Author Topic: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.  (Read 4516 times)

Knight Light

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Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« on: December 17, 2012, 10:45:01 AM »
I need help.

Christmas is just over a week away. Every year for the past 8 years, I've stayed up long after the party sounds have faded and everyone has gone home or to bed and played City of Heroes into the night until it was gift opening time.

This will be our first Christmas without the lights of Paragon City.

In the real world, I live in Montreal. It's not unlike Paragon; it's a multicultural town with people from all over, a bastion of technology, a place where people like their comic books and video games, a place with a sense of community.

I noticed last week that there were only 12 days left until Christmas and that none of my local news programs were making any mention of the fact that there exists, not only in the world but across it, a community of people that find themselves without the place they call home for the first time in almost a decade.

Of course, more important events have happened in the world this year and to the mainstream media we are not really a story. Denizens of Paragon City know what the truth is though; that the world has lost a truly elegant means of self expression and communication and that we have lost a genuine home.

I think it would help me in my mourning process to have my local news acknowledge and report on the last four months. To that end, I have been making attempts to contact a man I have never met. His name is Barry Wilson and he is the executive producer of CTV News Montreal. I have come to respect his opinion and I believe that if he can be convinced there is a story to be told in all this, he will do it justice.

If you have any time to devote to my cause, I would appreciate any help I can get.

CTV News Montreal: (514)273-6311 - 1(for directory) - 9457(WILS) for Barry Wilson

http://www.facebook.com/ctvmontreal

http://www.facebook.com/barry.wilson.754570

http://twitter.com/barrywilsonctv

Please ask for his help in a respectful manner if you do contact him.

In light of the many events going on in the world recently, this will most assuredly be a sombre time for many but I will say it anyway; Best wishes to you and yours this Holiday season.

Rae

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2012, 11:05:36 AM »
I'll drop you a PM and see if we can't find a hook to dangle this off :)
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DrakeGrimm

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2012, 11:09:25 AM »
I'll drop you a PM and see if we can't find a hook to dangle this off :)

And I was just about to light the Rae signal. ;)
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Rae

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2012, 11:10:43 AM »
I needs me a cape n' tights.  ;)
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Quinch

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2012, 03:05:21 PM »
Where is my supersuit?!

Also, what would the recommended avenue of contact be? Twitter is a bit terse and a Facebook post might get lost in the noise. There seems to be a contact email for CTV general - montrealnews@ctv.ca. Would that be a viable option?

Rae

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2012, 04:20:34 PM »
The thing with local news, is that they will cover things that have happened in, or directly affect the area they cover. So in this case, you need a local angle to hang the story from in order to get the journalists attention.

The problem with the City of Heroes story is it's been quite difficult to find local angles on it - your guy is unlikely to be interested in a story that doesn't have it's roots in Montreal, or affect people in the city.

Off the top of my head, I'd say your strongest angle would be about how one Montrealian virtual superhero is fighting against the evil corporation who destroyed the world.

But  that doesn't work for you, you could try:

If you can tie it to something that's happening nationally, that would give him a local angle that he could crowbar COH into (new MMO flying off the shelves? Go careful, Montrealians - your world could be ripped away..) New study on MMO addiction? What happens when those worlds are destroyed?

Some sort of publicity stunt - dress up as your character, deliver toys to a local childrens home/women's shelter etc.,  volunteer at a soup kitchen - tell the journalist you're doing it because since NC Soft shut down City of Heroes and stopped you being a hero online, you decided to do something heroic in the real world.

I'd say to approach by email, or even phone in the first instance, rather than more informal methods, if you can dig out contact details.

I'll PM you the press releases I've sent out, and you might also want to see if there's anything in them you could add a local angle to that'd get his attention.

