be enough to proceed.

There’s no set answer to Tom’s question, but it’s a great topic to explore.

It came up because of Tom’s recent riff on former Gov. Ehrlich’s new run for his old office – http://tomlobianco.com/2010/04/05/easterish-blogger-roundup

In his post, Tom had three separate disclosures about his connections to the subject matter.

I was especially interested that after Tom mentioned The Sun, he disclosed that he had applied for a job there. I can’t recall ever seeing that disclosure before — usually, someone mentions a current or past work connection.

Disclosure shows that a journalist or news organizations is serious about keeping readers informed of possible connections that might color coverage or opinion writing. The bias doesn’t have to be actual. Our readers’ perception is important, too, and we journos can’t control it.

Here are some connections I think are usually worth disclosing: a past, present or future work relationship; a relationship by blood, marriage or friendship; a financial interest; any other personal link to the issue, such as membership in a group or organization.

That’s still pretty broad, I know.

Look at the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics (http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp). It’s a set of guidelines — no laws or rules; no “enforcement” or “sanctions” — to help journalists ask the right questions before making decisions.

One of the code’s four sections is titled “Act Independently.” Two principles in this section say journalists should “Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived” and “Disclose unavoidable conflicts.”

(Disclosure: I’m plugging the code because I’m SPJ’s Ethics Committee chairman.)

I was once asked if a Catholic journalist could fairly cover the Catholic Church. Again, there’s no single answer, but the question makes you think about the extremes to which avoiding a conflict could be taken.

I’ve written many stories about Allegheny Power, the local energy supplier. Yet, I’m a customer (I don’t have much choice).

I live in Washington County and have written a ton of stories about the county government.

Taken to the philosophical extreme, I might have a conflict writing about men or native New Yorkers. I’m probably biased toward mammals.

The exercise gets silly well before that, so let’s go in the other direction.

Maybe it’s OK for me to write about the new Toyota recall (my Corolla isn’t affected). But I probably shouldn’t write a feature about the dealership that sold me my car.

If I’m Catholic, maybe I could cover the Church — but not my church.

Tom probably won’t write a glowing feature about what a hard-working journalist Doug Tallman is (even if it is true). But if Doug runs for governor, Tom probably will cover the campaign and point out their past affiliation (which he did in his April 5 blog post).

I wouldn’t write a profile of my friends or co-workers, unless there’s no other practical way around it. In that case, I disclose.

It’s usually better to disclose too much than not enough. A supervisor should be in on the discussion. If you work for yourself, bounce it off a friend.

One simple rule of thumb is: What do readers need to know? Put yourself in their place, and go from there.

So The Sun had a big blowout this morning on lawmakers, lobbyists and Gov. Martin O’Malley all clearing a packed Annapolis bar late last night after a fire was reported.

But there was no fire, at least that’s what the fire department said. From the AP:

¶ ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) _ An Annapolis Fire Department spokesman says firefighters found no evidence of a fire at a bar where Gov. Martin O’Malley and state lawmakers evacuated after someone smelled a smoky odor.

¶ Lt. John Bowes said firefighters got a call at 11:17 p.m. Thursday for a report of smoke coming from a vent. Bowes says they found no evidence of a fire or damage. Bowes says firefighters believe the odor was created when the bar turned on the heat.

¶ Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley says O’Malley was starting to leave the bar with his security detail when the odor was detected. Lawmakers and others followed the governor’s exit from the event they were attending, a celebration for about 40 lawmakers finishing their first term in office.

(The Sun has recently corrected its original report — corrected version here — but the “fire” bit, which was picked up by the AP earlier this morning spread nationwide, with the Examiner chain running the original piece and then the corrected version.)

Both of The Sun reporters were in the bar, so reasonable reporting standards dictate you can write what you see. Not sure how there was smoke without a fire, but the fire department said there wasn’t one.

So news aggregator Eye On Annapolis grabbed the piece, stripped it down, and reposted it with nary a link or a source. I traded comments with the staff, earlier. The exchange is pictured to the right (not sure why I got this goofy tomato icon for an avatar.)

(It also stands to note that The Daily Record held the blog title “Eye On Annapolis” back in 2008, about a year before this other blog started.)

UPDATE: The Capital, an Annapolis newspaper, was the first with the correct account from the fire department. Here‘s a vociferous post from Capital reporter Josh Stewart.

And … Here’s the invitation to the party which started the whole thing, the freshman class party. They really rocked the house …

This is the invite that was posted in the House lounge for a few days this week. Rock the House ...

This is probably exciting to about five people in the entire state, but I’m still psyched: Andy Schotz, reporter par excellence for the Hagerstown Herald-Mail and chairman of the SPJ’s ethics committee, will be writing a guest post here!

Schotz will be writing about when it’s fine to disclose your connections and still write about a topic, and when you need to outright recuse yourself. It’s the kind of thing state lawmakers really ought to be thinking about … but it’s equally apt for us scribblers.

I’ve “commissioned” this piece from the good Mr. Schotz, with promises of $1 beers and a hearty thanks. (That ought not break my freelance budget of $5 for the year.)

Check out the SPJ ethics blog here.

The Washington Post put Democrat Joe Vallario atop the House Judiciary Committee for a hot 27 years in this morning’s profile. That’s ten more than he’s actually served, according to the Maryland Manual.

There are plenty of folks around here who will lament Vallario’s “tyrannical” reign, but it hasn’t been that lengthy. When it comes to lengthy, and tyrannical, people around Annapolis tend to think of Senate President Mike Miller.

So while I’m writing up my script for WYPR for tomorrow morning’s Ehrlich kick-off round-up, here are a few pics from the morning.

It was this big ...

Ehrlich in the media swarm

Bob Ehrlich confers with senior strategist Paul Schurick at the Rockville Starbucks before taking the stage at Rockville Town Center

Ehrlich's first official cheesy campaign stop as gubernatorial candidate, scoopin' ice cream with the little guy ... he'll never leave you cold.