In my opinion, some of what PapaJack has said is quite accurate. The quality of just about every newspaper has declined in recent years. A large percentage of the population seems to no longer have the patience for long, in-depth investigative stories. They want the "quick hits" so common in USA Today, or the schlockiness that characterizes so much of broadcast "infotainment."

Having said that, it seems the DOK falls short of the majority of big-city papers. Now, I admit that I have not read that paper (in paper version) on any kind of a consistent basis for a while, since I no longer live in OKC. But on the ocassions that I do see it, what strikes me is how incomplete a lot of their stories are. When I was in journalism school, we were taught to look at both sides of an argument or an issue, get multiple sources from multiple points of view, and put together a balanced story. It seems a lot of the stories in the DOK (that I see on the web or that people have posted on this site) seem to be of the "press release variety." They answer the who, the what, the when and the where. But they don't get into the why. There might be quotes from someone with one point of view, but less often is there a balanced "yes, but..."

A couple of weeks ago, there was a story about the emergence of new shopping centers in OKC. It was a long piece and was generally good, but because it was long, I kept waiting for what I assumed would be the second part of the story: Is this proliferation of "lifestyle centers" a good thing for everybody? What has it done or will it do to emerging downtown districts? Can OKC really support all this new retail? Nothing like that was forthcoming. It said "5 million square feet will be built in 5 years." They didn't follow up with "Does that mean lots of new retailers that don't exist here yet, or does that mean a complete closing down of every mall, where is that 5 million coming from...OKC isn't growing that fast." That could have been a 3 or 4 part series: Shopping in the 21st century - First day: the new realities of retail. (which is pretty much the story they ran) Second day: the move towards new urbanism and will it get to OKC. Third day: What kinds of new retailers are being pursued? Use consistent graphics across the three days, provide national examples of what is happening in other places. It just seems like an opportunity lost.

The rush to do smaller, quick-hit stories can lead to errors. A week or two ago, the Chamber of Commerce incorrectly said that OKC's Gross Metopolitan Product was higher than Kansas City or San Antonio. The DOK printed that verbatim. It doesn't appear that an editor stopped to think about how that statement couldn't possibly be true. If the editors had used the occasion of that announcement to really delve into "What is a Gross Metropolitan Product?" (It's an interesting term that very few people are familiar with) they would have quickly realized the error. But it seems they more or less printed the Chamber spin verbatim.

(I will say that by and large, Steve Lackmeyer does a fantastic job with his reporting. They need to do everything they can to keep him around. He has obviously developed a real love for his beat and real relationships with sources. They are lucky to have him.)

But in short, when I have read the DOK, it has traditionally left me wanting more. Individual stories are often too short to adequately explore an issue. There are few true investigative pieces. (And the DOK is one of the wealthiest papers in the country - it could, as the St. Louis Post did, send reporters to Iraq to embed with Oklahoma guard units and bring localized stories to readers, but I suspect they didn't).

Woah, long diatribe. Sorry for that. Just my 2 cents.