Forbidden Media Criticism

Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest letter to the editor — sorry, Northeast Times! — in the history of letters to the editor:

A correction on Forbidden Drive

The article about the WPA-era guardhouse on Wissahickon Drive that appeared in the June 8 edition of the Local reminded me once again of an error of nomenclature that frequently appears in the Local, the Inquirer and the Daily News. I refer to the mysterious “Forbidden” Drive.

Newspapers do not have legal authority to alter the official names of park drives. Only the Fairmount Park commissioners can do that. Quite recently that body voted to change the name of West River Drive to Martin Luther King Drive. Some years before that it voted to re-name East River Drive as Kelly Drive and before that, to change the name of the lower end of Wissahickon Drive (the paved portion) to Lincoln Drive. To the best of my knowledge the upper end of Wissahickon Drive (the unpaved portion) has never been formally re-named, or should it be. The name Wissahickon is much revered throughout the entire region. Why would we want to change it to Forbidden? How might the Friends of the Wissahickon feel if the newspapers started calling the organization the Friends of the Forbidden?

This is not an accusation that the Local is trying to force a name change. More likely, it is simply inaccurate journalism. May I suggest that you contact the Fairmount Park Commission and ask for the date of the meeting of the commissioners at which there was a vote to change the name of a portion of Wissahickon Drive to Forbidden Drive. I have written to the commission four times requesting this information and have never been given the courtesy of an answer, or even an acknowledgement that my letters were received. Perhaps the Local will receive more courteous treatment.

If the commission does give you a date, I would stand corrected. If it doesn’t, then the use of the name Forbidden should be forbidden in future accounts of Philadelphia’s glorious trail through the Wissahickon Valley. It is a happy place and not foreboding in any way.

You hear that, journalists! You don’t have the authority to rename streets, popular opinion be damned! Take that!

A correction on Forbidden Drive [Chestnut Hill Local]

Help! I need somebody!

The other day I wrote about the feud around the Chestnut Hill Local and how it’s not even interesting enough for me to write about.

Well, as usual, I was wrong. Because this week’s edition of the Local contains two letters that are quite confusing:

Give praise when it’s due

Recent controversy surrounding the future of the publisher’s committee has compelled me to reiterate and express my sincere gratitude to Joe Pie for all that he has done over the last six months to help the Local through an incredibly difficult time.
Betty Brady
Community Manager

Easier for staff
As the business manager of the Local, I feel obligated to express my genuine appreciation to Joe Pie for all his help over the last several months. He made it easier for us to go through these tough times.
Kari Ghezarian
Business Manager

Joe Pie has been mentioned two other times in the Local, according to a search; he’s apparently a flooring contractor who is the baseball commissioner for the Chestnut Hill Youth Sports Club. I guess he’s supportive of the current board of the Local.

Nevermind that this is like me writing a letter that says something like, “Thanks, Will Bunch, for writing about me in the Daily News,” and then publishing it in PW. Here is my question: Are the police aware that there’s something called Joe Pie Weed? (I know. I know. Shush.)

Letters 02.02.06 [Chestnut Hill Local]
CHCA Executive Committee reverses LUPZ decisions Curb cut and high fence given support [Chestnut Hill Local]
Joe Pie Weed [Stone the Gardener]
Jan. 30: All apologies

All apologies

As you may know, I’m a sucker for media minutiae, especially feuds where about 3 people keep the discussion in the forefront because they write and talk about nothing else. They’re usually great.

If that’s the case, then the feud at the Chestnut Hill Local is the most boring media feud ever, because I just can’t get into this. The story (abridged) is this: The Local is published by the Chestnut Hill Civic Association. A top editor wanted to run a cartoon critical of the CHCA, and either resigned or was asked to leave. Every issue of the paper has covered the CHCA/Local “feud” and recent board meetings and I just can’t read two sentences of any of those articles without falling asleep.

A letter from the editor on Thursday’s editorial page, though, caught my attention:

One of the best things about being older and wiser is the ability to honestly say these three little phrases:

I don’t know.

I was wrong.

I am sorry.

As interim editor of the Chestnut Hill Local, I made a mistake…

Sweet! What did she do? Run a fake story? Slander someone? Kill an intern?

As interim editor of the Chestnut Hill Local, I made a mistake by not noting that the recent article from Maxine Dornemann and Chris Kemezis was, indeed, an opinion piece. Perhaps I was so busy dodging all of the other “junk” that has been thrown my way since I began working at the Local that I welcomed an opposing point of view. Regardless of the circumstance, I erred. The proverbial buck stops at my desk and I was wrong. I am sorry.

She didn’t correctly mark a piece as an opinion piece? That’s it? Something that could have been readily noticed by anyone who read it and saw opinions? Oh, Jesus, nevermind.

Forward movement [Chestnut Hill Local]
Squabbling over the soul of the Local [Inky]