Tulsa World Claim Chowder
At this time last year Mike Jones the associate editor of the Tulsa World used his bully pulpit of the Sunday Opinion section to tell all of us why newspapers just aren’t going to die. His larger point was that newspapers fill a niche of hyperlocal news gathering that just can’t be matched by the Internet or Television news. I don’t want to pick apart that point of contention, but what I do want to point out his is statement in regards to the Ice Storm of 2007 and newspapers being there:
As for the winter storm. Television news and weather did a great job of reporting and keeping their viewers informed. That’s because during this storm the Tulsa area had electricity. We all can remember the ice storm of December 2007. Some people went without power for nine days or longer. Most were without power for at least a day or so. During that time there were no TV reports because there was no TV. There were some battery-powered radios and TVs and some people had generators to keep the power going. But for the most part, Tulsa was, literally, in the dark. My power was off for eight days. My lifeline was my newspaper. It was at my house every day. It is how I learned when and where the power crews were working. And it kept me in touch with the rest of the state and world. I suspect that the folks in southeastern Oklahoma and part of Arkansas were glad to have a daily newspaper last week.1
He paints an excellent picture of the Tulsa World’s deliverymen risking live and limb to ensure his “lifeline” to the outside world was there. Maybe I just have terrible delivery people but a year later Tulsa just got hit with another winter storm packing some ice and snow and my “lifeline” wasn’t there. Good thing I didn’t lose power because it’s pretty clear Mike Jones and his lifeline are living in some alternate universe (or it could just help he’s the associate editor of the paper not some random person who pays for delivery 365 days a year.)
- Mike Jones “Read all about it”, Tulsa World, February 1, 2009, p. G6. ↩
Related posts: