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 The Newspaper You Have Dialed Is No Longer in Service One more reason people hate the media: nobody there wants to talk to them. I was working on a story -- the story that follows this one -- and I wanted to ask a Sun-Times sportswriter a question. I dialed the paper's main number and got a recorded message. "If you know your party's extension please press one now. If you would like to dial your party by name press two." I pressed two. "Please enter the first four letters of your party's last name." I did. "We're sorry. We cannot find the person you are trying to reach. Please try again." I did. "We're sorry . . ." I heard the same message again. While I wondered what to do, the recorded voice broke in again. "Please enter the remaining digits of your party's last name, followed by the pound sign." So I did that. "Please enter the first two letters of your party's first name." I was as compliant as a child. "We're sorry. We cannot find the person you are trying to reach. Please try again." At this point I decided to start over. I hit zero. I hit the star key. I hit other keys, hit them pretty hard actually, looking for a way out of this spell-your-party box. ". . . enter the remaining digits of . . ." I hung up. I pictured someone at a pay phone trying to reach the only Sun-Times reporter he trusted with a tip on a big story but getting nowhere and just about out of change. I, however, was sitting at a desk and change was not an issue. I called the main number again. "If you know your party's extension . . ." I immediately pressed zero because zero sometimes fetches a live person. This was not one of those times. "Thank you for calling the Chicago Sun-Times. Please be aware there are no operators currently on duty to assist you with your call. Please use our menu system to expedite your call." The recorded voice then gave me choices. One of them sounded promising: "For the city news desk, editorial page, or sports, press four." I did. "If you are calling for arts and entertainment please press one. For sports press two . . ." I thought I was closing in. But all I got when I pressed two was another recorded message: "Thank you for calling the Sun-Times sports department. If you are calling with a comment or observation about a story that appeared in our sports pages press one. If you are reporting the results of a high school game or competition press two. If you are reporting the results of any other game or competition press three. Thank you for calling the Chicago Sun-Times." I hesitated. I wasn't calling for any of those reasons. There was someone I wanted to talk to. I hesitated too long. |
