WisCon Programming idea I just submitted

[orangemike]

Description: A great deal of uproar (and not a little acrimony) attended the awarding of the 2010 "Best Fanzine" Hugo to the podcast StarShipSofa after a concerted lobbying effort. Accusations ranging from "pandering to illiteracy" to "petrification of the imagination" flew across the barricades.

What, then, is a fanzine? Must it be printed/

Comments

[bovil]

The "Best Web Site" was over print vs. screen, and that battle is long-over. The fanzine category was updated to include screen-based periodicals. Nobody gets bent out of shape that The Drink Tank (a PDF 'zine) beat out Banana Wings (a print-only 'zine

[orangemike]

As I've said during one of these disputes, I cannot process auditory "information" easily, and become fidgety to the extent of near physical pain when forced to listen to somebody reading aloud. A podcast without a transcript is almost as useless to me as a fanzine written in Sanscrit. I do not believe that this is the origin of my antipathy to SSS's shameless promotional drive that got them a Hugo to which they were not (by my lights) entitled; but I am willing to admit that I might be wrong.

[bovil]

I think we're arguing at cross purposes.

I think that podcasts and fanzines are significantly different. I don't think podcasts, even with transcripts, belong in the fanzine category.

I think the "Damn kids get off my lawn!" response personified by Rich Lynch is bad for fandom and bad for fanzines. Just because podcasts aren't for you doesn't mean they're not significant or worthy of recognition. Many fans nominate and vote only in categories that they're conversant in and care about.

I'm not sure if your example of someone reading aloud was general or specific. It does illustrate a difference between podcasts and fanzines. A podcast isn't just a reading of a printed fanzine. It's a fannish Fresh Air rather than C-Span.

[starcat_jewel]

I agree -- podcasts are being pushed in the Fanzine category only because it's the closest fit for them, and it doesn't fit every well. There needs to be a separate category for podcasts.

I'm about to start a campaign to nominate a fan-made video in the "Short Media" category, partly because I think there also needs to be a separate category for those, and this is the only way it's likely to happen. A fanvid, no matter how original or well-produced, shouldn't have to compete with TV series episodes any more than those episodes have to compete with full-length movies.