Sure, alternative newspapers are good...but am I the only one here who thinks it's usually a bunch of crap?
Outside of Bates, what am I missing?
I can confirm bar ads, non-funny satire, right-wing "scientific" articles and a scumbag journalist (Hi Brian!).
Anything else?
EDIT: I forgot about the worst sports articles in the history of mankind.
Definitely a sub-par alt-weekly. I peruse it mainly for the ads and the news of the weird.
A mish mash hodge podge publication put together by right wingers and paid for by their sluts.
Sound familiar?[:P]
Ok, just making sure I wasn't alone on this one.
I think UTW is mostly junk, but so is the Tulsa World.
UTW is paid by advertisers. Anyone who doesn't like it isn't forced to read it. The publishers must be successful at what they are doing, because I can remember when Urban Tulsa was a monthly about 20 years ago.
For the most part, I have very few problems with the editorial stance of UTW. I can't say the same for the Tulsa World's editorial staff.
UTW has an online version with searchable archives, although I haven't been able to get them to work from my computer recently. Anyway, the publication is free of charge. No one should expect something spectacular for free.
Here are a couple of ideas for anyone who doesn't like UTW: Write to them with your ideas of how to improve their paper, or, round up some advertisers and publish your own alternative to the alternative.
Does that "sports editor" get paid money?
I'm with you on this guys. A sub par monthly that only became a weekly because they had to. Monthlies were springing up like fire, the Trib closed, a new weekly was taking its place and TP was going bi-monthly if I remember.
Boo, it isn't possible to have more than one of these making money in a town this size. Printing costs are high. Readership and distribution is mostly on faith. Not enough print advertisers and most of them are credit sketchy bars and restaurants. Advertisers choose up sides by bargaining with the publisher for exclusivity. Nasty business.
The World's deterioration in quality has accelerated within the last year as expenses rise and the internet siphons off business. Now we have two sucky publications.
Artist likes UT though.
Everyone I know uses the Urban Tulsa as an events listing. Bigger cities have the weekly "What's On", and similar papers. I consider Urban Tulsa to be the "What's On" of Tulsa.
You can find upcoming gallery events, shows, just about everything happening in Tulsa that week. My friends are in Urban Tulsa almost every week. I love being able to keep up with events in Tulsa while I am travelling.
I think it serves Tulsa well in that regard. I don't look to the Urban Tulsa to get my news.
quote:
Originally posted by deinstein
Does that "sports editor" get paid money?
I know the titles are largely fake. Most of the writers are freelance paid pocket change per article.
I've written them before to complain about their movie reviews because I think people read a review to see if they will like the movie or not. Wile it's important to highlight the lesser known pictures they need to review the larger releases as well and give more of an "everyman" review not a snobby review only appreciated by the author's grad student friends.
quote:
Originally posted by FOTD
A mish mash hodge podge publication put together by right wingers and paid for by their sluts.
Sound familiar?[:P]
I have noticed that UT is much more conservative than other free "alternative" publications in other cities across the country that I have seen.
(Bates excluded, of course)
I miss G.W. Shulz. I would always pick up a copy when he had a story in the issue. You could count on a well-researched, unbiased, uniquely entertaining, accurate account, of unusual stories that were a little off the reservation and definitely off the radar.
The current investigative journalism team pales in comparison, not bad necessarily, just minor league and amateurish by comparison, that's all. I just don't find myself looking forward to picking up a copy so I can read the latest article by whoever in the hell is writing for them now, anyway.
Embarrassing "scientific" articles from the right in this weekly. Good comic relief though?
quote:
Originally posted by Double A
The current investigative journalism team pales in comparison, not bad necessarily, just minor league and amateurish by comparison, that's all.
They are hideous.
quote:
Originally posted by sgrizzle
quote:
Originally posted by deinstein
Does that "sports editor" get paid money?
I know the titles are largely fake. Most of the writers are freelance paid pocket change per article.
I've written them before to complain about their movie reviews because I think people read a review to see if they will like the movie or not. Wile it's important to highlight the lesser known pictures they need to review the larger releases as well and give more of an "everyman" review not a snobby review only appreciated by the author's grad student friends.
There for a second I thought you were talking about the men's club ads.
I read it only for two things. The events listing and News of the Weird. Can't stand Bates, can't stand the rest of it.
Bates owns this entire city on urban planning. You just have to skip over the GOP bull****.
I have bought advertising in the Urban Tulsa probably longer than any other business in Tulsa. I always have a small ad in the last few pages.
