The Media

[nulltone]

What do you guys think about the media? Post comments below.

[Grifter]

Touchy Subject

Some people love them, some people hate them. I think the media can be looked at in the same way as scenewhores. They aren't there to learn, they're just there to watch the freak show. Face it, when media is involved they aren't going to tell the story the way it should be told. They want sensation, they want law breakers, and they want to hear about the next big thing.

DoS, I Love You, and Code Red. All of these things have been blown way out of proportion by the media. When you take a script kiddie and put him on TV it makes other kiddies feel like they can be famous too. I can see it now "Hey man, let's go to defcon and get on CyberCrime." The things listed above are all malicious, and that's what they show america. They won't show a crowded room quietly listening to a talk on "How to use BSD to set up a firewall/gateway" they'll show people drunk and screaming at Hacker Jeopardy or learning to pick locks. People teaching how to secure a network is not exciting, people learning how to break into systems is. If we allow the media at defcon, we allow the image of defcon to be twisted. They will show video of crossdressers and media whoring and tell the world that's who we are.

I don't want to sound like I hate the media, I think that they may be a good way of letting the world know that we're not all bad, in fact most of us are quite respectable. I think if we could filter out the sensation and let in the trustworthy news sources that will report fairly, then we'll be fine.

[H2O]

Personally I think its a great way the bring script kiddies into defcon. Lets ban them.
H2O

[converge]

I really don't see what use they are... outside of trying to get a split second on some shoddy news channel, there's nothing they could offer... just a circus to entertain what the populus wants to see and hear