How I Learned To Stop Having Faith In Humanity and Hate The Media · 1:31pm Aug 16th, 2013
Howdy, howdy, everypony!
Okay, so if I never told you in the blogpost that I totally said I would write and never did because I'm a lazy bastard, I had the time of my life at Bronycon. Hanging with All the amazing and talented writers there, buying swag, hosting panels, it was all a blast. The highlight, without a doubt, was the impromptu writers workshop held by The Descendant. Aside from that, two memorable moment where I was interviewed by several high-visibility news outlets. One was a local Fox affiliate, which saw me on live TV along with my fellow FOB Equestria staffers. The other, however, was a bit more personal: I was treated to a sit-down lunch interview by The Weekly Standard.
Now, if you don;'t know, TWS is a conservative political nutrag magazine. Before anyone gets butthurt, allow me to say that I equally hate the liberal nutrags publications. Any "news" station who sets out with the expressed purpose of adding a slant in any direction to their stories is worthless. I loathe Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, all of them. However, the more conservative "news" outlets have, in the past, been less than favorable towards our little community. Being a somewhat conservative minded individual myself, I jumped at the opportunity to be interviewed by them. Better me, a well-spoken, at least somewhat intelligent person than some guy who will stutter the wrong thing and leave him with a bad impression, yeah? Besides, what better way to show them that we're not what they think then by showing them that? Instead of him seeing some fat basement-dwelling neckbeard who lives off his mommy and is some raging hippy, he'd meet a fit, moderately well-off Staff Sergeant in the US Army, who, oh by the way, shares a good number of his political views!
Anywho, the guy, a pleasant fellow named Matt Labash, paid for lunch at the hotel restaurant. I ordered a delicious Fish and Chips basket and a coke, and he ordered a steak... and a scotch on the rocks... at 11:30 in the morning. Huh.
Anywhat, we chatted amiably over lunch, and he genuinely seemed like a nice guy! He laughed at my jokes, nodded in comprehension as I went about utterly destroying the mindset he admitted he had when he came in. We joked, talked politics for a bit, and overall had a very fun time. The entire time he had his little tape recorder going, jotting down notes to remind himself of when I spoke the more important bits. To my surprise, he was noting all the times I said positive things! He seemed, against all odds, to be pleased with the positive vibe I was putting out. Hell, he even told me as much! He said that he had come in with a bit of apprehension, but was pleasantly surprised at what he found, and that he actually enjoyed the vibe and the atmosphere.
And so, we parted ways with a firm handshake dripping with a mutual sense of new respect: him for the fandom, and me for the news media and conservatives in general. Wow, I thought to myself, it seems that conservatives were finally coming around! That maybe, just maybe, we could put all the retarded cultural crap aside and start dealing with actual issues! I walked back to my con and FOB duties with a jaunty step, eagerly awaiting to read of his new found respect for us.
If you don't feel like reading, which I completely understand, the TL:DR version is absolutely everything you thought it would be, and everything he said it would not be: an affirmation of the false stereotype of us, that we are all pathetic neckbearded man-children, that the con was hostile and uncomfortable for children, and that bronies are the culmination of the decline of western society. I was disappointing, but grudgingly not surprised. But then, I read the two paragraphs about me:
Then there’s 28-year-old Jacob Hughes, an Army drill sergeant at Fort Benning. I go to lunch with him after hearing him speak at a Military Bronies panel, where our soldiers, sailors, and Marines—in testimony that should probably end up in al Qaeda recruiting videos—come out about their love for all things My Little Pony. Hughes insists on wearing a stuffed Pinkie Pie plushy (his favorite pony) on his shoulder on our walk to the restaurant. When a waitress takes our order, she says, “Ooh, glad my granddaughter isn’t here. . . . She [has to have] soft pink things.”
At ease about his Bronydom, Hughes is an enthusiastic booster. A gregarious performer-type, Hughes says ponies helped him shed once-crippling introversion. “A good part of the appeal is that wholesomeness and innocence,” Hughes says. “And so we’re shining a light on the fact that, yes, I am a man. But at the same time, I enjoy what I enjoy.” He seems sincere and well-meaning, so I don’t want to harsh his Pinkie Pie mellow. But the Care Bears are wholesome and innocent, too. Yet you don’t see Army drill sergeants traipsing around in Funshine Bear costumes—at least not as of this writing.
It was at this point that I lost my ability to grin and bear it. I simply could not let this kind of vile twisting of the facts go unanswered. And so, I sent this to the editor:
Wow.
Sir, I am shocked and offended. This is the single most blatant case of bias and misreporting I have ever seen. The lack of professionalism on display here is astounding.