I'd say, honestly, that the clue is in the name of the station: CTV News Montreal. They're looking for Montreal-based news, so we need to tie the closure of COH (which, in itself, isn't really 'new' anymore, since it closed on November 30) or the Save campaign in a manner that's relevant to, or will effect people in Montreal.

sorry if this doesn't make huge amounts of sense. Monday at work is being more Monday-at-work-ish than usual ;)
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Terwyn

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2012, 04:24:56 PM »
Your best bet would be to target the folks at InnerSpace, the news program of Space, Canada's major Sci-Fi/Fantasy station. I'm certainly going to be working that angle in the new year.
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Sugoi

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2012, 04:55:40 PM »
Why does the phrase "Homeless Heroes" come to mind?  It's how I've been feeling since the shutdown.

Have to give this some thought.... anyone else's embellishments would be appreciated.

HarvesterOfEyes

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2012, 06:32:36 PM »
Have this producer meet you at a bar and get them thoroughly-sloshed.

Drinking is about all journalists do in college so you'll speak right to their heart [well liver actually, but same thing for them.]

Illusionss

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2012, 08:50:46 PM »
To the OP: Every Christmas eve, long after the other half has gone to bed and even the cats are asleep, I would log in and play into the wee hours on Christmas morning. I don't know why, but I always did. There were always a few other diehards doing the same thing.

I'll miss it.

I'm passing time over in GW2 till something better comes along - or comes back - and their Christmas event sucks so badly, I can't even. You open a big present out in the open, much as you did in the City, but instead of a Jingle Jet or candy canes or whatever, about ten Elite Bosses pop out. (They're not actually designated bosses, I dont think, but believe me they hit about on a level with a Longbow Ballista. And there's at least ten of them.) Never did I think a thing called a Princess Doll could generate so much avoidance within me. I love dolls. Just not these ones. ;p

Since I am running solo atm, and will be until I get my sea-legs over there, this is pretty much an avoid-at-all-costs sort of thing. I miss our game so, so much. This loss of our home is just so depressing.

Warfdalic

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2012, 09:32:04 PM »
I live in the UK, I have requested that the BBC try and cover something a bit like what you have requested.

Its an attempt if nothing else.

If i get anything back, I will let you all know.

Knight Light

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2012, 10:21:13 PM »
Something about playing in Paragon on Christmas morning with old shows and cartoons on in the background really nourished the inner child in me.

I commend you in your attempt to find a new home and wish you luck in that matter, Illusionss. I, myself, will never try Guild Wars 2 as, to the detriment of ArenaNet, it's very existence is a testament to the destruction of Paragon City. It's been said that when the time came, despite having licensed what they needed for City of Heroes 2, NCSoft chose to develop GW2 over CoH2 and while I haven't any concrete proof, I have no trouble believing it.

There's lots of angles to hang this story on. There's the Canadian Connection, certainly. In 8 years, I ran into many a Canuck on the streets of Paragon. I even recall a Quebec only Super Group in my early days on Champion Server.  Canada is no stranger to the concept of Super Heroes. The most widely recognized superhero on earth, Superman, wears a uniform that is Canadian made.

Montreal is a game development town, we have some major studios established here. With the economy in the tank and the entire gaming industry feeling the pinch, NCSoft isn't doing anyone any services by behaving in the manner that it has. There should be more rage about the technology that is being held hostage in Seoul.

Lately, Montreal has been plagued with some corruption scandals and big companies have been called into question. This will undoubtedly affect a number of jobs and the last thing any society needs right now is another company making strange business decisions that are detriment to itself. A CEO selling off all his stock in the company and refusing to elaborate on the reasons why to the investors doesn't fill me with confidence.

There's of course the language issue. Currently, there's a small war going on between the French speaking and the English speaking due to the current government attempting to pass a new language law. In the weeks leading up to August 31st, I had begun to see more people speaking French in the public channels. I have no doubt that, had City of Heroes been properly promoted, Vigilance could have served as a bridge to bring Anglophones and Francophones together. It's cold out and there's no hockey right now, eh. We could have been fighting crime in a bilingual way.

I like the "Homeless Heroes" angle and Montreal, being a place that's big on everyone feeling included, the people here would not be indifferent about a whole community finding itself without it's home.

