Guys, many of us have mentioned it before, and I have seen it time and time again - but I think now it is time to start a fresh thread about Oklahoma City's media, or lack thereof. But I want to preface everything by saying, let's make this constructive and point out things we LIKE from other markets or ways OKC can improve and not just focus on the faults.

The MAIN issues I have with OKC media stem from the Daily Oklahoman and their lack of content as well as their being way too slow to publish in most situations. At first, I thought there must be some reason for this - but I have seen far too many examples of much better press in other markets, and now I think it is time to have some corrective action in OKC.

For example. Tonight's game had OKC Thunder travel to Portland Trailblazers, a division foe and along with OKC, one of the top markee players in Brandon Roy not to mention the injured Odon. OKC won the game and the story was published almost immediately in the Portland Oregonian newspaper. http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/in...tland_106.html

Not only was it published less than 10 minutes after the game ended with OKC winning, but the storey was complete, full of facts and information about both teams and wasn't heavily slanted against OKC but also didn't 'diss' Portland. The storey in the Oregonian stated the facts of the game, and left plenty of areas for the locals to cheer or consult their team.

Now, take a look at the Oklahoman's coverage, 6 sentences and all of them are like rushed afterthoughts, like OKC's media didn't care or was too busy to write an article about THEIR winning team. http://newsok.com/durant-and-westbro...eadline_sports

No scoop, no interviews, nothing. Just, OH, The Thunder won. But they had several articles BLASTING the Thunder the past few days. Again, little scoop - just reporter/editor opinion. All negative or bandwagony.

What about OKC's AFL team. Does anybody even know they won't play in the AFL anymore? if you do know, you found out AFTER the fact. The team received NO coverage in Newsok, even though TECHNICALLY they are a major league team. .. No wonder the team folded.

Another Example: It's not just sports though. The SkyDance Bridge story, it was published in the Oklahoman AFTER the city council already voted. And once again, that first article was a 4 or so sentencer with no information other than, the decision was made. WAS MADE!!!!! A day or two later, the Oklahoman had a much better storey published but again - it was LATE and the story didn't really offer anything we didn't already know, such as inside investigation or objective (even subjective) thoughts as to why the council voted the way they did. No interviews, no scoop - just, 'oh by the way, this happened on Tuesday. Council voted to downsize the SkyDance Bridge.' End of story. It almost appears as if there would NOT have been another complete article published about the SkyDance Bridge if it wasn't for the high degree of discussion on OKCTalk.

To me, this is unacceptable! You have arguably the HOTTEST team in the NBA, everybody is gunning for the Thunder - and yet the newspaper is always late, and is always incomplete with their coverage, unless it is BEAT writer Darnell Mayberry giving his take on the team. But even that seems to be watered down, with just HIS OPINION. No interviews, no scoop. You have a public works project, which if somebody in the press had published the story BEFORE the city council meeting - perhaps concerned citizens might have showed up or written their council members to express their position, potentially giving council something to think about.

Other articles published in the Oklahoman are very similar. Myriad Gardens' cafe, Urban Renewal meetings/decisions, election coverage, celebrities visiting the city, attractions or events going on in the city. Need I keep going? ....

Either one liner headlines published well after the fact OR editorial commentaries posing as the official scoop when it is really one of the reporters/editors of the Oklahoman printing THEIR VIEW, THEIR OPINION and passing it off as fact. Even Dallas Morning News and USA TODAY (in some cases, even Tulsa world) write better and more complete articles about things OKC, and published sooner.


OKC needs to stand up and demand better, or somebody needs to start another newspaper. This is horrible press in my opinion as even smaller cities 'like Wichita' has better content even though their city hardly has anything to write about.

I know there are good people at the paper, Steve is one, Darnell is another, Dave seems to be quite good, and there are others. But the paper in general is not run well, and this needs attention. We need big league press, with complete information (you know, with the background/scoop as well as interviews from pro and opposing positions). Publish the information, the facts, the scoop - and do it as soon as possible, particularly if WE on OKCTalk know about things ahead of time (you'd think so should the Oklahoman with all of their inside 'resources' reporters and investigators).

Sure, OKC's media has improved - in that at least now we actually GET stories. But it is a far cry from every peer city market and even most that are smaller. I know this probably is due to lack of competition and an Editor/Publishing Company who thinks they own or CONTROL Oklahoma City's thinking/position, but this has got to end and we must demand better. We deserve better.

Here is your chance to voice your opinion and/or concerns. Hopefully Steve and some of the reporters who frequent OKCTalk can bring some of these constructive yet (hopefully) humbling observations/suggestions/criticisms to the Daily Oklahoman and they can produce a better product.

Feel free to cite other OKC media sources too. I didn't because I am not local - I only can see the newsok coverage, you know - the self proclaimed "Oklahoma's most trusted news" source. ....

We deserve Better