For over an hour, I sat with Mr. Labash, chatting amiably over lunch. During that time, he was nothing if not pleasant. He laughed at my jokes, nodded his head politely at the appropriate times, and was generally a nice man. At no point did I catch a glimpse that he was planning to so egregiously misrepresent me and my opinions. I am aware that the enthusiasm with which I speak and my slight southern diction sometimes conspire to make my words a but indecipherable, however I know for a fact that Mr. Labash had his tape recorder running almost the entire time. Also, as a member of the journalist community myself, I was sure to make every word count.
Therefore I am extremely disappointed, if not disgusted, at how sorely I was misquoted. I very clearly stated that Applejack is Best Pony, not Pinkie Pie! Good sir, this is an outrage and an insult to journalistic integrity not seen since Walter Duranty. I request, nay, I demand that a retraction be implemented immediately, and that a full and sincere apology on the part of Mr. Labash be issued forthwith to myself and all other pony aficionados who correctly recognize the inherent superiority of Applejack!
I eagerly await your response on this.
With respect,
SSG Jacob "Tweak" Hughes
Moral of the story: don't misquote a drill sergeant.
Oh, and a final note to Mr. Labash, should he ever read this:
Sir, I understand that you are fully entitled to your opinion. I get that personal beliefs will always influence media, and in all honesty, I do not fault you for this. You wrote what you chose to see, and that is your right. I do not take offense to you having your opinion. However, what I DO take offense to is you passing that opinion off as fact. I have talked with Justin, the con staffer from the last paragraph of your article, and he confirmed that what you did with me, you did with him. Your purposefully ignored the overall message, and only printed the tiny portions of what we said that fit your narrative. You WILLFULLY "cherry picked" what you needed to fit your viewpoint, as well as the viewpoint of your readers. This is not journalism; it is sensationalism. Yet, I understand why you did this: your magazine is a business, and you need to sell your narrative to make the money. I simply ask you to acknowledge this point, as it is what so many of the liberal media outlets do, and you often—rightfully so, I believe—deride them for doing so.
However, in all this, there is one thing that you did get wrong, and no, I don't mean my little quip about Applejack being Best Pony, even though she is. I just wanted to let you know that—should we ever meet again—you are, in point of fact, more than welcome to "harsh my Pinkie Pie mellow" and tell me that I am not a real man. I will, in turn, show you how well I love and tolerate, you duplicitous pile of cunt puke.
To all the rest of you, stay safe, stay free, and stay metal! Jake The Army Guy out!
applejack is best pony....I love you for that~
Damn right Applejack is best pony!
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i.imgur.com/icDAk.gif
...Shit.
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i.imgur.com/o1zB0Pp.gif
Right then and there you know he's BS'ing you.
I'd make a joke about you not being funny but I'm being serious here. Any time a reporter tries to get you to relax they're trying to get you to slip up and with a recorder it's to allow them to "quote mine"
Damn right she is
That said—aw, Jake. You trusted them.
Look on th' bright side, ain't nobody else trusts them either…
Though you've made a silly mistake, carry on regardless, positive action is always worth more than any amount of sneering negative crap. And your response to them is PR magic
Welp. "Journalists" don't investigate any more. They decide a story and then pick up little snippets of information they can use to create it.
Journalism has been dead for decades.
Probably the best response letter I've seen for anything.
Not sure what to say other than you conducted yourself as best you could, so don't feel like you let any of us down. I sure as hell probably would have screwed up if I were asked for an interview. Good on ya for stayin' to the course!
The Weekly Standard being full of bullshit?
I. AM. SHOCKED! Shocked to the core, good sir!
Sorry you don't fit their image of what a military person should be, but can't say I am surprised. Media of that type just comes for the sole reason to make fun of the community.
That...wow, talk about quite the double-crossing. Just when you think you've gotten away from the horrible bias, one guy seeming like he's friendly is there just to slander the fan base yet again, even if he has to twist his stories to do so.
That was fairly evenly written. Plus, he used puns way more than he needed to to get the point across. He's at the classic "like-it-ironically" phase.
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And these are just the blatant ones. The whole article is dripping with sarcasm and a general mean-spirited cackle.
I just read the article. Good grief. you really understated just how bloody ridiculous the whole thing was. By page two I was facepalming so hard I caved my face in.
Man, and you were so excited about the interview, too.
And that's why I do not do interviews relating to bronies or brony culture. I had an opportunity to go on a major local television show a few months back to speak on bronies. I declined, for exactly this reason. They ended up doing a very neutral piece on us, surpisingly, but I think it was simply for lack of content.
He's just angry because clearly he thinks you should have been wearing Twilight Sparkle on your shoulder instead.
