Sunday, October 30, 2011

Mainstream Press Deriding ‘Trekkies’

Despite the fact that the new Star Trek film is being largely embraced by those in the mainstream press — and, frankly, also by mainstream moviegoers — there seems to be an element of the media who still derive joy from deriding fans; perpetuating the negative and cliched stereotypes that Trek fans have endured for the past few decades.
TrekMovie founder Anthony Pascale notes that he has been contacted by a number of local, national and international media organizations to give quotes and do interviews on what he thinks of the new Star Trek film and how it is playing with fans. While the majority of outlets are typically interested in an honest appraisal, it seems others have an altogether different agenda—one of deciding that 'Star Trek' should still be mocked and looking to fix the evidence around their predetermined agenda (and we thought only Dick Cheney did that sort of thing).
Below, Pascale discusses his firsthand experience.
"…just this morning alone I have been contacted by ABC Good Morning America and NBC News, and both of them wanted to me to help provide a fan to put on camera to talk about how Trek fans as a whole are against this film. When I talked to producers for both, neither wanted to hear that those fans were only a small part, and in fact one producer (from NBC) hung up on me when I told him I thought it would be disingenuous for them to report that Trek fans as a whole were against this movie. I suggested to both that they could have two fans on with opposing views or at least represent the ‘negative’ fan as being part of just a segment of Trek fandom, but those suggestions fell on deaf ears. Our friend and star/producer of Star Trek Phase II James Cawley tells me that he has also turned down multiple mainstream media requests to attack the new movie."
Pascale is quick to point out that not all the corporate media types are so narrow-minded, a good example being the recent cover article from Newsweek, which you can see below. Nevertheless, it is interesting — and frankly, disturbing — to see how members of major corporate media are only interested in reinforcing dogma as opposed to doing what media is supposed to do: report both sides of the story.
Of course, this isn't just about Star Trek. One wonders what other stories are being so irresponsibly covered by mainstream media.

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