Pittsburgh PR Porn

Every year, US News & World Report publishes lists of "the best XYZ schools" in the country -- colleges, universities, business schools, law schools, etc. Lots of Presidents and Deans and professors make ugly noises about being ranked this way, but lots of schools spend lots of money trying to influence the rankings. Since one part of the rankings in law is school reputation among fellow academics and among practicing lawyers and among judges, law schools produce what is derisively called "law porn." Law porn consists of glossy brochures touting the accomplishments of the school's faculty and the quality of the school's programs, which are mailed to thousands of professors and lawyers around the country, many of whom throw these things away without reading them.

I thought of law porn when I saw two recent, classy examples of the journalistic genre that I now christen "Pittsburgh PR porn." Pittsburgh PR porn consists of op-eds and features written with a simple storyline: "Pittsburgh went through a long period of being crappy, dirty, and/or just old, but it's on its way to becoming young, clean, and great." There is a description of the old steel economy. A reference to contemporary smoke-free skies. A nod to an emerging economy supported by high tech, biomedicine, and higher education. Livability metrics and the low cost of living. There are almost always a few quotes from the City Fathers (usually, folks associated with The Allegheny Conference, or VisitPittsburgh, or the History & Landmarks Foundation) and/or the City Children (the Mayor). A reference (not too heavy-handed) to the quagmire of city politics and finances, but colored by generic optimism that those problems can be overcome. Stir gently, and voila: An uncritical, highly romanticized narrative of the City with a Past and a Future.

Today's example A is Howard Fineman, in Newsweek, "What Pittsburgh Can Teach the Country:
A city down on its luck has an optimistic young leader. The scene there mirrors our national situation. Maybe we can all learn something from Luke Ravenstahl." Fineman is a Pittsburgher (who knew?!), so he knows local context better than most journalists. But the headline gives away the entire piece.

Today's example B (not online) is a feature called "Walking Through Pittsburgh: There was a time when Pittsburgh was described as "Hell with the lid taken off. Not anymore," by Bob Drury, in The Official USGA Program for the U.S. Open championship coming up this week at Oakmont. A taste:

Pittsburgh is like no other American city I have ever visited. Of
course America's urban centers evolve subtly each day, but as we skim the narrow
streets of the North Side it begins to strike me that none have changed so
dramatically as Pittsburgh. You can breathe here now, literally and
figuratively. The city fathers may be desperate for residents to fill
downtown housing -- Pittsburgh's population has been halved, to 316,000, since
its 1950s height of 677,000 -- but the metaphorical shifting of gears from brawn
to brain has also, in a sense, cleared the air.

The article even quotes a local: "Forward thinking; sums up the spirit of Pittsburgh right there."

To be fair, Pittsburgh PR Porn isn't intended to analyze. These are fairytales, and fairytales are for inspiration and for moral instruction. If you're already a moral person, however, fairytales can paralyze. Why think about novelty and creativity and innovation if you're already a special person? Once in a while, it would be nice to find a deconstructed Pittsburgh fairytale, a Shrek-on-the-Mon.