X-Message-Number: 1587
Date: 11 Jan 93 18:51:04 EST
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: CRYONICS media update
To: Cryonet
The Faith Daniels show was taped this morning, the subject
being cryonics. The half-hour show should be aired on
Thursday, January 14. It's broadcast on NBC nationwide, every
weekday morning. Check your local listings for the exact
time.
The sequence of guests was Jerry White (a member of ACS who
is dying of AIDS and hopes to be frozen); Fred Chamberlain
(co-founder of the Alcor Foundation, with his father in
suspension); Linda Chamberlain (co-founder of Alcor, with her
mother in suspension); me; my wife, Susan Kim; Carlos
Mondragon, current president of Alcor; and (a last-minute
addition) Keith Ferrell, the editor of Omni. As many people
on the net are aware, Omni has published a "cryonic contest"
this month.
I found the show frustrating, for two reasons: first, it is
impractical to fit seven guests into a half-hour show,
especially since the format entails questions from people in
the audience, which take additional time. Second, speaking
personally, I had been included on the show mainly for human-
interest reasons, because I have signed up for cryonic
suspension while my wife hasn't. Basically the producer
wanted me to bicker a little with my wife, or say "how it
feels" to be married to someone who has differing views on
this subject. I was not interested in playing that game, so I
had to avoid the few questions that came my way and try to
say what I wanted to say instead.
Jerry White received the most attention, for obvious reasons.
Ironically, he is not a member of the Alcor Foundation, and
Alcor is underwriting the contest which gave the show its
reason for dealing with cryonics. Still, Jerry talked quite
forcefully about his reasons for wanting to be frozen.
Unfortunately he mentioned that he has already had his mother
frozen, in a brain-only procedure which Alcor would probably
regard as being improvised and medically unsound. Precious
minutes were wasted trying to cope with the inevitable "Why
only the brain?" questions, which could not be adequately
answered in the time.
Fred and Linda were then asked about having relatives in
suspension. I was asked about living with a non-cryonicist,
and my wife and I shrugged the topic off as quickly as
possible. A very brief film clip was shown of procedures at
Alcor, with commentary from Carlos. Carlos then fielded
questions about the practicalities of cryonics, and did an
excellent job. He was succinct, accurate, and reassuring.
Finally Keith Ferrell was brought on, and he just had time to
mention that people could learn more about the contest in
Omni magazine.
Questions from the audience were predictable ("How do you
know the money will be kept safely to unfreeze you when the
time comes?") but not hostile. There were no fundamentalist-
religions questions. I tried to cope with a question from
someone who believed in reincarnation. (I didn't do too
well.) All the other questions were rational and showed a
genuine interest.
Unfortunately, the show did not display a phone number to
call for people who are interested in getting more
information from Alcor. I don't know if the show would have
done this if they were asked. I don't know if they WERE
asked. I blame myself for not mentioning this to the producer
ahead of time. On the other hand, this was really Alcor's
responsibility, rather than mine.
I think the show will have some small effect in spreading a
positive image of cryonics. I think it will have an even
smaller effect (but perhaps still measurable) in encouraging
people to pick up the current issue of Omni. I think the show
will not have any effect at all in influencing people to call
Alcor.
If future programs of this type wish to feature cryonics, I
suggest the following:
a) Alcor should insist on only Alcor members appearing. (This
would be an initial negotiating position which could
ultimately be surrendered if there is no other way to get the
show on the air.)
b) Alcor should try to minimize the number of guests.
c) A strong push should be made for displaying Alcor's toll-
free number, without which the show will have little or no
direct effect.
I think one's natural inclination is to feel grateful for
media attention, and try to bend ourselves in whichever
direction will encourage "them" to be nice to "us." However,
I think this is completely wrong. My wife, who used to work
in television, assures me that talk-show guests are seen
merely as a commodity by the producers, no matter how nicely
and respectfully they treat us in person. The producers will
do whatever they want, unless the guest takes a strong stand.
I get the feeling that in the past, cryonicists have been a
little too easy when dealing with the media. A slightly more
cautious, slightly more demanding attitude might not be a bad
idea.
--Charles Platt
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