Puppetry Blog Favouritism

[pladypus]

I'm an avid puppet fan but how come when I check for new puppet shows I get the same regurgitated information and not something new? Not everything is weekly, not everything has the same release dates, so those that deviate get cut? What's with these puppet "news" blogs? It's not universal and therefore detracts from puppetry if someone accidentally or not, leaves out information for puppetry fans to refer to. Usually it's a list of shows based on favouritism. What do you guys think?
This is not an attack, it is my own personal opinion. I'm a really big puppet fan and I want all the puppet shows to get the exposure that they deserve.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Can you cite specific examples of this? By puppet shows do you mean puppet web series and podcasts? I'm not personally aware of any blog that's just a "list of shows based on favouritism".

I've been involved in the online puppetry community since about 1995, and the flood of news and information that's been unleashing over the past decade - especially in the last few years - is just staggering. If anything the problem is there's too much stuff out there. It's overwhelming. The beauty of blogs is that they serve as filters of information. And if you don't like the existing filters you can start one of your own.

On my PuppetVision Blog I do a "round-up" of the regularly-updating puppet web series and podcasts on my blog every Tuesday. To my knowledge there's only eight or nine regularly updating puppet web shows or podcasts (I define "regularly updating" as posting a new episode on a regular basis). I try to spotlight as many one off things as possible as well. If there's some great puppetry stuff out that deserves attention and isn't getting it post the info here and I'll gladly put it on my blog. I am sure others who write blogs here will also be happy to do the same.

 

[Blink]

I'm an avid puppet fan but how come when I check for new puppet shows I get the same regurgitated information and not something new? Not everything is weekly, not everything has the same release dates, so those that deviate get cut? What's with these puppet "news" blogs? It's not universal and therefore detracts from puppetry if someone accidentally or not, leaves out information for puppetry fans to refer to. Usually it's a list of shows based on favouritism. What do you guys think?
This is not an attack, it is my own personal opinion. I'm a really big puppet fan and I want all the puppet shows to get the exposure that they deserve.

Hi pladypus,

Welcome. The thing about puppet new blogs is that they are still "blogs". Everything you read has been written by a person from their perspective. I have a blog, but it only deals with news about me and my company. There is indeed a wealth of information on puppetry, but not all of it I come across or am interested in. If I had my own puppet news blog (more on this in a second) I would post things that caught my eye or that I felt was news worthy (which I think most individuals do).

Just a while back I built a puppet that I was very proud of and it was posted all over the internet, but not on some "puppet news blogs" . It is hard not to take things personally, but I would encourage you to try not to. Remember that these blogs are run by one person (usually) and give only one perspective.

Now with that said, I am trying to rectify that. I am working on putting together an international puppet news blog, that included perspectives and news from a variety of people, from all over the world. If for example, I am not interested in a new puppet show in the local Dallas, TX area, someone else in the blog collective might be and could post about it. I am currently trying to find committed contributors who will help to make this blog succeed where others have not; bringing all puppet news to the masses (big and small stories).

The website is not officially launched yet. It is called Puppet Buzz and I am still working out who will be contributing and how we will make it a daily blog. Right now there are some trial posts, but they are not daily yet. Also some profiles have been added but many more will be coming.

In short, I hear what you are saying and I am trying to find a solution to that problem. I hope you can still have faith in puppet news blogs. Wish me luck with my attempt at a solution.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I think there is definately room for more puppetry blogs, especially ones that specialize and focus on one aspect of puppetry in-depth. I like the idea of an international puppet news blog. Someone could do a blog that just discussed puppet videos on YouTube (PuppeTube anyone?). Or a blog about specific types of puppetry like bunraku or shadow puppetry. I'm still amazed that no one is writing a blog that focuses on puppetry performance.

It's also really important to look at what the focus of the different blogs are. I get a lot of stuff sent to me that I don't post, not because it's not great but because I primarily write about puppetry in film and video (and digital puppetry too). I'm sure that true for other people as well.

 

[puppetsmith]

Hey pladypus,

I feel your pain.

There is a distinction between a "puppet blog" and a "puppet news blog". There are tons of "puppet blogs" out there that basically serve as a chronicle of projects of the owner or posts of what he/she is interested in. For example, the Project Puppet Blog, basically looks at puppets through Project Puppet glasses. The posts are related to the patterns and projects that involve Project Puppet patterns. Some projects that use Project Puppet patterns, unfortunately, are filtered out because of content. We try to keep Project Puppet a family-safe site. Again, it's the "Project Puppet" blog so the posts reflect that.

A "puppet news blog" , in my opinion, has a higher responsibilty. Puppet news is puppet news and should be reported from an unbiased perspective and tone regardless of the reporter's personal feelings. Ideally that's what makes a good reporter, a good journalist, or a good anchorman. I'm not saying that the news media doesn't bias stories (more often that I like to think), but I think all would agree that an unbiased reporting of the news is the best. One way to combat human tendency to report a news item from a personal perspective is to collect a variety of perspectives and find the truth in between. Ultimately, it's up to the reader to decide whether or not a particular "puppet news blog" is reporting fairly and is reliable. As always, time tells on matters such as these.

I think Puppet Buzz is a great idea and I'm happy to be a part of it. Hopefully, it will accomplish its purpose. It's only been up for a little over a week and so far it seems to be headed in the right direction. I can't wait for it's official launch!

By the way, great thread pladypus!

