WPIX's Project S.O.S. Advocacy journalism going too far?

[StudioTech 15]

For the last week or so, every since the MTA proposed phasing out free Metrocards for students, WPIX has been promoting their campaign to stop the MTA from doing this called Support Our Students. I'm just wondering if the station is taking the mantle of advocacy journalism a bit too far. After all, an argument could be made for example that students from other cities and towns don't get this type of discount. No other station is doing this. Just curious what others think.

[DMA 135]

It would cost me $900 a year if they dropped the free Metrocard program. I don't have that money to spend, nor do millions of other families.

 

I agree that WPIX is sensationalizing it, but it's certainly a major issue that warrants media advocacy.

[NYNews 54]

I think it's great what they're doing it. Very clever, "S.O.S." For me personally, when I was in high school a couple years back, the free student metrocards made it possible for me to attend one of the best high schools in the city/country.

 

WPIX is aiming for that local beat. If you remember the many articles that were written about the changes about WPIX, keeping it local and trying to connect with the viewers was one of their main priorities. I don't think they're sensationalizing it at all.

 

 

I also want to add that the decision to cut the program is a big one and you really can't compare the NYC public school system with other cities and towns. It's the biggest in the country and being that schools are situated in and around the city kids really need the cards to get around. It's not like a small town where student can walk some extra blocks to get the school.

[DMA 135]

Exactly. It's not like the high schools are just a few blocks away, nor can we drive to them. For many students who travel to other boroughs to go to better schools, this will add unneeded costs. To get to my high school in Manhattan, I take a bus to a ferry to the subway, then walk a mile. There are tens of other thousands of people with comprable commutes, and this MTA cut will impact over a million students.

 

The more I think about it, the more I like what WPIX is doing.

[kjohnson 17]

This is perfectly fine. Viewers want TV stations and Newspapers to be stewards in their community. In a business that more interested in the bottom line, and not the community it serves, this is a welcome change.

 

It's a little sensational, but it draws the community to it. Good on WPIX.

[l14dap 1]

This all seems based on the notion that transportation to/from school for K-12 should be free. Should it? I don't really know.

 

It wasn't until I moved to Arizona that I realized that kids here actually got to school for free...it was quite a shocker! In Hawaii, I paid $0.75 each way when I was in middle and high school to get to school using the school-provided school bus (you know, the yellow one we all think of when we think of school bus). It was either that, pay $1 to take the city bus, or have someone drop me off.

 

I'm sure my experience was nothing like those who actually go to school in NYC. But if free transport for school kids is a necessity, then I see nothing wrong with WPIX's approach.

[NYNews 54]

Well the metrocards are only, if I remember correctly, for 7-12 grades and they're not all free, some are reduced fare cards.

[kjohnson 17]

I will say that the blame needs to shifted toward Albany. MTA has been stuck paying for the free/reduced Metrocards themselves for almost three years, with no help from the state.