Orienteering on US TV
Bob Putnam
Last week the Brits developed a thread here related to an egregious
incident of O' presented on their telly. I caught something yesterday,
Sunday 12/14, on US TV that set me off in the same way, but for a different
reason.
On a program called Young America Outdoors (I Think) the two teenaged hosts
told us they were about to "go orienteering". What followed was about five
minutes of discussions with an adult about maps (not orienteering maps),
compass use (the three-step Silva method using protractor compass, rather
muddled when done on TV in 15 seconds), how to read 'signs' in the forest
and in the sky to determine where north is, and what to do when lost. No
controls, no courses, no maps, no hint of timing, no nothin' on O'.
However, throughout the presentation the word "Orienteering" was used
continually, in connection with everything they were doing. Yet, there was
never any mention of what any of us would recognize as any aspect of the
sport of orienteering. Anyone watching the program would now have a
completely erroneous idea of what O' is. It was as if the
producers/writers/narrator had never taken so much as a moment to read or
learn a single word about the sport, but had simply heard the word
somewhere and fabricated an imaginary something on their own. Even reading
the information accompanying a Silva compass purchase would impart more
information on O' than was conveyed in this program. I was probably
especially annoyed that the adult leader wore a shirt with the words "REI
Staff" on the back, suggesting that he was a professional educator of some
sort, perhaps part of a park staff. The responsibilities of the educator
include getting the information at least reasonably correct before it is
presented. This wasn't even close. Now, I admit I could be wrong here,
since this poor presentation could have been solely the producer/editor's
doing in cutting out all the real O' stuff the guy might very well have
given. Does anyone on the net know more about this?
Granted, the information given was interesting, would be useful to kids
venturing outdoors, and probably had a place in the theme of the program.
But it wasn't orienteering, and should never have had the word associated
with it. No sooner do we think we're making progress in educating the
public and the teachers, than something like this reminds us of what a long
way we have to go. We just try harder.
Bob Putnam
(Hey! Whaddaya know? Florida's Doing it Again!
Come on Down to O-Thaw'98, Feb. 14-15, 1998
2 days of USOF Class "A" Sanctioned Fun-in-the-Sun" )
Ned Paul
Jim Baker wrote at length on the value of tuition for beginners
rather than plunging them straight into competition.
Excellent post, Jim. For sure, people feel more confident if there
is a teacher to show them the ropes. The British OF does have a
system of certificating outdoor education staff and school teachers
and that seems to work, but maybe GBR clubs could also think a bit
more about dressing up their beginner programmes ("Come-And-Try-Its")
as tuition sessions.
There has historically been some success in this area I know. My
partner Hazelle Jackson started O via a local authority evening class
given by then Southern Navigator member Jeremy Denny. (Incidentally
Jeremy has just landed another in the US so he and Kay are headed
back to Minnesota where they spent some time in the 80s).
Ned Paul