MOTIONARY MEDIA

The nefarious Dr. Lupus, rumored to be attending the event.

I think the organizers of Motionary Comics (see previous entry), myself included, were worried that the local media wasn't picking up the story of our interesting and unique event.

"Where's the beef?" I said, using an 80's catch phrase. Well, we ended up doing pretty well. The first entry was a small blurb with a picture in the calendar section of the Riverwest Currents. The weekly Shepherd Express listed us in their two page "pick of the week" spread yesterday. Media sponsors Yelp.com included us as their featured event this week (HERE), and the heroine known as Yelp Girl will be attending the event.

Today we had a triple whammy:

Myself and Moct art director Chad Edwards appeared on WUWM's program "Lake Effect," interviewed by host Bonnie North: HERE

RLSH critics, but also stand up guys, the Milwaukee AV Club gave the event a boost in a write up by Matt Wild: HERE

And also a write up by our friends at Third Coast Digest, penned by DJ Hostettler: HERE

Tomorrow is the big day!

Heroes in the Night featured in the London Times...

...or simply The Times if you're in London. Yes, this is the grandaddy newspaper, rockin' the news since 1785. On Saturday, March 5, the paper ran a spread titled "Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No...it's a vigilante in fancy dress outfit"--a pretty standard run down that briefly talks about Mr. Xtreme, Motor-Mouth, Crimson Fist, Razorhawk,Samaritan, and Phoenix Jones. The article also quotes and has portraits of RLSH by Peter Tangen. The article even manages to get a quote from Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, something Heroes in the Night hasn't managed to achieve despite a couple tries. He says:

“A lot of people disparage them, and say they don’t have all the furniture upstairs,” said Mr Sliwa. “But they want to be crime fighters. I encourage that.”

A sidebar titled "Best of British" also talks about The Statesman, who recently generated a flurry of British media attention. The sidebar also mentions myself and Heroes in the Night and my speculation that there are a few hundred RLSH worlwide including perhaps a dozen in the UK.

Unfortunately the article is available online only to Times subscribers. The only way I got to read it is because the reporter sent me a PDF of the page the article appeared on.

LONDON CALLING: As mentioned, the UK media is currently crazy for RLSH...I've been receiving e-mails and phone calls for a week straight from people looking to get the UK RLSH on news programs, in documentaries, etc. The Sun, which featured Heroes in the Night last week (HERE) also has been running short tabloid pieces on RLSHs almost daily.

LATER THIS WEEK: Also, be sure to check back at the blog later in the week when we get the answer to the question...Who are the X-ALTS?

Heroes in the Night Featured in The Sun!

From The Sun: The Statesman with his mum and girlfriend.

It's been an action packed week for myself and Heroes in the Night. Last Friday we were mentioned in the Wall Street Journal...not for advice on stocks, but for an article that focused on Phoenix Jones and Real Life Superheroes.

On Sunday I was "visiting professor" on Crossfire the Crusader's internet radio show, Superhero Academy.

Yesterday, I posted a translation on an article that appeared in a Colombian magazine called SEMANA.

And today...the British tabloids?! Pretty weird, and hilarious.

As reported in a Hero Profile last week, The Statesman was featured in a flurry of stories in the British tabloids, particularly The Sun. The Sun is the top selling English language newspaper. In fact 3 of the top 5 best selling English language newspapers are British tabloids(the other 2 are USA Today and the Times of India).

The Sun followed up with an article centered around a phone interview with me titled:
"16 Superheroes on Streets of Britain" (a good headline, but not as good as say, "Katie Price has it Largie with Himbo Argie," a neighboring Sun story).

The only thing I'll say about this article is that true to form, The Sun's interpretation of what I said is very...creative.

As with any media wave, I've gotten further inquires from British media- The Sun wants to keep the story rolling, a documentary company and a "children's news programme" have contacted me saying they are "keen" to talk to Brit superheroes(so if you are one, send me a message).

Since the article is short, I'll just repost the whole thing here:

16 SUPERHEROES ON STREETS OF BRITAIN

A WHOLE army of masked crusaders is fighting crime on Britain's streets at night, The Sun can reveal.

At least 16 amateur super-heroes have been identified.

They have names such as Vague, Swift, Black Arrow, Lionheart and Terrorvision. But researcher Tea Krulos said many more operated in the shadows. He said: "Britain has more amateur superheroes than you'd guess."

We told last month how chubby bank worker (DELETED), 26 - known as The Statesman but dubbed The Phan-tum by The Sun - secretly dons a Union Jack outfit to fight crime in Birmingham.

US author Krulos has investigated such comic-style heroes for years in the States. And he said: "In America we have many, but they tend to seek publicity.