 

[pladypus]

Puppet Blogs and Updates

I'm glad that there are so many responses to the thread and I am happy for all the feedback.
I would like to say that in regards to updating blogs, I believe Buck Beaver said he updates on a "regular basis" - but what exactly does that mean? Please define "regular basis" because if someone comes out with something weekly and another comes out with something monthly, are you going to not include that project because in your opinion it's not regular enough for you? That in itself is a tremendous disservice to the puppet community.
I really like the idea of Puppet Buzz and that there are various people that contribute to updating it. This way, it is not based on one person's bias and a multitude of people and puppetry can be displayed in a timely and up to date basis. This is by far the most original idea I have read in a while.
I'm also wondering if any of you know if there is such thing as a Puppet News Show? I'm thinking it is an interesting concept....

 

[ravagefrackle]

I'm glad that there are so many responses to the thread and I am happy for all the feedback.
I would like to say that in regards to updating blogs, I believe Buck Beaver said he updates on a "regular basis" - but what exactly does that mean? Please define "regular basis" because if someone comes out with something weekly and another comes out with something monthly, are you going to not include that project because in your opinion it's not regular enough for you? ....

Keep in mind Bucks,Blinks and Bezael's like most other blogs are done when they have time, or when they see something interesting.BUT THEY DO NOT GET PAID FOR THIS!!!

evryone has jobs, real life resposibilties, and things that they have to do, so of course things will be omitted, or dates for shows may be missed, these guys are providing a free information service, not a paid News site.
If you have something that you think should be included , email them , if they have the time to check it out , and they feel it will be of interest to their readers they will put up as quicly as they can.now if you want to apy them a full salary evry week to just sit in front of their computers , updating all day , maybe you will see evry little story involving puppetry on thier blog.

I get google updates on puppetry , and quite honestly half the stories i see in my daily updates do not interest me enough to click the links.so can you really expcet evry puppet realated thing that they read in the news or get a email about is going to get thier full attention?

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Pladypus, I realize you're apparently new, but realize that everyone here who writes puppetry blogs does it out of a love of the artform. I think that to suggest that anyone is "doing a disservice to the community", simply because they choose not to write about something is rude and insulting.

On a personal note, my definition of "regularly updating" that I use for PuppetVision is new episodes on a specific, fairly predictable cycle, demonstrated for at least 2-3 episodes with the odd random exception. It works for me, but it doesn't have to mean anything to anyone else. If you're suggesting that I don't write about puppet web series just because they don't update regularly you're clearly not reading my blog very often.

I really can't speak for anyone else, but my personal criteria for whether or not I write about something is:

1. Do I think it's good? Is it personally interesting to me?
2. Do I think people who read my blog will think it's good or interesting?
3. Do I have time to write about it?​

More of often than not, #3 is the deciding factor.

Bezalel made an excellent point about news vs. opinion (Blink kind of alluded to this too). Blogs are by their very nature more op-ed than journalism. There isn't a single puppetry blog I've read that really meets the standards of professional journalism, though some are more neutral in tone than others.

Certainly there's a need for more voices and perspectives to be heard, but we've also come a long way in a short time. To put this in some perspective, when I started blogging about puppetry four years ago there were virtually no other puppetry blogs or news sites at that time; Will Stackman had a blog where he sometimes reviewed puppet show, Scott Radke had a livejournal for his marionette art and the Puppetry Homepage was updated once and awhile, but that was about it. Today I just counted over 40 puppetry blogs in my RSS Reader alone and I'm sure there's even more than that out there.

If you feel so strongly about the need for a specific type of blog, why not follow the example of Blink and others and just go create it?

I think it's great to have such a variety of voices heard and I say the more the merrier!

 

[Blink]

...I really like the idea of Puppet Buzz and that there are various people that contribute to updating it. This way, it is not based on one person's bias and a multitude of people and puppetry can be displayed in a timely and up to date basis. This is by far the most original idea I have read in a while...

Thanks Pladypus. I think it is a great idea as well. The difficultly is getting it up and running smoothly. As ravagefrackle said, I am not paying anyone. So asking for a weekly post from them is tough. I think as soon as we get enough people to contribute or at least people get into the swing of it, we can have something very special here.

Also as buck has pointed out, the eventual evolution of the website is that individual contributors will begin to specialize in different areas (e.g. a You Tube puppetry contributor who keeps us informed on puppetry videos from You Tube, etc.). The key is to get comitted people to post regularly.

I'm also wondering if any of you know if there is such thing as a Puppet News Show? I'm thinking it is an interesting concept....

I know there are a few puppet news shows, but I don't think there are any that use puppets to talk about "puppet news". It is agreat idea! But as with any idea it is in the "doing" that it becomes truly great. I have puppet anchors/news reporters for my Chimp TV show that I am developing, but they are not reporting on just puppet news. I would love to someone do it though. I can imagine that it would take a lot of work but it would be great to watch.

 

[pladypus]

I understand that people do not get paid for broadcasting their puppetry news or news blogs, that's fine, but this is exactly like a radio station not playing a particular song because the dj does not like it or because they did not take the time to listen to it or because they think that people won't like it. Also, a lot of puppeteers and people who are involved with making a puppet show spend a lot of money on it and recieve nothing in return so they are doing it out of a love for the artform as well. To disclude something from what someone percieves to be a "news blog" is not really news, it is blatant favouritism.
I have been on many puppetry news blogs that list the same shows all the time and I am pretty sure that these are their friends. My thing is, why are puppeteers spending so much time and money on shows and people disinclude them because 1) They don't have time to watch the show 2) They are not getting paid to do it 3) It is of no interest to them.
If this is your criteria, then you are not a puppetry news blog that services the community, rather you are a news blog servicing your own interests and what YOU deem to be the puppetry community. Blatant. Favouritism.