Re: [Paddlewise] JFK, Jr.

I think your reaction is wise.
    The lack of depth of coverage that all the "mags" provide just makes
misunderstandings gospel. I rarely watch them and when I do I am almost
overwhelmingly aware, from first hand experience, that they are at best
incomplete and at worst knowingly false. I've been involved with some of the
topics they have covered and I have known that what they have said is 100%
wrong. I also KNOW they have been told so BEFORE air time. Every topic they
have covered that I have known in depth I have been at least disappointed in. I

know there are time limits but truth limits?
    The bias that they bring to the coverage is what they appear to want to
prove rather than the real story. If you get involved you really have no
control over how they edit your piece. The way they can turn a positive
statement into anything from stupid to the reverse of the intention is
appalling. If they want to prove that he could do no wrong/right they will use
whatever they can get their hands on and manipulate it to prove their theory.
    I really don't know how many people who see the pictures of him without a
pfd on will even notice it. It is like the settles in a car. Should he have
been wearing it, sure. Would your participation help/hurt kayaking? Maybe,
maybe not. Is the risk too high? Obviously, I think so and that you made the
right choice personally and as a kayaking personality.
    Would they address kayaking? I'd guess not really, only his kayaking and
the ones who have been on so far talk about how extremely careful he was. This
is were it hurts. It is just like a Seattle that isn't worn, unuseful, not
safe. Would they air a statement like that? Who knows. It depends on the bias
of the piece.

Joan Spinner

rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com wrote:

>
> 2.  I really don't want to speak ill of the dead and I am afraid it
> would come across as that in such a forum.  When we discussed the
> Kennedy paddling approach here on our paddling forums, I felt that this
> was a sophisticated enough audience with a discerning mindset to be able
> to speak frankly and constructively about the subject and keep it in
> context.  I think in a wider audience for a TV program that has a
> somewhat sensationalist slant (I think all the TV news magazines have
> this flaw to one degree or another) anything I said would come over
> differently, even tacky.  In my comments to my friend's voice mailbox, I
> had chosen my words with deliberation saying Kennedy's approach was
> "casual."  In retrospect, I guess I would also have been comfortable
> saying it was an "imprudent" approach to kayaking.  And it still rankles
> me that photos of him in articles and TV specials that show him kayaking
> depict him not wearing a PFD; they really give the wrong message about
> this life pursuit we all cherish.
>
> If I thought any good would come of such an TV appearance, I would have
> gone ahead but I just didn't feel that way.  Any comments?
>
> ralph diaz
> --
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
> PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
> Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
> "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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