Amtrak’s Grand Plan for Profitability - Wendover Productions YouTube Video

[Rover]

 

[sttom]

It's not a bad video, but he you can tell this isn't something he follows. Like not really hitting the point that the state's make up for the losses on local trains outside of the NEC. And glossing over that we subsidize all transit in this country, except passenger rail.

 

[rickycourtney]

From a production perspective, the video is very well done.

Wendover Productions does a lot of explainer videos about the travel industry, but has mostly tackled the air travel business in the past.

If you are a person who knows nothing about the challenges facing Amtrak, this video is a very well made and interesting primer.

That's probably the vast majority of people in the world, and the vast minority of the people on this discussion board.

Because Wendover is a "generalist" when it comes to their work, they are missing a bit of the fine nuance that you would get from a journalist who specializes in reporting on Amtrak, or trains, or transportation infrastructure.

It reflects what we see in all journalism. Most reporters are working "general assignment" duties; when they get assigned a story, they normally get just a few (2-3) hours to study the subject and ask questions of the key players, and then write up a story for consumption. That's a really hard task. Most of the time, the reporting is solid, but might lack or gloss over the complicated nuances of the story.

There are a few "beat" reporters out there who specialize in reporting on a narrow band of subjects and those are the people who generally understand the complicated nuances, because they are always immersed in the subject. Having a reporter on staff like that is expensive and there needs to be a good return on that investment for the newsroom.