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@-cheeto- wrote:
@3 Hawks wrote:
The public perception cast by the story is the direct consequence of our actions.
Actually “the perception cast” in this case was Fox 11’s crafting of the broadcast. Fox 11 proudly proclaims “fair and balanced”. That news “story” was very far from balanced, I won’t comment on the fair but it was not balanced. They chose to portray geocaching in a specific way in light of the bomb squad having to blow up something suspicious.
Did “we” the geocachers cause geocaching to be portrayed this way in the news. I actually don’t think so! I think general hysteria, lack of common sense, and the news media shooting for ratings rather than reporting the news caused this particular portrayal of geocaching.
I agree with gotta run on the usage of words in a news article. They have plenty of time to work out the details of any news story. They pay college educated employees to research & write the news stories. They researched geocaching before reporting (at least they did that much!) but then deliberately chose to use specific words to portray this activity to the general public. Would they have used the word “device” if the story was not related to the bomb squad exploding a suspicious device in a park? Probably not.
I’m sorry if others disagree but this is a case where the news station that my family regularly watches was indeed not fair and balanced as they try so hard to be.
Cause…..A cache was placed. Effect……The cache was blown up and an unfavorable light was shed on geocaching. Although this was not the desired or intended effect, and there were many intermediate factors, the simple fact remains that this specific incident happened and the series of events leading to the final outcome all began when the cache was placed.
@-cheeto- wrote:
Is it not time to let this topic die a decent death?
Actually I have enjoyed reading everyone’s take on this subject. We have a message board to allow everyone to discuss. A discussion like this is bound to last longer than other topics…
But if you actually think out a rational argument contrary to the views of a few vocal members, you get accused of having “anger management issues.” Who wouldn’t want to contribute to the discussion?
That’s OK. I needed a little reminder as to why I largely ignore the forums as a whole.
I had a lengthy respone to every point of your post with links prepared but the whole thing was whiped out during my spell check and preview. I was going to recreate my post, but I’m too tired to continue arguing this issue. I’ve decided to only comment on your assertion that the police and fire squad lask fortitude. In my humble opinion, the bravery and courage of firefighters and/or police officers should never be questioned and their actions were justified.
@gotta run wrote:
@3 Hawks wrote:
Why does everybody always have to be a victim? Why is everybody always misunderstood? Why is big brother always out to get us? Why is the other person always at fault in the equation?
Who is paranoid in this picture?
Dude, you have some serious anger management issues. Or something. Chill.
Thank you for your concern. I can see how you could come to that conclusion through you read of my posts, but you are mistaken in your assumption. However, if that was your perception, I’m sorry.
See how that works? Don’t we all feel better now?
Thanks for helping me make my point.
@gotta run wrote:
They’re called news “stories” for a reason. They are packaged and written to sell a product–the news and, by connection, advertising.
They (broadcast news) called it a “device,” several times. Is your fridge full of plastic “devices” to hold food? Or do you have “containers?” Words mean things and these were carefully chosen to make a portrayal. Casting geocachers as a bunch of freaks in the woods makes for a better “man bites dog” story.
They also did not characterize the “device” appropriately, according to the cache owner (and my recollection of the cache). The audience was left with the impression this was a 6 inch metal pipe cord with just about everything but wires leading to a Acme Explosives plunger.
The cache owner, tkks, says that wasn’t the case. Tkks was also not quoted in the news story and as far as I know was not approached.
What they call it makes no difference. An unidentified container is a device in the context of the situation. Even if the late Bob Ross had done the story and called it “a happy little container, in the happy little section of woods, hidden in a happy little tree, by happy little people who love everybody and everything and poop rose petals,” that would not change the underlying issue here. Perception IS reality and there is nothing the cache owner could have said aside from “Sorry, and I can see how the cache could have been perceived as something it was not.” I’m not talking about the perception cast on us by the news story. The story did not create the issue. The issue lead to the story. I think we are all familiar with the concept of cause and effect. The public perception cast by the story is the direct consequence of our actions. There is nobody, and I mean nobody, else to blame here but ourselves.
Why does everybody always have to be a victim? Why is everybody always misunderstood? Why is big brother always out to get us? Why is the other person always at fault in the equation?
Who is paranoid in this picture?
I’m still upset about last year….Our team was flying along and should have blown everyone else away. We passed up two teams before running into problems with the last cache. We could have spent 35 minutes on the last one and still cruised to victory, but the hour plus we spent spelled our doom. All of that running (and I’m not known as a runner) was for naught, but the humble pie was sure tasty.
However, I did enjoy some chocolate and my daughter won some cool prizes in the float building competition. Even though I was not part of the winning geocaching team, much fun was had by the entire family.
@seldom|seen wrote:
For geocachers who understand what happened and why, there’s a logical progression from initial police contact to picking up the remains of the cache, just as there are a logical number of contributing factors to the decision and reaction of the various departments involved. Saving face, following through on department procedure (the “just-doing-our-job” rationale), breaking out the Bomb Squad equipment to justify expenditures and get some real field time in with the equipment. Certainly, we can argue which of these has more merit than the other, but they all contributed to the demolition of the “device”. And, in and of themselves, I’d tend to agree that the incident is small potatoes and “minor”.