"In Britain it is a very secretive underground society. They do all they can to avoid publicity and communicate online. Whole forums are set up and often they operate in groups. I have spoken extensively to The Statesman, and he takes what he does very seriously."

Krulos - writing a book on superheroes - said he had spoken to six UK crusaders, and was trailing ten more. He said: "These are normal people wanting adventure and to improve communities. They achieve more than you'd think."

Phoenix Jones on Saturday Night Live

From WEEKEND UPDATE segment-

SETH MYERS: A man in Seattle who calls himself Phoenix Jones and dresses up in a homemade superhero costume while fighting crime had his nose broken in a fight. So it seems evil has found Phoenix Jones' only weakness... weakness.

Media Schmedia Quiz

Which of the following media outlets has contacted Heroes in the Night author Tea Krulos over the last week?

A. America's Got Talent
B. The Wall Street Journal
C. Japanese Public Television
D. British documentary developer that does stuff for the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4
E. www.superherostuff.com
F. Manager of development of a company that produces shows like Super Nanny, The Marriage Ref, and Who Do You Think You Are?
G. Some guy from a LA production company that wants to make a reality TV show
H. Some guy from a Pennsylvania company that wants to make a reality TV show (or documentary)
I. A German magazine called VIEW.
J. ALL OF THE ABOVE

The answer, of course, is J.


You might think this is great news for me, but it's not. Only one or two of the people on that list were actually interested in talking to me about me and my book (and no, sadly one of them wasn't America's Got Talent.)

The rest were hoping I could hook them up, or teach them the secret RLSH handshake or key card that would get them in- but most of all they wanted me to put them in contact with Phoenix Jones. Or if not Jones, someone near him, or a proxy in a rubber suit. And if you think that is a long, strange list, consider that word on the street is that inquires to Jones himself is probably close to ten times that.

I've just been forwarding these on and helping people when I can. Whatever.
My shrewd but sensible roommate, though, reminds me I have a book I need to promote. She thinks I'm being used.

"Krulos, every time any of these people ask you anything, mention your book. Don't talk about any other topic, answer every question with a tie in to your book," She told me sternly yesterday.

In the long run any sort of media with the RLSH is good for me and my book, Heroes in The Night: Inside the Real Life Superhero Movement. But I agree- I have put a lot of work writing this, so it is annoying when someone first hears about RLSH at 9AM this morning, does a Google search, and then decides you- Heroes in the Night author Tea Krulos- needs to do them a favor at 10AM instead of doing any research or work themselves.

So, to all you various media types, reality show developers, news agencies,and game show hosts- sure, we can talk. Drop me a line ( teakrulos@gmail.com )- but be prepared to talk about my book- Heroes in the Night. That's Heroes in the Night: Inside the Real Life Superhero Movement.

Now, I'm off to practice my tap dancing for my America's Got Talent audition.

Seattle Media Machine and "Attention Whore" Accusations

Phoenix Jones: Riding the crest of a media wave

Heroes in the Night is back from holiday break and I hope everyone had a decent one. Over the last couple weeks, there has been a lot of buzz in Seattle about Phoenix Jones and his group, the Rain City Superhero Movement.

Reports chronicle how he stopped a would be car jacker (TPM Muckracker picked up the story HERE and linked to the interview I did with Phoenix Jones HERE, which has led to a huge increase in traffic and some sort of debate in the comments section)- his team member Red Dragon confronted a Seattle bus pervert (story HERE) and most recently a confrontation which led to Phoenix Jones suffering from a broken nose (story HERE). Phoenix Jones, Red Dragon, and Buster Doe even made a recent appearance on Good Morning America, and the car jacker story got picked up on CNN.

Yes, Seattle is crazy for Mr. Jones and company, but not all the media has been positive. Heraldnet.com suggests that "Fake hero likely fake, officials say" in an article HERE.

And frustrated blogger Paul Constant is sick of hearing about it. He posted an entry on the Seattle Stranger's "Slog" titled "Please Stop Writing About Real Life Superheroes." In the write up (HERE)addressed "Dear Bloggers" he says:

I'm done writing about them, and you should be, too. Here's why:

Like 9/11 Truthers they're attention whores who will stop at nothing to get a couple inches of print, or a few seconds of air time. Every time I write about RLSs, I get tons of e-mails from other RLSs playing up inter-hero squabbles like penny-ante pro wrestlers, begging for me to write the "real story," which happens to be their story.

And again:

They're doing this for the attention. What they really want is to be adored, the way people adore comic book superheroes. But if they can't be adored, they'll take a snarky, condescending glance from the media, too.

