Otaku Links: This time, it’s personal

Otaku Links

Every week, I post articles (and many other types of links) from around the Internet, while rarely acknowledging that I contribute plenty myself. So this Friday I’m indulging in a little self promotion while giving you a glimpse into my “day job.”

In 2013, I’ve written 45 articles for six outlets. Here are a few of the topics I’ve tackled this year:

Robots

robot

If you’d asked me a few months ago, I would have never expected to ever be on the robotics beat, or to like it so much. From making pancakes to saving human lives to teaching kids to code, there’s no limit to robotics engineers’ ingenuity.

Ladies in business and tech

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For ReadWrite and The Women’s Book, women’s success stories are universally a big deal. While covering woman entrepreneurs and developers alike, I even got to interview a personal hero of mine, Jen Dziura.

Geekery and games

cupcakes

At this point in my career, my nerdy reputation precedes me. I get assigned geek topics about as often as I ask to write them, and that’s awesome.

(Photos via John Williams, lovemaegen, and Sugar Daze.)

A definition of ethics in fandom journalism

Journalism

Hey, remember the Bookstore? Getting married slowed me down, but I’m back to work on my latest guide, Navigating Ethics and Bias. I think this is my most important guide yet. From “ethics and bias for the human journalist” to my own personal ethical run-ins, it touches on a lot of things journalists don’t always talk about, but should.

Here’s a preview of the section titled, “A definition of ethics in fandom journalism.”

Scenario A: It’s always been your dream to visit Rockstar Games and report on it. So when the company invites you in your capacity as a journalist to tour the studio and conduct interviews, you’re over the moon! Everything is going great but at the end, your guide offers you their latest video game as a parting gift. It’s a review copy that isn’t even out in stores yet! Do you take it?

Scenario B: You received a press pass to attend and cover Dragon*Con. Your readers are all big fans of the convention and you want to write something about it they’ll enjoy. But during your research, you discover one of the founders has been charged with multiple counts of child molestation. Do you leave it out, or risk alienating your readers by writing about it?

Scenario C: An anonymous source reaches out to you with a tell-all about their time working for a comic book studio. Apparently she faced corruption, sexism, racism, everything. The source gives you proof and their story does seem to check out, but said, “If you publish this proof or my personal information, I’ll deny everything I told you.” Do you publish the proof or not?

Do you take gifts or other compensation from reporting subjects? Do you burn your readers, or burn your sources? None of these scenarios have clear-cut answers, and neither do most of the situations you’ll run into in your time practicing journalism.

When we talk about journalism ethics, what we’re really talking about is a series of guidelines we can try to apply to different real life cases. When you’re faced with a tough decision, it’s best to adhere more closely to the guidelines.

Here’s a summed-up version of the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics:

  • Seek the truth and report it. Make sure you have sources and facts to back up your story. Don’t sensationalize or minimize impact. Never plagiarize.

  • Minimize harm. Be sensitive when interviewing people affected by tragedy. Remember citizens are innocent until proven guilty. Avoid identifying sex crime victims.

  • Act independently. Avoid conflicts of interest. Refuse gifts if they compromise your journalistic integrity. Never buy a story from a source.

  • Be accountable. Admit your mistakes and correct them. Encourage readers to discuss your coverage. Expose other media outlets acting unethically.

You can already see where these fit in:

In Scenario A, you should only accept the game review copy if you intend to review it and write about it for a publication. You shouldn’t take it as a favor or an incentive to write a positive story.

In Scenario B, you shouldn’t minimize the fact that Dragon*Con was founded by a charged molester, a truth that has led to boycotts, even if your audience balks. Sometimes having a duty to your audience means telling them the truth even when they don’t want to hear it.

In Scenario C, you should think about whether exposing your source could put her in danger. If not, could she have another, less savory motive for wanting to remain anonymous? You have an obligation to tell your readers the truth, but not by trampling over your sources’ privacy.

Want to read more? Join my mailing list and you’ll know the very minute this guide is out. I release my guides there several days before announcing them on the blog.

Why fandom sucks

Fandom

ayase_knife

Don’t get me wrong, I think fans are the most creative, inspiring people on Earth.

Fandom, on the other hand, sometimes just plain sucks.

When you saw this title, maybe you thought, “Looks like Lauren’s going to write about the drama-ridden X fandom.” But really, you could fill in that X with so many examples. Fandom wars and witch hunts aren’t just common, they’re basically a meme.

Fandom can bring us together to collaborate and create, but it can also bring out our most clannish tendencies and cruelest exclusionary behavior.

This is by no means a new idea. I browsed the “fandom sucks” tag on Tumblr and found a lot of fans who’ve got a bone to pick with fandom. Like this bisexual fan who is tired of being told queer characters don’t make sense, even in her fanfiction:

So you see, fandom, it comes to this: You are supposed to be a safe place. You are supposed to the oasis for all of the mismatched, marginalized, lonely nerd kids out there. But you aren’t. Not always, and not consistently, not for people like me.

