WNEP: Too much Scranton coverage, but not enough of everyone else? (Wilkes-Barre: layoffs, school district)

[W-B proud]

I understand that Scranton is the biggest city in the region and they deserve thier fair share of coverage, but I live in Wilkes-Barre (the second biggest city, and the core of the Wyoming Valley metro area which is the largest populated area in our region), and it seems like sometimes days go by before W-B gets any coverage at all for anything, Hazleton also. Unless of course it is a homicide or stabbing ect. Meanwhile they will run five or six Scranton stories every newscast. They'll cover everything from a special church mass, to a run/walk event, to something at The Scranton Cultural center. Well, W-B has all of these types of events. Stuff at the Kirby Center, Blood drives, but WNEP never covers those events in my town, and I'm sure many other towns across our region. It seems that only a few years ago there was much more coverage of the Wyoming Valley and other areas, but over the last 5 or so years they concentrate the vast majority of thier coverage on Scranton. When they do cover W-B, for example, it's always a negative story. Last year they did a negative story about how the fan attendance dropped off during the first round of the hockey playoffs in W-B (this always happens because the season ticket holders do not get playoff tickets with thier package) the attendance dropped to about 5,500 people for those two or three games, but bounced back up to 7,000+ for the rest of the playoffs (WNEP didn't mention that though), but PNC field (a.k.a Lackawnna County) had a miserable attendance during the actual finals!(about 2,200 if I'm not mistaken) and they didn't do a story about thier terrible attendance one year after the much touted Yankees came to town! I don't want to sound paraniod, but it is such an obvious bias. It's completely unfair, and I actually switch to watching WBRE after being a life long WNEP fan. Does anyone else feel that WNEP ignores the rest of this vast region to give prime coverage to Scranton and all thier issues? Luzerne County is the largest populated county in our area, and the geographical center of the region. It is almost double the size of Lackawanna County! Yet, WNEP does little to cover it! I don't know of any other news station in the world that ignores it's biggest audience?

[Mr Yuk]

I think you're imaginging things. I think WNEP does a good job giving equal time to both cities (although at times, there will be more news in one than the other)....its just that W-B area residents seem to have a inferiority complex with Scranton, so they resent attention given to Scranton. Its not usually the reverse.....people from Scranton couldn't care less about Wilkes-Barre, but for some reason, W-B residents have this obsession with Scranton.

My biggest gripe with WNEP is their coverage of all these out of the way hick-towns in Northumberland County, Clinton County, Tioga County, etc......there will be a brush fire or a barn fire in the middle of nowhere, 90+ miles from Scr/WB, in some town with a higher population of cows than people, and WNEP will rush out there to cover it, when a majority of their viewers couldn't care less because they're concentrated around Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by W-B proud

Luzerne County is the largest populated county in our area, and the geographical center of the region. It is almost double the size of Lackawanna County!

Ummm...that's a technicality, since Luzerne County is more populated, it also a lot bigger in land size. Scranton is still the bigger (both in land size and population) and is more well-known than Wilkes-Barre. Even before "The Office," people across the county had heard of Scranton, you're lucky if someone on the other side of this state had heard of Wilkes-Barre.


Plus, it can also be said that there is favoritism with the local media even WITHIN Luzerne County.....Wyoming Valley residents seem to forget that there's a sizeable population in the southern part of the county in Hazleton, which seems to get forgotten in favor of Wilkes-Barre. Until Lou Barletta took on illegal immigration, you would hardly know Hazleton existed around here in the media.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by go phillies

Until Lou Barletta took on illegal immigration, you would hardly know Hazleton existed around here in the media.

...and those of us here on the fringe borderline between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre LIKED it that way!

[blip]

Can't speak to the local news coverage, b/c I don't watch it. But, have a question:

Originally Posted by W-B proud

....but I live in Wilkes-Barre (the second biggest city, and the core of the Wyoming Valley metro area which is the largest populated area in our region),

What's the Wyoming Valley metro area? Couldn't find any reference to it in the census metro area data. And, Scranton is in the Wyoming Valley, no?

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by blip

Can't speak to the local news coverage, b/c I don't watch it. But, have a question:



What's the Wyoming Valley metro area? Couldn't find any reference to it in the census metro area data. And, Scranton is in the Wyoming Valley, no?

It's officially still the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton MSA, even though most of us now drop Hazleton from this since it has become "fashionable" to do so (kind of like putting the red-headed stepchild up for adoption I suppose). The metro area officially includes all of Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wyoming Counties for a total population of just over 551,000 that has just begun growing very modestly after decades of steep decline.

