WS:
I agree that when a reporter has gotten his scoop he is often unfeeling towards the effects left in the wake of their 'sensational story'. But you have to look at each situation on a case by case basis, much like you are in checking out his credentials and past articles. In this case, what he wants is locals. And in order to get that, he will need to play the game of reporting, making them comfortable enough to trust him. It seems the most beneficial way he will do this is by gaining their trust through a positive story from an interview with a forthright fur. Only when his locals, the people he REALLY wants, see they can trust him, will he get his scoop. So in a way, anyone who DOES do a positive interview with him like I suggested, leading up to a second story with his locals,...will actually be besting him at his own game. It's the old Scratch my back and I will scratch yours game. And by the way, if his editor wants ONE story on furs, he will jump at the idea of TWO, no matter what his motives. And the reporter... story = cash... two stories = more cash.... more exposure as a reporter. (Don't think for a minute that this guy wants to stay reporting for a side paper... he most likely has dreams of being the next peter jennings or tom brokaw.)
Again, let's assume the worst and best and look at it.
Worst case, One positive story comes out of it. A second one perhaps isn't as positive... BUT that second one would be done concerning locals... people who could file libel and misquoting complaints and suits... people who could actually shut the paper down if they wanted to and were fairly poorly represented.
Best case, two positive stories were done. And as a bonus, the fur community will have found a reporter willing to be fair... IE someone who they could have write other articles, be they for that paper or as editorials sent to other publications.
In EITHER case, the fur community would be noted and people would find their way to furry places like this out of curiousity and other ponderings....connect with friends... and see for themselves what furriness is all about.
No group which has ever been out of the mainstream in acceptance and public opinion has ever gotten positive remarks and consideration unless people made some noise. And once the ball gets rolling and people become more confortable with coming forward... more and more positive things come of it. Example?
In the early eighties, public opinion (largely influenced by religion and media) regarded gays as the cause for AIDS and completely responsible for the spread of it. The Gay community got together and began publically making facts known. Which spurred the medical community to begin looking elsehwere for the cause and spread and also began to make the public look closer at the gay community and learn facts instead of myth. In coming years, kids in school were taught that you couldn't get AIDS from sipping a cup, touching a doorknob, or shaking the hand of someone infected. People began to be more openly accepted who were gay. Civil rights for Gays were won....and where has this all led?...
To the overturning of anti-sodomy laws this year. To gay marriages being recognized as legal in some states. To tax breaks for gay couples who are in a monogomous relationship. To health benefits being made available to same sex partners of insured workers. To the gay community being open enough for younger people to feel comfortable coming out of the closet, instead of living in denial, shame, or fear, as before.
But none of that would have happened if some gay men and lesbian women had not gotten the gumption to face fear of being mobbed in public, shot by zealots, fired at work, and disowned by family....(all very possible reactions and risks in the early years).... and instead made their voices heard... not only to clarify things to the public, but to make their lives better too.
The same could happen with the fur community. Which would mean more openness, more conventions, more attendance at those conventions (IE, not only more people feeling good enough about their choices and lifestyle to come out and enjoy life more as who they are, but also more money for you artists and writers out there, as you would sell more.) And more importantly, there would be less sleepless nights for those who are trying to figure out how to be themselves and how to tell family and friends about how they are. Less depression among furs... as it is terribly straining to hide who one is from others on a daily basis.
But none of that will be possible until furs begin talking....and talking alot.
~River
