Dallas Morning News outsourcing writers? (Fort Worth, Arlington: tornado, quality of life, live)

[momof2dfw]

I'm going to take a wild guess that The Dallas Morning News has hired people from outside of Texas (probably California by the sounds of it ) and the editor's have failed to pick up on the terms being used that are NOT "native" to this area. This is a quote from an article today (sad story, btw) that caught my eye and all I could think was NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

"following an accident on the LBJ Freeway"

[blueskies49]

Argghhh!! I know, momof2! I've noticed some of the local news stations that don't use the term Metroplex (which was patented in the 70's, btw, and coined to give a unique identity to this area, business and public relations-wise). I even emailed one of the anchors and he replied that he is from Kansas and the term "Metroplex" didn't mean anything to him. Um, can you say, "when in Rome..."? I mean, you're not in Kansas anymore, meathead!

About 3 or 4 years ago there was a columnist in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram who I used to read. She'd tell stories about being a working mom and stuff in FW. One column dealt with the fact that she was very uncomfortable with the friendly hugs that are given here. She said she was from (somewhere, I don't remember, but it wasn't Texas or the South) and people were more reserved and just didn't go around hugging like that. That was IT for me!! I quit reading her. How could she be so critical like that in a local paper? I'm sorry, but my first thought was, "then go back to where you came from, yankee." Talk about biting the hand that feeds you! People move here for the opportunities Texas has to offer and some of them just have to snipe and complain.

[KBilly]

1_ What's wrong with LBJ freeway? That's what we've been calling it for the last 15 yrs we have been here.

2) Metroplex is sooooooooo 70s's/80's and has been falling out of use rapidly for the last decade. Today it's called North Texas or DFW metro area.

It is not patented. It's used for all sorts of things.

Metroplex : : : Home (http://www.metroplex3.com/home.html - broken link)
Metroplex - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The only reason this is still around is they have a website name to protect: MetroplexDaily.com - The Dallas, Fort Worth Metroplex

[lpepping]

I think he was talking about the use of "THE LBJ freeway".

[Lakewooder]

As in "the" 405, "the" 10, "the" 5 etc - I've heard local newscasters say it too..

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by lpepping

I think he was talking about the use of "THE LBJ freeway".

Yes, I was referring to the use of "THE" before the highway name/number. AGH!

[blueskies49]

Originally Posted by KBilly

1_ What's wrong with LBJ freeway? That's what we've been calling it for the last 15 yrs we have been here.

2) Metroplex is sooooooooo 70s's/80's and has been falling out of use rapidly for the last decade. Today it's called North Texas or DFW metro area.

It is not patented. It's used for all sorts of things.

Metroplex : : : Home (http://www.metroplex3.com/home.html - broken link)
Metroplex - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The only reason this is still around is they have a website name to protect: MetroplexDaily.com - The Dallas, Fort Worth Metroplex

Per your wikipedia link:
The term was coined for, and is still commonly used to describe, the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Moderator, the link is no longer valid that's why I'm copying the article here. Sorry!

[CENTER][CENTER][SIZE=2]"Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex" brand serves region well [/SIZE][/CENTER][/CENTER]

1.1.02

[SIZE=2]The "Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex" was born 30 years ago. No, the region did not spring up like a mushroom overnight in 1972. Obviously, the cities of Dallas, Irving, Arlington and Fort Worth - and everything in between - already existed, but there was no sense of "region," and therefore, no word or concept that defined the then, 8-county area. This fact was part of the impetus for the creation of the North Texas Commission, a regional non-profit consortium of businesses, cities, chambers, economic development entities and higher educational institutions.

After the North Texas Commission was created in 1971, one of it first challenges, in addition to marketing the proposed new "big" airport out in the middle of the North Texas prairie, was to "brand" the region that took definite shape when the DFW Airport became its central lynch pin. Suspecting an identity problem, NTC hired researchers to conduct a survey of 94 leading corporate executives outside the state who were asked to identify the "North Texas region." Surprisingly, only 38 percent correctly identified the term as the region including Dallas/Fort Worth. Another 28 percent thought the term referred to the Panhandle or other Texas cities, and 34 percent said they didn't know what it meant.

NTC's original advertising committee hired a local ad agency to create a new name or brand for the region. They combined the words "metropolitan" and "complex" and came up with the term "Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex." NTC copyrighted the term in 1972, and the rest, as they say, is history. Thirty years later the term is in wide use by virtually every media source in the region and much of the rest of the world, is incorporated into the names of a myriad local businesses and is literally a household word. Today the term defines the now 12-county Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area. The brand equity of "Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex" is a real and continuing asset to the region.

The mission of the North Texas Commission is to enhance and promote the economic vitality and quality of life of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex by providing leadership and acting as the catalyst for regional cooperation. [/SIZE]

[GHJohn]

Next it will be meteorologists in India using Google Earth to tell us if there is tornado activity in Texas.

[KBilly]

I guess you forgot this part, bluskies: Recent conventions are moving toward the use of "North Texas" to describe the DFW area.

That's why you rarely hear it anymore. Nobody knows what the h#ll the Metroplex refers too! Unless you live here and think you know. Except that since it was "coined" in the 70s, does it include Allen? Does it include Prosper? Does it include Balch Springs? Does it include Fairview? If it includes Prosper, why doesn't it include Sherman? Case closed.

Also, coined is not 'patented.'

[lpepping]

You are all wrong. It refers to the transformer named Metroplex back in the day.