Sorry, it was there. It wasn;t very fair of them to malign the ultimate in grass-roots communications which was clearly a lifesaver.
Posted on 01/04/2005 8:06:28 PM PST by Leo Carpathian
Hams Demand Apology By TIME Magazine:
Hams around the U.S.A., and in other nations as well, have been writing to TIME Magazine. They are demanding an apology from TIME for failing to edit out a slur against ham radio in TIME's December 31, 2004 issue.
That edition featured an article by Lev Grossman about Internet blogging. At one point, Mr. Grossman wrote this: “Before this year, blogs were a curiosity, a cult phenomenon, a faintly embarrassing hobby on the order of ham radio and stamp collecting.”
KEN LINDER KC7RAD was apparently the first to spot this statement and started a discussion thread about it on www.qrz.com -- urging all hams to send “Letters To The Editor” via letters@time.com
If you are interested in reading what others have said to TIME, there are numerous “writing samples” available:
1. KC7RAD's thread is dated December 29, 2004 and is entitled: “Ham Radio Is `Faintly Embarrassing'?” As of this writing -- on the afternoon of January 3, 2005 -- the discussion thread is 30 pages long and contains 299 comments, including the text of many letters that have been E-Mailed to TIME.
2. LARRY SALIS K0DOC alerted me to the situation and persuaded me to write my own “Letter To The Editor”. This Open Letter was E-Mailed today to letters@time.com, with hard copies being snail mailed to TIME itself and also to Lev Grossman C/O TIME.
The text of my letter to TIME is set forth below.
3. A second thread on www.qrz.com, started today (January 3) by FRED LLOYD AA7BQ, who founded QRZ.COM, begins with the text of a letter to TIME from BOB HEIL K9EID, President of HEIL SOUND. AA7BQ's discussion thread is entitled “Open Letter To TIME Magazine”.
SCHELLHARDT ADVOCACY SERVICES
Don Schellhardt, Esquire, President 45 Bracewood Road Waterbury, CT 06706 pioneerpath@hotmail.com 203/757-1790
January 1, 2004
Letters To The Editor TIME Magazine
To the Editor:
TIME owes an apology to the worldwide Amateur Radio community for failing to edit out Lev Grossman's statement, in his December 31, 2004 article on Internet blogging, that referred to ham radio as “a faintly embarrassing hobby”.
Both of halves of Mr. Grossman's statement are inaccurate. First, if Amateur Radio were truly an “embarrassing” activity, it would have impeded the careers of such active hams as Walter Cronkite, Barry Goldwater, Marlon Brando and Queen Noor of Jordan (not to mention most astronauts). Second, if Amateur Radio were only a “hobby”, hams would not have played such prominent roles, over several decades, as the first people to bring information in and out of major disaster areas around the world. Nor would efforts by hams have yielded so many innovations, including walkie-talkies, pagers, cordless telephones, 2-way ground-to-air communications, micro-satellites, various digital communications systems (notably, phase shift keying) and time-saving Morse Code abbreviations (such as “CQ”).
I am, personally, in the process of becoming a ham -- not because it appeals to me much as a “hobby”, but because my work as a Government Relations attorney, with Communications Law as a specialty, has convinced me that ham radio is vital as a public service. President Bush is evidently also convinced, since in 2002 he said: “I salute Amateur Radio operators for your work on behalf of public safety officials.”
From 9/11 to the tsunamis of South Asia, evidence is mounting that the world needs more hams -- to handle emergency communications when electricity is down. Thus, TIME has committed a public disservice by spreading false information that discourages the recruitment of new hams. For this, TIME should apologize.
Sincerely,
Don Schellhardt, Esquire
CC: Lev Grossman
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Another letter:
Dear Editor,
Your TIME article about hams being "faintly embarrassing hobby" is an insult to millions hams who enjoy this technical hobby/sport/service.
I have been involved in ham radio for over 55 years, I saved lives in medical emergencies, earthquakes, helped to oppose Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia, held over 25 world records in ham radio championships. It helped me in my profession and escape from communist hell.
Recent events with Tsunami showed another example how hams help to save lives when EVERYTHING else fails, including cell phone, land line phones, broadcast stations, military communications. See article about expedition by Indian Hams to Andaman Islands and how they are communicating and saving lives, while you blabber nonsense in Time.
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/12/30/stories/2004123000350100.htm
Hams were pioneers of just about everything you use today for communicating and are still in the forefront. Would you call "embarrassing" people like Sen. Barry Goldwater, Premier Rajiv Gandhi, King Juan Carlos, King Hussein, Brasilian President Joselino Kubitchek, Italian President Fonseca, number of astronauts incl. Yuri Gagarin? They were and are hams. Your comments are truly despicable!
If you would like to remedy the insults and falsehoods, I would be more than happy to give you an interview and information how "embarrassing" we are. I think you should publish articles about what really ham radio is and not to compare it to stamp collecting.
Yuri Blanarovich, P.Eng., K3BU, VE3BMV, VE1BY, C6AYB
President Tesla Radioclub N2EE, NT1E
President Computeradio.LLC www.computeradio.us
Sorry, it was there. It wasn;t very fair of them to malign the ultimate in grass-roots communications which was clearly a lifesaver.
Man, that felt good!
Oh please.
Getting your panties in a wad over a single throwaway comment like that is an indication one is indeed a massive nerd.
This is an indication of how much people desperately enjoy being offended, and wallowing in the self-righteous indignation of the constantly deeply offended.
(Yes, I have very nerdy hobbies myself, including playing miniature wargames and having a reef aquarium. I'm not going out on some sort of organized headhunt of anyone who faintly mocks either.)
Fly over country has too many "uppity" peons these days. Why won't they go back to sleep like good little sheep?
Why aren't the stamp collectors angry?
TIME still labors at the illusion they are the lords of information.
Ping for later!
It possibly could be because they're too busy out dating supermodels, but somehow I doubt that.
Used to the contempt, I reckon.
;^)
They are, but they're having a bit of a problem letting go of any piece of their collection so that Time can read the letters.
I know dozens of Ham operators, and those who aren't in prison or on the lam are great folks, when they aren't beating their wives.
I am kidding.
Have you considered therapy?
These days you can even get it on the gubmint's dime.
Just a thought.
The problem with this is the only reasons people would organize an actual campaign to demand an apology for such an innocuous comment is because:
1) The comment hits too close to the truth. Nobody is getting laid in bars casually mentioning they're hams. They "doth protest too much."
2) The hobby has a lot of anxiety about declining numbers, I'm sure. I mean, I went to MIT, I know a lot of engineers and tech and computer guys, most of my friends in HS went on to become engineers, and I've never met a person into ham radio in my entire life (I'm 34.)
They're invaluable in natural disasters and such but I can't see any kids today used to IMing with someone from Vanuatu or whatever and using cell phones having the slightest interest in ham radio.
Did your mom tell you that? I am sure you make her proud... LOL!
I'd submit the people that need therapy are those creating an actual organized protest over a single comment in an article that isn't even actually about their hobby.
I'm offended. I'll have you know I was quite capable of not getting dates and didn't need a nerdy hobby to not do so!
It's like expecting Maureen Dowd to know how to keep a man.
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