By T.J. Simers
Laugh or scoff if you like, but City The Kitty has 350,000 followers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and how irrelevant are you?
There will be former copy editors out there huffing and puffing about how stupid a kitty column might be when no one knows the copy editors even exist anymore.
City is an online freak, who should be hired by the Times, given his popularity and how the Times puts a premium on folks who can generate hits.
City’s area of expertise is online content, and with 349.345 followers more than I have and twice as many people who read the LA Times, I asked City for advice.
City, a spokesman dedicated to spreading the awareness about the dangers of declawing, said the Los Angeles Times effort to declaw the sports section and neuter Columnist Bill Plaschke are too much.
You think I am joking, but with the help of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence site, City briefed AI and reported what AI had to say about the Times’ new journalism look.
“As an influential advocate for positive change, City the Kitty reminds us that evolution is essential,” says AI on behalf of City, “but it should never come at the expense of the newspaper’s fundamental principles. The decision to transform the newspaper’s format and reduce its valued writers might be an attempt to cut costs or adapt to changing reader habits. However, it raises concerns about the potential compromise on the quality and depth of reporting.”
It took eight seconds for AI to figure that out and write a blog on behalf of City, so the Times’ 3 pm deadline is nothing to fear.
We might soon be reading more AI stories in the Times, but we just won’t know it. I guess if Tyler R. Tynes starts writing more with no concern for deadlines and shorter paragraphs, it would be worth an AI question.
However, City the Kitty’s artificial intelligence story is too logical for me, too straight forward, too boring and so it might be hard to detect from the other stories in the sports section.
By the way, City has six toes on each front foot so he grasps things better than most and with that in mind, City with the assistance of AI, suggested the Times diversify content in this new format. I guess AI has its limit of soccer stories.
That is rule No. 4 on how to improve the LA Times produced by AI — hard to believe the Times’ sports section has three bigger problems.
AI per City the Kitty advises the Times to “embrace change thoughtfully: Change is inevitable, and newspapers must adapt to evolving readership preferences amid technological advancements.”
That would suggest listening to the preferences of readers, something the Times has not taken into consideration while ignoring Dodgers’ night games. City also says AI would like the Times to support emerging writers like Tyler R.Tynes. What does AI know? Hard to support an emerging writer who never writes. I guess AI isn’t perfect.
There’s some debate on who owns City, Lori Shepler, a former photographer at the LA Times saying she does. But who wants to admit they live with a cat who has a bigger Internet presence than they do?
Shepler is now a self-proclaimed activist, which goes to show you what can happen to a person who has worked for the LA Times. She’s fighting for less lead being emitted from small planes by nearby schools or something like that, and she should win that battle having already convinced AI to be sympathetic to Plaschke’s plight.
“‘The reduced prominence of the sports section and downsizing esteemed columnist Bill Plaschke have been met with mixed reactions from the public,” said AI in its City blog. “It is crucial to retain the core of talented writers and columnists who contribute to the newspaper’s reputation and credibility.”
It really shouldn’t take AI to figure that out, but otherwise you might as well just chuck the paper into the nearest litter box.
