And now we're in Spain's largest newspaper!

A journalist from El Pais, Spain's largest newspaper, interviewed me by email last week and the resulting article was published today!  Here's a link:

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/portada/Miedo/planeta/esferico/elppor/20100319elptenpor_8/Tes

I speak very little Spanish but I was able to run it through Google's translator:

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elpais.com%2Farticulo%2Fportada%2FMiedo%2Fplaneta%2Fesferico%2Felppor%2F20100319elptenpor_8%2FTes&sl=es&tl=en

The translated text was a bit awkward but, from what I can gather, the article was reasonably accurate.  I was very amused by Google translating Samuel Rowbotham's seminal work as, "The Earth Is A Globe".  Perhaps the conspiracy has reached Google itself!   The article also included a piece of artwork commissioned specifically for it:


And if there are any Spanish people visiting as a result of the article: hola!

I was very amused by Google translating Samuel Rowbotham's seminal work as, "The Earth Is A Globe".  Perhaps the conspiracy has reached Google itself!

I had a good laugh after reading that part. The Conspiracy is very sneaky indeed.

In any case, it's nice to see that more and more people in the world begin to recognize our movement and take it seriously.

Pretty good for Spanish for the most part jajaja. Nicely done. This is neat because I have to read this newspaper almost every week. I'll see what my professor says!

Hah excellent!

Quote from: Daniel on March 19, 2010, 03:45:49 PM

I was very amused by Google translating Samuel Rowbotham's seminal work as, "The Earth Is A Globe".  Perhaps the conspiracy has reached Google itself!

I had a good laugh after reading that part. The Conspiracy is very sneaky indeed.

In any case, it's nice to see that more and more people in the world begin to recognize our movement and take it seriously.

What makes you think that your movement is being taken seriously?

What makes you think that your movement is being taken seriously?

The fact that there are people from various news companies willing to take the time to interview our president, as well as other prominent members of the FES, and publish articles about us.

Quote from: markjo on March 19, 2010, 04:07:41 PM

What makes you think that your movement is being taken seriously?

The fact that there are people from various news companies willing to take the time to interview our president, as well as other prominent members of the FES, and publish articles about us.

The fact that you think that entails 'being taken seriously' is laughable.

Laugh all you want. The interviews and articles from BBC, The Guardian, and El Pais seem legit to me. Maybe I am missing something, but the journalists from these well-known news companies don't seem to treat the resurrected Flat Earth Society as a parody or joke; they do put in time and effort to get to know us. That is why I think we are being taken seriously.

Oh I'm sure you'll find online articles in major news papers on more or less any subject.
I know a guy who works for "Ripley's  Believe It or Not!" and he finds some really crazy stuff in legitimate news.  My question is...
Was it published in hard copy?

The fact that there are people from various news companies willing to take the time to interview our president, as well as other prominent members of the FES, and publish articles about us.

I take it you're unfamiliar with the term "slow news day".

The magazine section (where TFES was mentioned) of the BBC is basically the BBC's emergency silo of whimsy. Today they're asking if it's wrong to swim with dolphins, or if it's lazy to buy pre-sliced veg.

You're not being taken seriously.

This is great news, and yet another media coup for the society. The churlish behaviour of a few RET fanatics shouldn't bother anyone.

Crusty is being a bad troll again.  Also, Daniel isn't related to Samuel Shenton?  Wow, that's a pretty big coincidence.

I take it you're unfamiliar with the term "slow news day".

The magazine section (where TFES was mentioned) of the BBC is basically the BBC's emergency silo of whimsy. Today they're asking if it's wrong to swim with dolphins, or if it's lazy to buy pre-sliced veg.

You're not being taken seriously.

My point is, if the journalists don't bother to take us seriously, they will most likely discard the Society as merely a joke by belittling us and throwing a few insults here and there. They wouldn't bother to interview us, online and in person, in the first place. However, unlike the article from Something Awful, it seems these journalists are neutral about the Society and are willing to go deeper in detail. Thus, I don't think it is a matter of where the articles fall under in the news.

To clarify, I'm talking about the Flat Earth Society as a whole. I'm not talking about Flat Earth Theory and whether or not the theory is currently being taken seriously by the scientific community. The theory is just a portion of the entire organization; our thesis is more or less "be skeptical and don't blindly accept everything you're told".

My point is, if the journalists don't bother to take us seriously, they will most likely discard the Society as merely a joke by belittling us and throwing a few insults here and there. They wouldn't bother to interview us, online and in person, in the first place.

Few journalistic outlets would throw insults or belittle you. They want to keep the reader on their side and the smart reader doesn't appreciate ad hominem. So you get a straight interview, interspersed with simple explanations about why the flat earth idea is so insane.

...our thesis is more or less "be skeptical and don't blindly accept everything you're told".

Which is what most articles resolve to. Most people know this already. Hence categorisation as whimsy. See Aesop for further details.