It is sort of foolish to try to distinguish between "Greater Scranton" and "Greater Wilkes-Barre" because the nearly 50,000 people in "Greater Pittston" (Pittston Area School District, Wyoming Area School District, and Laflin Borough) don't claim allegiance to either since we're literally equidistant to both cities. Wilkes-Barre likes to claim us since we're in the same county (albeit barely), but many of my friends hit up Scranton for their nightlife, shopping, dining, etc.

[blip]

Ah, gotcha, so he was referring to greater Wilkes-Barre.

Do people actually call greater WB the "Wyoming Valley Area"? That's confusing.

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by go phillies

Ummm...that's a technicality, since Luzerne County is more populated, it also a lot bigger in land size. Scranton is still the bigger (both in land size and population) and is more well-known than Wilkes-Barre. Even before "The Office," people across the county had heard of Scranton, you're lucky if someone on the other side of this state had heard of Wilkes-Barre.


Plus, it can also be said that there is favoritism with the local media even WITHIN Luzerne County.....Wyoming Valley residents seem to forget that there's a sizeable population in the southern part of the county in Hazleton, which seems to get forgotten in favor of Wilkes-Barre. Until Lou Barletta took on illegal immigration, you would hardly know Hazleton existed around here in the media.

First of all W-B people do not care about Scranton, I never go to Scranton , never need to go there, and could care less if it disappeared. As far as "the office" they chose Scranton because it's a dying, dead end town, acually one of the fastest dying cities in America. It goes with the theme of the show. It's suppost to portray a dead end kind of city. People in Scranton get all excited about "the office", but everyone else knows they are actually making fun of your town, just like all the other media references do. Everytime Scranton is mentioned on a movie, or TV show it's a very negative image. Sorry but that's the truth! If that is the kind of recognition your talking about, then you and Scranton can keep it. I'd rather that W-B stay off the national radar screen, if everytime they mention us it's to make fun of us, or say "it's the armpit of America" ect. I don't want that kind of recognition, thank you anyway.. Just my opinion. I just think that the Wyoming Valley is a signifigant and heavily populated area, and deserves more coverage from WNEP. I watch the Philly news sometimes, and even they will cover Delaware, Lehigh Valley, New Jersey ect. and Philly is a massive city compared to the surrounding towns, but they still cover alot of contingent cities and towns... more then Wnep does for NEPA.

[blip]

Uh oh, looks like a Scranton vs. Wilkes-Barre throwdown!

The infirm vs the invalid.

[sues1]

Originally Posted by W-B proud

I understand that Scranton is the biggest city in the region and they deserve thier fair share of coverage, but I live in Wilkes-Barre (the second biggest city, and the core of the Wyoming Valley metro area which is the largest populated area in our region), and it seems like sometimes days go by before W-B gets any coverage at all for anything, Hazleton also. Unless of course it is a homicide or stabbing ect. Meanwhile they will run five or six Scranton stories every newscast. They'll cover everything from a special church mass, to a run/walk event, to something at The Scranton Cultural center. Well, W-B has all of these types of events. Stuff at the Kirby Center, Blood drives, but WNEP never covers those events in my town, and I'm sure many other towns across our region. It seems that only a few years ago there was much more coverage of the Wyoming Valley and other areas, but over the last 5 or so years they concentrate the vast majority of thier coverage on Scranton. When they do cover W-B, for example, it's always a negative story. Last year they did a negative story about how the fan attendance dropped off during the first round of the hockey playoffs in W-B (this always happens because the season ticket holders do not get playoff tickets with thier package) the attendance dropped to about 5,500 people for those two or three games, but bounced back up to 7,000+ for the rest of the playoffs (WNEP didn't mention that though), but PNC field (a.k.a Lackawnna County) had a miserable attendance during the actual finals!(about 2,200 if I'm not mistaken) and they didn't do a story about thier terrible attendance one year after the much touted Yankees came to town! I don't want to sound paraniod, but it is such an obvious bias. It's completely unfair, and I actually switch to watching WBRE after being a life long WNEP fan. Does anyone else feel that WNEP ignores the rest of this vast region to give prime coverage to Scranton and all thier issues? Luzerne County is the largest populated county in our area, and the geographical center of the region. It is almost double the size of Lackawanna County! Yet, WNEP does little to cover it! I don't know of any other news station in the world that ignores it's biggest audience?

Oh boy, maybe you need to chill some and WBRE covers Wilkes-Barre more.