Television

  • OTW Fannews: Fandom as the Solution

    By Claudia Rebaza on Monday, 19 November 2012 - 9:29pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Entertainment Industries, Gaming, Sports, Television, Fannish Practices, News Media
    • Vulture recently did a long feature on fans and fandoms which included rating "devoted" fandoms, profiling particularly active fans from major fandoms, and a few other fandom-related stories which focused largely on obsessive fan behavior. A number of fans took issue with the conclusions reached, while other publications such as Slate echoed many fans' complaints about poorly defined fannish behavior. "[I]n my experience, intense fandom often leads to a spike in creativity, as anyone who has perused the costumes people make for comic book conventions can tell you. Repeatedly in this article, fandom is flagged as an obstacle for living your life and developing your relationships with others."
    • A good counterexample of "fandom as a life obstacle" comes from an Illinois State feature on one of its grads who got his dream job thanks to fandom. "Chicago Cubs fans are a passionate, loyal bunch, and they all have their own story about how they became a fan. For Brad Nagel ’07, it was his grandparents, die-hard fans who never missed a game." Nagel now gets to be the team's fandom liaison. "Nagel pitched some ideas for bridging what he thought was disconnect between the Cubs’ front office and its loyal fans. The Cubs called him in 2009 and brought him on board as a full-time customer relations coordinator, capturing fan feedback through emails, calls and letters. When the Ricketts family bought the team toward the end of 2009, one of their first initiatives was the creation of a Fan Experiences Department, where Nagel eventually landed."
    • The Cubs are not alone. On the entertainment industry side, creators, networks and studios want to better understand fans and how to market to them. "'One of the things we have developed here at ITV is a needs-based model looking at how and why people get engaged with certain programmes away from the linear broadcast, and what’s driving that behaviour - whether it’s buying a magazine or looking at websites. This really helps identify the [communications] opportunities for us,' says Watson. 'Tactically, we’re looking at identifying the big opportunities for creating, converting and engaging with fans - helping us direct communications strategies.'"
    • Media outlets are also seeing the personal connection as the best point of focus. The Nieman Journalism Lab recently featured a piece on gaming site Polygon and how they plan to set themselves apart as video game journalists. "Justin McElroy, Polygon’s managing editor, said they wanted to take an approach to video game coverage that wasn’t as product-centric — which is difficult since games are items which are bought and sold. McElroy said their challenge is to think bigger, to find unexpected stories about people who make games and people who love games. 'With our features especially, we have an opportunity to change the story and make it about people,' he said. 'People are infinitely more interesting than products and brands.'"

    If you're a gaming fan, a sports fan, or have your own story about how fandom put you ahead in life, why not write about it in Fanlore? Contributions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent OTW Fannews post. Links are welcome in all languages! Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

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  • OTW Fannews: Fandom and Technology

    By Claudia Rebaza on Saturday, 3 November 2012 - 7:01pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Commercial Works Authors, Books, Music, Television, Zines, OTW Sightings, Technology
    • Entertainment reporter Ken Baker has written a novel about a pop star dating a fan but in a twist it's the star who stalks the fan. His inspiration was the intimacy provided by social networking in contemporary fandom. "Fans know so much about
 their idols. The interesting thing is that it doesn't seem to have spoiled 
the fantasy or dampened their fanaticism. If anything, it seems to only 
fan the flames of their passion for the celebs. As they say, information 
is power, and I think fans feel empowered to know so much and become that much more interested in their favorite stars."
    • Hypebot provides a different take on music fandom, but one which also looks at the role of technology. Several public relations specialists weigh in on how music fandom currently functions. "The older online music communities were ecosystems dedicated to either genres or geographic locations...Now that communities are forming around artists and personal tastes, these older characteristics of ecosystems are evolving, but some are stagnated based on the fact that complementary activities need to take place away from the community for it to evolve." One concern? Over-reliance on a particular online platform. Another is how much the artist can offer. "The artists that have thriving fan communities are generally a result of their cult of personality, not their art. Most don't have artistic output rate high enough to maintain engagement by the community, hence the need to be...more than the sum of their art."
    • Tor.com recently proclaimed Babylon 5 set the bar for fandom in the 21st century. "[W]ay back at the end of the last century, one of the first sci-fi fandoms did have the internet, complete with online spoilers! That fandom was centered around Babylon 5, and though we don’t talk much about Babylon 5 now, the narrative structure of the show, in tandem with internet discussion, essentially created the model for TV fandom today." Technology played an important role: "Babylon 5 was also one of the first TV shows to market itself through grassroots internet outreach, assuming (correctly) that science fiction fans were hanging out online. This was back in the days of Genie and Usenet, but a lot early internet jargon found its footing here. For example, those who didn’t post on the forums were called “lurkers” and at one point, [Babylon 5 creator] JMS, left the forums for a time because of too much “flaming.” He triumphantly returned, of course, after a basic moderation system was sussed out. At the time, all of this stuff was brand new."
    • Speaking of fannish history, the MediaWest Con blog hosted a piece on fanzine archives citing several collections including "The University of Iowa Special Collections (aka the Fanzine Archives). This is the largest media fan collection currently in place. They have jointly partnered with the Organization For Transformative Works...which helps fans donate zines, flyers, convention program guides, fanvids, audio and video recordings etc. The OTW has an active outreach program called Open Doors with a volunteer assigned to facilitate donations. The University may be able to help pay for shipping. They can also handle large collections and, if needed, may be able to help arrange for someone to box and ship the zines."

