Originality Check for OKC and Tulsa

[In_Tulsa]

Make the trip to Tulsa you will LOVE it.

[jbrown84]

I noticed something along this same topic the other day. I picked up this free magazine that was called Oklahoma Life or Oklahoma Magazine or something very general like that (it was not Oklahoma Today), thinking I had discovered a new, very professional magazine about culture in Oklahoma. But I was very offended when I read it cover to cover and it was all TULSA. All the feature articles were about Tulsa restaurants/events/museums, etc. There was a best of Oklahoma thing and every single thing on it was in the Tulsa area. All the ads were Tulsa businesses. But yet they had the gall to call it Oklahoma Magazine.

[flyingcowz]

I noticed something along this same topic the other day. I picked up this free magazine that was called Oklahoma Life or Oklahoma Magazine or something very general like that (it was not Oklahoma Today), thinking I had discovered a new, very professional magazine about culture in Oklahoma. But I was very offended when I read it cover to cover and it was all TULSA. All the feature articles were about Tulsa restaurants/events/museums, etc. There was a best of Oklahoma thing and every single thing on it was in the Tulsa area. All the ads were Tulsa businesses. But yet they had the gall to call it Oklahoma Magazine.

Imagine that..

[Karried]

I picked up this free magazine that was called Oklahoma Life or Oklahoma Magazine

Imagine that..

They had to put something on the cover to make people pick it up! LOL


( Now Flyingcowz - I'm just joking, I've never been to Tulsa but I want to see the Lion King, maybe you can recommend a restaurant or hotel nearby and play nice?)

[jbrown84]

Imagine that..

That was rude.

[okcpulse]

I will have to say, I do not like Oklahoma Magazine for that very reason. You cannot call it Oklahoma magazine and have all of its content focused on Tulsa. May as well call it Tulsa Magazine.

Oklahoma Magazine is based and published in Tulsa, which explains its unbalanced coverage, or lack thereof, in other parts of the state. Quite frankly, it makes the magazine look biased.
It is a nice magazine, but not an Oklahoma magazine. Only for Tulsa.

[flyingcowz]

Oklahoma Magazine is based and published in Tulsa, which explains its unbalanced coverage, or lack thereof, in other parts of the state.

Now, this concept can be used on our state government being based in OKC.

[swake]

What about the Jokelahoman? Isn't the tagline "The State's Newspaper"?

[John]

What about the Jokelahoman? Isn't the tagline "The State's Newspaper"?

I think the circulation numbers for the Oklahoman back up their claim.

[okcpulse]

Well, it isn't called something like 'Oklahoma City Times, The State's Newspaper'. That would be a better analogy.

[swake]

I think this is the perfect analogy.

First off, I'm not offended by the tagline or the name of the Oklahoma City paper, but that IS what the Oklahoman is, it's the Oklahoma City metro paper.

It's not a newpaper that has much reporting at all about this part of the state, the articles and ads are focused on central Oklahoma, where it is based. You can buy it many places statewide, but then you can the Tulsa World too, but that does not make the World the state's newspaper either.

Oklahoma Magazine is based in Tulsa, so most articles and ads are from the Tulsa area. How is this different?

The only difference is your own bias.

Why are you offended by this anyway?

[HOT ROD]

The Oklahoman bases its claim of state newspaper for two reasons:

1) Circulation - it has the highest in the state and is considered a Major Metro paper.

2) Coverage - the paper has news offices throughout the state and provides coverage that otherwise would not be given.

Honestly, I see much about Tulsa in the Jokelahoman. Often times, it seems like Tulsa news gets reported by them moreso than OKC news. This often made me mad, as there is plenty of news in OKC that does not make it in the paper (online edition anyways). As an expat, I like to keep up with what is happening there but it appears the focus is not on the hometown.

Therefore, I would argue that the Jokelahoman - irregardless of their lack of quality reporting (as I have seen them publish an "article" that only had two sentences - hence Joke LAHOMAN) - that the Oklahoman IS a statewide paper.

Tulsa World has some state coverage but it is mostly on the capital (govt) issues or headlines from OKC. That hardly qualifies for state coverage.

AND - as for OK Today, clearly they are PRO Tulsa. This coming from an outside prospective - if it were an OK prospective, then OKC should have more coverage. There is more there, the city is much larger, and OKC has a MUCH greater presence on the state of OK than Tulsa. Just look on the airline web sites or drive close to OK and you begin to see the presence of the major city - Oklahoma City!

Not to knock Tulsa, but that is just the way it is. And it seems that Tulsa - quite eloquently I may add - slapped OKC back in the face with this publication, and others. In fact, it seems Tulsa does this often, beating OKC to so called OK based forums online or web sites or discussions. I guess people in OKC are too busy to keep up or Tulsan's have way too much time on their hands.

