As a regular reader of the Pilot, I’ve decided that the paper needs some new sections.

Recommended use for the sports section.

When I look through the print edition of the Virginian Pilot (you all subscribe to the print edition, right? It’s easy to do…), I pick out all the sections I’m not going to read and set them aside for recycling. This always includes the sports section. I’m one of those self-righteous, elitist snobs who doesn’t even understand why this is a section at all. What is the justification for a section for sports in a region that doesn’t have a single team in the NFL, NBA, or MLB? It seems to me that it’s just a convention of newspaper publishing, and it should be changed.
Instead of a sports section, I recommend that the Pilot create independent sections for some or all of the following:

Cafés

Café culture is on the rise in Norfolk, with Elliot’s Fairgrounds, The Kerouac, Cure, aLatte and others all drawing their own loyal followings. Cafés are the public spaces of a city where people meet to rev up their brains and chart the course for cultural upheaval. They are havens for live acoustic music, poetry, prose, visual arts and other threatened pastimes. How about a section that previews the latest goings-on at our cafés, reviews their coffee selections, profiles their barristas. I’d read that over the sports section any day.

Facebook

No question, social media has burrowed deeply into our lives. So why not in the paper? The Pilot makes use of Facebook, but only as a place to repost their stories for discussion. How about moving some of that dialog back into print? I’d like to see an “In Your Facebook” section that displays some of the back and forth on stories from the previous day. Crowdsource that content, Pilot editors!

Crafts and Hobbies

People do all sorts of weird stuff. From making felt art, to Civil War reenactors, to classic car collectors to bicycle sculptors, there are a million ways that people creatively pass their time. Instead of reviewing TV shows, fill the paper with stories about the artisans in our community who are making stuff. 757labs.org and the 7 Cities Crafters are just two examples of local groups that have formed to promote individual creativity and thought exploration. The Pilot could help foster these efforts, and maybe gain some readership, with a section called “Makers and Doers.”

Business

Didn’t there used to be a daily business section? Let’s bring that back. We all do business of one kind or another, and the information could actually be useful to us.

Zoos and Aquariums

Intense personal stories about monkeys, lions and fish! Who’s with me?

There will be people who tell me that the Sports Section (like country music) is indispensable, and I am a communist agent. If you don’t like these suggestions, or even if you do, please feel free to comment below. The goal is to guide the Pilot to reach beyond the conventions of traditional newspaper publishing and to replace that tired sports section with something more vibrant and relevant.

Of course, you all could just keep reading Alt Daily. Jesse assures me that we’ll be adding stories about monkeys and fish starting next week…

And now, from the paper:

Jim Spore, the New Urbanist in charge of Virginia Beach

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Jim Spore, the longest-serving manager in the history of Virginia Beach. He’s a man with a plan. The Pilot dedicates the front page to him today, and does a very nice job of profiling him at work. For me, who was unfamiliar with the Spore, it was a great introduction. It’s clear from the article that if you don’t know Jim, you don’t know what’s going on in that city. He’s the champion of redevelopment, and his is the vision that has been driving Virginia Beach away from continuing sprawl and toward concentrated areas of urbanization for the past two decades.

A personal profile like this is a great service to the community from the Pilot, helping to remind us that the people in government are real, fostering a connection to their city. I frequently see and hear people referring to “the government” or “the city” as if it were a faceless, malevolent creature, greedy for tax money, negligent of our needs. It’s impossible to feel that kind of alienation, which leads to paranoia and irrational fears, if you actually engage with your city’s government. If you like, or hate, what Jim Spore is doing, try writing him a letter, or call and ask for a meeting. If you have a good idea for the city, I’m sure he’d love to hear it.

Unintentional irony?

Take a story about earnest gay-rights activists fighting for workplace protections, and put it next to a piece about “Chesapeake’s drag queens,” a group of high school girls who race tiny cars, and you’ve got the weird montage that occupies the front page of the Hampton Roads section. The effect is to associate the serious efforts of the pro-gay group with gay frivolity. Just seems like an unfortunate juxtaposition to me.

Out in the Park, now with better park

On the other hand, the Pilot also covers the Out in the Park festival, which will be held in Town Point Park this year, for the first time ever. The organizers are expecting 10,000 attendees to this annual celebration of gay pride in Hampton Roads. It’s exciting that this festival has finally reached the center of the city. Let’s all go.