Skydiving Portrayal in the Media

[jtval 0]

hey rap-
awesome post! i havent been involved with (viewing)tv in so long i forgot all about MTV. it sux that they would put such a shitty twist on the air. but i appreciate you rposting your concerns here. as far as all the bad press- it IS ALWAYS gonna be there. just keep you rpatience when some one asks you what you may think is a stupid question. the fact is that most ppl only know what they see. if they are asking you a question(stupid or otherwise) then they must be curious,right.
i found that practically everyone ive spoken to about it has listened intently and learned quite a bit from the discussion. some of them still think im crazy but they always ask me about my jumps. but from all the ppl i did talk to i took 30 ppl for their tandems before i was even done with my AFF. every single one of them loved it(some did it twice and one is still and active jumper) THAT is how WE need to educate ppl. they dont have to agree with my opinion but i give em the knowledge to makew an informed decision. again, thanks for the post b/c im sure someone will ask "hey i saw this show once..." now i can provide an honest answer!( i love this community)
getting high is fun, but coming down is the best part
JT

[skyhawk 2]

who cares how we are portrayed. At the end of the day if you think someone will see you in a negative light cause of skydiving dont tell them.
To Rap just remember you are looking at it from a skydivers point of view. Nonjumpers wouldnt of noticed most of those things for what they are if at all, for example the hard landings from a wuffos pov its just somebody that fell over.
If your reserve fails you will die",
this basicly is true viewers dont care about anything else they want instant information and its true sure there are exceptions ,/if someone said to you "if your motorcross bike crash at 100kmh you will die" you dont want to hear about things like helmets and protection and stuff
radio commands to the students
again other ppl wouldnt pay any attention to this.
just to set the record straight this isnt really aimed at you Everyone always complains about our sport being shown in a poor light, almost every sport thinks they are portrayed wrong at the end of the day ppl watch things not mtv to be entertained not to be taught they dont pay attention to the particulers.
the only thing you learn at school is to memorize

[jtval 0]

hawk-
TRUE very true! but i like to talk about skydiving (especially when i cant do it...skydive that is!!!)
getting high is fun, but coming down is the best part
JT

[skyhawk 2]

:) i know im always right lol
also nother thing i thought of if yous think we get a bad rap think of wiccans the ones that i know (which oddly enough are all female) are real friednly and happy and kind. You look at the media and youd think there evil
the only thing you learn at school is to memorize

[cheeseburger 0]

Lets face it, people think we're nuts for doing what we're doing. Think back to when you were a whuffo... Now, given that. Do you think that the media, being in the business of dramatizing any given situation for their own ratings are EVER going to responsibly report on the safety factors built into what we do? No, that craps boring. So, forgive them, they know not what they do ;)
Cheese

[lummy 4]

seems also like how the media portrays Harley riders as nothing but smelly dope using felons who do nothing but get in trouble. Some of the nicest people I have ever met are bikers. Ditto for skydivers....
Make up your own ending,let me know just how you feel....

[jtval 0]

seems also like how the media portrays Harley riders as nothing but smelly dope using felons who do nothing but get in trouble.
arent they???!!!getting high is fun, but coming down is the best part
JT

[PhreeZone 20]

Yeah... I just got my factory made "Smugglers rig" last week so where do I go to make the big money breaking into the FBI headquarters and bringing drugs in to our country via my canopy?
Cause I don't wanna come back down from this cloud... ~ Bush

[jtval 0]

just look for one of the baldwins bros. there are our inside connection
getting high is fun, but coming down is the best part
JT

[Magistr8 0]

When I say blow that is the one thing jhonny depp was missing. Sure he can go to columbia in a plane and bring back cocaine but was it really worth his while? No.
If you were really a ball busting drug dealer you would
1) jump from the plane and demand that you only pay a fraction of the gas since you are not using it all.
2) obviously you would have your hired goons pick you up at the local DZ where all others are afraid to venture due to folk lore about the "crazies" on the tarmac.
3) and lastly you can always send the drugs down in their own specialy designed chute for a various assortment of narcotics. Now avalable in cocaine white and LSD blue!
Who ever said comming down from a high was bad obviously never tried this.
Magistr8

[freefallfreak 0]

skyhawk,

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if yous think we get a bad rap think of wiccans

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which oddly enough are all female

Merry Meet...
TripleF
"If you have something vital and it's sincere, you can communicate." Butch Trucks

[Zennie 0]

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Merry Meet...

Or in Clay's case, Merry Meat.
"Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

[freefallfreak 0]

Zennie,
LOL...after viewing (much to my sorrow) Clay's Speedo, compliments of Skreamer, I don't think it could be called "Merry Meat"...lol.
TripleF
"If you have something vital and it's sincere, you can communicate." Butch Trucks

[lummy 4]

Oh no!! I saw the title and didn't really want to open anythign wiht CLAY and SPEEDO in the same subject, now I'm sure :)
Make up your own ending,let me know just how you feel....

[Kris 0]

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Merry Meet...

Blessed Be.
Kris

[freefallfreak 0]

Kris,

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Blessed Be.