    If you're a music fan, a Babylon 5 fan, or have been a fanzine contributor, why not write about it in Fanlore? Contributions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent OTW Fannews post. Links are welcome in all languages! Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

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  • OTW Fannews: Honoring fanworks

    By Claudia Rebaza on Monday, 29 October 2012 - 6:59pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Gender and Sexuality, Gaming, Television, Fannish Practices, Audio Fanworks, OTW Sightings
    • Fan films tend to be a particularly difficult and time consuming type of fanwork given their collaborative nature, whether they are animated or live action. At least for some gamers though, the best sort of fanwork is that which creates new games, though having projects shut down after so much time and effort are always a concern. Perhaps this was why the site EuroGamer had to clarify an earlier story that suggested Microsoft was barring fanworks from utilizing Halo content. "The majority of everything the community makes currently is fine, as long as they are not basically running a big Halo-based business or using Halo as if the IP was its own property. That isn't a change to our policy, simply a clarification and update of the dry legal language, and as we've mentioned, even that 'new' language was actually updated months ago. We don't have squads of lawyers waiting in the wings to go after folks making machinima, or showing off their skills in Halo."
    • Discussions such as these, which focus on content owner permission, tend to crop up with other fanworks as well, such as this take on a brand designer's house sigils for Game of Thrones. "Crescenzi's finished product, which comprises some 42 crests on a poster, is undeniably beautiful. However, he is selling them as prints, which somewhat alters the project from being a labor of love to a vehicle for profit. That makes us very curious to see GoT author Martin's take on them, as he is famously prickly about fan fiction, particularly where it concerns profit."
    • Yet fans, too, can be concerned about focusing on creators, even when discussing other fanworks, such as this one on podfic vs. written fanfiction. As one fan quoted by the Daily Dot stated "'I wonder how the fic author feels about the fact that the podfic is apparently oh so special and famous (with the fic itself being apparently unimportant compared to the reader's performance)'.” Meanwhile, "Fans of podfic, feeling battered by arguments likening them to unoriginal plagiarists and bad cover artists, rallied with a podfic appreciation meme, where appreciative readers and other podficcers could praise podficcers in comments. "
    • Another often unappreciated fan creation, albeit usually outside of fandom, is slash. At least one site though, After Elton, decided that it should be celebrated. "We were blown away by the internet explosion that was the Ultimate Slash Madness Tourney, and it occurred to us that a regular weekly column on the subject of slash might be a great fit for AfterElton. The name for such a column was easy: The Shipping News. The only catch was who to write it?...Even after reluctantly eliminating a dozen impressive submissions, we we're [sic] still left with five great people we wanted to work with. The happy solution we came up with was a weekly column penned by a rotating roster of slash experts." And the appreciation wasn't only by the AE site. As one of their contributors noted in the inaugural column, "Can we just take a moment to appreciate how many celebrities pimped their show's fave pairings in the AfterElton Ultimate Slash Madness Tourney? In addition to Misha Collins, Colton Haynes and the rest, we had John Barrowman and David Hewlett urging their fanbases to vote. Gone are the days when fans were on one side of canon and creators, producers, and actors were on the other."
    • At least one fanwork that definitely got a place of honor recently was the AO3, which has had its kudos icon memorialized on a user's skin. Consider us chuffed!

