How’s Your News update
After my previous post about the new MTV show “How’s Your News”, which is based off a documentary of the same name about a mentally disabled crew of street reporters, I was heartened by a good exchange with one of the fathers of the reporters and the show’s creator. It was one of the better blog exchanges I’ve had here since I started.
A few interesting outcomes: first, the [[How's Your News]] article was started by User:Staeiou after he saw me mention this post on Twitter. It hasn’t had many edits yet. I had the pleasure of meeting Staeiou in Alexandria, Egypt where he talked about academics’ critiques of Wikipedia.
Second, apparently User:Ikip seems to agree with my view, and [[Chewbacca defense]] has been restored as a standalone article, so far without objection. This has always been a dilemma when I was doing academic research on Wikipedia — commenting about topics and policies absolutely has an affect on the articles and community outcomes. From the social science aspect, it is in fact problematic to be involved in the community in which you’re observing. From the journalism side, the dynamic is different since it is a practical field of study.
If you read the full discussion in the previous post, you will note we came to clarify that my mention of ” stumpy, disfigured and badly groomed ’special needs’ journalists on camera” was meant as my implication of how MTV was portraying the reporters. Again, if that was read as my personal opinion, I apologize. That was not the intent at all.
That said, I’m still skeptical about MTV’s motives on airing the show, especially when they market it as a “Docu-Comedy.” It may be that there is room for different interpretations of the “comedy” — that people come for the spectacle, but go away with appreciation. Hearing from Ken Vest and Arthur Bradford helped to convince me the roots are genuine and the project is respected in the circle of families of the disabled. I hope MTV ultimately keeps with that spirit.