It mistranslated "33-year-old virgin" as "33-year-old Virginian" in Daniel's introduction.

Why does the picture have Lady Gaga as a sea serpent?

It mistranslated "33-year-old virgin" as "33-year-old Virginian" in Daniel's introduction.

That was uncalled for!

good work FES

I read an article you guys bragged about, and they made fun of you the entire time. Maybe the National Enquirer might take you seriously (lol), but nothing legit is gonna give you seriously article space.

I read an article you guys bragged about, and they made fun of you the entire time. Maybe the National Enquirer might take you seriously (lol), but nothing legit is gonna give you seriously article space.

You mean like the BBC, Fox, or the Guardian newspaper?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7540427.stm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,403802,00.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/feb/23/flat-earth-society


I think we're doing pretty well.

Quote from: sillyrob on May 17, 2010, 01:09:23 AM

I read an article you guys bragged about, and they made fun of you the entire time. Maybe the National Enquirer might take you seriously (lol), but nothing legit is gonna give you seriously article space.

You mean like the BBC, Fox, or the Guardian newspaper?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7540427.stm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,403802,00.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/feb/23/flat-earth-society

I think we're doing pretty well.

In today's Magazine..
Chat show gold
What makes a really good talk-show host?

Honeymoons
When does that warm, fuzzy feeling start to wear off?

Really, the BBC Magazine consists of stories like this. I don't think you'd make the front page on BBC, but I'd be happy to be shown wrong.

The FOX one was really short. I'm not too familiar with FOX(Being there whole biased nature), but it doesn't seem to be placed in any of the major news subjects on the top, but something caled FOX Fan Central. The article seemed to be ridiculing you anyway.

I know nothing of the Guardian really.

I know nothing of the Guardian really.

If I'm not mistaken, it's big shit in Europe. Comparable to the New York Times.

Quote from: sillyrob on May 17, 2010, 01:09:23 AM

I read an article you guys bragged about, and they made fun of you the entire time.

I think we're doing pretty well.

No. You're confusing a slow news day with good press coverage. Oh and probably a reporter that doesn't "get" the internet combined with an editor who said "go and find me something kooky!"

Seriously. No one cares. At all.

Quote from: Catchpa on May 17, 2010, 07:36:14 AM

I know nothing of the Guardian really.

If I'm not mistaken, it's big shit in Europe. Comparable to the New York Times.

Big shit in England maybe. Europe is not a single country, if I may remind you.

Big shit in England maybe. Europe is not a single continent, if I may remind you.

I disagree.

I, however, agree.

I'm mentally retarded.

Really, the BBC Magazine consists of stories like this. I don't think you'd make the front page on BBC, but I'd be happy to be shown wrong.

The FOX one was really short. I'm not too familiar with FOX(Being there whole biased nature), but it doesn't seem to be placed in any of the major news subjects on the top, but something caled FOX Fan Central. The article seemed to be ridiculing you anyway.

I know nothing of the Guardian really.

How many other forums or 'alternative theory' organisations get this kind of coverage? No, as a relatively small organisation we're not going to get the same kind of coverage as an oil spill, major bombing or presidential election, but that's hardly a fair comparison, is it?

Big shit in England maybe. Europe is not a single country, if I may remind you.

I know nothing of the Guardian Europe really.

The Guardian is the kind of paper that is sold across Europe, as do the other major British tabloids. The same thing happens the other way to some degree (Le Monde, Die Welt etc.), but you can usually get the Times, Financial Times and the Guardian in any major newsagents in Europe. Incidentally, they also sell well in much of the English speaking world outside North America, though sometimes just in weekly editions.

No. You're confusing a slow news day with good press coverage. Oh and probably a reporter that doesn't "get" the internet combined with an editor who said "go and find me something kooky!"

Seriously. No one cares. At all.

Again, this is a lot better than most comparable organisations do. Besides, if so few people care, why did the number of people coming here jump massively after the BBC/Fox articles? There was a verifiable spike in activity and sign-up rates during that period.

Again, this is a lot better than most comparable organisations do. Besides, if so few people care, why did the number of people coming here jump massively after the BBC/Fox articles? There was a verifiable spike in activity and sign-up rates during that period.

The same reason the BBC ran the article. The same reason you come to this site. The same reason anyone comes here. Boredom + time to fill.

Quote from: Lord Wilmore on May 17, 2010, 07:04:44 PM

Again, this is a lot better than most comparable organisations do. Besides, if so few people care, why did the number of people coming here jump massively after the BBC/Fox articles? There was a verifiable spike in activity and sign-up rates during that period.

The same reason the BBC ran the article. The same reason you come to this site. The same reason anyone comes here. Boredom + time to fill.

So the BBC ran our story, which resulted in thousands more people coming to this site and learning about our society. And this isn't a success because...?

Because most of those thousands of people were angry noobs that were banned almost immediately.  You know, sort of like the angry noobs invading right now.