    If you're a slash lover, a fan film maker, a gamer, or have your own OTW-related tattoos, why not put together an entry on Fanlore? Contributions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent OTW Fannews post. Links are welcome in all languages! Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

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  • Do you love zines?

    By Claudia Rebaza on Friday, 26 October 2012 - 3:14pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Television, Zines, Fannish Histories

    Those who enjoy fanzines, or who were part of Star Trek fandom in its early years, may enjoy the following story, and even want to lend a hand!

    Steven H. Wilson is an author and has worked for DC Comics and Starlog Magazine. He's also the founder of the Farpoint convention, and his award-winning audio science fiction series, The Arbiter Chronicles, can be heard on his weekly podcast. In a recent post he discussed his early days in fandom, and how important a particular Trek fanzine was in his life.

    Contact was founded by two sisters in 1975. Bev Volker and Nancy Kippax were active members of the Trek fandom, running conventions and editing various zines. Stephen discusses how he met both of them, and what followed from there, both personally and professionally. He also issues an invitation to others who remember the two sisters and their work, both of whom passed away in the past decade:

    "So I've finally brought ContactZine.com to life this week. Right now it's just a few blog entries and a couple of scans of the first issue of their zine. It's a work in progress. As the weeks go by, I want to add more scans, to get the stories formatted so they can be read in HTML and put into true eBook formats, and to add the memories of all of those who still remember Bev, Nancy, Contact, and those times gone by.

    Check it out, if you're interested, and, if you feel moved to help, let me know! I could sure use someone to help me edit. None of these zines were produced using computers. The stories exist now only as xerox copies or typewritten drafts. They must be scanned and OCR'd, and that means the electronic versions are pretty error-ridden and need to be proofed and corrected prior to re-publication.

    Above all, if you were part of Contact, as a writer, artist, friend or reader, I hope you'll post some memories at ContactZine.com"

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  • OTW Fannews for 7 October 2012

    By Claudia Rebaza on Sunday, 7 October 2012 - 4:32pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Commercialization of Fans, Commercial Works Authors, Fandoms, Television, Fannish Practices, Fanfiction

    Here's a roundup of fanfiction stories that might be of interest to fans:

    • Two writers recently were concerned about our interests in imaginary (or at least imaginary to us) relationships. In The Guardian columnist Eva Wiseman noted the thin line between fanfic and gossip reporting and asked "As fan fiction goes mainstream, isn't it time to recognise how important daydreaming about the stars has become in our day-to-day lives?" Meanwhile at xo jane Kate Conway is concerned that being addicted to relationships as depicted in fanfic is causing her real-life problems. "A lot of this is my age, too. I’m still pretty young and I recognize that I’m definitely still pretty immature. That sort of long-lasting, across-the-universe, sci-fi-style love is the stuff of legends, and in your late teens and early twenties, isn’t that what everyone believes they’ll be? The mortal trappings of ordinary relationship problems can seem so dull by comparison."
    • Media scholar Henry Jenkins hosted a four-part interview with the authors of the new book Fandom at the Crossroads: Celebration, Shame and Fan/Producer Relationships which included a discussion of hurt/comfort fanfic. Explaining why their approach included observations at fan conventions, author Kathy Larsen stated "One of the things that’s missed goes back to the idea of fan shame. You see it enacted at fan conventions where the actors are present – fans policing other fans, voicing their disapproval when certain fan practices are mentioned to actors. The fan fiction questions, for instance, are almost always booed. At one convention we attended someone had posted rules of behavior in the women’s room on all the stall doors. Fans want to get close, but they also want that gaze to work in only one direction for the most part. This isn’t something you’ll necessarily see if you’re only looking at fan interactions with other fans – or even fan reaction to fan/producer encounters posted online."
    • Certainly any shame about writing fanfiction is diminishing as one author after another is quite publicly drawn from the fan ranks to get big publishing contracts. Teen writer Abigail Gibbs felt it was the way to go. "Writing via the website meant her work was shaped by her fans and Abigail says there are huge advantages to writing in this way. 'It allows you to build a fan base and to prove that your book is marketable and that it will sell and for me it's sped things up massively,' she said. 'It went from the deal to publication in two months, so yes, it’s definitely changed publishing for the better.'" Something she didn't mention arose in both an interview with NPR's three-minute fiction winner and an interview with E.L. James. "James talks about what happens when a hobby becomes a juggernaut and there's no way to get back to what was personal and fun, writing freely. 'It's really upsetting,' she says. 'I miss it enormously, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to do it again.'" Contest winner Carrie MacKillop, gave this advice to new contest participants: "I knew that there were already over 6,000 people that had entered. And I didn't think anyone would actually read my story. And I really wrote it from the heart with the idea that no one would read it. And that was a really effective thing for me to just go for it."

