SL on NPR's Talk of the Nation right now

And yet the landslide of press that SL is generating has had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with any of that, so while those may be valid concerns, they don't really have anything to do with the subject at hand.

I am shocked at all the tree huggers here that still listen to NPR...I gave up on that station after 1 time listening, it is a ONE sided issue station

Well, thank you for sharing.
We are all refreshed and stimulated by your insightful comment.

Please give our regards to Mr. Limbaugh on your next call into his show.

HAHAHA I dont listen to him anymore, he is the same as NPR pushing his ideas and thoughts onto others as well....


How ever I will give Glen Beck your regards...

NPR also has historic links to a cultural movement, and that's radical Socialism...

Oh please! Your right wing indoctrination is showing. It's always amusing to hear people criticize things they obviously never listen to. Anyway, if you'd like to start a thread discussing the merits of NPR in the off-topic section of one of the third party forums I'm sure it would be an interesting debate. It's really not appropriate here.

WOW I was just joking about, didn't mean for you all to get your panties in a bunch

Next time Glen Beck talks about SL, be sure and let us know. Otherwise, kindly pipe down. Your personal opinion of NPR, or any other station or radio personality, is not at all relevant. What is relevant is the fact that a major news outlet (whether you like them or not) has dedicated several broadcasts to the discussion of our world.

It just so happens that said news outlet in this particular case is NPR. Had it been any other network, it would have been of equal interest to all of us here. Whether or not you personally hold NPR in high esteem is far from the point.

Please resist the temptation to troll, lest this forum end up closed, just like the previous General and Off Topic forums. If you've got something constructive to add, great, let's hear it. If not, don't chime in just to say what you dislike and call people names. It's obvious by now that the powers that be have run out of patience for providing resources for that sort of thing.

Actually, it does. You spoke of media in general and the arguments made in a lot of media reports are sexual in nature, and about how it corrupts or how it benefits. If you are going to speak of media reports, you have to be prepared to speak of all aspects, aside from the bashers for no reason, or the lovers for no reason.

I've seen brief comments in passing about the fact that there's a lot of adult content in SL, but nothing where that's been the focus of the article. That's just not what people are writing about that I've seen. I have seen some editorial pieces from people who don't really get SL, what it's about, or why it's attracting so much attention these days that have played up the purient side of SL, like a ridiculous recent article in The Register that called SL residents people who have sex with dolls in real life and "honey-soaked donkeys looking to mate with garbage cans." That has more to do with the author trying to look "too cool" for SL than it does with any valid criticism, in my opinion.

Actually, quite a few largely followed publications and websites have focused on the sex aspect. I remember one from cnet.com I believe it was. Wired has done it. If I remember right, I believe a UK popular newspaper did it. I can't look them up all at this time... I'm in Colorado and just happy to have internet and power atm.

However, don't think that because you haven't seen it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist and therefore cannot be presented as an argument of relation. Especially since alot of these articles are bringing up the issue of verifications, parental responsibilities and the possibilities of litigation. If it weren't for these articles in tandem of the other articles, I'm pretty sure that alot of the media frenzy would be dying down overall. Each outlet thinks they have something individual to say on this. If you eliminate something, because it's not about something you wish it to be, the media hype is cut in half.

NPR is a radio program that has a larger base of daily tunes ins.........In Japan i tune in when i can. Infact i learned english with this program in my younger days and in univerity while studying english. Its dry at times with their views of the world. But I do like tune in to learn about things about the usa which I might not know or understand. Sl and NPR is a strange match since i can`t image their users base being part of sl........

Totally agreed actually. Then I started thinking about it. I'm fairly young and I love NPR most days. There are some pieces that bore me, and with so many people around the world, I can't be the only young person. Which means I listen and play... and so do you, and so do several of the users in this thread, we certainly can't be the only ones!!!

I know of some quite high profile people that play SL. (No, not KNOW them personally and intimately, but know of them admitting to playing.) In fact, ironically, quite a few of the 'NPR' stereotypical crowd actually play. I mean, when a young woman like me is in SL, and there are some men I've known to be in their 70's.... quite the gen gap!

My host family had NPR on every day thought their home. I heard it ever day morning and night. To this day I can image myselve sitting and learning about the world as a young girl. Dreaming about the day i myselve can explore and see thing they only talked about. But as dreams has it I have traveled and di my rl thing as they say. But still NPR lays deep in my head. But SL and those that play daily in NPR group I high doubt they pay more then 1 hour per day a few times a week if that. Nice PR but really not a match.

Well you see I like these forums, and like to chime in now and then to poke some fun at the issues, I do not attack anyone or TROLL, so don’t accuse me of anything, you are the one pushing your issues off on us.. see your comment about Glen Beck, I however am not pushing an issue, I have listened to NPR and was joking about it, I do only listen now and then when it is not talking the one sided issues regarding politics. Other than that it has some good bits. So please stop attacking others here.

Unlike the ONE person is accusing me of tolling, I was not pushing my views on others like they are, I was touched at reading your story of NPR.
I was joking about listing to NPR, I have listened many times only to turn it off when it comes to there spin on politics. They have some great segments on this station. See with my joking comment about NPR has only caused this thread to go on and you see others tell there stories like this. So I am sorry for those that get offended that easy.

I think in some ways NPR can be joked about. Its dry and of beat views are intersting, so joking at the those that poke fun at NPR( themselves get theme of the show).

Thx, I see you do get it as well.....

Have nice day.

