Coming Soon to Downtown Richmond - A Vacant Lot

In the past, I admit, I've had some rather harsh things to say about certain members of the local media. I've even suggested that some displayed what I feel is sheer stupidity. This morning I had the opportunity to sit down with several members of the "media elite" so to speak. The occasion was a meeting to discuss the new Virginia Performing Arts Center. I had an opportunity to listen to various representatives from the print and electronic media as they spoke.
I came away from that meeting with a clearer understanding of these fine ladies and gentlemen. I think I can now better understand why we are bombarded with negative stories about anything that smacks of progress in the Richmond area. My opinion is that many of these media guys and gals really don't get it.
One "brilliant" representative of one of the local media giants referred to the meeting as "conspiratorial." Oooh, now there's a good story. The people at the Performing Arts Center Foundation called a secret meeting with all the media people to conspire and have them say something positive. Just make sure you don't let anyone know of this meeting...you know, anyone who might tell others about what's going on.
And, by the way, shame on you, Brad Armstrong. Shame on you for wanting a facility that will attract visitors to downtown Richmond. Shame on you for wanting an arts center that will allow persons from every sector of the city to both attend and to participate in the arts.
How dare these people think that the media should say something positive about Richmond. Downtown Richmond is just fine as it is. Okay, sure, no one really wants to go there anymore. And many organizations choose to go to much less interesting cities for their conventions because of Downtown Richmond being what it is today. But who needs visitors coming in here and thinking they can impress us with their millions of dollars they have to spend on food and drink and hotel rooms and shopping. We're just fine the way we are.
Aren't we?
Sometimes I think the Richmond media (not all, I hasten to add. There are some really intelligent, decent people out there) are like the guy in the sideshow who made a living biting the heads off of baby chickens. Sure, it was great entertainment, but somewhere down the road, it was going to catch up with him. It just can't be all that good for you to bite the heads off of chickens. That, of course, is the opinion of one who has never actually bitten any heads off. If the media keeps telling its respective audiences how bad Richmond is, and how bad every plan to revitalize downtown is, pretty soon people may start believing it.
Ignorance is bliss, they say. I don't know who said it, because, hey, I'm one of the ignorant ones. But, I kinda like it that way. The trouble with so many of the people I was with this morning is that they're too smart. They see the pitfalls, and the dangers, and the obstacles, and all the many issues that make doing something creative and inventive and exciting such a bad idea. I guess I should be happy that stupid people like me have smart people like the folks at the newspaper (and others) to protect us and to let us know why we shouldn't want a Performing Arts Center.
And, we do want it. In a recent survey done by Richmond Magazine, it was found that 83% of persons in the region want such a facility. Some of these media intellects seem to be concerned that this 83% don't know how much Mayor Governor Wilder is against the center. They spoke of the need for the citizenry to see that the mayor and the arts people are on the same page. It seems to me that it would be more important for the mayor to see that the citizenry and the arts people are on the same page. The mayor doesn't elect the citizens. At least not yet.
I would applaud a conspiratorial move to have the media of Richmond help educate the citizens as to how great it would be to have an arts center downtown. I'd even participate in such an underhanded heretical movement. But, remember, I'm one of the stupid ones. I'm just glad the media is there to protect me from myself.