NY Times: A Decaying Downtown Becomes Full of Life Again

[Doug Loudenback]

Square Feet - Downtown Oklahoma City Is Reviving - NYTimes.com

Great article. It could easily have been written by the chamber.

[PennyQuilts]

Terrific article - makes me proud of our town! Thanks!

[kevinpate]

Nice to see folks fairly acknowledge the downsides and not overstate them. Some sports writers out there could take lessons.

But nah, the chamber couldn't have written it. If they had, the leaking roof would likely have been addressed as convention centers renovations were undertaken to remove a waterfall that was no longer needed.
8^)

[soonerguru]

This is the third glowing article about OKC in the NY Times in the last year and a half. At some point people here should acknowledge that the "Eastern Establishment Media" doesn't hate our town. In fact, the Times has had the most positive coverage of OKC anywhere.

[circuitboard]

What a great article. The future of OKC is bright!

[shane453]

Yeah we need to write a thank you letter to the NYT if the Chamber isn't already paying them.

[Bigrayok]

The New York Times used to own Channel 4. I do not know if they still do. There is more of an Oklahoma-New York Times connection than people think.

Bigray in Ok

[Steve]

It's been years since the NYT owned KFOR and even then there was no real editorial coordination - it was pretty much an investment from what I heard.

[rcjunkie]

Yeah we need to write a thank you letter to the NYT if the Chamber isn't already paying them.

It only took 5 responses before someone pulled the conspiracy card, what a joke!!

[Dustin]

Finally!!! A happy thread!!!

[shane453]

It only took 5 responses before someone pulled the conspiracy card, what a joke!!

I didn't mean it as a conspiracy.. I'm the last one to call conspiracy, it kind of goes against my inherent trust of local authority that forms a basis for my political opinions. It was mostly a joke. But I don't think it's unheard of for these types of articles to be something like paid advertisements. And it was interesting that many of the quotes in there are standard blurbs from people like Norick that have already been published several times before- making it read more like a press release than a news piece.

[rcjunkie]

I didn't mean it as a conspiracy.. I'm the last one to call conspiracy, it kind of goes against my inherent trust of local authority that forms a basis for my political opinions. It was mostly a joke. But I don't think it's unheard of for these types of articles to be something like paid advertisements. And it was interesting that many of the quotes in there are standard blurbs from people like Norick that have already been published several times before- making it read more like a press release than a news piece.

"Read posting #9"

[soonerguru]

Shane,

Perhaps you're extending the joke, but the NY Times does not accept payment for articles.

I do see what you're saying about the boilerplate quotes and stuff, but I just take that as fair coverage.

These are the same quotes we've all seen dozens of times, but NY Times readers have never seen them.

At least the story is accurate.

[dismayed]

A great article from real journalists and not a bunch of sports "journalists."

[Steve]

Shane, I did some digging into how this story evolved. While the chamber does shop a lot of stories (which, if you think about it, should be exactly what they should do), in this case they were caught by surprise. Apparently the reporter started off writing a story about Devon and the new tower and expanded the story after hearing about Project 180 and MAPS 3.
So, yes, I'm saying it's a true-blue, honest-to-goodness genuine news story.

[workman45]

I've had to revise my opinion of the NYT. For years it's been: NYT -All the news that's fit to print (even if we have to fabricate it), but they haven't done that in a while. Might have to put them back on the 'read but verify' list.

[shane453]

Shane, I did some digging into how this story evolved. While the chamber does shop a lot of stories (which, if you think about it, should be exactly what they should do), in this case they were caught by surprise. Apparently the reporter started off writing a story about Devon and the new tower and expanded the story after hearing about Project 180 and MAPS 3.
So, yes, I'm saying it's a true-blue, honest-to-goodness genuine news story.

Yeah, I wasn't even trying to say it was a negative thing if the Chamber is planting seeds with national newspapers. Just that it happens and that article more than any of the other NYT pieces on OKC did read like Chamber literature (and to your credit it sounds like the journalist might have a copy OKC Second Time Around), but I'm glad to hear this article was a surprise.

[Steve]

Shane, you're always sooooooooooooooo negative and everybody knows it!
(I am of course joking - and I got what you meant. Just providing some context)

[Doug Loudenback]

Actually, my brain's archives told me that the NYT article was quoting from you, Steve, though I didn't check it out. Sue 'em if they did!

[Platemaker]

Anyone notice how they removed the word 'decaying' from the title of the article?

[Doug Loudenback]

That's interesting.

[Kerry]

They changed it because people thought the original headline was about Detroit.

[metro]

Shane,

Perhaps you're extending the joke, but the NY Times does not accept payment for articles.

I do see what you're saying about the boilerplate quotes and stuff, but I just take that as fair coverage.

These are the same quotes we've all seen dozens of times, but NY Times readers have never seen them.

At least the story is accurate.

You'd be surprised what type of media you can buy. I'm a professional marketing/PR person and I see it all the time.

Shane, I did some digging into how this story evolved. While the chamber does shop a lot of stories (which, if you think about it, should be exactly what they should do), in this case they were caught by surprise. Apparently the reporter started off writing a story about Devon and the new tower and expanded the story after hearing about Project 180 and MAPS 3.
So, yes, I'm saying it's a true-blue, honest-to-goodness genuine news story.

Yep, while I'm not so sure the CNBC pieces weren't somewhat purchased by Sandridge and the Big 3 gas companies, this is supposively an honest story. As Steve said, you can "shop" stories and I'm sure the Chamber does. I agree that we should do more of it, especially in times like this when media prices are down and most economies are down. It's a great way to sell OKC.

[soonerguru]

You'd be surprised what type of media you can buy. I'm a professional marketing/PR person and I see it all the time.

There are media out there who are pay to play, but legitimate newspapers like the Times do not mix advertising and editorial. As someone who also has PR experience, though, I agree that hiring a good PR firm to pitch a story is a great method of getting ink.

[metro]

No, the Times might not "sell" a story. But I guarantee you can pay a bigwig PR firm to get your press release heard.