The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

PREMiERdrum

PREMiERdrum

Well-Known Member
From an editorial standpoint, working in the industry, I think this was presented fairly.. The facts were spelled out with little sensationalization (except on the behalf of the sheriff) and it was made clear multiple times that the crimes did *not* take place at the park. They set a reasonable, uniform time net and "caught" data from the 3 biggies in Orlando over that same timeframe.

A newspaper story would have had the luxury to compare this data to the workforce percentages of other industries, as well as compare it to the population as a whole, but this is a TV news piece: Time is precious.

Here's the deal: People are aware that teachers trying to sex up kids is an issue, because they see it on their local news in Anytown, USA. Same goes for Priests and (shudder) babysitters. The news of WDW, Universal, and Seaworld workers being caught up in these stings definitely would have been news to the rest of the country outside of Central Florida.

So many parents seem to let their guard down at "the most magical place on earth", and pieces like this help to reenforce the notion that there are bad people everywhere, even where you don't want them.

Now, as for these "To Catch a Predator" style stings? There's a fine line that Dateline crossed a few times (that resulted in convictions being overturned). Hopefully this Sheriff is able to toe the line. Locally, we have a very successful, multi-jurisdictional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that does a great job getting these predators behind bars without any shades of entrapment.
 
wdisney9000

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
seascape said:
How about running a story of sexual predators at Orlando hotels? Yes if you looked at the news today you would think crime is up and so is gun violence. In fact it's down. The public is being manipulated and running stories like this is designed to hurt Disney. Look at what was said earlier. The story was given to CNN in the hope that it would hurt Disney. That is not a story to solve the problem which is everywhere.
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Whether the agenda was to hurt Disney or not, I would guess any predator considering getting a job at Disney or Uni may think twice after seeing that program last night. Knowing that they are doing sting operations and such may deter a predator from going near the place. (Orlando in general)

I think they should have emphasized that aspect more. They should have pressed the issue more about what's going to be done and how they will catch them just as a precautionary measure, even if it weren't true, it would be a bluff that most predators would fall for. This is all considering that CNN actually had the children's best interest in mind with this story and not just ratings.
 
aladdin2007

aladdin2007

Well-Known Member
Lee said:
Not sure bombshell is the word I'd use...
It's good info, for sure, but calling it a bombshell is setting unreasonable expectations.

The bigger impact will be at TDO. This will be rampant over there:
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While here, a lot of this:
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Really starting to dread this already, is there any good news from it? at all? :coldfeet:
 
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P

ptaylor

Premium Member
Anyone who lives in the area knows these stories run on local Orlando area TV all the time. It was only a matter of time before one of the nationals picked up on it. 74 is very modest, as we all know. But he really can't claim credit for giving this to CNN.
 
alphac2005

alphac2005

Well-Known Member
PhotoDave219 said:
You've got some awfully rose-colored views of how DHS is actually doing. It is by far the worst Disney park in North America.
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For all that is wrong with Epcot, you can go for the day and actually have a full assortment of rides and shows to see. DHS, awful. Two "dark" rides that you can go on with one of the two needing a reservation to even see the darn thing without waiting for an unseemly amount of time. Disney has degraded and screwed up Epcot significantly, but DHS is a joke. I couldn't imagine spending $50 a day, let alone nearly $100 to go to that place.
 
PREMiERdrum

PREMiERdrum

Well-Known Member
Lucky said:
Not really. CNN (and its competitors) run a small number of shallow stories over and over all day long. Why not produce more comprehensive stories and just repeat them 30 times instead of 60?
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Trust me... the biggest single item that the broadcast news industry spends money on (both local and network) is audience research. They know who their advertisers want to reach, and they target stories that will appeal to these demographics. They know when they tune in, when they tune out, how long they'll watch, and what channel they flip to when they get bored with you.

It's easy to say "it's a 24 hour news channel, they have all the time the want!" but the timetable demands and staffing limitations do put a cap on the length stories can be drawn out to. Audience research and viewer trends go further to determine how long a story *should* be.

Now, I really enjoy an episode of 48 Hours, especially a "single tell" episode (as in the whole hour is dedicated to one story). Have you ever watched the credits for 48 Hours? The staff required to make that single hour of television is enormous. I'd guess the AC360 piece had 1 talent, maybe 2 shooters, one or two field producers, and an editor.
 
Lee

Lee

Adventurer
tahqa

tahqa

Well-Known Member
Skip said:
Not to digress from discussing the CNN report, but a bit of action went down somewhat quietly today that I think @WDW1974 might like to hear.

An individual (who will remain unnamed due to his deleting his FB and presumed request of privacy at this point), who was an annual passholder to the Universal Orlando parks, a reportedly "huge" fan and major Halloween Horror Nights fanatic, was banned from the resort (apparently permanently).

The details of the case are what makes it so interesting.

Yesterday, it would appear there was some sort of "incident" that prompted the attention of Universal team members. While the exact details are unclear due to a majority of the discussion (which was conducted on FB) was deleted, there appeared to be some rambunctious, over-the-top behavior (alcohol almost certainly involved and possibly linked to World Cup viewing at Finnegan's). A heated altercation took place between a team member (whose name I will also withhold) and this fan; it apparently intensified to the point where the team member threatened to kick the individual out (this is corroborated by various witnesses to the events). At this point, the guy cut his losses and left the park.