MM.
May you never hunger. May you never thirst.
Merry Part.
TripleF
TripleF
"If you have something vital and it's sincere, you can communicate." Butch Trucks

[Jessica 0]

Heh!
An it harm none, do what thou wilt. Ah, my early college days....

[Iflyme 0]

Well here's an obscene thought ... turn the tv off! Most of what is broadcast these days is garbage, and by watching crap like that, you are just putting more money in the pockets of the already wealthy. You don't really think they are out there to portray skydiving in a manner we skydivers find appropriate, do you??? [disclaimer] I am a tv news producer and rely on viewers like you for my income -- so just watch my channel please, and no others[/disclaimer]
"Men weren't meant to ride
With clouds between their knees"
Five For Fighting

[freefallfreak 0]

Jessica,
Attributed to Lady Gwen Thompson, a Celtic Traditionalist, this is the original poem given to her by her grandmother, Adriana Porter and first appeared inthe Green Egg magazine, Vol 3, #69 as part of a longer piece called "Wiccan-Pagan Potpourri".
"Bide ye the Wiccan laws ye must, in perfect love and perfect trust.
Ye must live and let live, fairly take and fairly give.
Cast the Circle thrice about, to keep unwelcome spirits out.
To bind the spell well every time, let the spell be spoken in rhyme.
Soft of eye and light of touch, speak ye little and listen much.
Deosil go by waxing moon, chanting out the Wiccan runes.
Widdershins go by waning moon, chanting out the baneful tune.
When the Lady's moon is new, kiss the hand to Her times two.
When the moon rides at Her peak, then the heart's desire seek.
Heed the North wind's mighty gale: lock the door and trim the sail.
When the wind comes from the South, love will kiss thee on the mouth.
When the Moor wind blows from the West, departed spirits have no rest.
When the wind blows fron the East, expect the new and set the feast.
Nine woods in the cauldron go, burn them quick and burn them slow.
Elder be the Lady's tree, burn it not or cursed ye'll be.
When the wheel begins to turn, let the Beltane fires burn.
When the wheel has turned to Yule, light the log and the Horned One rules.
Heed ye flower, bush and tree, by the Lady, Blessed Be.
Where the rippling waters go, cast a stone, the truth to know.
When ye have and hold a need, hearken not to others' greed.
With a fool no seasons spend, or be counted as his friend.
Merry meet and merry part, bright the cheeks and warm the heart.
Mind the Threefold Law ye should, three times bad and three times good.
When misfortune is enow, wear the blue star on thy brow.
True in love ye must be, lest thy love be false to thee.
These words the Wiccan Rede fulfill, and ye harm none, do what ye will."
Sound familiar?? Lol..
Merry Part.
TripleF
"If you have something vital and it's sincere, you can communicate." Butch Trucks

[rapper4mpi 0]

"Well here's an obscene thought ... turn the tv off!"
Obviously you have forgotten what it is like to have skydiving be a total part of your life. Let me remind you of something...When skydiving is just about all you think about, when not actually jumping you try to do things that are closely related. So when you see a commercial that has skydiving in it, you watch, when you hear about a TV show that has skydiving in it, you watch, when there is a movie coming out, no matter how bad it is, you watch. I happen to work for an advertising firm, that buys spots on broadcast TV. In reality this paid advertisement which I buy spots from pays your salary. Part of my job is to periodically tune in to area cable stations and get a feel for the types of ads that are being run, this is where I saw the clip, and this was quite a while ago. Anyway, please get off your high hoarse and quit the lesson on what sells and what doesn't. You totally missed the point of the post. So I'll restate it. The post was to illustrate that we don't always have control of how we are portrayed in the media no matter how hard we try. Thank you.,
-Rap

[Iflyme 0]

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Anyway, please get off your high hoarse and quit the lesson on what sells and what doesn't. You totally missed the point of the post. So I'll restate it. The post was to illustrate that we don't always have control of how we are portrayed in the media no matter how hard we try.

I didn't miss the point of your post at all ... in fact, we have this debate several times over the past couple of years, and if you were to search the archives, you'd see that I have gone to great lenghts to improve the image of skydiving on television. My station is perhaps one of the "skydiving friendliest" stations out there... however you seem to miss the point of my post: broadcasters have no interest in what you or anyone else thinks about skydiving. They have an interest in making money. They couldn't give a poop about the image they present of any particular sport. They want people to watch, and people who spend their days in front of a tv need drama and conflict. There is no conflict in a nice soft landing.
Anyway, happy jumping.

"Men weren't meant to ride
With clouds between their knees"
Five For Fighting

[rapper4mpi 0]

"I guess no matter how hard we try, big money will always wins out!" Hmmmmmm...I think I said that in the original post....hmmmm
-Rap

[QuickDraw 0]

Don't you still burn them over there ? ...or am i thinking of communist's
..Billions of people living out their lives..Oblivious..

[freefallfreak 0]

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Don't you still burn them over there ?

[horror]Runs away from QuickDraw[/horror]
MP
TripleF
"If you have something vital and it's sincere, you can communicate." Butch Trucks

[SpeedRacer 1]

Nope, Quickdraw, that was the European way of getting rid of witches...Here in America we'd hang 'em!
"Now why do witches burn?"
Speed Racer
"Fill your hand, you son-of-a-bitch!"