Or this desperate plea from a Homestuck/hotel employee, reasoning with convention attendees to exhibit basic hotel etiquette like paying for the room with real money:

Please don’t stand in the lobby and cry or try to offer me ‘free art commissions’ or the horns off your Homestuck costume. My hotel does not accept those as payment.

Here’s the latest scandal in brony fandom, that’s just a lose-lose. First, a fan began impersonating another brony fan creator. That’s bad enough. Now though, bronies are looking for her, crying for blood—and the creator isn’t discouraging them. There’s a lot wrong here, from the girl taking advantage of fandom enthusiasm to take credit for somebody else’s idea, to the vigilante backlash that’s quickly getting out of hand.

These are just everyday rants, but there are also institutionalized examples. Take gamer fandom, always an easy target. Video game fandom has a big problem with misogyny, or so it appears, since every time a disparate voice pipes up it is quickly silenced in an avalanche of angry comments.

In reality, the fandom as a whole is OK with women (and about 48 percent of us ARE women). But the mob mentality of fandom distorts opinion. For example, the sexism Anita Sarkeesian faced likely became so consistent and standard because vocal misogynist fans believed that their opinions were in the majority.

A fandom can be like a political party or an organized religion. At its best, it’s a group of people united for their ideals. At its worst, it’s unbearable, a joke. It can motivate us to create our best work or to fight for a cause. Or it can give us an excuse to partake in close-minded beliefs or inappropriate behavior because “everybody’s doing it.”

I started writing this rant after working on a blog post called, “Why fandom rocks,” but it seemed so obvious. If fandom wasn’t mostly good, we wouldn’t be in it in the first place. For many of us, fandom was the first place we ever felt accepted or valued. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still have problems.

What can we fans do to fix institutional problems in fandom?

(Screenshot of Ayase from Oreimo 2 demonstrating inappropriate convention behavior.)

Otaku Links: Mega ultra otaku links 2

Otaku Links

hanako

Not since September 2010 have I had this many links to share with you. But even when I wasn’t posting last week, even the two weeks I was in Hawaii, I occasionally saw some stuff worth sharing. Clear your schedule, and dive in!

  • FREE, also known as “that swimming anime,” will be streaming on Crunchyroll. If you need a 48 hour pass, I have plenty!
  • Also from srsanime, a less serious blog post. A tragic disease that doesn’t get enough press – Anime Parents Syndrome.

kamina

  • The latest Tumblr fandom just might be its most mundane. Called “foodom,” it consists of impersonating fast food chains and shipping them. Yes, really.

(Photos from this Tumblr collection. If you know who made it, let me know!)

How to build up a writing career while you’re still in school

Uncategorized

Every now and then, students and aspiring journalists write to me for advice about entering the field. Here’s an email I sent recently, published with permission.

Hello, I am a reader and novice writer,

So far, I’ve been trying to build experience in Anime/Otaku writing.

Currently, I am graduating high school and about to start college. I don’t have much guidance in terms of my journalism interests, but reading your work has helped me progress significantly. I still have a few questions I would like to ask, and they are as follows:

  • How would you advise getting started in paid writing?
  • Should I stick to unpaid work for now to build my resume, and if so, what sources would be good for developing a larger audience?
  • Is there anything I can do during the summer between now and college to advance myself?

These are all great questions, so let’s start from the top. How do you start a career as a paid (journalism) writer?

Now, a much easier question would have been if you had asked me, “How would you advise getting more work as a writer?” That’s simple! You build a portfolio of your previous paid writing work, and show it off to blogs and magazines you want to write for.

The same advice goes for your first writing job. But since you don’t have a portfolio of paid writing work yet, you’ve got to start by writing for free. This brings me to your second question about unpaid work. The answer is yes, kind of, but that unpaid writing portfolio might already exist!

Just a few examples: you could build it out of journalism class assignments, articles for the school paper, or work you’ve written at an internship. If you’re serious about writing, I’m guessing you write nearly every day, too, and might even have blog entries or personal essays you’re proud enough to add to a portfolio. Keep your portfolio online so you can direct editors to a link—it’ll also show you know your way around the internet.

The next step is asking for what you want. When I decided to become a freelance writer, I started out by making a list of dozens of websites I’d like to work for. Then, I began contacting them one by one. Sure, most of them didn’t hire me. But the ones that responded brought me opportunities and connections I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

So! What should you be doing this summer? Even though you’re still in college, there’s no reason you can’t start building your career right now. I’m not talking about trawling elance or Craigslist writing gigs, though you could still do that. I mean networking.

Write to your favorite blogs and ask if they’re looking for contributors. Don’t forget your portfolio. Reach out to professional writers you admire and ask them about how they got to where they are today. You might even gain a mentor in the process. And above all, read lots of the types of articles you want to write in the places you’d like to write for. Get familiar with the writing style. Leave comments and tweets and let the editors know you’re reading and enjoying. They might remember you next time they’re looking for somebody to join the staff.

I hope this is a good jumping off point for you. For more advice on similar topics, check out my previous advice columns, How to get hired as a journalist when you lack experience, and What to do when you’re thinking about becoming a journalist. Good luck!

Do you have a question you’d like to ask? Drop me an email or visit my Tumblr Ask box.