Oof, yeah, that's harsh. I was at Bronycon as well (holed up in the vendor hall for most of it) and noted the Fox folks crawling over the place. They interviewed me once at my soap booth, but I guess 'successful female entrepreneur watches a kid's show too' just didn't have the ring they wanted
I did start giggling at your reply to them, I admit. Applejack is totally best pony.
I read the article...I feel sickened by the person who wrote it.
That said this isn't something we haven't seen before, like for example you mentioned all of those utterly corrupt news networks...My faith in humanity is falling day by day.
I mean COME ON!
Since they obviously only want to publish what they think people would like to read and not any actual facts they might as well not be news at all, but rather something else...oh I know what it's called! Bullshit.Or in other words: Crap,lies,idiocy and rumors.
That said, I don't wanna bring up the "best pony war" I'll just say my favourite pony is Pinkie Pie and leave it at that.
It's funny cause the PRs and I were talking about that and we said that it was going to be slanted and different from what you interviewed him with. And we were right.
Having lived well over half a century on this little spinning ball of dirt, and having been involved in many things that have later been "reported" on in various media, I assure you that nothing has changed. This sort of SOP is endemic. The more a media source self-promotes as fair-and-balanced or truthful or incisive or (Celestia forbid!) alternative, the more biased and ideology-driven it is. Even when reporting on something so innocuous that it can't be slanted to serve a particular outlet's bias, the basic "facts" of a story are often garbled, outright wrong, or completely made-up.
Keep this in mind as you realize that most of what "everybody knows" about history, science, religion, culture, etc... comes from the media.
There's just no winning with many of these news outlets. Spinning a story and riling people is more effective than trying to convince people to see an "other" perspective.
Hope you enjoyed that lunch, Tweak. Cost you a bit more than you bargained for
Even if they want to put a bad spin on this fandom, It's good to have those that put their best foot forward and willing to tell 'em how awesome ponies are.
My theory on a PR approach is that no one cared about gay marriage while the LGBT community said "We're here, we're queer, deal with it!" Once they emphasized similarity to the mainstream instead of otherness, the movement picked up.
Approaching an interview to talk about the "positive" sides of the fandom won't work unless you know the reporter really well. The best representation of this community isn't necessarily the ponies, it's the ordinary lives of its members.
It's not easy being a conservative brony
As for Labash... i.imgur.com/S4wOu.jpg
I'm a sort of conservative myself. I get most of my news from Fox News. I find it helps though to watch The Colbert Report a lot too. It gives you a lot of perspective. I agree that you can't take completely seriously journalism written with a slant, whether left or right. At least when they talked about Bronies on RedEye...
They seemed pretty open too it. Except for Bill Crystal, who if I recall is an editor for The Weekly Standard. (See, I watch Fox News a lot.
) So, it's not surprising to me to see The Weekly Standard publish something like this. I don't know anything about journalism so I don't how much you can blame an editor for what an article looks like. I always try to be hopeful. It took a long time for nerddom in general to go mainstream and have some modicum of respect.
One day Bronies will make it too I believe. And then we will all sing that old Brony spiritual "Free at last, free at last! Celestia almighty, free at last!"
(Yeah, I just did that, and I'm sorry. 
)
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Let's not forget my favorite one:
I had to re-read that part a couple times. The rest I can gnash my teeth and ignore, since it isn't really any shock the... * retches* media tried to do this kind of shit to us again, but Mr. Labash, if he even deserves the credit of being addressed as a man, outrightly insinuated it's because of people like us that terrorists want to kill us and destroy lives. It's not our entire country's ideals versus their beliefs, no—it's all our fault. That part upset me.
And this is why I never want to talk to any of these "news" stations.
Exhibit A of why I think an annual purge would be a GREAT idea. Just twenty four hours to do whatever I want to stupid people.
Shame it's really a terrible idea though... All the stupid people would kill the smart ones in a flood of hate, racism, and opinions. God dammit now I feel bad. I'm gonna go read.
I disagree with you on the Applejack bit, but I guess you should have known that anyone who has a chitlet of paper, a pencil, and even half a political bias is almost certainly looking for a way to make you look bad.
Hello everypony I found an actual positive article about Bronycon and bronies in general!
Link
I'm sorry that your time at BronyCon was tainted by this article.
On another note though, I personally would recommend that you take down the link to the article.
They get more money for every hit and click they get (advertising for the win!) so by sending us there that generates them revenue.
This reminds me of "nerd bating." I know the Escapist has done this in the past... heck I'm pretty sure every major gaming cite has done this before, where they make a claim like "Applejack is worst pony!" and then wait for the angry fans come rushing to her defense to tell the website, "Just how wrong they are!"
