Posted by Axle This Anthony is legit, he does work for the Globe and Mail (I checked, he also contacted me). I did chat with him, he just had a couple questions about UE in general, the dangers of it ect. And my general feelings about the whole incident. |
Posted by micro I don't care if he's legit. The point is, we don't even know if this person (or whoever he was with) was an urban explorer or just some guy out taking pictures. I know there's often a fine line between the two, but still. There was an incident in Australia recently where a couple of non-explorers died in a storm drain and the media had a field day by turning it into this big story about the Cave Clan draining community. The general public already has this conception that what we do is dangerous. We don't need that to be made stronger because of this particular incident. |
Posted by micro A response to my email: --- Hello Andrew, and thanks for the reply. Here are the two police press releases on the incident, starting with the most recent, which mentions the man's death. I called the detective and she said he and his companion were both from Northern Ontario, but no names have been released. I understand your sensitivity around negative press, but it seems pretty clear from the press releases that these men were engaged in urban exploration. I've already spoken to one UE enthusiast who lamented the death but also pointed out that, in his opinion, a very small percentage (ie. about one per cent) of UE participants would fall into the category crudely defined as "idiots"; that is, people who take ill-advised risks and fail to conduct themselves safely. He placed this incident in that category, based on the fact that these guys climbed to a sixth-storey catwalk of a building that's under demolition - something he said most UE people would never do, given the obvious dangers. If you would like to weigh in, please feel free; if not, I understand. Here are the press releases: http://www.toronto...ses/pdfs/14307.pdf http://www.toronto...ses/pdfs/14299.pdf |
Posted by micro I've already spoken to one UE enthusiast who lamented the death but also pointed out that, in his opinion, a very small percentage (ie. about one per cent) of UE participants would fall into the category crudely defined as "idiots"; that is, people who take ill-advised risks and fail to conduct themselves safely. He placed this incident in that category, based on the fact that these guys climbed to a sixth-storey catwalk of a building that's under demolition - something he said most UE people would never do, given the obvious dangers. |
Posted by micro I wasn't suggesting that this person was less "legit" if they weren't a self-ascribed urban explorer or member of this site. I wasn't thinking about it in those terms, at least not in the way it was suggested. I just felt at the time (roughly five mins after receiving that email) that it wasn't my place to talk about any of this when I knew about as much regarding the situation as anyone else here. |
Posted by oddspot Why are we worrying about what the media will do to this terrible turn of events? They will hammer on the hobby, and related hobbies regardless of what our involvement with the press is.... it's their job. They dig up facts, they make up facts, they connect things that are not connected....and suddenly it's a story. When a few guys go fast in cars on the highways....media turns to street racing laws and car customizing hobbies. When someone dies in a work accident.... same story. |
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