July 4th in Philadelphia (Dallas, Penn: how much, university, living in)

[kyb01]

We have probably talked about this before.

Why does Philadelphia continue to get ignored by our national media when it comes to this very special day?

People that I would love to read comments from are people who have chosen to be here, i.e. non-natives. Posters like Hannah, who moved here from SF. Or Pine to Vine. Or even MarketEl who's been here for decades.

[cpomp]

I didn't watch any festivities for any of the cities this year... did the media report on NYC, DC, Boston, etc.?

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by cpomp

I didn't watch any festivities for any of the cities this year... did the media report on NYC, DC, Boston, etc.?

Of course. Always. Always those cities.

Of course we know how lazy the press is.

[Pine to Vine]

I'll give my view. Every city in the US is ignored by the media except for three:

> NYC, the financial and media capital
> DC, the political capital, and
> LA, the entertainment and popular culture capital

The only time other cities make it into the news is when something truly sensational happens. In this regard, Philly is no different than Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta or Cleveland. Philadelphia is in a unique position than these other cites, however, in that people from Atlanta don't grow up making day trips to Manhattan to shop or consume culture. Our ready exposure to NYC does make us confront the reality that we are pretty much small potatoes compared to the Big Apple. Well, guess what? So are the other 2nd and 3rd tier cities I listed above. It's just that people from those cities farther afield aren't confronted with this reality as readily as we are.

This plays into another theory I have about why native Philadelphians don't realize how great their city is. Living in Manhattan's shadow is pretty humbling. But those of us who moved here from elsewhere don't see Philadelphia in comparison with NYC. We see it in comparison to the places we moved here from, precisely because it offers more than where we were living. In fact, it offers so much more than where we were living than we packed up everything we own and made ourselves Philadelphians. Birthright Philadelphians should be impressed to know that about their city.

Finally, it appears your thread was triggered by the lack of national coverage of our July 4th celebration. I realize that it is a bit galling that most of the national focus falls on NYC and DC when the Declaration of Independence was actually signed here. But when NYC controls the direction the cameras are pointing, there is nothing they like to see better than themselves.

So take heart. Newsworthy events occur daily in every city and town across the country, for the most part ignored by the narcissistic national media unable to turn its gaze away from itself. We in Philly are treated no differently than those in the rest of the country.

[PHL10]

I share you frustration kyb01. Getting overlooked for the typical stuff, I can rationalize. But Independence Day
at the place where the actual Declaration was written and those bells of freedom first rung out? Makes zero sense.

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

Finally, it appears your thread was triggered by the lack of national coverage of our July 4th celebration. I realize that it is a bit galling that most of the national focus falls on NYC and DC when the Declaration of Independence was actually signed here. But when NYC controls the direction the cameras are pointing, there is nothing they like to see better than themselves.

Ok but why does Boston get tons of national media coverage on the 4th and Philadelphia gets none?

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by PHL10

I share you frustration kyb01. Getting overlooked for the typical stuff, I can rationalize. But Independence Day
at the place where the actual Declaration was written and those bells of freedom first rung out? Makes zero sense.




Ok but why does Boston get tons of national media coverage on the 4th and Philadelphia gets none?

I didn't see any coverage of Boston in today's newspaper or the national news websites I review each morning. NYC's fireworks were broadcast nationally by NBC, btw.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by kyb01

We have probably talked about this before.

Why does Philadelphia continue to get ignored by our national media when it comes to this very special day?

People that I would love to read comments from are people who have chosen to be here, i.e. non-natives. Posters like Hannah, who moved here from SF. Or Pine to Vine. Or even MarketEl who's been here for decades.

It galls me every year. I've thought about it for decades. I've come to the conclusion that the goal should be coverage on PBS News Hour, & work up to them doing a special.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by southbound_295

It galls me every year. I've thought about it for decades. I've come to the conclusion that the goal should be coverage on PBS News Hour, & work up to them doing a special.

Why focus on PBS when Comcast, a Philadelphia company, chose to move the Philadelphia fireworks to 9:30 for local coverage, so that they could provide national coverage of the the NYC celebration at 10 pm? Watch NBC News tonight and see how much coverage they devote to Philadelphia's July 4 activities. Local Pride organizers schedule their festivities a week earlier than NYC's because, as I was told, "No one would come to Philadelphia Pride" because they would prefer to travel up the turnpike instead.

If Philadelphians want the city to have a higher profile (not my wish, btw), then they should start promoting the city better themselves.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

I'll give my view. Every city in the US is ignored by the media except for three:

> NYC, the financial and media capital
> DC, the political capital, and
> LA, the entertainment and popular culture capital

(some deleted)

Finally, it appears your thread was triggered by the lack of national coverage of our July 4th celebration. I realize that it is a bit galling that most of the national focus falls on NYC and DC when the Declaration of Independence was actually signed here. But when NYC controls the direction the cameras are pointing, there is nothing they like to see better than themselves.

So take heart. Newsworthy events occur daily in every city and town across the country, for the most part ignored by the narcissistic national media unable to turn its gaze away from itself. We in Philly are treated no differently than those in the rest of the country.

I would now add Boston to that list as the media's idea of country's " education and/ or medical capital". Never mind that Penn is, arguably the oldest university, PA Hospital is the oldest hospital, HUP is oldest teaching hospital, Kirkbride Center is the oldest psych center(probably). And all of those institutions are alive and well.

I will kind of " leave it " as to what natives actually think. But I will say is that decades of being ignored so much feeds the negativity. On that level I'm not sure you quite understand where it comes from. Or maybe you do. Dunno.

One of those "NYC camera" companies is based in Philadelphia and they don't seem to care either.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by Pine to Vine

Why focus on PBS when Comcast, a Philadelphia company, chose to move the Philadelphia fireworks to 9:30 for local coverage, so that they could provide national coverage of the the NYC celebration at 10 pm? Watch NBC News tonight and see how much coverage they devote to Philadelphia's July 4 activities. Local Pride organizers schedule their festivities a week earlier than NYC's because, as I was told, "No one would come to Philadelphia Pride" because they would prefer to travel up the turnpike instead.

If Philadelphians want the city to have a higher profile (not my wish, btw), then they should start promoting the city better themselves.

If Comcast cable was nationwide, they could be a focus & they have the leverage to put it on NBC, if they got good ratings on cable.

PBS likes history. Philadelphia has it in spades.