I wrote a response to Mr. Labash's article, if you want to read it.
http://fimfandom.com/2013/08/16/weekly-standard-bronies-in-the-news/
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Wow. Very nicely done, good sir. Very professional.
This is the type of guy that I want to go up to, give him a deadpan stare. Then, while I shake my head in disgust I give him the sham-on-you finger and leave after saying "you money garbing selfish manipulative bastard.
That's pretty sad. You go to read what you hope is just a neutral article on a subject, and the writer of it can't even keep the sarcasm out of his writing. I really wish I could say I was surprised.
You know those moments when a guy talks about ponies and you not feel like a man but a MAN
that's Jake The Army Guy for ya.
Somebody just made my shit list
I never noticed a Southern accent during that video where you and some other military guys watched "Wonderbolts Academy," was that because you were kind of screaming for most of it? Or is your accent just that light?
If the Weekly Standard ever publishes an article raging at someone for saying bad things about the military, you should bring this incident up.
Did you figure a conservative magazine was going to post ANYTHING but "bronies are weirdo freaks?" Do you KNOW what conservatism is? It's the belief in the preservation of traditional moral values and societal roles, among other things. Being a brony is exactly the opposite of being a conservative. If you thought he was going to write anything other than what was written, you aren't too keen on politics. I won't hate on the guy because he was just doing his job. Most, if not all, reporters lie and make up stories to publish "juicy" articles and make money while treading the line between what's legal and what's slander.
It's a waste of time to even acknowledge such obviously biased news reports. I'm surprised he used your interview even as vaguely as he did since you didn't give him much to work with. From the get-go he was planning to write another "look at these weirdos the Bronies!" article because that gets people's attention (hate, not love, is what attracts the masses) and because it's a good way to kiss the conservative asses of his superiors.
>>Jake The Army Guy
F'nA Drill Sergeant !
I totally saw your name when I read the article and I was like... wait... does Jake know that *quick search for your profile*- Oh. Yes. Yes he does.
I love (and by love I mean 'fuck this guy') how he manages to put you down without actually saying anything negative about you personally. Even the stuff he cherry picked, if you read it outside of the framing he creates, is positive and great! The bad stuff is all innuendo and character assassination. That tells me you probably did everything right when you talked to him, your mistake was talking to him at all. Not that I'm condemning you for it. I'd have done the same thing given the opportunity. And, y'know, trusted in human nature. Apparently a mistake.
I don't know if this article hits me harder because I was at Bronycon and therefore I feel in some small way personally connected to it, and seeing it maligned this way... Yeah, I'm pissed off too.
He got a few things right though. As far as I could tell, you are gregarious, enthusiastic, sincere and well-meaning. And all of those things are awesome.
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The correct answer
Please don't take this the wrong way, but the sheer amount of awesomeness you placed in this blog post caused me to read it in the voice of Sarge from Red Vs. Blue.
And in closing: You rock!
A way!
I wanna get mad, but I've just run out of fucks to give at this point. The media at this point is aptly named. It's not about journalism, but contrived sensationalism for ratings and profit.
We all have better things to do than waste our time worrying about what they're doing...
I'm sorry to hear that, Jake, but I can't say I am surprised. Still, I understand your frustration, but you can't lose faith, man. You HAVE to keep giving people opportunities to surprise you in a positive way.
Love and tolerate, man. It ISN'T just something trolls say to make their victims more incensed.
In the meantime, I'm afraid I have to disagree. Twilight is best pony. Peace.
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Yeah, yeah, You say that, but in your heart of hearts, you know that if Applejack had ended up on that island, they would have been home by now. Bucky McGillicutty and Kicks McGee would have made short work of the MB and you know it.
1301221 Well, at the very least, I think she'd have been more impressed by the Crimson Maverick. For some reason I have NO difficulty picturing Applejack and Marshall doing mud spraying donuts in the middle of the jungle somewhere.
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fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/135/b/3/apple_truck_by_bluedrg-d4zujcs.jpg
1301234 Mwahahaha! I confess that when I was planning QC, Applejack was probably my second choice. That picture is awesome though.
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Um, whatever that was, it didn't show up.
1302833 derpicdn.net/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTMvMDgvMTgvMDBfMDJfMzBfNjE3XzQwMzExNV9fdHdpbGlnaHRfc3BhcmtsZV9ncmltZGFya19tYWdpY19ndW5fd2VhcG9uX2RpYWxvZ3VlX3RlbGVraW5lc2lzX3N1aWNpZGVfYXJ0aXN0X2NvbG9uX2FubmEiXV0/403115__twilight%2Bsparkle_grimdark_magic_gun_weapon_dialogue_telekinesis_suicide_artist-colon-anna.png
Take Commando training and whoop his sorry arse for questioning who is best pony. (Also special surprise inside!)