Steve wrote:

Shane said: "When a convention comes to town, particularly a large one, the local paper at least usually sends someone out to cover it. I'm sure we've all seen the articles: "Sci-Fi Maniacs Converge on Manchester," coupled with photograph of person in poorly-made Klingon costume. Also, these journalists usually like to make fans look as weird and pathetic as possible in order to sell papers."

A gross over generalisation and not my experience for the two cons I've been involed in running.

The two are not synonymous.

When I've discussed thsi with other con organisers, the general feeling is much the same - the local press want an entertaining story but do not tend to take the piss, more than maybe a few jokey puns.

I'd be interested Shane to know which papers relating to which conventions you have seen the behaviour you describe take place.

Most local journos, admittedly, don't do much beyond turn up and photograph the first thing that catches their eye. But one nasty example of journalists purposely taking the piss is a BBC Radio programme from about five years back called "The Enthusiasts," which turned up at Doctor Who convention and made out that everyone there was a sad scarf-wearing wanker (actually, I'm old enough to remember a time when every other week there was some human-interest item or other which made out that Doctor Who fans were willing to storm the BBC and put Michael Grade's head on a pike over the series' cancellation, which was a fairly nasty overgeneralisation I think you'll agree). Imagine what they'd have made of it if the con had been selling slash...

B7 fandom is small enough that it's avoided this sort of thing thus far. But what would happen if the film came out, and so the series, and its fans, suddenly become an interesting target to national journalists? They'd tear us to shreds.

Shane

"Too tired to think of anything funny" --Me

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