    If you write from the heart, whether or not anyone reads your work, why not write something for Fanlore? Contributions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent OTW Fannews post. Links are welcome in all languages! Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

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  • Links roundup for 11 September 2012

    By Claudia Rebaza on Tuesday, 11 September 2012 - 4:41pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Public and Private Identities, Gender and Sexuality, Music, Television, Fan Conventions, Technology

    Here's a roundup of stories about the new face of fandom that might be of interest to fans:

    • Haddayr Copley-Woods summarizes the classic experiences of fandom with "Many people called me a nerd back in seventh grade, when I played Dungeons and Dragons and got picked last in gym. Now the word feels like an embrace." She encourages others to discover their tribe at a fan convention. "Sometimes, during a deeply intellectual panel on the work of Lloyd Alexander, you might have to raise your voice to compete with the sounds of a boisterous Klingon ritual going on in the courtyard below. But if you're a misfit, it will be worth it. You'll finally be home." The longstanding tradition of face-to-face meets is being seen today as a way to connect with a new generation, as in the case of Amarillo, Texas's comic book con organized by their local library.
    • Some fans have found themselves excluded from in-person gatherings in the past, though this too is changing. The L.A. Times noticed that Comic-Con "is seeing more gay-themed panels, parties, signings and off-site events than ever before," with one writer connecting canon acceptance to fandom presence. “Queer fandom is absolutely galvanized by seeing more accurate representations of ourselves." Another con-goer added that this new energy is present "[e]ven among non-queer fans. My super-straight guy friend is totally into this comic about queer bears.” Comments to the article however, showed we still have a long road to walk.
    • The road may be a lot shorter among fanfic writers who were called out in a video by Teen Wolf's most popular slash couple. They gave the writers and readers something to think about while encouraging them to vote for an award. Such fans were probably also on the minds of app developers at Movellas who created "an iPhone app just for fan fiction about boy-band One Direction." The reporting journalist's "sheer disbelief" is the only quaint thing about the story, which otherwise proves that fans will take their fandom connections with them wherever they go.

    Do you have a "future of fandom" story to tell? Why not contribute it to Fanlore? Contributions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup. Links are welcome in all languages! Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

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  • Links roundup for 27 August 2012

    By Claudia Rebaza on Monday, 27 August 2012 - 8:44pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Conferences, Intellectual Property, Gaming, Sports, Television, Fanfilms

    Here's a roundup of fandom celebration stories that might be of interest to fans:

    • A South by Southwest (SXSW) panel with OTW connections has been proposed for inclusion at the event's 2013 lineup. "Catching Fire? Or Not. Fans, Creativity & Fair Use" would include Joshua Wattles of deviantART, Inc., Flourish Klink of The Alchemists, Heidi Tandy of HP Education Fanon, Inc. (HPEF) and FAWC, Inc. and Lisa Bunker of the Pima County Public Library. "This panel will be a frank discussion about the laws that protect fan-creators of transformative works, the gray areas of copyright and fair use, why fan creativity is usually not infringement, and the issues that corporations will have when trying to capitalize on fan culture." (Visitors must create an account to vote for the panel proposal).
    • For a lot of fans, fandom doesn't end with their death -- at least not immediately. Filmmaker Errol Morris recently produced a short film titled Team Spirit about the funeral plans of hardcore fans. He probably should have included the obituary of baseball fan Marylou Belles. While acknowledging she was a fan of Stephen King, her loved ones noted "She was also a lifelong Mets fan, though surprisingly, that wasn't what killed her."
    • Given the strife that occurs in some fandoms, death-by-fannishness might not be so farfetched, but at least one member of Fringe fandom took to the Huffington Post to declare how welcoming it was. "The support I received was overwhelming. I was the new kid on the block but I was met with an incredible welcome. I continue to post my reactions after each episode because I love interacting with the show's fans. They have enriched my Fringe viewing experience. They shield me from spoilers and even created a Twitter hashtag (#HurryUpMary) to get me caught up by the season five premiere. How many fandoms treat their newbies like that?"
    • Of course, sometimes when fannish work crosses over to pro, the result doesn't make fans stand up and cheer. Such was the case with the Mortal Kombat fanfilm that became the officially sponsored web series "Legacy." However, in the sixth episode, fan creator, Tancharoen, stated that he was now given sole creative control and that it was written in the original style he had first envisioned. The result? "It was 10-times better than the previous five that I had struggled to sit through," said Jordan McCollam, writing for Gamebeat. McCollam then concluded, "I guess the main point I’m trying to make is this: Fan-made media is awesome, but it’s only awesome because it’s fan-made. Until making movies and television shows stops being about the money, and until studio heads stop feeling the need to pander to the lowest-common denominator, fan-made media will never have a home at major studios. Maybe we should just leave it alone, no matter how excited we are about a favorite franchise."

