Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Right Subject, No Sources
I often complain about Kyra Kyles's "Going Public" column. So I'm glad to acknowledge that her column today at least begins to do one thing a transit column should do -- talk about other transit systems.
Kyles finds that the CTA can learn from New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority, but apparently not too much. The MTA's plastic-padded seats, light-up train maps and supposedly polite riders would be welcome improvements, of course, but it takes a lot of stretching to get a full column from Kyles's reporting. First, she says she observed the MTA while on vacation, as if her learning about the MTA were incidental. Second, she says that this was "a few weeks ago," which means she had time to do follow-up reporting and develop other angles -- How many other transit systems share these features? Has the CTA ever considered such improvements? If they are relatively common, why doesn't the CTA have them? Will the new cars due out within the next few years offer them (that press release says they'll have upholstered inserts)? What are some practical and institutional reasons we don't have them now?
There's about five minutes' worth of reporting in the actual column. The Tribune proper would never run a transit column this poorly sourced. So why does it run in an edition aimed specifically at commuters?
Even a call to the CTA's press office, which I admit isn't always very helpful, might add something.
CTA Tattler has discussed the problems and potential costs of El's fuzzy seat pads.
And speaking of the maps, why not point out that the CTA recently replaced its onboard maps -- with new maps that are identical to the old ones except for an updated CTA logo?
Kyles finds that the CTA can learn from New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority, but apparently not too much. The MTA's plastic-padded seats, light-up train maps and supposedly polite riders would be welcome improvements, of course, but it takes a lot of stretching to get a full column from Kyles's reporting. First, she says she observed the MTA while on vacation, as if her learning about the MTA were incidental. Second, she says that this was "a few weeks ago," which means she had time to do follow-up reporting and develop other angles -- How many other transit systems share these features? Has the CTA ever considered such improvements? If they are relatively common, why doesn't the CTA have them? Will the new cars due out within the next few years offer them (that press release says they'll have upholstered inserts)? What are some practical and institutional reasons we don't have them now?
There's about five minutes' worth of reporting in the actual column. The Tribune proper would never run a transit column this poorly sourced. So why does it run in an edition aimed specifically at commuters?
Even a call to the CTA's press office, which I admit isn't always very helpful, might add something.
CTA Tattler has discussed the problems and potential costs of El's fuzzy seat pads.
And speaking of the maps, why not point out that the CTA recently replaced its onboard maps -- with new maps that are identical to the old ones except for an updated CTA logo?
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Not too go off subject too much, but I am curious what you think of the other "weekly" columnists? Like Jason Steele and that "Playbook"...because personally, as a gay guy and having Jason Steele's advice run weekly discussing bull-shit like 'the hots for straight men' and 'how a girl can be your best friend', I feel like it is a horrid waste of space that could be filled in with something of much more value--such as a gay guy who actually has good advice and knows how to write. Just wondering...
Yea--if that "Playbook" guy is actually getting laid, there's officially no justice in the world.
You're not off the subject at all. We've been thinking of doing some more comprehensive posts about RedEye's columnists. I tend to write about Kyra Kyles a lot, and Andy often posts on Jimmy Greenfield. "Playbook" annoys us too--it's a pretty standard, unoriginal sex column. I think the sex-columnist field is pretty small, because there is only so much you can do with it.
I do like Dan Savage (who is gay), because he's fun to read. And because he works from readers' letters, he doesn't run out of material. Every sex columnist will write about shaving pubic hair at some point, but only Dan Savage has written about a woman who apparently cut off a piece of her clitoris while shaving.
Just blabbing about sex doesn't cut it. You'd think that if RedEye wanted to address a young, cosmopolitan audience, it would try to say something about gay relationships and gay sex. Or maybe it still wants to milk the idea of the taboo itself, which is entertaining to most people in its own way.
Savage, by the way, initially used his column to mock straight people.
And thanks for linking to us. Check back and tell us what you think.
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You're not off the subject at all. We've been thinking of doing some more comprehensive posts about RedEye's columnists. I tend to write about Kyra Kyles a lot, and Andy often posts on Jimmy Greenfield. "Playbook" annoys us too--it's a pretty standard, unoriginal sex column. I think the sex-columnist field is pretty small, because there is only so much you can do with it.
I do like Dan Savage (who is gay), because he's fun to read. And because he works from readers' letters, he doesn't run out of material. Every sex columnist will write about shaving pubic hair at some point, but only Dan Savage has written about a woman who apparently cut off a piece of her clitoris while shaving.
Just blabbing about sex doesn't cut it. You'd think that if RedEye wanted to address a young, cosmopolitan audience, it would try to say something about gay relationships and gay sex. Or maybe it still wants to milk the idea of the taboo itself, which is entertaining to most people in its own way.
Savage, by the way, initially used his column to mock straight people.
And thanks for linking to us. Check back and tell us what you think.
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