feature story in the Pitch about the tax abatement menace.

[dangerboy]

Ozone, some of those hooks that you mention do exist.  They call them "claw-backs."  One example, Aquila's energy trading offices in Town Pavillion.  They received a few million to renovate the space, and then had to give it back a few years later when that division was shut down.  I think the city might still be trying to get money back from the Farmland HQ building, but that's up to the bankruptcy judges now.

[beautyfromashes]

do you have an statement, argument or reasoning to go with your post?, or do you just make statements for the hell of it.

i wouldn't say pure, because you still have to wash the ink off to recycle it, but you could consider it "trash" after you're done reading it.

The pitch is the Sun or National Inquirer of newspapers and there is very little of significant value in it.  It's all advertisements for sex shops and strip joints, yellow journalism and piles and piles of fouton for sale pictures.  It's a college newspaper that some how has been glorified to have some intrinsic value.

[chrizow]

The pitch is the Sun or National Inquirer of newspapers and there is very little of significant value in it.  It's all advertisements for sex shops and strip joints, yellow journalism and piles and piles of fouton for sale pictures.  It's a college newspaper that some how has been glorified to have some intrinsic value.

that is basically true, but the feature and in-depth stories are often very informative, well-documented, and cutting-edge.  there is no evidence that this story is any different.

i really don't think you can discredit the Pitch's feature articles with the fact that the Pitch also runs ads for futons and penis-enlargement pills.

[Beermo]

The pitch is the Sun or National Inquirer of newspapers and there is very little of significant value in it.  It's all advertisements for sex shops and strip joints, yellow journalism and piles and piles of fouton for sale pictures.  It's a college newspaper that some how has been glorified to have some intrinsic value.

alrighty then.

i wouldn't compare the pitch to the sun or natty inquirer. those rags are for old folks to catch up on celeb gossip and for the MIB guys to find clues to what's really going on around us.

i like the pitch because it's locally focused and they almost always report on things that the so-called mainsteam media, especially the star, miss. just this past week the star finally got around to doing an article on tif's and tax breaks the developers are getting and that was AFTER the pitch had already done an in-depth piece on the same subject. someone must be reading the damn thing. they print letters responding to their stories from all over the country.

maybe you just buy into the mainstream media's contention that they report everything worth reporting. i don't. the MM has been missing stuff that people want to know about for decades. they have an agenda and it's not giving you the news. as for the star, they suck as far as providing intelligent stories. they just write pablum for the masses. they haven't won a pulitzer for 13 years.

[beautyfromashes]

So, the hardhitting journalism that you both are talking about...Are you talking about last weeks article about KC fashion or perhaps the affair of our former baseball coach or maybe the feature about psychics solving crimes?  Just curious.  Come on guys, this stuff is drivel.

[chrizow]

the feature/cover stories are often quite good.  the other, smaller articles in the paper are good but usually inconsequential.  off the top of my head i can remember good articles about the Midwest Hotel, that Loch Lloyd-dwelling slumlord (Brent Barber?), people wrongfully convicted of crimes, etc.

[KC0KEK]

A friend of mine who lives on the Plaza had his property taxes double this year, and he was complaining that he paid less in downtown Chicago but got more in terms of services. Apparently he isn't the only dissatisfied taxpayer.


www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/ ... tml?f=et65

The Business Journal of Kansas City - 3:02 PM CDT Tuesday

Report: Satisfaction with KC services falls

Kansas Citians were less satisfied with the quality of city services in 2004 than in 2003, according to a report Kansas City Auditor Mark Funkhouser released Tuesday.

In 2004, citywide satisfaction with the quality of city services was 41 percent, down from 52 percent in 2003, said Gary White, the city's audit manager. Citywide satisfaction with the quality of city services was 55 percent in 2001, according to the report, which is available on the city's Web site.

The city's fourth-annual city services performance report includes resident survey results and performance information in six categories: streets, public safety, parks and recreation, water and sewer, neighborhood livability and overall quality of life.

[dangerboy]

The Pitch really sucked for the first couple of years after it sold out to the New Times chain, but the last couple of years it has improved greatly.  They have gone from sifting through petty courthouse scandals to actually doing some real investigative work, especially since Tony Ortega came on as Managing Editor.

Like Chiz said, the cover stories are usually very good - including an expose on the convicted felon receiving tax breaks for The View, two profiles of Katheryn Shields and corruption in county government, a very good profile of Kit Bond and his peculiar support in the African-American community, and a couple of articles on the lack of serious consideration for a downtown baseball stadium.

[LenexatoKCMO]

I always thought the Pitch did a pretty good job at being what it is - an entertainment guide that throws in the occasional interesting bit of alternative news.  Its not as if they are striving to compete with the Star and be a primary news outlet.  I pick up the Pitch first and foremost to find out what is going on in town, see where bands are playing, read restaurant reviews, etc.  The Pitch does a fine job with that- if they happen to have an interesting serious article every now and again -bonus.  To call the Pitch a tabloid or rag seems to ignore its primary nature.