Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 16:14:09 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: SF fandom- reality check
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

> omni at omniphile.com 4/20/2005 4:02:46 PM >>>
>At 12:34 PM 4/20/05 -0700, N Lynch wrote:
>>--- Drew Bittner <drewbitt at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>FANDOM; it's a perception the media has of us, which
>>is totally different.  That news organizations lump
>>all SF type fandoms together is also not the fault of
>>media FANDOM.  I blame *SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE*, as that
>>was the first time media fandom was portrayed on TV
>
>Fandom of all sorts has been portrayed on TV many times.  Sometimes in
the
>news, and sometimes elsewhere, such as TV shows and movies.  I suspect
some
>of that happened before SNL, though that was certainly an extreme case
(and
>showed just how ungrateful Shatner can be to those who made him a
star
>despite an almost complete lack of talent).
>
>It's really amazing that anyone still believes anything they see on
TV
>news, or hear on radio or read in the paper without checking it out
for
>themsevles first.

Here's a popular site: www.snopes.com .  Amazing what people believe.

>  Reporters are generally pretty ignorant people,

Woodward & Bernstein?

> and they
>aren't given enough time to educate themselves on the things they
report on
>in most cases, even if they were interested in doing so.  The result
is
>usually stories full of errors and omissions.
>
>There hasn't been a situation reported on yet where I knew anything
about
>the subject already where they got it right, and sometimes they've
been
>*wildly* wrong.  Any story on gun control is likely to be mostly
wrong
>(don't get me started...), and airplane crashes are famous for
reporting
>errors (such as turning "the aircraft stalled and fell to the ground"
into
>a report of an engine failure...).  A breakin on NASA's SPAN network
in the
>late 80s was reported as a breakin on a "top secret NASA computer
network"
>for instance.  SPAN (Space Physics Analysis Network) was anything but
"top
>secret"...we had at least two nodes behind the Iron Curtain for
instance
>(Poland and Czechoslovakia), and this was *before* the Soviet Union
became
>the UFFR (Union of Fewer and Fewer Republics).  Anyone who's ever
played
>"telephone" should know to take all reports with a grain of salt
>anyway...but most don't and just accept what reporters say as the
absolute
>truth.

"Trust no one." Insert X-Files theme music....

>
>You can't even check one against another anymore in many cases as they
just
>report what each other said, interview each other about their
opinions, and
>copy stories from wire services for the most part.  Ever notice that
you
>can flip channels at news time and find the same stories being done on
all
>the major networks?  Usually in the same order and with approximately
the
>same durations?  Things that make you go Hmmmmmmm....

There's always sources like this:
http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/features/aliens/61245 . This is useful
if in attending Balticon one should wander down to The Block...

>
>>SF fans are also supposed to be UFO fanatics as well.
>>I've also been asked how I can believe in flying
>>saucers.
>
>I've seen them myself.  Spilled coffee often results in such things...
;-)

Bad drugs too... or maybe good drugs....

mjw
>
>-- Mike B.
>--
>Keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.