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Suggest Improvements To The Fortean Times

Hi peeps no problem receiving my back issues and latest magazine will see what happens this month.
Still an excellent magazine though always seems to cover most topics very well.
 
This is a strange one, and I guess some may disagree however here I go

Please could they try and reduce the weighty historical articles and perhaps have more forum type articles, take for instance the Plague doctor article in the latest issue, it was good cure for insomnia if nothing else

And also realise that some of us are not into the "horror genre" I do realise that that Fortena is a very broad issue and I may be on my own in this
 
Robbrent said:
This is a strange one, and I guess some may disagree however here I go

Please could they try and reduce the weighty historical articles and perhaps have more forum type articles, take for instance the Plague doctor article in the latest issue, it was good cure for insomnia if nothing else

And also realise that some of us are not into the "horror genre" I do realise that that Fortena is a very broad issue and I may be on my own in this
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I am not a fan of horror, it's always been irritating to me how the mag reviews so many horror movies. With that said, I LOVE HP Lovecraft, so I was glad to see the Color Out Of Space cover - unfortunately I found the article boring. It was then that I started to really think I should tell my mum to stop getting me the gift subscription, there wasn't a single thing in that issue that I found interesting.
 
XEPER_ said:
I am not a fan of horror, it's always been irritating to me how the mag reviews so many horror movies. With that said, I LOVE HP Lovecraft, so I was glad to see the Color Out Of Space cover - unfortunately I found the article boring. It was then that I started to really think I should tell my mum to stop getting me the gift subscription, there wasn't a single thing in that issue that I found interesting.
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Yeah, I have a similar relationship with the magazine. 1 or 2 articles of interest and the rest is "meh" Also a lot of the news is pretty old because of the internet.
 
Naughty_Felid said:
Yeah, I have a similar relationship with the magazine. 1 or 2 articles of interest and the rest is "meh" Also a lot of the news is pretty old because of the internet.
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And recently the news has been old because they're doing articles about old news. I know some people enjoy that, but, meh...
 
Robbrent said:
...And also realise that some of us are not into the "horror genre" I do realise that that Fortena is a very broad issue and I may be on my own in this
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Not on your own, no. Forteana is a very broad issue, and that's one of my problems with the fact that horror and sci-fi make up the vast majority of the film reviews.

To be fair, I do kind of understand why it's that way - because outside of those two genres you could argue that it's hard to define what makes a film Fortean. But equally, that doesn't seem to be a problem with the book reviews - which cover a much broader spectrum of subject matter.

My own opinion (and it is just my opinion - I know I'd be fighting a losing battle on this one) is that if I even think of those types of movies as particularly Fortean in the first place, then, with the odd exception, it would be as Forteana written in big fat crayons.

Speaking for myself, I more often get much more of a feel of how odd the world really is, and how flawed our perception of it, in movies that have nothing much to do with those genres.
 
Spookdaddy said:
To be fair, I do kind of understand why it's that way - because outside of those two genres you could argue that it's hard to define what makes a film Fortean.
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A good deal of that would be because any Fortean-themed movie will inevitably fall into those categories. It's a cultural syllogism - not all horror/sci-fi movies are Fortean, but (pretty much) all Fortean movies are horror/sci-fi. Hence the massive presence in the reviews.
Spookdaddy said:
My own opinion (and it is just my opinion - I know I'd be fighting a losing battle on this one) is that if I even think of those types of movies as particularly Fortean in the first place, then, with the odd exception, it would be as Forteana written in big fat crayons.
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I think it's a justifiable view, but most people aren't aware of the subtleties in the way we tend to be, plus most producers are about the thrill, hence the spectacular aces the thought-provoking in most cases. Independence Day outsold Fire In The Sky by 100x for a reason.
 
stu neville said:
A good deal of that would be because any Fortean-themed movie will inevitably fall into those categories. It's a cultural syllogism - not all horror/sci-fi movies are Fortean, but (pretty much) all Fortean movies are horror/sci-fi. Hence the massive presence in the reviews...
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The thing is that the magazine does cover material which is not necessarily, in its strictest sense, Fortean - but which is somewhat connected.

As examples - the subject matter of two European movies I've watched recently might, in another form, be covered in the magazine: Gutland and Den skyldige. (The Guilty). The latter is very much about how we perceive, process and act on information - and how flawed that process can be in producing an accurate view of reality. Gutland has, at first glimpse, much in the way of the paraphernalia of the folk horror genre, but never actually turns into that - and is, to my mind, all the more unsettling for it. Both would be best described as Noir - but both, were they articles about real events, would fit fairly comfortably somewhere within the pages of FT. (Also, thinking about other films I've watched recently, Borgman, would probably fit the bill.)

I suppose that what I'm trying to say is that the film reviews feel somewhat more constricted in scope than the rest of the magazine. And, to be honest, that's an observation, rather than a plea - I find an awful lot of the world odd, and there are not enough pages in the magazine to cover it all.

Edit: To be fair, I've not read every single magazine for the last few years, so I can't definitively claim that these films, or similar, have not been reviewed. But, even if so - very much a minority.
 
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I have a suggestion. Move to the USA, where freedom of speech is a constitutionally protected right guaranteed under law.
 
Yithian said:
You've lost me.
To what were you responding?
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To Great Britain's thought policing and it's penetration onto this forum. I am not a fan of mandatory political correctness. In the USA one's right to communicate is not so restricted.
 