    If you've got things to celebrate about fandom, make sure they're remembered with an entry in Fanlore. Contributions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup. Links are welcome in all languages! Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

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  • Links roundup for 26 August 2012

    By Claudia Rebaza on Sunday, 26 August 2012 - 9:30pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Entertainment Industries, Commercialization of Fans, Intellectual Property, Television, Fanfiction

    Here's a roundup of fanfiction stories that might be of interest to fans:

    • MTV's recent announcement of a fan fiction contest for Teen Wolf fandom has had some fans contacting the OTW with concerns about the contest rules. While the content restrictions are pretty wide ranging, OTW Legal Chair Rebecca Tushnet notes that the language does not throw up the kind of concerns seen a few months ago in an audio contest hosted by Random House. She writes:

      "Crucially, it specifies that the rules apply to your entry, and don't require you to say that "all my fanworks are done only with permission" the way Random House did, so it has no effect on your ability to create other Teen Wolf fanworks. Here's the relevant language:

      Entrant shall retain all copyright in and to his/her Essay; provided, however that entrant agrees that by entering into this Contest he/she is granting Sponsor (and any and all of Sponsor’s subsidiaries and affiliates and affiliated broadcast stations and networks, successors and assignees and licensees) the non-exclusive, worldwide irrevocable right and license, but not the obligation, to exhibit, broadcast, copy, reproduce, encode, compress, encrypt, incorporate data into, edit, dub, superimpose, rebroadcast, transmit, record, publicly perform and distribute and synchronize in timed relation to visual elements, the Essays and/or any portions or excerpts thereof....

      This language is broad in what it lets MTV do with your entry, because MTV might not be sure exactly how it's going to deal with the winners. But the language is not broad in what it claims: you just gave MTV a license, and you can't take it back, but that's pretty much the minimum that MTV needs to be confident that it can promote the winning entries.

      One possibility is that they might incorporate your story into a later actual script, whether the story wins or not. A far more likely scenario: a submitted story is broadly similar to a storyline they were going to do anyway. In either case, this language prevents someone who submits a story from successfully suing MTV saying "you used my submission in your canon!" But this is probably a fair trade from the fan's side, though if you wrote for TV you might start to worry about what happens to your salary if this becomes common."

      In short, "Random House treated fan fiction like a foreign and risky thing it wanted to control, but there are alternatives even for official producers engaging with fans."

    • At least some in the press are not eager to see more fanfiction making its way across professional borders. In The Independent, columnist John Walsh acknowledges "It wouldn't do to be sniffy about works of fiction that feed off others. Literary history is full of important works that are shameless retellings of others." However there is still panic afoot. "But we might begin to wonder what has become of readers. Once they were content to read a book, enjoy the plot and feel warmth or dislike for the characters. Now, increasing numbers are driven to invade the book's pages, wrestle the characters away from their creator and provide their own plot twists. Most, of course, are wholly unequipped to write their own novel or to handle prose with much grace or vividness. But what happens if, in the free-for-all of online publication, a spin-off book starts to eclipse the original from which it derives?"
    • Sometimes, though, those original authors are interested when they have inspired others to create, as is the case with poet Sarah Kay whose work inspired a Teen Wolf fanfic hosted at the AO3. "A friend of mine forwarded me this link and it took me a while to figure out what was going on...this particular entry seems to be a piece based on the TV show “Teen Wolf.” The catch? This author finds a connection between some of the characters on the show and my poem “B.”...I have never seen Teen Wolf before, so I don’t know anything about any of the characters referenced, but the general concept of fan fiction fascinates me."