However, on the matter of keeping the “big picture” in mind. It’s the portrayal of the incident and characterization of the sport by the local media outlet that truly bothers me. If you watch the segment as if you are a non-cacher, you come away with the uneasy feeling that there are people placing “devices” in the woods that may or may not be life-threatening. Indeed, even an experienced geocacher who was on the scene could not identify that this was a geocache. The use of words like “scare”, “explosive device” etc. can leave no other impression. I certainly didn’t come away thinking this was a great sport to be involved in, is practiced by hundreds of people in the community and is fun for the whole family, did you? This should concern us all.
Certainly, no one has control over what is edited for a news real and how the topic is framed, but having a Fire Dept Rep who is also a geocacher, suggest that there was some degree of uncertainty tells the community at large that no matter what they find in the woods or who they see hanging around in parks, they’d better call the Police and Bomb Squad to investigate, cause you never know – it could be a bomb or a terrorist. This is the paranoia that I referenced earlier. Instead of making light of the whole situation, the segment put everyone on alert to be watchful.
I can’t think of a single geocaher that would suggest this was a decent and fair portrayal of the sport
@3 Hawks wrote:
A proactive and responsible response on our part to such an incident goes significantly further toward ensuring we have the continued support of city and municipal authorities. Waving an indignant finger, ranting, and shifting blame makes us all look bad.
“A proactive and responsible response” BY THE LOCAL NEWS MEDIA would certainly have been appreciated.
We don’t own the woods and parks. Others use the woods and parks and the vast majority of them have no idea about geocaching. We are not an island unto ourselves.
What should the media have said? “The container in question turned out to be a game piece in a high tech game called geocaching, so if you run across something while playing in a park or section of woods, don’t worry about a thing. Just go about your daily business and rest assured that anything you or your children find out there will not cause you any harm. Just because it might look like a bomb does not always mean it is a bomb.” They could have then run a segment about geocaching and all of the reasons it is a great family activity. Would that have changed the simple facts of this incident? Would that have changed the mind of anyone who already thinks geocaching in bad? Would that have made us look better? No…No…and No.
My goodness people!!! I don’t think there is any part of the country in which there is not a documented history of actual pipe bombs/explosives in parks. Some of these even killed children. My daughter will be five at the end of May and I can assure you, I’ve told her never to pick up or touch anything that looks suspicious. I don’t care what is inside the thing, who placed it, who gave permission, or why it is there. That is not paranoia and that does not breed paranoia. That is called responsible parenting. The 1% chance that something could happen is far to great a risk for me. Would you offer the services of your child (or yourself for that matter) to retrieve a container for Fire and Police if you were not 100% sure?
As such, blow ’em all up if there is any question about public safety. Maybe this is a little extreme, but the point is we can all do our part to minimize exposure to situations like this by taking a few simple steps when placing a cache. Say to yourself. “Self…What would the average overprotective parent or grandparent think if they ran across this container? Does the container look like a pipe bomb? Would someone who has never seen a pipe bomb or a geocache make this kind of connection? Does every postage stamp park need a geocache or is there truly a need to cram another cache into a park simply because there is just enough room for one more? Does the camo tape and/or black duct tape make this thing look rather intimidating to the untrained eye? Is it ever a good idea to place a cache that looks anything like a pipe bomb? What are the chances someone other than a geocacher will stumble across this cache and what would they think? Some of these questions are not necessarily applicable to this incident, but the questions are still valid.
Maybe we should simply ask ourselves if we could have done anything to avoid this situation and is there anything we could do to prevent this from happening in the future. Then again, it is far easier to blame someone else because they didn’t say nice things about us and didn’t give us equal time.
Adversity often leads to opportunity and a mended break is usually far stronger than before the break. How could we turn this negative exposure into a positive? We can’t expect someone else to do that for us.
Captain,
I’m sorry you’ve had to endure the “wisdom” of some of our more outspoken members. Please remember, the vast majority of cachers understand and appreciate the actions taken by Fire and Police in response to this incident.
The geocaching community,
Yes, common sense seems to be a thing of the past…..so lets all apply a liberal dose and stop attacking the responsible actions taken by those charged with protecting us from ourselves.
A proactive and responsible response on our part to such an incident goes significantly further toward ensuring we have the continued support of city and municipal authorities. Waving an indignant finger, ranting, and shifting blame makes us all look bad.
Way to go BOD!! No reason to throw out the baby yet.
07/04/09.
@The Pirate Monkies wrote:
I always carry a digital camera and sometimes pretend to take “sightseeing” pictures while looking for an urban cache…
Why is that nut taking a picture of that lamp post skirt?
If you want to rack up some numbers, Cacheville (Nashville) might fit the bill.
My only real goals are to have fun, see new places, and meet interesting people.
My MRI of my right knee came back today and I have another torn medial meniscus and will need a third surgery. It might be a while before I’m able to attempt anything over a true 3 terrain.
I still need: 1/4.5; 1.5/4.5; 1.5/5; 3.5/5; 4/4.5; 4/5; 4.5/3.5; 4.5/5; and last but not least….5/4.
Wouldn’t those all be fun to try in one day?
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