It was with a bemused expression on my face that on Mon, 22 Dec 1997
Quote:
>> USA Today has released an article on the subject of the recent
>> occurences of pseudo-epileptic seizures in Japan as a result of the
>> anime program "Pokemon". This article makes several comments that
>> portray anime and anime fandom in a negative and blatantly inaccurate
>> fashion, stemming from an obvious bias and lack of research on the part
>> of the author of the article, as well as Mike Lazzo, an executive of the
>> American Cartoon Network. The link to the USA Today article may be found
>> here:
>> http://www.usatoday.com/life/lds055.htm
>Gosh Mark, I read the "offending" article and except for the line that
>said it's not "story" driven, I didn't find anything inaccurate about
>the article. Sounds like you're a bit touchy on this subject. What
>reference, specifically, did you find so upsetting?
Rather than repeat my words, I'll post my email to the editor. I
beleive that it addresses most of the problems of the article (and in
nicer terms than USA Today deserves, but...).
To The Editors:
This letter is to protest the article "U.S. kids safe from cartoon
seizures" (12/17/97). The article was full of inaccuracies and
misleading information. Jefferson Graham and Tim Friend did a poor
job of attempting to get facts from other availble sources. Both
AnimEigo of North Carolina and A. D. Vision of Texas, two large anime
(Japanses animation) companies, have thier company phone numbers
listed on the back of their company's video products; even if these
names were not known to Msrs. Graham and Friend, animated film
director Ralph Baski and film crittic Rodger Ebert should not have
been.
Msrs. Graham and Friend wrote, "CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, UPN and WB don't
air the graphic Japanese cartoons known as 'anime.'" As whole
networks, this is correct. However, indivual affailates of all these
networks have in the past aired anime, and in many cases continue to
do so. Further, most animated television entertainment aired today is
itself syndicated. In addition, this statement is very misleading, as
it tends to suggest the conclusion that all Japanese cartoons (anime)
is "graphic". This is incorrect. There are several animated Japanese
shows for which this statement is quite far from the truth.
Perhaps most important, the above quoted sentence and, "but that
fast-paced style of animation is rarely seen on TV in the USA," have
no bearing on the story whatsoever. It was an animation, that
happened to be Japanese in origin, that caused the medical emergency.
The same pheonomon is found in other visual media.
Most distressing was the decision to include the quote from Cartoon
Network Vice President Mike Lazzo. While I understand that neither of
the writers are responsible for what their interviewees say; they, as
jouralists, have the responsibility to be fair and unbiased. By not
finding other opinions (as suggested above), or deciding to not
include the quote, they failed in that task.
They also wrote, "the Cartoon Network does air Japan's Speed Racer,
made 30 years ago, and Voltron, about 10 years old, but neither show
is in the style of anime." This is untrue, for the simple reason
that "anime" is the Japanese word for "animation"; and is a catch-all
for all animation of Japanese origins. Stating that "neither is in
the style of Pocket Monster" would have been a better choice of words.
Finally, I wish to take the editorial staff to task. You, as editors,
are the last word as to the tone and objectivity of your articles. By
not editing to make a balanced article, you imply that it is your wish
for an unbalanced one.
Sincerely yours,
Joseph M. Gerber
Sierra Vista, AZ
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