We have an incredibly good price for what I get. It allows me some creative outlet every week and I hear about the ads on a regular basis. It is a good use of my limited advertising budget.
I pick up a copy each week. I read all the articles, except for the sports and restaurant reviews and enjoy that I can find stuff about local issues. I have a lot of respect for Michael Bates and Brian Ervin for their work. It is hard to write that many words every week and they cover stuff that no one else is.
As the World continues to scale back coverage of the Arts, the Urban has stepped up to the plate and is developing a much-needed arts and culture department... Applause for that.
Not saying there aren't points of light within the publication. Occasionally pretty good writing and definitely a directory of low end entertainment. Just really tire of their conservative right wing stuff and their cheap sensuality. Expensive sensuality is okay though.
I appreciate the diversity . However, I know many who think it is smut.....because, even if you try to be open-minded. there is a lot of "smut" advertising. A little goes a long way.
Love the Urban Tulsa. Can always count on it for the REAL story and they are so informative when it comes to the track record of the candidates running for office. They may occasionally give opinions in some articles (LEFT WING TULSA WORLD IS NOTORIOUS FOR THIS) however when it comes to informing the voters on candidates they rely on facts and refrain from blanket statements and unfounded claims. GREAT paper for the articles. The ads are smut & I would enjoy it more without them.
I read it most weeks. Amazing to me they can find articles to publish that frequently.
Two pages, with smaller amounts of ink, of the UTW sprinkled with some cooking oil work great for starting some lump charcoal on my grill afterward.
Unfortunately, Brian Ervin has been let go from UTW. He had a disagreement with Keith over an article and he got fired. He was the best writer they had at the time.
quote:
Originally posted by NellieBly
Unfortunately, Brian Ervin has been let go from UTW. He had a disagreement with Keith over an article and he got fired. He was the best writer they had at the time.
When did that happen? Definitely not the first writer KRS has butted heads with. Brian was a good investigative reporter.
quote:
Originally posted by cino24
Love the Urban Tulsa. Can always count on it for the REAL story and they are so informative when it comes to the track record of the candidates running for office. They may occasionally give opinions in some articles (LEFT WING TULSA WORLD IS NOTORIOUS FOR THIS) however when it comes to informing the voters on candidates they rely on facts and refrain from blanket statements and unfounded claims. GREAT paper for the articles. The ads are smut & I would enjoy it more without them.
Thanks for the laugh!
quote:
Originally posted by Conan71
quote:
Originally posted by NellieBly
Unfortunately, Brian Ervin has been let go from UTW. He had a disagreement with Keith over an article and he got fired. He was the best writer they had at the time.
When did that happen? Definitely not the first writer KRS has butted heads with. Brian was a good investigative reporter.
No he wasn't. He was a scumbag who harassed a friend of mine almost to an extreme. He was the smut at the Urban Tulsa.
I hope the door hit him on the donkey HARD.
[:D]MEMO from THE EDITOR of URBAN TULSA to employees. Please spread around on the net:quote:
Originally posted by cino24
Love the Urban Tulsa. Can always count on it for the REAL story and they are so informative when it comes to the track record of the candidates running for office. They may occasionally give opinions in some articles (LEFT WING TULSA WORLD IS NOTORIOUS FOR THIS) however when it comes to informing the voters on candidates they rely on facts and refrain from blanket statements and unfounded claims. GREAT paper for the articles. The ads are smut & I would enjoy it more without them.
...excuse me folks, but your diversity fails to show up.
Tulsa and Tulsans should be both proud and pleased to have Urban Tulsa as an alternate means of input, both for political diversity and opinion.
Failing to recognise what a valuable asset it is to our community is, well, just a failure on your part.
Imagine if we had only the World for our information.
I always pick up the UT, and tend to enjoy some of it, skim some of it, be annoyed by some of it, and dismiss some of it.
You know, sort of like this forum...
How is a right leaning alternative weekly adding diversity? I see it the other way around.
quote:
Originally posted by deinstein
How is a right leaning alternative weekly adding diversity? I see it the other way around.
Your confusion is already well documented.
Well, these weekly papers are so formulaic that you don't really see it after a you've seen three or four issues. There are no surprises. The same was true of the Bay Guardian and others. Funny, you would think Urban Tulsa would position themselves to the Left of the World.
There was earlier talk about the World's art coverage. The Tulsa World recently introduced a Sunday Arts Section. This and other changes at the paper look to me like they are trying to sell more movie ads. But I'm hopeful that now that they have an arts section they will hire an art and architecture critic. They had an art critic when I was growing up. His name was something like Devicini. I remember a column but no real art criticism.
quote:
Originally posted by Wrinkle
quote:
Originally posted by deinstein
How is a right leaning alternative weekly adding diversity? I see it the other way around.
