Topic: About TIME

[Warpigs330]

I assume everyone here read the TIME article on the frontpage, while the second half of the article, for the most part, was positive  the beginning is what the most people read about. I think that we should write letters to the editor expressing our displeasure at the article. at least then we have the chance to defend ourselves. you can send letters to the editor by emailing to letters@time.com and I would suggest putting something in the subject line about how much you didn't like the article so that even if the editor doesn't read a single email at least he/she will know that many people were displeased by the article.

[Ryan Ford]

Good idea. Just make sure that any letter sent is done so in a diplomatic and constructive manner. We all represent parkour so let's act in a mature and professional manner.

Julie Rawe, the author of the article may be interested to hear reactions to the article as well. She can be contacted at julie_rawe@timemagazine.com.

[Zeus]

I may have been over the top but i mailed this-

"I recently read your "article" on parkour and I found it to be a disgusting piece of editorial garbage. Do you even research subjects?

Parkour and Freerunning are two different things.

I know no one in the united states who have broken facebones or briused thier liver doing parkour or freerunning

You sign those same liability "in case of death' wavers in all sports. (ncluding school sports)

I have been a responsible traceur "the name of one who practices parkour" for almost two years and I have never been injured or arrested. I especially liked how you forget to mention that the traceur who died had actually jumped off of a 160 foot tv tower leaving behind his scarf and glasses. The only reason that you mentioned him was he was a face book member didn't you? I know plenty of people who join random facebooks and none of them have commited suicide.

The comment about dodging traffic and not being in our right mind were especially low. Soon are we going to be seeing the lives of pop stars and celebrity lifestyles in you magazine (which I used to respect)

Are you this desparate for a story in a world where there are so many wrongs and ills that you need to attack a group of people you know nothing about? There are people starving and dying because no one will care enough about them to help and you write a terible article making it look like we are a bunch of crazy people jumping over things. One aspect that is firmly emphasized by all traceurs is safety. We are trying to show people that we are not in the same league as skateboarders and punks and you use us as a stepping stone just to get an article out. You have gone past the stage of being muckrakers, now you are just trashmen."

[Zeus]

I got this response to my e-mail from julie rawe

"Hi, Albert. Thanks for sending me your comments. I'm sorry you were disappointed
by the piece, which I feel shows both what draws people to this exhilarating
sport as well as why public-safety types are wary of it. Thanks, Julie"

And yes my name is Albert 

[Tsumaru]

Wait...did she even read your email, Zeus? It doesn't seem that way. =P

[Kurokaze]

well it was a little over the top, but i must say kudos on that last punchline at the end, that was a pretty good one.

[kage]

I didn't read it,is there a link to it or somethin?

[Kurokaze]

yea its the latest article posted on the main page of APK.

[M2.]

There is a problem with this.

While I don't want to discourage anyone from standing up for what they believe in, in fact, I encourage it, we must also look at the fruits of our efforts and decide if our time and energy will be well spent.

Julie obviously doesn't give a shit about Parkour, or Journalistic integrity. I'm not surprised at her answer, nor do I think she will answer other letters differently.

Even if 100 people wrote out well-thought out emails pointing out factual and moral problems with the article, at MOST time might put one sentence in some little editorial section apologizing. But, that's at most, and not likely.

If instad 100 people went and told 3 people about Parkour in a positive light, write your local papers, spread GOOD news bout parkour, stories about how it has changed or affected you, stories about wht your hobbies used to be and what they are now ...

I personally feel that your time would be much better spent.

I know that some people would feel that this is "letting them get away with it" ... the point is, it's after the fact, they have "gotten away with it" ... so figure out how to spend your time wisely.

I feel more direct positive exposure, and leading by example - is far more powerful than chasing bad press.

[Nicolas Finn]

good call I suppose, I'd have to say that the best way in general would be to get a lot of news stations and papers to do articles for you that show the UPs of Parkour, so that the occasional shitty articles can be pretty easily thrown out by the public. The best way to get this stuff out of the underground is through the media, but we can play it our way guys, don't play by their rules... We need to write the rules ourselves.

[Cliff Boz]

That's an excellent point, Mark. Good suggestion.

