Ruffled feathers: Recent Chron METRO, county coverage prompts responses from public officials
Chron transit reporter Rosanna Ruiz is shaping up so far to be much more diligent and probing than her two most recent predecessors on the beat. METRO isn't quite used to the local newspaper being anything but a PR outlet for its proclamations, and one official apparently wasn't too happy with a recent headline. Spokesperson Raequel Roberts also felt the need to write to the Chronicle recently to clarify some matters:
Houston Metro encourages everyone to ride Metro, including Chronicle reporters. (Please see “An inside look at Metro bus commute,” Monday.) To neophytes, riding transit can take some time to master. We have a project under way to straighten out routes that have evolved over the years into zigzag patterns. Any visitor to New York City finds venturing into the subway system a bit daunting, but a day or two of experience leaves many singing the praises of the system. It’s a maturation we often observe with first-time riders to MetroRail.
We are glad the reporter noticed Metro’s buses are clean. We were, however, perplexed by the statement that one must input intersections, not addresses, to use our trip planner. The trip planner works with addresses, as it does with landmarks. We recently added Google Transit to our site as an added form of assistance.
On the matter of fares and our operators: Operators monitor fares to look for abuses of the system, but their primary responsibility is to drive buses safely and adhere to schedules. Buses lurching and creaking? Well, they’re buses, not limousines. Metro isn’t perfect — we’ve fixed a clogged drain that caused leaking on the bus the reporter rode — but we provide a valuable, clean and safe service for one of the lowest fares in the U.S.
These points merited a letter taking issue with the newspaper's coverage? The skin seems to be pretty thin at METRO headquarters these days. As for the bolded comment, one can only wonder what has taken so long, as METRO's route system has long needed a makeover beyond the usual "service improvements" we've discussed before.
Elsewhere on the Chron metro/state pages, Liz Austin Peterson has apparently ruffled some feathers in Harris County government (another beat that hasn't been covered all that well in the past by the Chronicle) with a recent report on drivers for the Sheriff and County Judge. Like many commenters, bloggers, and even our friend Chris Baker, we aren't that bothered by the notion that the Harris County Sheriff and Harris County Judge might need a professional driver/security detail from time to time. On its face, it doesn't necessarily seem like an unwise or inappropriate use of tax dollars, although Commissioner's Court probably would like to be kept better informed on these matters. (Then again, if he were being fully honest, one quoted commissioner might admit that it's a LOT more fun talking about this kinda-not-really "scandal" than his own).
Still, we were a little surprised to see Sheriff Garcia and Judge Emmett's office react so strongly to the story, in terms of this letter to the editor and various comments on local blogs. We're always interested in seeing facts reported accurately and different perspectives represented in stories, but we're also interested in reporters getting stories out there and letting readers/voters decide how important they are. So we hope Peterson isn't dissuaded by the strong reaction from public officials.
What say you?
UPDATE (03-09-2009): METRO is even more thin-skinned than we thought. The Chron apparently cut Raequel Roberts much-too-lengthy letter, so it has been reposted by METRO's very expensive blogger Mary Sit on their blog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/08/09 09:25 PM | Print | Comments (1)
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