Portrayals of Oklahomans in the news better now than in past

[jkjsooner]

It seems to me that the news media has done a better job of portraying Oklahomans as intelligent and eloquent. It's really refreshing.

Years ago when we had a disaster such as the Murah bombing the media seemed to always try to find the least educated and hysterical people they could find. I remember thinking that they tried to do their best at holding up the stereotypes that others have of Oklahoma.

There were exceptions of course but in general I get the feeling Oklahoma is portrayed differently now than it was in the past.

[KantoSooner]

You're right; though the focus on "Why They Don't Have Basements" is getting a bit old.

[Pricetag]

Expansive clay soil. Barry Switzer, Pat Jones, and Nolan Ryan have said all that needs to be said about why we don't have basements.

One thing that did get on my head was all the "why do we live here?" questions. A simple statistical analysis would explain that despite the frequency of the storms, it is still highly improbable to suffer damage/injury/death at the hands of one.

[badger]

There were exceptions of course but in general I get the feeling Oklahoma is portrayed differently now than it was in the past.

Nobody wants to be Connie Chung'd.

[Mjcpr]

Plus, focus is on a storm that hit a metro suburb which should have fewer of our rural hillbillies. There was a slideshow in the Tulsa World after the rural tornadoes from Sunday. One of the pics was a guy downing a Natty standing in front of the porch of his battered house where 3 or 4 fallen Natty soldiers stood. Can't say I wouldn't have been doing the same. :)

[SoonerStormchaser]

I dunno...Fox News managed to find a few topless drunken drooling hillbillies in Moore right after they got into town on Tuesday.

[sooneron]

I think some of it may be that we're being dulled down as a society by reality tv. We see hillbilly everyday, if we choose. Look at Honey Boo Boo, Storage Wars, Duck Dynasty, that show about salvage dudes in bammer... the list goes on.

Seeing real people is one thing, rolling out the "common denominator" is another.