My martian invasion

In 1938 Orson Welles directed a radio version of H. G. Wells' classic novel The War of the Worlds in the form of fake news bulletins. This was done so well that quite a number of listeners believed that there was an actual martian invasion going on, causing a minor panic, but making this episode very famous. A lot less famously two days ago I wrote I parody, a post making fun of the weak points in The Burning Crusade, in the form of fake news on a non-existing second WoW expansion called The Freezing Jihad. Most of my regular readers got the joke, but after being passed through a couple of newsreaders and link on game forums *some* people believed the news (especially when only reading the headline), and then got enraged for having been sold fake news. My apologies, there is no martian invasion, and no second World of Warcraft expansion announced. Although I still wouldn't bet that when the second expansion announcement comes it will be 100% different from my fake one. :) Pink orcs are unlikely, but woodcrafting and level 80 are a definitive possibility.

The fundamental problem behind that is that this is just a blog, a one-man operation, me writing about whatever I have on my mind. Thus my articles wary wildly in style, quality, and subject. There is no newspaper editor watching over me, taking care that I only post real news, and that everything is highly objective. Of course I'm censoring myself a bit, and I'm generally a level-headed and reasonable person. But if the mood strikes me, I might post something which I think is funny, in spite of a risk to offend or mislead somebody. One day I write a parody, the next a journal of what my characters are doing, and the next some sort of review. And I'm always 100% subjective, even if I try to list the pros and cons in some of my points. Even the subject matter changes with my interests, so if I really change from WoW to LotRO in April that will have a big impact on what game I'm writing about most. In quality I'm pretty certain that I have good days and bad days, sometimes writing much worse than on other days (or reporting something I believe is true but isn't), or having the occasional unusually bright idea.

And I don't think this variability will change. In a way it constitutes one of the charms of blogs as opposed to much more sterile and stable newspapers. I'm not even trying to be a news media, it is more that I allow my readers a glimpse into my private diary. Nothing what I say is the final word on any subject. The evaluation of quality, veracity, and impact of anything is write is left to the reader. Especially when I write about news you'll never be sure that I am covering "all the news fit to print", because I often simply miss developments. Or that I'm not simply making a joke like the Freezing Jihad one. You have been warned. If you want predictable, subscribe to The Times.
- posted by Tobold @ 2:27 PM Permanent Link