Poynter bitchslaps NYC papers over transit coverage

By Rachel on December 21, 2005 5:34 PM

Over at Poynter, a gent by the name of Peter M. Zollman is irked by the sketchy coverage of transit strike updates and resources available on NYC newspaper websites (though, frankly, we don’t get why he’s so concerned, sitting pretty as he is in Orlando, Florida). Still, Zollman has a point: New York’s trusty newspapers fell a little short on up-to-date transit info (never mind that he found Craigslist sorely wanting for the hypothetical rides he might hypothetically need to take).

He liked the NYT coverage overall, but found it useless for ride-sharing city-navigating purposes (and when Fishbowl randomly woke up and checked it early in the a.m. to see if the strike was going to a second day, it hadn’t been updated for a while)(we got the news from CNN). As for the New York Post: “Phooey,” saith the Zollster of the NYP’s 18-hr. old coverage when he looked last night. “It had a static four-page “transit strike survival guide,” but it was a PDF from the print edition. Good grief. They don’t get it at all.” Daily News? Collected articles about the strike does not an interactive tool make.

He did like Newsday‘s attempt at a super-special transit blog and rideshare bulletin board. But on the whole, he was not impressed. Then again, he is in Florida, home of hanging chads, giant alligators in sewers and protracted right-to-die debates. So perhaps he ought not be casting stones.

UPDATE: Mea culpa – I heard from Steve Outing at Poynter, who edits the “E-Media Tidbits” blog – clarification: Zollman is a contributor to said blog, but his opinions are his own and do not reflect the institutional policies of the Poynter Institute. So all bitchslappery is to be laid at the door of Zollman and Zollman alone. I have to say, there are few words funner to type than “Zollman.” Try it! Zollman. Zollman. Zollman. See – fun, isn’t it?

News Sites Weak in NYC Transit Strike [Poynter E-Media Tidbits]