There's lots of angles to work, just need to find the one that he will find interest in. I gotta go for now but I'm gathering my thoughts to attempt a phone call in the morning.


Illusionss

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2012, 11:01:06 PM »
Oh no no no! I didn't at all mean you should get on over the GW2 posthaste, I'm just there fooling around till something more to my taste comes along. Often I look around at the admittedly beautiful scenery and just sigh to myself at what could have been, because if this game is this beautiful, I can only imagine what CoX2 would have been like. I probably would have never left my computer chair again, thrown an embolism and died, like that kid in Korea(?) did.

Best of luck with your journalism efforts, btw.

Knight Light

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #13 on: December 18, 2012, 01:36:45 AM »
Oh no no no! I didn't at all mean you should get on over the GW2 posthaste, I'm just there fooling around till something more to my taste comes along.

I know. =)

Merely stating that, however innocent ArenaNet is in all this, I'll never bring myself to even try what they made and that's all on NCSoft. My understanding is that even though they went and licensed what was needed for CoH2 and that the CoH devs pushed for support, NCSoft made a decision to not support the project at all in favour of developing a sequel to Guild Wars. Add to that the fact that they announced the impending doom of Paragon two days after the release of Guild Wars 2 and there's no chance I'll ever trust anyone associated with NCSoft again.

While there are numerous factors that came into play for the destruction of Paragon to occur, it's evident that the cost to develop GW2 and it's very existence were major contributing factors to that effect.

Lydiastar

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #14 on: December 18, 2012, 02:23:30 AM »
Christmas in COH. sigh.

HarvesterOfEyes

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #15 on: December 18, 2012, 04:36:56 PM »
One of the main things I stored in my SG base were the gift box inspirations.

I also had one character who ran around with only those in his tray.

Ah the good times.

dwturducken

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #16 on: December 18, 2012, 04:47:25 PM »
I had one character who still had a handful. The reactions as I gave them to random passers by on the last night was kinda cool.
I wouldn't use the word "replace," but there's no word for "take over for you and make everything better almost immediately," so we just say "replace."

AlienOne

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #17 on: December 18, 2012, 06:03:47 PM »
The thing with local news, is that they will cover things that have happened in, or directly affect the area they cover. So in this case, you need a local angle to hang the story from in order to get the journalists attention.

Some sort of publicity stunt - dress up as your character, deliver toys to a local childrens home/women's shelter etc.,  volunteer at a soup kitchen - tell the journalist you're doing it because since NC Soft shut down City of Heroes and stopped you being a hero online, you decided to do something heroic in the real world.

As a former news journalist myself, I can attest that this method will probably catch someone's attention (especially for a local news story) faster than anything else. Journalists are all about the heartwarming news stories as it gets close to Christmas.
"What COH did was to show [developers of other] MMOs what they could be like if they gave up on controlling everything in the game, and just made it something great to play."  - Johnny Joy Bringer

Knight Light

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #18 on: December 19, 2012, 04:41:58 AM »
Thank you, that's very good advice but most of those aren't viable options. I'm suddenly on a very limited budget thanks to the decisions of a different faceless corporation.
The bulk of my time at the moment is spent looking for a new job or line of work.
I'd love to dress as my favourite character and buy some toys for kids who need them but it's not within my means this year and since all my characters were girls, even though I'm kinda pretty, I don't think I'd make the best cross-dresser. I was going to make time to volunteer helping the homeless anyway but I don't believe it will greatly distinguish me from all the other people volunteering. I'll try to think of a happy medium but time is running out for this to be a Christmas story.

Knightslayer

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Re: Need help convincing news producer that we are a story.
« Reply #19 on: December 19, 2012, 03:13:09 PM »
As a former news journalist myself, I can attest that this method will probably catch someone's attention (especially for a local news story) faster than anything else. Journalists are all about the heartwarming news stories as it gets close to Christmas.

Maybe someone can make a Call to Action for something like that, collect money and perform some kind of charity while dressed up as their character or a CoH signature character