Probably the reality is, Tulsa has an intelligent syndicate that keeps up with the times! (see there, I said something nice [and probably correct] about Tulsa).

Hopefully as OKC tastes the major leagues, you will start to ACT LIKE IT! (cause, Tulsa's beating you as far as initial impression).

[flyingcowz]

Thanks for the last part, but I have a question.

You said,

There is more there, the city is much larger, and OKC has a MUCH greater presence on the state of OK than Tulsa.

What kind of presence? I know you can't be talking about taxes.

[okcpulse]

Actually, swake, I am not offended at all, really. Just an observation. Besides, I can't stand The Oklahoman anyway. I prefer a newspaper with Oklahoma City's name on it, and more better... well... news.

As far as presence, well, I don't think it's a MUCH greater presence. Oklahoma City is the largest tax generator in the state (I know, I've seen the tax rolls from Oklahoma City and Tulsa) but it isn't a huge difference.

I'll close this post with a quote that fits Oklahoma.....

It takes two to tango. Oklahoma doesn't dance without either city.

[swake]

But I was very offended when I read it cover to cover and it was all TULSA. All the feature articles were about Tulsa restaurants/events/museums, etc. There was a best of Oklahoma thing and every single thing on it was in the Tulsa area. All the ads were Tulsa businesses. But yet they had the gall to call it Oklahoma Magazine.

That sounds offended, a lot,

I will have to say, I do not like Oklahoma Magazine for that very reason. You cannot call it Oklahoma magazine and have all of its content focused on Tulsa. May as well call it Tulsa Magazine.

Oklahoma Magazine is based and published in Tulsa, which explains its unbalanced coverage, or lack thereof, in other parts of the state. Quite frankly, it makes the magazine look biased.
It is a nice magazine, but not an Oklahoma magazine. Only for Tulsa.

and then you agreed, and accused the magazine of some sort of bias, the magazine is about people and places in Oklahoma, same as the "Oklahoman", that it is more about the area where it is published and where most of the copies are distributed is natural. The only bias is from those that would be offended that , or the area they are from, was left out.

[okcpulse]

Yes, swake, I agreed, but not offended. And, as I have pointed out, I don't like The Oklahoman, but if it should exist, it should be called the Oklahoma City Times, and the phrase 'State Newspaper' should be deleted.

If you are going to name a publication, it is your obligation to your readers that you follow through with the coverage related to the publication's name. If that doesn't happen, then you are not satisfying all readers, only a group of readers. As a result, you end up with a smaller audience. If you're trying to sell Oklahoma Magazine to a bunch of Oklahoma City readers, and most if not all the coverage is based in Tulsa, then readers looking for Oklahoma City coverage are obviously going to look elsewhere. Those looking for coverage in Tulsa may not pull Oklahoma Magazine off the rack as their first choice. That's what I was taught in English Comp & Lit.

Believe me, swake, I also have an issue with the Oklahoma Gazette concerning this very argument. It is an Oklahoma City weekly independent publication, yet it bares the state name.

[jbrown84]

The Oklahoman is in no way equal to "Oklahoma Magazine" as far as the bias goes. This so called statewide magazine had nothing about anything outside of Tulsa. The Oklahoman is considered the state paper because it covers issues for the whole state. Take for instance its continued front page series on OK roads and bridges or its many stories on water quality in NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA. Obviously, it makes sense to publish the state paper in the capital city, so thus it does have a lot of Oklahoma City news and advertisements. BUT, it's impossible to read it cover to cover and find only OKC stuff. That is the case with Oklahoma Magazine and Tulsa. And like someone said, it was a clear slap in the face to Oklahoma City. Don't expect me to ever pick that magazine up again. I might also add that I got it inside Full Circle Book Store in OKC.

[flyingcowz]

The Oklahoman is in no way equal to "Oklahoma Magazine" as far as the bias goes. This so called statewide magazine had nothing about anything outside of Tulsa. The Oklahoman is considered the state paper because it covers issues for the whole state. Take for instance its continued front page series on OK roads and bridges or its many stories on water quality in NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA. Obviously, it makes sense to publish the state paper in the capital city, so thus it does have a lot of Oklahoma City news and advertisements. BUT, it's impossible to read it cover to cover and find only OKC stuff. That is the case with Oklahoma Magazine and Tulsa. And like someone said, it was a clear slap in the face to Oklahoma City. Don't expect me to ever pick that magazine up again. I might also add that I got it inside Full Circle Book Store in OKC.

Then gripe to the bookstore not us, we don't publish it.