However, at some point later that day, the individual identified the team member on Facebook and publicly declared that he hoped she "dies and goes to hell." Now, horrifying by any account especially if the individual in question was being out of line for a family theme park setting, but as it turns out this wasn't any ordinary TM, but rather someone rather high up in the Universal Art & Design team. The post was tracked, and as of today, the individual learned of his ban when he failed to be able to use his annual pass to enter the park.

In the hours since (before his FB was deleted) he posted several statuses implying a threat of suicide, including quotes like "Universal and HHN were my life and now that they're gone I am as well." He has since allegedly decided to depart Orlando and (wisely) spend some time with his family. I want to clarify this is a fully grown, adult male.

There are several reasons I bring this case up. It reveals a rather ugly underbelly of Universal passholders who apparently treat the parks like a mall, not unlike a problem the Disneyland Resort has been dealing with the past several years - but unlike Disneyland Park, which does not serve liquor (though DCA does in limited capacities), the Uni parks serve fairly freely. These folks (some of whom I have encountered in person at various HHN events) literally base their lives around hanging out at these parks, and in many cases, drinking heavily at them. I don't mean to generalize, but I've personally witnessed many do it, and they all feed into each others' behavior acting like it isn't a big deal or unhealthy in any way. These parks *are* their lives.

Now, finally, there have been repercussions to this behavior. Some of the individual's friends have fairly called him out on the severity and ugliness of his actions - others have attempted to defend him almost to the point of lunacy. Everyone else seems to feel sympathy for the guy being banned rather than acknowledge how messed up his behavior was (and of course how he's reacting to it now!)

I will never understand anyone who moves to Orlando specifically to be around the theme parks (excluding those who are working there in high-level, salaried positions). I have a contempt for those who treat it as a personal bar and create a frankly unpleasant, creepy atmosphere for families and others just trying to enjoy the park, and the sense of entitlement that encroaches out of that. If you're an AP holder, live in the area, and visit often, great - but your actions have consequences and we need to all remember that we're in a family vacation destination, not some random cheap corner bar. It also doesn't matter how much money you've given Universal over the years... it does not give you a free pass to treat TMs of ANY sort (or any guest for that matter) so viciously and rudely.

I applaud Universal for doing the right thing and making sure this guy was banned; he and his ilk have no place in the Universal parks.
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Apparently this guy was going to USF almost every day and on those days he was going to every single showing of Beetlejuice. During HHN he would go to every night and every showing of Bill and Ted. It also seems that he was a bit stalkery with the actors and actresses on the shows. I don't know what precipitated the incident between him and team member, but he was asked to not return for a while and in response he took to Facebook with "To the entertainment show manager xxxxx that ruined the Beetlejuice show for me and my friends tonight. You go to hell. You go to hell and you die!!! We will be back tomorrow. I dare you to stop us again."

And that appears to be what got him trespassed.

The next day he posted "My life is over. Goodbye. I love you guys".

So, yeah, craziness went down over the weekend at USF.
 
Lucky

Lucky

Well-Known Member
PREMiERdrum said:
Trust me... the biggest single item that the broadcast news industry spends money on (both local and network) is audience research. They know who their advertisers want to reach, and they target stories that will appeal to these demographics. They know when they tune in, when they tune out, how long they'll watch, and what channel they flip to when they get bored with you.

It's easy to say "it's a 24 hour news channel, they have all the time the want!" but the timetable demands and staffing limitations do put a cap on the length stories can be drawn out to. Audience research and viewer trends go further to determine how long a story *should* be.

Now, I really enjoy an episode of 48 Hours, especially a "single tell" episode (as in the whole hour is dedicated to one story). Have you ever watched the credits for 48 Hours? The staff required to make that single hour of television is enormous. I'd guess the AC360 piece had 1 talent, maybe 2 shooters, one or two field producers, and an editor.
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Yes, I'm fully aware that stories are so shallow because they think or know that most of their audience has a short attention span.

But that means it is not serious journalism, and doesn't deserve the same sort of attention and response from its targets as real investigative journalism does.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
WDW1974 said:
But if you don't think it's newsworthy, then call and complain to CNN. I'm sure they want to hear from you. But let's not try and kill REAL news and stifle debate because it is easier to turn brains off and discuss the lovely pavement treatments being installed at DD.
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This is also the same cnn that got behind blackfish and promoted that piece of art as newsworthy

And let's not even start with the kinds of craziness they floated for the malaysanian airline disappearance. CNN is on the bottom of the ranks when it comes to newsworthy of late.

I think wdw's comments are just those people exist and at scale you are bound to encounter them. Screen and eliminate... But like many crimes, some are good at hiding their true sins.
 
T

Trauma

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
Prison for life isn't always the answer.

Pedophilia and hebephilia are mental issues recognized as psychiatric disorders in the DSM. People who participate in these types of behaviors are sick. Prison will not simply fix a mental disorder; some sort of psychiatry is needed to help fix the problem. It's easy to want to quickly throw pedophiles and hebephiles in jail for the rest of their lives without actually sitting down and thinking about the issue.
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Why do we care if prison fixes the disorder? There are no children in a adult prison so unless they escape it is a non issue. I don't care that they have a mental issue that caused this behavior, they are predators that forever scarred the life of a innocent children.

Yeah that's harsh sure but you can't tell me that despite some mental disorder they didn't know what they where doing was wrong.

It's this type of thinking that allows affluent children to kill people while driving drunk and get off cus they are to rich to know better.
 

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