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   MSGID: 303.fidonet_ufo@1:3634/60 2d60901b   
   PID: Synchronet 3.19b-Win32 master/a2a9dc027 Jan  2 2022 MSC 1928   
   TID: SBBSecho 3.14-Win32 master/a2a9dc027 Jan  2 2022 MSC 1928   
   BBSID: RICKSBBS   
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   SUBJECT: FORUM UFO POLL ON COMPUSERVE                        FILE: UFO1170   
      
      
   >> This article has been submitted to the Journal of the Mutual UFO Network.   
   --------------------------------------   
      
                                 UFOs and the Press:   
                       An Assessment of Current Media Attitudes   
      
                                   by Jim Speiser   
      
   Throughout the forty-year history of the current UFO era, much of the public's   
   perception of the phenomenon has been shaped by the press and media coverage it   
   has received. Over the years that coverage has ranged in tone from unashamed   
   hysteria to downright ridicule, sometimes both concurrently.   
      
   Lately, however, the trend has been progressively more cynical, perhaps owing   
   to the increasing pervasiveness of "organized skepticism" and the rise of such   
   groups as CSICOP. Early on, debunkers such as Phillip Klass correctly decried   
   the media's uncharacteristic lack of attention to "the other side of the story"   
   in dealing with reports of paranormal phenomena in general and UFOs in   
   particular. Now, however, reporters seem to routinely consult with astronomers,   
   satellite tracking facilities and even the debunkers themselves when filing a   
   UFO story. On its face, this journalistic balance is commendable, of course,   
   but there is a tendency to let the skeptics have the last word, as if to   
   provide a "happy ending" to the plot to upset the scientific equilibrium.   
       
   Could reporters' own cynical attitudes be coloring their coverage of the UFO   
   phenomenon?   
      
   In an attempt to gauge the current outlook of the media toward the subject, I   
   recently touched base with a group of journalists that meet "online", in a   
   nationwide computer forum called CompuServe. In an electronic message, I posed   
   a series of questions designed to delve into the mindset of the American press   
   vis a vis the elusive UFO.   
      
   In composing the message, I sought answers to the following: 1) How are main-   
   stream UFOlogists viewed by the press? Have we succeeded in separating the hard   
   science from the cult aspect of the phenomenon? 2) Is the media getting all the   
   facts? Are they making an effort to do so, or is the subject considered so   
   overworked that even the most superficial details are recorded grudgingly? Are   
   the skeptics and debunkers considered the final word? 3) Is there a   
   more-or-less universal, tacit policy of downplaying UFO stories, in order to   
   avoid comparison with the much-reviled supermarket tabloids?   
      
   Many have bemoaned the paucity of in-depth reporting on the so-called Cosmic   
   Watergate, the thousands of pages of documents released through the Freedom of   
   Information Act. If ever there was a carrot on a stick for the American media,   
   the FOIA documents seemed to be it; yet no Woodward/Bernstein-style expose' has   
   been forthcoming. However, it occurs to me that "no news is bad news" in the   
   business of journalism, and if such an inquest had been undertaken, yet had   
   turned up nothing of value, the fact would quite likely never have surfaced.   
   "60 Minutes" is not in the habit of reporting what it has NOT found. So another   
   of my intentions was to find out if such an investigation had been undertaken,   
   only to be shelved when it proved fruitless.   
      
   The CompuServe Journalism Forum provides an excellent glimpse behind-the-scenes   
   at some of the attitudes and personalities that shape what we see on our TV   
   screens and in our newspapers. The 2000 members represent a respectable cross-   
   section of the journalism community, from newspaper editors to photographers to   
   network news reporters. While the responses I received to my message cannot be   
   considered comprehensive, I believe they provide a good thumbnail sketch of how   
   ufology looks in the mirror of American culture, the media. Some of the   
   indications:   
      
   1) There is indeed a tendency to avoid in-depth UFO stories for fear of being   
   tarred with the "National Enquirer" brush. "The more in-depth the story got,   
   the more harebrained the station or paper might seem.", said one member. "Don't   
   get me wrong -- I don't necessarily go along with that. I'm just stating what I   
   believe to be fact."   
      
   2) Perhaps as a result of (1), the cults and kooks are still getting the bulk   
   of the press, and seem to be inextricably associated with the phenomenon in   
   general. The first response to my inquiry was from a reporter who complained of   
   regular calls from a man who claimed that aliens were invading people's bodies   
   at a nearby church.   
      
   Other members claimed it was difficult to tell the kooks from the serious in-   
   vestigators. A radio newsman told of an interview he had done with a skeptic   
   and a supposedly mainstream ufologist. He claimed that the ufologist, Dale   
   Goudie, turned out to be a "fanatic" who charged the skeptic with being an   
   "idiot" and of working for the government. (Upon reviewing a tape of the   
   interview provided by Goudie, I found no such invective).   
      
   3) The reporters are not getting all the facts. My inquiry revealed that a   
   reporter for Channel 5 in New York, who had covered the story of the Hudson   
   Valley UFOs and concluded that it was all a hoax, had never even seen the home   
   videos made of either the object or the flight of planes!   
      
   4) My request for information on UFO investigations that hadn't made it to the   
   airwaves drew a blank. Either it hasn't been done, or these professionals   
   didn't know about it. Which brings me to...   
      
   5) My faith in the American media is such that I have never subscribed to the   
   theory that the press is "in on" the Cosmic Watergate at any level. There may   
   be a pervasive fear of the UFO story in management circles, but I believe it is   
   based purely on image considerations and not on some unseen pressure from   
   above. I saw nothing in the CompuServe exchange to convince me otherwise.   
      
   Not all of the vibes in the exchange were negative, and there was at least one   
   useful, positive suggestion: "Stay away from buzzwords like UFO and Flying   
   Saucer. In my mind, they instantly conjure up memories of the folks who swear   
   they were whisked to the planet Twilo for an all-expenses-paid weekend. When I   
   hear words like SETI, however, I'm a whole lot less skeptical and a whole lot   
   more interested. [I] think your job is to shift people into a new serious mode   
   of thinking about the subject if you're going to get editors, viewers and   
   readers to take you seriously."   
      
   1987 is shaping up to be the year of the UFO -- not so much in terms of sight-   
   ings, but in terms of the amount of public attention that will be paid the sub-   
   ject, through books, talk shows, symposia, mini-series, and other mass media e-   
   vents. The press is the major conduit through which much information will reach   
   the public and, rightly or wrongly, it is the press' attitudes that will shape   
   the public's view of our endeavors. Public opinion in turn determines funding   
   for future work in the field. Hence, it is vital that the press receive an ad-   
   equate education on UFOs. Judging from the responses gleaned from the   
   CompuServe correspondence, I'd say we have our work cut out for us.   
      
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