MEDIA WARS: As traditional media falls, fingers start pointing

The “Media Wars” series is meant to chronicle the decline of traditional media in Oklahoma and abroad. It is solely the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the beliefs of CurrentlyOK as a whole.

Newspapers across America are feeling the pain from a slouching economy, and The Oklahoman is no exception. Having no state-wide competitor, The Oklahoman dominates the print news cycle. Recently, however, KOKH FOX 25 in Oklahoma City ran a story regarding the recent 33% hike in price for the Sunday edition, and The Oklahoman doesn’t seem to like it.

The initial story can be seen here.

The Oklahoman apparently wasn’t happy, as it ran this blistering full-page ad in response:

In response, KOKH had this to say:

We believe that both KOKH and The Oklahoman are struggling to flex their media muscle. Despite a major design overhaul in both print and on the web, citizens still frequently cite “The Daily Disappointment” and the 1999 Columbia Journalism Review in calling it “The Worst Newspaper in America.” That aside, their complete domination of the media market in Oklahoma goes without saying – so why so afraid of KOKH?

Our friends at the The Lost Ogle, a blog among trendy young people, put it eloquently:

“I’m still a bit confused here. How did a fledgling Fox affiliate known more for hiring attractive people than reporting news just totally dominate our state’s “most trusted” news leader in this battle of wits? Seriously, at the end of the report I expected the Dark Tower to fall to the ground and for Nick Winkler to tell everyone that he has spent the last few years building up an immunity to iocane powder.”

Where ever this feud may go, major media outlets will continue to see a steady decline in sales and viewership unless they effectively utilize alternative forms of communication – i.e. facebook, twitter, etc. It is no surprise that citizen journalism such as The Lost Ogle, Oklahoma Political News Service, CurrentlyOK and others are seeing an alarming increase in viewership.