Even NPR's segments poke fun at themselves and at the network. Anyone hear of "Car Talk" with "Click & Clack, the Tapit Brothers"? or "Whaddya Know"? or "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me"? All of these go out of their way to poke fun at themselves, and NPR.


But, in a desperate attempt to get back to the original thread. What was found interesting was the attention drawn by the major media powers... NPR and Reuters. Not sensationalistic news reports about digital sex, but reports about business and economics within SL (as was stated by the Reuters-SL reporter in his interview with NPR). The fact that SL's economy has been recognized lends a legitimacy to our world that a thousand sensationalistic stories of John Doe having pixel sex never will.

Au contraire (I think that's spelled right).

Quite a few major publications have covered pixel sex as I've already mentioned.

Do a google search on 'Second Life Sex'.

It comes up with a plethura of news coverage on the subject (yes, there are a few minor publications or ads too, as with almost any search).

I hardly think Wired is a no-name media outlet. A quick look shows BBC, Wired, Register, Examiner, etc. that are all covering some sort of sexual facet of SL. In fact, there is a link to the Reuters Second Life section, where you can read the cache, but now, the story is gone or moved from where it was originally reported. Anyways, just because one person doesn't read it, doesn't mean there aren't millions more. And we can't even possibly begin to measure the amount of media to media frenzy this is causing.

AP reported on Reuters entering SL, along with a ton of other news outlets. Which of course piqued the interest of those to try it and write their own stories.

It's essentially like a wildfire, all it takes is a spark. In theory, since most articles, sexual in nature or not talk about other articles at some point, you could *almost* logically say, that if it hadn't started with Joe Blow making his comments about something, it might never have caught the attention of others and therefore this media fanfare might die down.

Did NPR ever say HOW they came to know about SL, to even discuss it? I can't listen to the clips for some reason, but it'd be an interesting question.

Seola,
You misunderstand. I don't dispute the existance of the "pixel sex" stories about SL. It's sensationalistic, it sells advertising, it's contraversial... all the things that the 4th estate likes to run. Straying from SL for a moment, how many times have you heard things like "Police Officer shot to death in gun battle with drug runners, film at 11". Sensationalism at it's best. The Police department and family of that hypothetical police officer would prob prefer the film & story not be aired. Getting back to SL, "Pixel Sex in an online game, film at 11". If that hypothetical story were to run, do you think that it would really be more than a cheap attempt to grab ratings?

I did not listen to the 2nd NPR story that the OP posted about, or the 3rd one which apparantly only aired in Washington. I listened to the first one, while driving home from work. As I recall, NPR mentioned that they learned of Reuters in SL because Reuters published the story about them putting a reporter into SL. Sorry, but the Reuters reporter did not indicate what specifically brought SL to Reuter's attention. NPR was interviewing said Reuters reporter.

The NPR interviewer asked why a respected organization such as Reuters would assign someone to a game. The reporter mentioned that the Reuters had taken notice of the financial and economical aspects of SL (Note: nothing about Pixel sex here) and that he had been assigned to SL to report on the businesses & economics inside this online game. He mentioned that in the News game, the goal is to deliver your version of the information to as many people as you can. And Reuters noticed the million SL residents. He mentioned that Reuters is giving away a hud that allows you to recieve the Reuters SL business news in world. NPR asked him to give some examples of this, and he cited Ansche Chung and estimated her annual earnings at 100-200K US$ per year just due to SL. He also mentioned that the US Congress was investigating the possibility of taxing said income revenue as it comes out of SL into RL (in an effort to head off those who will mis read that... Investigating the possibility, does not mean it will happen). It was a fascinating interview, if you can't get the audio to listen to, perhaps you can obtain a transcript? NPR used to offer the transcripts on the website; I don't know if they still do. NPR closed the interview, referring to him as the Reuters bureau chief in SL; a title that he seemed to enjoy.

Seola, I'm not referring to Wired, or BBC or any other media outlet as a "no-name media outlet". No one has denied the validity of your point. What i said is that here are 2 organizations, NPR & Reuters, that are -NOT- looking at the sex angle. They are looking beyond it. Do you disagree with the arguement that there is more to SL than just pixel sex?

My point was only that I haven't seen any articles where the sexual aspect of SL was the focus of the article and have only seen it mentioned in passing within a broader context. Even the Register article that described SL participants as people who have sex with dolls in real life was actually an article about the Sun news conference in SL.

Oh, I know what you meant, but now we go back to how did Reuters hear about it? Did they experience it firsthand or read another story? If they read another story, then the cycle begins again. And I do not disagree that there is just sex in SL. However, the more scandalous stories are what grab attention, to bring ANY aspect in, as a general rule of journalism.

Sorta think of it this way: If 1 single reporter hadn't found out about Mark Foley, we'd know nothing of him at all, regardless of his actions. Hence though, 1 reported on it, it grabbed attention and now it's steamrolled into a whole different topic. I'm saying this is quite possibly how it was applied to get to the 'positive' aspects of SL.

That doesn't mean they don't exist. I was making a counterpoint on that which I have seen. *tries to pass her Wired magazine through the screen... 'DAMN! Foiled again!'*

And either way, even if I had your standpoint of an article as a whole being not that entailing to sexual aspects... we can't say for sure that isn't a draw for others. Many good people doing good deeds go without notice, same as many good words in an article when something else is brought up. As I noted above to Stephanie, scandal grabs attention, where it heads, no one can be sure, but it's certainly not out of the question that the sexual aspects, the minor role, etc. that was explored by someone just blogging about it, didn't grab more attention by word of mouth, then another story until it reaches the heighths of Reuters.