Your confusion is already well documented.
Says the Urban Tulsa fluffer.
quote:
Originally posted by deinstein
quote:
Originally posted by Wrinkle
quote:
Originally posted by deinstein
How is a right leaning alternative weekly adding diversity? I see it the other way around.
Your confusion is already well documented.
Says the Urban Tulsa fluffer.
Wow, haven't heard that term used in a while...
quote:
Originally posted by deinstein
quote:
Originally posted by Wrinkle
quote:
Originally posted by deinstein
How is a right leaning alternative weekly adding diversity? I see it the other way around.
Your confusion is already well documented.
Says the Urban Tulsa fluffer.
I wish we had ten of 'em. Anytime someone publishes their perspectives and opinions we learn something we didn't know. That's diversity, even if you don't agree with it, part of it, or wrote it yourself.
But, a more interesting story would be the one of how you got to the opposite conclusion.
Something more like the Westword in Denver should be a good goal for UT. Heck the Gazette in OKC has way more interesting content and COLOR...
quote:
Originally posted by NellieBly
Unfortunately, Brian Ervin has been let go from UTW. He had a disagreement with Keith over an article and he got fired. He was the best writer they had at the time.
Shulz smoked that dude any day of the week, hands down!
UTW's biggest problem is the same as the Whirlds, it's their publisher. Although, Keith is a much better person/publisher than Lorton. He just needs to learn how to insert less of himself in the paper. He let's his own ideas, editorial style, and ego get in the way of his better judgment sometimes, to the weekly's detriment. After all, to be fair, it is his paper, he can do what he wants with it. Otherwise, he seems to be a fairly decent guy. I've never ran into anyone that had anything worse to say about him than that. Nice guy, not so great publisher.
Having said that, if it weren't for UTW, Bates or Shulz wouldn't have been getting published and a lot of other voices would be trapped behind the Whirled's Chamber curtain of silence or slander. For that I am eternally grateful. I still pick up UTW every week, and hope it continues to be Tulsa's alternative voice. I just don't look forward to it as much as I used to, I hope I will again. Getting rid of Ask A Mexican would be a good start.
quote:
Originally posted by Double A
Getting rid of Ask A Mexican would be a good start.
Yeah, that guy is a total dude. His articles are so hateful that it makes me think the articles are written by anti-Mexicans to make the populace dislike Mexicans even more than they already do in this part of the country.
compared to other alt-weeklies and pubs (the stranger, willamette weekly, the Reader (chicago), the Austin Chronicle, even, gulp, the Gazette in OKC) the Urban Tulsa is pathetic. Embarrassing even.
Look... they lean right. Fine. But how in the name of Tulsa is that an alternative? To the Tulsa World? Who endorsed Bush twice?
I don't know. Catering to the majority: no first, anti-tax, anti everything crowd isn't exactly doing it for me, personally. My alt-weekly is supposed to provide refreshing perspective, and hope that Tulsa isn't a homogenous bunch of right wing zealots. Urban Tulsa provides none of that for me.
and I agree about the ask a mexican... I get the joke... and it is still offensive.
There's the rub K. Tulsa is practically homogeneous in its politics. The result is right leaning or righter leaning or toppled to the right. Right leaning becomes the new liberal.
I would add to your list a fine publication I saw in Minneapolis called the City Pages.
quote:
Originally posted by Kenosha
compared to other alt-weeklies and pubs (the stranger, willamette weekly, the Reader (chicago), the Austin Chronicle, even, gulp, the Gazette in OKC) the Urban Tulsa is pathetic. Embarrassing even.
Look... they lean right. Fine. But how in the name of Tulsa is that an alternative? To the Tulsa World? Who endorsed Bush twice?
I don't know. Catering to the majority: no first, anti-tax, anti everything crowd isn't exactly doing it for me, personally. My alt-weekly is supposed to provide refreshing perspective, and hope that Tulsa isn't a homogenous bunch of right wing zealots. Urban Tulsa provides none of that for me.
Actually, Keith was for the river tax. They allowed Terry Simonson to play the house organ for the Randi Miller for four or five weeks last summer in contrast to Michael Bates' columns.
That was far more than the Whirled was willing to do.
Keith's biggest alignment with conservatives is his stance on abortion. Other than that, he's got some liberal leanings in other directions.
quote:
Originally posted by Kenosha
compared to other alt-weeklies and pubs (the stranger, willamette weekly, the Reader (chicago), the Austin Chronicle, even, gulp, the Gazette in OKC) the Urban Tulsa is pathetic. Embarrassing even.
