Fort Wayne, the most ........

It started years ago when Men's Health Magazine first ran a poll that included Fort Wayne as one of the "Fattest" cities in the country. Then it continued.....these so-called "polls" listed us as the most unhappiest, angry, ignorant and unfunny places on the planet. 

In essence, these polls mean nothing....they are merely a way for publicity-challenged outfit like, Men's Health, to create a stir and translate that into free publicity. Our Fort Wayne media, given pre-made, packaged stories, take the bait. And since most of the kids writing and producing the news are not from Fort Wayne and really don't give a crap about the audience they serve, they gladly pass on the fodder as "news" and can leave early for drinks at Club Soda.

For more than a few hours today WPTA/21Alive tweeted a link to a story about this "poll" on their webpage (now removed) from a national real estate outfit, which the Maven will not name. Like all the rest of these stunts, it's a bullshit poll that does nothing but insult our city and it's people. According to the poll, Fort Wayne is one the most boring places in the free world and parts of Arkansas. 

Of course, WANE TV is still running the story, and by their words, appear pretty excited to slap Fort Wayne and it's residents in the face. WANE TV seems to have a hate/hate relationship with it's audience. While the same might be said about the kids in the WOWO news room, the Maven believes the WOWO issue is more of ineptitude as opposed to blatant hate for those they serve. Most in local media are here only for a short time, until they can create a good highlight reel....then it's off to Indianapolis, or Dayton, or Grand Rapids....where the process will begin again. 

The Maven is confused, since usually our media loves to champion any idea or project put out by the City administration as the greatest thing since sliced bread and the Wonderbra. Time and time again, local media play cheerleader for good and bad ideas to enhance the quality of life here. Why? Because the local media is heavily dependent upon local advertisers to pay the bills. Many of these local advertisers also have stakes in new development projects, and the media don't want to screw the relationship.

Why WPTA and WANE TV include bullshit articles, that insult Fort Wayne citizens, is a mystery. 

Perhaps we do deserve a title, the Maven would like to nominate our town as home of the MOST GULLIBLE MEDIA on the planet. It's a well-deserved title. 

A Waste of Good Newsprint and Good Ink....

This has to be the bullshit story of the year for the News Sentinel. 

In essence, the story quotes some engineer as saying the that to avoid flooding, stay out of the flood zones. Whoa, call the neighbors, wake the kids, how much did the City pay to learn this Earth-shattering fact? You know they did......

The Maven is amazed that this story even found it's way into print. It's like saying "to prevent electrocution, don't run across a golf course waving a 9 iron over your head during a thunderstorm."

There is a news story here, but Bob Caylor and his friends and the News Sentinel won't dare pursue it, out of fear the City will cut off journalistic access to the paper's reporters and the publisher and editors won't get those coveted holiday party invitations they've become so used to over the years. 

A real reporter might want to see if Christopher B. Burke Engineering, who employs this "flooding genius" was one of the contributors to the mayor's last election campaign. It's an easily-searched public record. Someone might also be enterprising enough to see if the same firm holds any city contracts for things like sewer work? that, too, is easy to find out. But, alas, in this day and age of lazy media, that might take some real work. 

Instead, readers are treated to a bullshit story that draws a conclusion that any 6th grader could figure out.....want to stay dry, stay away from where it floods. The Maven isn't sure why this story exists, except to, perhaps, stroke the ego of a campaign contributor by manufacturing a news story to make the contributor appear to be a genius. Looks like the afternoon paper is doing a favor for the City, but has failed miserably. 

This should answer, once and for all, the question the Maven hears so often. "Why do we hire out of town consultants all the time when we have qualified people in town to do the work"? The short answer is that the locals won't pay the bribe, er, fee, er, won't cough up the $1,000, $2,000 or $5,000 campaign contribution to the sitting office holders in the City's pay for play scheme. This is nothing new, it's been a part of politics here and everywhere for a hundred years. 

And remember kids, if you want to avoid flooding, stay away from the flood.