Cleveland reimaged: changing news media images of Cleveland, 1985–2015

ABSTRACTBeginning in the late 1960s, Cleveland’s public image suffered a series of blows. Riots on the city’s east side claimed the lives of a dozen people and the Cuyahoga River (briefly) caught fire. In the 1970s, deindustrialization ravaged its iron, steel, and auto industries, resulting in tens of thousands of job losses and rising poverty rates. In 1978, Cleveland became the first U.S. city since the Great Depression to default on its bonds. Between 1970 and 1980, the city lost nearly a quarter of its population. In response, business and political leaders developed an economic development plan that attempted to change the city’s image by improving its downtown. This paper analyzes the changing image of Cleveland as conveyed by newspaper headlines and articles from outside the metropolitan area from 1985 to 2015. The results indicate while the city’s external image improved as a result physical improvements in downtown infrastructure and tourist attractions, deteriorating social and economic conditio...