In 2012, I was a web producer at the Houston Chronicle.Full disclosure, I have not been a full-time employee or have been employed by them for seven years. I do write a music blog them MIKED that I don’t get paid for, and is considered a “reader blog.”
Eric Berger of Ars Technica has recently drawn the ire of Tom DeLonge and To The Stars for the his article on the recent SEC filings of To The Stars Academy Of Arts and Science. Berger’s post reported the same thing other outlets did, which claimed TTSAAS is in debt for $37 million. For some reason Ars Technica got the attention, as DeLonge clapped back on his Instagram ripping Berger’s post calling it a “blatant lie” and said Berger failed to read. Maybe calling the article “ All the dumb things?” was enough to catch TTS attention? DeLonge also said that Berger or his outlet failed to reach out to TTS for clarification or comment, which is weird because DeLonge and TTS aren’t doing press at the moment.
Either way, this got TTS on the defensive and was able to respond in some manner to the recent filing that has had the UFO community debating if TTS is going under or not.
Thanks for the love, Tom.
I used to work with Berger at the Houston Chronicle when he was “SciGuy,” which was the science and weather blog. As a journalist, Berger was good at his beat, and trusted around town and the science circles. When he started mocking On Twitter a study that said 1-in-3 Americans believed in Bigfoot, well, then I jumped in and we had some friendly exchanges on social media. This is all detailed in my first book “Punk rock and UFOs: Cryptozoology meets Anarchy” to showcase the media’s attitude toward “fringe sciences.” The tech director and reporter saw this exchange , and at the time Google Hangout was launching, so the higher ups thought it would be a good idea for us to debate on camera the existence of Bigfoot.
The actual recording was a disorganized mess with the feed cutting in and out, but overall it was me holding the position that Bigfoot COULD exist while Berger smugly dismissed the notion. Berger adopted the typical anti-crypto arrogance a lot in academic circles and media had.
You can see the exchange here.
Anyway, there is irony here, as I’ve interviewed and met DeLonge before during my Chronicle days, and have been trying to get him to talk with Punk rock and UFOs for years, but Berger was able to randomly grab TTS’ attention in one of the biggest UFO stories this week.
-By MIKE DAMANTE