Top 5 Tulsa Media Events of 2005

[Kiah]

Top Five Local Media Events of 2005

1.   Tulsa World Turns 100, Shows Its Age.

I'm not a World-basher, but by any measure, this was not a great Centennial for Tulsa's only daily paper.  An interesting retrospective and the glare of a spiffy new globe sign couldn't blind Tulsans to questionable ethics and blustering, blog-busting threats.

Notwithstanding the malevolent messenger, the message remains – the World has no excuse for not disclosing, early and often, that WorldPubCo. was a major investor in Great Plains Airlines, at the same time the staff was writing feverishly (and successfully) to urge a $30 million public investment in the company.  Legal or not, this failure has seriously undermined the paper's credibility.

The credibility that remains wasn't bolstered any by the Simpson affair.  I'm not necessarily talking as much about the plagiaristic tendencies of the World's former editorial cartoonist as I am about the Editorial Board's inaction once the incident was pointed out to them (at least, that is, until a reporter stumbled across the "plagerizee's" grumblings on the internet).

Add a misguided threat against local blogs and forums (including TulsaNow) to stop using World material, and the demolition of two downtown buildings for surface parking and an air-handling unit – and the World is starting to look more like a dottering old man than the grande dame of Tulsa journalism.

2.   UTW Enters Puberty.

The Urban Tulsa Weekly is responsible for bringing local media's Newcomer of the Year on the scene.  The hiring of G.W. Schulz – far and away the most compelling feature writer/investigative reporter in Tulsa these days, is reflective of tremendous strides toward maturity this year for the alternative news weekly/porn-ad rag.

Even Michael Bates is, for the most part, holding his strident self-righteousness in-check in his new role as weekly commentator – choosing to focus on such mundane but important matters as land-use policy and urban design.  It's a toss up whether the soul-softening effects of a new baby will mitigate the urge to preach fire and brimstone about upcoming municipal elections.  I bet not, but I hope he'll prove me wrong.  He's much more convincing when he sticks to calm reason.

UTW gets one demerit, however, for failing to find a movie reviewer who can string two sentences together without relying on high-school yearbook slang ("Catch ya later!").

3.   More Tulsans Going Straight to the Source.

Then again, who needs the filter of local media, when the source material is so compelling – and increasingly accessible.  With the growth of TGOV, Tulsa's government access television, and the availability of more and more government documents on-line, every Tulsan can play journalist.

4.   Demagogues Fade.

Does anyone even remember the Beacon or Tulsa Today?  It just goes to show you, even the choir gets tired of all that preaching, eventually.  The biggest demagogue of them all, KFAQ's Michael Delgiorno, has flickered and is fading fast.  With a slander lawsuit pending, more interesting morning competition at rival KRMG, and ratings sinking faster than a German U-Boat – 2006 could be the year Tulsans put the "no" back in Delgiorno.

5.   Electronic Commentary Gets Noisier.

From rogue City Councilors, to Pit Bull breeders, to disgruntled city wurkers, it seems that every two-bit crank with a keyboard (Hey, wait a minute!) has something to say.  That's all well and good, but take careful note of #4.  We'll see next year who has a bit of staying power and who's just blowing off steam.  So far, Batesline and you TulsaNow-ites still look a bit lonely at the head of the pack.

Others:

Erling retires, Gaylord dies (but not before spending gazillions remaking the OU campus in his image), and Channel 2 follows Fox 23 down the rat hole . . . .