We Suck

It’s official, we suck. At least that’s the opinion of two of our local talk show hosts. Before I go running my mouth, I guess I should tell you that this is my opinion and not necessarily the opinion of the Topeka Metro News. I’ve always wanted to say that.
It appears a fifth grader with a crayon could do a better job of creating a web-site. Well send them down, we could use the help. I loved the part about Topeka West High School’s paper having a bigger circulation than the Metro. I don’t know about the circulation part, but I do know they have an excellent High School Newspaper. Their controversial story on underage drinking was very well done. Good job kids, this experience will serve you well.
There were circulation comparisons to local community newsletters and questions about whether or not we even had a “letters to the editor” section. I’m pretty sure these talk show hosts remember the letter published in The Metro from Topeka police officer Kenny Eaton concerning Glenda Overstreet and the controversy it generated. Boy howdy, that was a good time for us hillbilly’s down here at the Metro.
I’m not sure just how bad we suck though, and I’m not sure exactly what it is we suck at. I suppose if we’re judged by our numbers, you know, if you compare our 12,000 to 15,000 weekly circulation to that of the Topeka Capital-Journal or the Kansas City-Star, I suppose we do suck. But if we were compared to other locally owned and operated, weekly newspapers across the state, I think we’d do just fine. Sure, I’ll admit the antique, hand operated presses are hard to operate and it gets very hot, but Denise has agreed to get us new fans for the press room this summer.
If you judge our content to that of other weekly papers, I think you’d find we’re pretty close to the top of the heap. My favorite part of the Metro has always been the columnists, there’s something for everyone. Okay, maybe my column sucks, but my Mom likes it and that’s good enough for me. Believe it or not, there are people who look forward to Metro Friday. I suppose it’s possible some of them use it to line the bottoms of their bird cages. But I just have to believe some of them read it first, and I doubt they all think we suck. I don’t think the City of Topeka or Shawnee County believe we suck, and I doubt our advertisers believe we suck, otherwise they’d spend their advertising dollars elsewhere.
If we suck because of our circulation numbers. It only seems fair to judge their talk show by the same standards. How many people are actually listening to them? Compared to talk shows like Rush Limbaugh they fall way short. If you compare their content and quality to that of other local talk shows like Steve Forman‘s, “The Wake Up Call” or “The Jim Cates Show” they still fall short. But that’s just my opinion.
Here’s the deal Raubin and Megan, I have no idea what prompted your childish attack, and it really doesn‘t matter. What matters here, is that the two of you realize your opinion isn’t nearly as important as you‘d like to think. The Topeka Metro News was here long before the two of you came along, and will be here long after you’re gone. You can count on it. But what do I know, I’m just an old guy.
Kevin McGinty can be reached at: kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net