Three’s usually a charm, but it looks as if Park media’s third annual Month Without Metaphor could end up being anything but, unless more media outlets sign on to participate.[pullquote]What Haas has done is to change our focus. Instead of looking at ourselves, many Park media outlets are looking at The Mammalian Daily and asking why Haas feels justified in holding her paper to a different standard.—Alvin Tinamou, publisher of The Avian Messenger and Month Without Metaphor organizer[/pullquote]
The drop in the number of committed participants is “alarming” says Alvin Tinamou, who is one of the organizers of the May event.
“At this time last year, we were going great guns, to use an apt metaphor,” the publisher of The Avian Messenger wrote today in an open letter in his own newspaper.
“Our objective in establishing the annual Month Without Metaphor was to encourage Park media to be introspective. Accepting the challenge of reporting for a month without using metaphors means having to take a very close look at the way we communicate with our readers and how honestly we tell our stories. What Haas has done is to change our focus. Instead of looking at ourselves, many in Park media are looking at The Mammalian Daily and asking why Haas feels justified in holding her paper to a different standard. I challenge Haas to name her journalists and to stop distracting her readers by using tactics such as a ban on Human jokes,” he wrote.
Noburu Akita, Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Newspaper Activity in The Park (C-SNAP), says he agrees with Tinamou.
“Enough is enough,” he said in a radio interview this morning. “We’ve been calling for this for years and I think the time is right for Haas to make the change. We all [Park media] need to be open and transparent. To use a well-worn metaphor, we all need to be on the same page.”
Month Without Metaphor runs from May 1-May 31. Park media have until the end of April to sign on to participate.
Follow participants on Twitter at sansmetaphore.