I will say, though, that I wrote a message to the author, too. It was kind of similar to Zeus's message above, less-lengthy, though. I feel it was time well spent, because afterwards, I felt better; as if I had DONE something a/b this article which made me pretty hot under the collar to begin with.

In addition to that, my group has a couple of new people coming out to next week's jam b/c of some positivity-spreading I did. Two-fer!

[Depraved Indifference]

For me she not only hurt parkour but writing and journalism

the fact that she did not properly research an article before writing it and then didnt balance out opinions and also was biased in a research article meant to inform is sad.

[Kurokaze]

personally i think she's a mole from the government sent to keep us down by spreading hate and oppression thru bad press. Its mass media control at its finest people.

We gotta fight the power, reject the man and other wise punch big brother in the face!

but hey, thats just my opinion.

But seriously Mark made a valid point, at this point we wouldn't be rectifying anything, the only real way to get rid of bad press, is to obscure it with good press to the point that its obvious to even the random street goer that the so called Journalist that wrote it was clearly mistaken.

[Logan Lay]

I posted this on the APK website and on another forum but I'm gonna post it again here too; Very much agreeing with M2.

Don't get in to much of an uproar. Yelling at this writer won't make here change an bit other then to give here a resolve to bad-mouth Parkour again. 
 
The 2 things we can do is find those better writers out there who will write the truth - like what is supposed to come out in the New Yorker and secondly, continue to practition Parkour with the UTMOST INTEGRITY.
 
These two actions will bring out better reviews and by our actions people will understand Parkour better and then that writer will have hung herself by her own words. This happens all the time. Anybody or any group that sticks its head above the crowd (does something different) is liable to catch a few tomatoes. And anyone who wants to moan about nothing and spin lies will but Truth WILL stand Testing. 
 
Keep Running, Keep Practicing, and Keep yourselves Right!!!

[Sredni Vashtar]

what sucks is that if she had spent the least bit of effort in trying to find out about parkour by searching for it in wikipedia, she would have been much better informed, although I doubt she would have paid much attention to it, since it would have detracted from the SENSAAAAAAAATION

Took out a bit of unnecessary anger :]
-Akh

[Gregg]

Want to read good press about PK? Write it yourself.

Google "[your local paper] submissions". The paper's site will give you contact information for the different editors. Your local paper is always looking for good content.

The harder part is to write a solid story. http://www.freep.com/legacy/jobspage/academy/writing.htm has some basic writing hints. http://www.freep.com/legacy/jobspage/academy/interv.htm has tips on conducting a good interview.

What if you interviewed local law enforcement? If you conduct yourself professionally, you're going to make a better impression than if you're caught trespassing, or damaging property. If you've got the credibility, [like M2 or Demon] you could offer to train them. Let them know you'd like to write a story about it. Take some photos that make them look good, doing basic PK moves. Suddenly, you've got a story from law enforcement perspective on the GOOD things about PK. What if you can go back in a week, and interview them about how they've been able to use the training? You've got the possibility for a lot of good things here:

A more positive relationship with local law enforcement. You'll be seen as someone who's trying to HELP them, rather than a nuisance that's causing them headaches.
A positive relationship with local media. They'll see you as a source. They may even pay you a little, if you can keep coming up with useful articles. It won't be a lot, but it may help pay for a new pair of shoes.
A positive relationship with your community. If they understand how to PK, how to train safely, and how it's useful...

With the Time article and New Yorker article, PK is "hot" and "newsworthy". If you write the right article, you can develop strong relationships with local law enforcement and media. That's going to help overcome major obstacles. What could be more PK than that?

[Ryan Ford]

But.......

If you do choose to do that, be sure to read this article first and make sure you are capable of doing a good job.

http://www.americanparkour.com/content/view/962/236/

[Sredni Vashtar]

oh dude akh i didn't mean to come off as that angry that was mostly an obscure seinfeld reference

[Gregg]

Yes. I did say "good content" and "solid story". 

The Free Press articles and "Dealing with the Media" will help. If you've never written a newspaper article, try your high school or college paper, or maybe one of those alternative weekly papers. They're usually more forgiving to beginning writers. Also, their readers are more likely to be interested in trying PK.

The larger the paper, the more writing cred you're going to need. So just like your vaults, start small, don't get hurt.