Letterboxing and geocaching are a lot alike in that being stealthy and keeping things hidden from people is a must. But if it's in the mainstream media, sometimes the good have to be taken with the bad.
I am involved with several hobbies that aren’t “main stream.”
I like to geocache. I’ve recently started letterboxing. I play disc golf. These items don’t get regular play in the media, whether it be newspapers, television or whatever.
Personally, I don’t mind. At the same point, it’s good to see these hobbies when they get a little ink.
But people expect too much.
I’ve spent most of my professional career in the media, whether in newspapers, magazines or public relations. I’ve seen both sides of the coin and understand how things work. Though I know most people in these hobbies think that everything is going to be kept how they hope — it won’t happen. It can’t happen.
Why?
Because it doesn’t tell a story.
This idea for a blog post came to me after reading an article in a Massachusetts-based newspaper about letterboxing. The article does a decent job at explaining the game (albeit not using the word stamp, instead using “seal”) and talking to letterboxers. However, there’s a video that shows the reporter going on a hunt, showing the find, and showing stamps in the log book.
This is something that some letterboxers are not pleased about and that I can fully understand. But, there’s something that needs to be understood by the public about the media.
It has a job to do.
That means reporters, editors and whoever else decides on a story. Then they decide how it needs to be told. Then it’s told. Let’s take the letterboxing story and such.
If you told the story just a little bit, left some things our and whatever else — it makes the readers wonder. What is missing? Same with the video. Now, I won’t disagree that it could have done a better job hiding some things. There’s no reason to have 5-plus minutes of watching this person going after the letterbox, finding, showing everything etc. It could have been done where he shows the start, maybe at some point show the trail, then show the find (after found, so as to not give away its spot).
But the contents? Have to be shown. A stamp needs to be seen. A book needs to be seen. People watching and reading this have to see what the end result is. By not doing that, the reporter isn’t doing his job and is doing a disservice to readers and viewers. Now, it could be argued that he could have asked a couple of letterboxers to show some stamps for the video. That would have worked. And I think having some letterboxers along for the video would have been good, to give it a different approach.
That being said, it can’t be both ways. If people want mainstream coverage, there’s going to be a bad to go along with the positive.
Let me give an example.
When I first started geocaching in 2008, I was enamored by it. The newspaper I worked for had a quarterly magazine, and I had the chance to write and take some photos for a pretty big spread on the game. I talked to many people for the story, used a lot of cool photos and got a good reaction to it. I covered my bases though — I talked to people, I talked to two of the founders of Groundspeak, and made sure I didn’t give away secrets.
Not everyone has the luxury of an extended deadline, however. Sometimes, you only have a short amount of time to write a story and you do the best you can to tell the whole story and inform your readers.
During my college years — and in the real world — one thing has always been said about media and such: There’s no such thing as bad PR. Though that’s not always true, it holds true in many situations.
Let me give an example.
A few months ago, a 30-minute sitcom was going to use disc golf in one of its shows. In the end, said show (Happy Endings) ended up making fun of the sport. It called it frolf. It made it sound like a waste of time.
But it showed the sport. It put it out there. And in the end, there were probably some people who got interest out of it via that show. That didn’t stop disc golfers from getting all fired up about it and calling the show out and such about the way it treated disc golf.
In the end, who cares what a dumb show thinks?
Again, I’ve worked most of my professional career in the media. I can’t blame people for getting upset about things when something they are passionate about gets portrayed in a light that they might think is bad. That’s a human reaction. But, put yourself in the shoes of others before getting too upset. Realize these people have a job to do, too. And they have a large group of people to answer to when it comes to the general public.
It’s the beauty of how things work, though. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and nobody is wrong. It’s people who keep media in check and that’s a good thing. And in the end, getting the word out there about a hobby isn’t a bad thing. It makes people aware of what’s going on and at the same time might get some good people involved.
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I thought the video was a little humorous… although it wasn’t my planted box/favorite trail he gave away 😉 I understand the desire – esp. newbies – to share a new adventure and spread the word. You have to hope only the most curious are going to delve deeper and seek out the location because of a news article. (I personally don’t see anything wrong with showing a logbook with some of the stamps, trail names & dates…)
He should have picked up the trash (baggie probably from the missing box) and mentioned leaving things better than you find it. (carry in/carry out/plus)
A hike with kids – with kids trying to work out the clue would be a fun and realistic adventure. Or in our recent case – hiking with a new puppy! Maybe I can train my chocolate lab to seek out “suspicious tupperware” in the forest and improve my find numbers 🙂
Laurie in Maine recently posted..Season’s Greetings!
Hi Laurie and thanks for stopping by! It’s nice to get some feedback on this post from some letterboxers. I definitely see both sides of this and I do hope nobody just goes out to find it and do something bad to the box. That would be awful. And I don’t see a problem with the logbook or stamps, either, to be honest. If I see them, I’m more apt to go find something to get a stamp, or I’ll go out of my way to meet people to swap stamps etc. It’s all part of the story of the game.
And, to be fair, it’s in a public spot so it’s hard to say someone can’t do something etc.
And if you can train your dog to do that, you might be able to make some money as a letterbox/geocaching dog trainer to make life easier for many!
Good post. Lots of food for thought.
I agree with “But the contents? Have to be shown. A stamp needs to be seen. A book needs to be seen. People watching and reading this have to see what the end result is. By not doing that, the reporter isn’t doing his job and is doing a disservice to readers and viewers.”
I understand that if a reporter should convey the most important parts of experience. Letterboxing’s vital component is the stamp and the stamped images.
The Massachusetts letterbox’s stamp and that logbook (in such great condition) was inspiring and captured what it’s about – the artistry/craftsmanship of the pastime.
I’m glad he chose a lovely forested area to film the hunt. It may inspire others to plant hand-carved stamps in beautiful wooded parks. That would be a good thing.
Wrt the box, I might be tempted to pull the box for a month. Or maybe just the logbook and replace it with a new one for now. The stamp looks like it might be easy enough to re-carve if it should go missing but losing the logbook would be a shame.
One last thing, this has happened to me, i.e. a reporter wrote in detail about one of my letterbox hides. But it was published in a newspaper in the neighboring city. I watched my box closely for a month, no new visitors. I suspect because folks in that city didn’t want to drive over. But when I went there for a day of letterboxing there were lots of new signature names in the letterboxes I found. And no missing letterboxes. 🙂
Thanks for the thoughts and stopping by. I was hoping to give a little food for thought, considering I’ve been on both sides of the pen, so to speak.
The stamp and the images are important, as you also noted. I’m trying to figure out, still, why it’s such a “secret society” of sorts. Once it’s in the log book, it seems open game. Is there ethics to it? Probably. But as any game or hobby grows, those types of things tend to start to fade. I’ve taken photos of a lot of personal stamps. Though I haven’t used them on the blog out of respect to the game’s beginnings, I don’t see the big deal. It shows some great artistic work. And, it’s things like showing the stamps that may make people get interested in the game.
I also agree with your thoughts on the video — pick up the trash! And for the owner, maybe pulling the box for a bit might be good. But, hopefully, most people wouldn’t go find this just to take or trash it. But people are people and you never know, which is a shame. I’m glad it didn’t happen to your letterbox though!