"attention seeking," third reference:

And then after the attention fades, they try to figure out how to grab the spotlight again

I do understand Mr. Constant's frustration. There have been a lot of sloppy write ups over the last couple weeks about Phoenix Jones. Some of these reports are giving information that hasn't been verified. Reporting on something without evidence is lazy journalism that will bite you in the ass and/or make you look like a sucker.

However, making a blanket statement about RLSH all being "attention whores" is not accurate either. Why? Because it only applies to the ones who are actually attention whores. There is at least some percentage who have not sought out media attention and have even turned down media requests, or have been very selective on media. For instance, after I wrote an article for the New York Press about the New York Initiative, there was a bombardment of media requests- local news, reality shows, possible documentaries, German public radio- all of which were rejected by the NYI.

I routinely get e-mails from media outlets around the country asking if I know any local RLSH in their area. I always pass the info on. A Toronto news outlet recently asked me to hook them up, but the Toronto RLSH weren't interested. An Idaho news source was looking for locals, but the Idaho RLSH weren't interested. I've encountered a couple RLSH who weren't even interested in talking to yours truly! There are many RLSH that are only known to me via forums or from having met and not through media exposure.

Other RLSH have accepted media requests, but have not sought it out.

Point: A group of people can not be dismissed as "attention whores" if some percentage of the group does not seek attention or actively denies media requests.

Part 3- Seattle Media Frenzy

In a recent column for the website Forces of Geek, I introduced the RLSH Media Love Meter, which I use to rate media reports and projects on how positively they portray their subject matter, with factors like accuracy and overall tone taken into account. Media reaction to the Rain City Superheroes has been an excellent opportunity to get the meter rolling.

Story: “Police Alerted to Superheroes Patrolling Seattle” by Casey McNerthney
Publication:SEATTLE PI
Rating: 05/10
Type of piece: Police Blotter
Positive: I give credit to this author for remaining objective and trying to just present the facts given in a report by the police. I believe this writer broke the story.
Negative: Almost the entire article is information filtered through the police. There is no real connection made with Phoenix Jones or anyone from the RLSH community.

Story: “Phoenix Jones: Real Life Superhero,” by Jenny Kuglin
Media: KOMONews.com
Rating: 10/10
Type of Piece: Full Report
Positive: This writer went through the effort of talking with Phoenix Jones in detail about what he does, and then forming their conversation into an article. The result is a pretty positive piece that let’s Jones talk about what he does.
Negative: None.

Story: “Real Life Superheroes Guard Seattle Streets From Crime” by Linda Brill
Media: King 5 News
Rating: 0 out of 10
Type of piece: Puffy haired journalism
Positive: Maybe one good quote about RLSH goals pulled from either reallifesuperheroes.org or Peter Tangen’s site.
Negative:
-Uses the line “It’s superheroes…and they’re real.”
-Refers to RLSH as a “national group of superheroes,” then immediately shows Canadian superhero Thanatos.
-Uses several images from Peter Tangen’s Real Life Superhero Project without citing where the images were coming from.
-Implies several of the heroes shown operate in Seattle.
-Interviews a confused man on the street and asks him if he is a superhero.
-Shows a picture of DC’s Guardian, and calls him “The Dark Guardian”
-Mistakenly implies Ragensi as a female, when he is a male.
-Cuts interview with police spokesman to one negative sentence.
-Makes a weirdo joke, using a shot of a punk rocker in a top hat smoking a cigarette.

Story: "Real Life Superheroes" Descend Upon Seattle In Full Costume Wearing, Crime Fighting Nerdery"
Media: Seattle Weekly
Rating: 0 out of 10
Type of piece: Snarky blog report
Positive: Links to the PI article.
Negative: Blog posts are supposed to be opinion pieces, but even after calibrating the meter to consider that, this piece still got a goose egg rating. Here’s why:
-Calls the group “costumed freaks.”
-Based entirely on the PI report, to diminishing returns.
-Erroneously states the group “takes marching orders” from reallifesuperheroes.org
-Uses this fart joke: “Nowhere on the site are any tips for finding a girlfriend or holding down a job.” That is uninformed and inaccurate- Phoenix Jones lists himself as “in a relationship.”

Superhero Media Love Meter

Continuing my RLSH themed column for the Forces of Geek website, I chose today to write about RLSHs and their relationship with the media, introducing a "Superhero Media Love Meter" that rates media entries from 1 to 10 based on positive or negative portrayal. The column link is HERE. I really only scratch the surface of RLSH/ media relations, so expect the love meter to return.

This blog entry
Superhero Media Love Meter Rating: 3
Pro: Includes link
Anti: Only three sentences long, one an extreme run on sentence.