Look... they lean right. Fine. But how in the name of Tulsa is that an alternative? To the Tulsa World? Who endorsed Bush twice?
I don't know. Catering to the majority: no first, anti-tax, anti everything crowd isn't exactly doing it for me, personally. My alt-weekly is supposed to provide refreshing perspective, and hope that Tulsa isn't a homogenous bunch of right wing zealots. Urban Tulsa provides none of that for me.
I think the idea of an alternative weekly is not to give an alternative to mainstream opinions, but rather mainstream media.
In this case, even though Urban Tulsa doesn't sound like the Village Voice, it's still providing an alternative, both in content and political leaning ("liberal" or not, the World's editorial page is Democrat as hell).
quote:
Originally posted by waterboy
Just really tire of their conservative right wing stuff and their cheap sensuality. Expensive sensuality is okay though.
Now THAT is funny.. ;)
It is all pretty ridiculous. An alternative? To what? Independent? Of what? Urban? In what sense?
Look, you get what you pay for. UT is a suitable place for small indie biz owners to get some exposure without busting the bank. Whatever other pretentions they have as influence peddlers to whomever is really beside the point. Just more posing.
quote:
Originally posted by Wrinkle
...excuse me folks, but your diversity fails to show up.
Tulsa and Tulsans should be both proud and pleased to have Urban Tulsa as an alternate means of input, both for political diversity and opinion.
Failing to recognise what a valuable asset it is to our community is, well, just a failure on your part.
Imagine if we had only the World for our information.
True. Good point.
quote:
Originally posted by cino24
quote:
Originally posted by Wrinkle
...excuse me folks, but your diversity fails to show up.
Tulsa and Tulsans should be both proud and pleased to have Urban Tulsa as an alternate means of input, both for political diversity and opinion.
Failing to recognise what a valuable asset it is to our community is, well, just a failure on your part.
Imagine if we had only the World for our information.
True. Good point.
Better point: phoney baloney bullcrap trolls like you should be banned from the interwebs.
Negative feedback outnumbered positive feedback 2:1 (12:7). If we look at the number of posts for those with negative impressions versus positive the scale is 3:1 (23870:7728). Those with negative views are twice as likely to post here as those with positive views.
TulsaNow is supposed to be about promoting our downtown, no? Urban Tulsa is about downtown, no, cuz it shure as heck is not about hip-hop. Do the math, Einstein: smart, involved people do not take UT seriously.
quote:
Originally posted by bugo
quote:
Originally posted by Double A
Getting rid of Ask A Mexican would be a good start.
Yeah, that guy is a total dude. His articles are so hateful that it makes me think the articles are written by anti-Mexicans to make the populace dislike Mexicans even more than they already do in this part of the country.
I agree about getting rid of the Ask a Mexican. I only read that once and was disturbed that the UTW saw fit to publish that trash. It fits in with the sex ads at the back of that paper and cheapens the overall profile of the UTW.
What's the consensus on the Tulsa Beacon?
quote:
Originally posted by Mandingogoesdeep
What's the consensus on the Tulsa Beacon?
Guess you missed the subject of the thread.
Try starting a new one.
You guys sure get your panties in a twist over a free newspaper.
I like UTW. Good place to find out what's going on in town... much better than the Spot. I read Bates and a few articles here and there.
btw, did I mention it's FREE? Don't like it, don't pick it up out of the rack. You didn't pay a dime for it either way. I mean, pancakes... you guys will complain about anything.
quote:
Originally posted by AVERAGE JOE
You guys sure get your panties in a twist over a free newspaper.
I like UTW. Good place to find out what's going on in town... much better than the Spot. I read Bates and a few articles here and there.
btw, did I mention it's FREE? Don't like it, don't pick it up out of the rack. You didn't pay a dime for it either way. I mean, pancakes... you guys will complain about anything.
You really can't beat the price, can you?
Even if Bates isn't interesting that week (rarity), the crosswords never disappoint. [;)]
quote:
Originally posted by AVERAGE JOE
You guys sure get your panties in a twist over a free newspaper.
I like UTW. Good place to find out what's going on in town... much better than the Spot. I read Bates and a few articles here and there.
btw, did I mention it's FREE? Don't like it, don't pick it up out of the rack. You didn't pay a dime for it either way. I mean, pancakes... you guys will complain about anything.
Someone axes for what people think, there ya go. Even at free, I think the spanich paper is more interesting, frankly.