AlchoPwn said:
To Great Britain's thought policing and it's penetration onto this forum. I am not a fan of mandatory political correctness. In the USA one's right to communicate is not so restricted.
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This is a thread about Fortean Times magazine, and although I haven't reviewed the whole thing, the topic you mention has not featured on this thread on the past few pages.

Have you mistakenly replied to the wrong thread?

To address your point all the same, this forum is hosted in the U.S. and enjoys all the legal protections thus afforded. Three of our staff are also located outside the U.K.

What we have are a) a focus: Forteana, and b) a loose guidelines governing polite behaviour in order to foster a sense of community.

Anybody who does not like the rules of the club is welcome to establish another with rules more to his own liking.

If I were to join a stamp-collecting club and proceed to harangue my fellow members with diatribes about the necessity of atheism or the virtues of polygamy, I shouldn't be at all surprised if an invitation to leave turned up in the post.
 
AlchoPwn said:
To Great Britain's thought policing and it's penetration onto this forum. I am not a fan of mandatory political correctness. In the USA one's right to communicate is not so restricted.
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"Al": Like Yithian I'm not understanding what it is you're attempting to address on this thread in the recent context of media reviews / coverage in Fortean Times.

Please bear in mind that this forum is no longer organizationally or administratively affiliated with Fortean Times or its publisher.
 
As a very long time FT reader I have seen many changes to the content and format of the mag, some welcome, some not so. However, there are a couple of big beefs that I have with the current content.

1. Never been a movie buff but find it hard to understand why there is so much content given over to horror movies. This is even more strange when you consider that there is no space given over to review/discussion of the many truly Fortean TV programmes (whether you like them or not I am referring to things like Curse of Oak Island, Skinwalker Ranch, etc).
2. Classical Corner. I do not have a university education but do not class myself as being below average intelligence. However, I find Classical Corner very heavy going and tend to give up about halfway through. There is no doubt that Fort himself was a very difficult writer to understand and I do wonder whether Barry Baldwin is trying to be too 'Fortlike'.
3. As a fully paid up member of the Haunted Generation I found this highly amusing for a short while. But once you get past the few truly atmospheric programmes like The Owl Service and Children Of The Stones and the odd Government Information broadcasts, was there really that much that requires a monthly section which seems purely to focus on current niche music!
4. Finally, as much as I admire Karl Shuker, much (if not all) of his content I do not really class as cryptozoology. Reports of scientists deciding that a previously known animal is now actually two separate species is surely just zoology? Just let me know when you have found Bigfoot...

Rant over
 
Whereas there are obvious points of discussion in what you day, I should restate what Enola said above:
EnolaGaia said:
Please bear in mind that this forum is no longer organizationally or administratively affiliated with Fortean Times or its publisher.
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eziofan said:
Does that mean we cant discuss it then? If so why keep the thread open?
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No, such discussion is not prohibited. However, its connection to the magazine - and our representations thereof - have changed.

Since you've newly rejoined, here's an update in case it's news to you ...

In October 2018 FT's publisher (Dennis Publishing) elected to terminate (and hence presumably delete) the Fortean Times Message Board. During a remarkably short and insanely intense burst of frenzied activity we reached an agreement with Dennis for migrating the forum (and its legacy content) to a new independent platform. The Forteana Forums are now sponsored by the Charles Fort Institute.

Obtaining permission to preserve and transplant the FTMB entailed conditions motivated by administrative and legal issues. We may no longer represent the forum as being owned by or formally affiliated with Dennis Publishing and the magazine.

FT staff members do visit from time to time. However, there's no guarantee how frequently they may see comments made here that are tacitly addressed to them or the magazine. We're no longer any sort of official portal or point of contact for the publisher or the magazine.

That's all ...
 
eziofan said:
3. As a fully paid up member of the Haunted Generation I found this highly amusing for a short while. But once you get past the few truly atmospheric programmes like The Owl Service and Children Of The Stones and the odd Government Information broadcasts, was there really that much that requires a monthly section which seems purely to focus on current niche music!
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I agree with this bit - the Haunted Generation thing has run its course especially as it seems to have become a section on obscure atmospheric music.
 
I still read the mag from cover to cover. Even articles that don't, superficially, seem to appeal, I at least give a good go at skimming. I've learned so much new stuff from doing this, and discovered new interests and things to investigate. Okay, I may never be a convert to UFOs, but I read about them for the cross-discipline interests of plasma technology and sleep paralysis experiences. It comes down to what one person loves, someone else has no interest in, and not being able to please all the people all of the time!
 
Oh, well, I guess it would be an improvement to be able to get digital copies of the older issues.

There's a site called Zinio selling digital issues, using their own reader, also accessible with a web browser. Issues #268 up to the current (#402, the next one should be out in a couple of days) are available. The old CD version had PDF files with issues #1 to #30, and #142 to #217.

Two days ago (Feb 22nd, 2021) I sent an e-mail to Dennis Publishing, asking why they don't sell these ones (and by the way, even several issues available on Zinio) through their Android app. So far, they sent no reply.

My working hypothesis is that they hate money. I'm slowly purchasing the older ones from Zinio. I might even buy the ones available on the official Android app from Zinio, because I can read them in a web browser too.
 
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