    If you're writing for yourself, others, or fanfic contests, why not include yourself in Fanlore? Contributions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup. Links are welcome in all languages! Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

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  • Links roundup for 24 August 2012

    By Claudia Rebaza on Friday, 24 August 2012 - 9:56pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Gender and Sexuality, Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality, Fandoms, Comics, Gaming, Sports, Television, News Media

    Here's a roundup of issues in fandoms that might be of interest to fans:

    • One persistent problem fans have experienced revolves around their representation -- either in media stories on fans, or within the canons that they're fans of. Alyssa Rosenberg wrote about the latter, saying Hollywood decision makers think "it’s easier to sell white men as brawling gods than black men as hugely technologically advanced leaders of foreign nations", which leads some stories to cross media formats while others don't. In the meantime William Shatner hopes to defend fan practices to the media with his new documentary. "'These people who come to Comic-Con and dress up - all across the country, the rest of the population who doesn't understand are scoffing at them.'" But fans have their reasons. "'For a kid who is pathologically shy, dressing a cat up in a uniform -- [suddenly] he could speak. 'Captain Dave,' who is dying from Lou Gehrig's disease, lives through 'Star Trek.''" The media, or at least Variety continues to beg to differ.
    • When it comes to the press though, fans now have their own forums for speaking out about the slant given to press coverage. Indeed problems may arise when fans are also members of the press, as is the case for a CultureMob reporter who talks about making decisions on what to attend at ComicCon and for what purposes.
    • The fandom/media divide has been a topic at other sites, with some acknowleding the greater depth of fan knowledge while critiquing its objectivity. On gaming site GamaSutra this personal slant is blamed for blocking creativity among content producers. The respondents to the column were having none of it, with a rather good discussion ensuing about how the role of commercial interests were being ignored in the post.
    • Such a discussion would also have been welcome on the article of OTW staffer Aja Romano at The Daily Dot when she discusses the persistent problem of female erasure from fandom. Noting how rarely women are included in fan convention panels, or condescended when they are, she also explored other ways in which their participation is ignored in male dominated fandom spaces. "Take Kate Leth, author of popular webcomic Kate or Die. When a father told his daughter in her comic store, right in front of her, that there was 'nothing for her' in the store, she tweeted angrily, 'you bet yr ass I gave her a free comic.' Leth added, 'what am I, chopped liver?'"

    If you've got your own fandom issues to share, why not explore them on Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup at transformativeworks.org. Links are welcome in all languages! Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

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  • Links roundup for 18 August 2012

    By Claudia Rebaza on Saturday, 18 August 2012 - 10:03pm
    Message type:
    News of Note
    Tags:
    Education and Curriculum, Fandoms, Books, Music, Sports, Television, Fannish Practices, Fanfiction , Fanfilms, News Media

    Here's a roundup of stories explaining fandom that might be of interest to fans:

    • As awareness of fandoms and the fandom market grows in the commercial sector, the media has followed suit, offering posts that "explain fandom" to their users. In some cases the financial motivation is obvious, such as this CNBC article informing the public that Bieber is passe while Kpop may be the new cash cow. In others, the fan practices are explored as a form of community reporting, looking at those activities in isolation.
    • More thoughtful discussions are rarer but exist, such as this patient exploration of fanfic in the Wall Street Journal which explains fanfic to a reader who apparently missed its recent three pronged feature on the topic. The Kansas City Star included commentary from the OTW's Francesca Coppa in its fanfic discussion, who summed things up nicely by saying "“We may have momentarily forgotten that this is how literature works, people telling stories over and over again and changing them,” Coppa said. “Fan fiction is where non-commercial storytelling lives.”"
    • But the mass media isn't the only source of fandom explanations. There's always a more academic approach, such as this look at Olympic memes or the IDEA Channel's latest fanworks segment looking at fanfic activity through history. And nowadays there are entire academic courses to explain fanworks, such as the one at Yale which has students "writing their own fan fiction and analysing existing fan fiction."
    • Then there are the introductions done on a more fan-to-fan level such as this introduction to Korean dramas on The Learned Fangirl, or this Q&A with a maker of fan films. Indeed, introductions and explanations can be a part of overall fannish discourse such as this series on fan practices.

    If you've got your own fandom explanations to share, why not share them on Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

    We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup. Links are welcome in all languages! Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

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