Propaganda 24 ch10
From C64 Diskmag Wiki
+----------------------+
-|MEET THE PRESS |-
-|MEET THE PRESS BY DUKE|-
+----------------------+
T
The scene media has profound power to be
a positive influence. It has the chance
to tie the link between the consumer
and the producer, but also the other
way around. It represents the voice of
the scene, and does therefore deserve
to be heard.
MEET THE PRESS is dedicated to the
people behind the magazines, who are
responsible for the scene being one,
a family - together.
+---------------------------+
** |HIGHLIGHTING | **
\/ |HIGHLIGHTING - THIS EDITION| \/
+---------------------------+
T
- THE MAGAZINE NEWS THE NEWS
_________________ ________
T
- THE MEDIA TODAY DEBATE
_______________ ______
W
- WORLD OF DEMOS RETURN ARTICLE
_____________________ _______
T
- THE MAGAZINE REVIEWS JUST OUT
____________________ ________
AND MUCH MORE..
THE C64 IS NOT A PC...
________________________________________
What does VANDALISM NEWS and THE TRIBUNE
have in common with WINDOWS and the PC?
The answer is: THE PAUSE SCREEN. The
annoying pause screen rather.
This screen may have a real purpose on
the PC, as it prevents the screen from
becoming damaged by whatever text or
graphics, that may be on the screen -
however, the C64 has no need for such
a "tool", so why do these magazines
insist on having one installed?
The C64 is not, and will never be, a
PC - no matter how much certain people
would like it to be.
Stop converting PC ideas to the C64, as
it will only undermine the C64, and will
certainly not help its struggle for
survival.
Leave the readers to work with other
things while going through a magazine,
without having to remove that really
irritating screen, when they return to
read some more.
..
It serves absolutely no purpose! ><
+-------------------+
| PROPAGANDA |
| PROPAGANDA |
| |
|ALWAYS ON YOUR MIND|
+-------------------+
-+R-----------S----+-
=|REMEMBERING SHOCK|=
-+-----------------+-
Today, September of 1997, it has been
just about 5 and a half years, since
perhaps the greatest magazine-phenomenon
released its very last edition.
SHOCK, dutch based, took the world by
storm, and impressed everyone to a
degree, previously unheard of. The
editors became SUPERSTARS, and to this
day, it is remembered as undoubtedly
the best magazine ever.
But was it in fact deserving of such
great attention and praise, as it
received? Now, having collected all
issues of SHOCK ever released, I dig
down into the facts of this famous
production, and take a look at the
magazine - both inside and out.
How SHOCK was voted into a top position
worldwide is a mystery to me today. When
SHOCK had its glory days, I was also
struck by the hype, but today, having
been awarded with the ability to see
more clearly - perhaps provoked by age -
I see SHOCK in a completely different
way.
SHOCK covered the elite scene, and had
no interest in - or even in serving -
anyone else, meaning the thousands of
others part of the scene. How could it
then possibly become voted into a top
position, if it had nothing to offer
the rest of the scene?
The elite do not make out a great enough
number to vote anyone into a chart, so
it had to have been a hit in the
general scene for it to have made it to
a top position.
SHOCK was in many ways a ground-breaking
magazine. It was absolutely adored by
everyone, and for most of its short
life - only releasing 1O editions - it
totally dominated the charts. The
competitors - PROPAGANDA and MAMBA -
were left in shock, and had very little
to say during this age.
SKATER and MIRAGE, the editors of SHOCK,
had a way of charming their way into the
market, that was quite unique. They
produced probably the most beautiful
outfit ever, and they were extremely
friendly with almost everyone, later
earning SKATER a top position in the
much debated MOST LIKED chart on the
boards.
PROPAGANDA was controversial, SHOCK was
not. SHOCK was the pretty boy, who could
not do anything wrong or state an ugly
fact. SHOCK never really shocked the
world with its journalism or even -
some might say - said a word at all.
The chapters were short, far too short.
When BIZZMO and DEEK from GENESIS
PROJECT quit the scene, all they had to
say about it, was exactly that. BIZZMO
and DEEK quit the scene! No comments
about the achievements of these people,
no sadness to spot, no nothing.
But hey, they had a smashing outfit!
When the text was read in about two
minutes, you could always stare at the
logo for another two hours, while
writing down SHOCK on all the vote-
sheets.
SHOCK, however, worked as a fantastic
motivator. Everyone wanted to be in
their charts, commented in their news
or reviewed in their demo chapter. Why?
Because it was read by all and loved by
all - which equals fantastic exposure.
Perhaps SHOCK will remain a mystery to
me forever, much like MARILYN MONROE is
a mystery, and sadly PRINCESS DIANA will
too - now that she is gone too.
..
/\
What we do know though, and most editors
of today agree, SHOCK would have been
beaten silly, had it tried to make a
comeback today.
The competition and level of journalism
is quite simply too advanced, too
detailed, too, well, unlike SHOCK. SHOCK
was just pretty! But hey, if an outfit
is great, the text must be too! ..
><
+---------------------------+
-|Read SCENE ILLUSTRATED, |-
|which features an exclusive|
|interview with WESTBAM of |
|LEGEND - and covers all **|
-|about their comeback. \/|-
+---------------------------+
+T---M-----T----+
-|THE MEDIA TODAY|-
+---------------+
"MOTIVATING THE SCENE"
The 9O's have been a wonderful decade
for the magazines on the C64. They have
earned themselves a place in all disk
drives, and play a real role in keeping
the scene together. The sceners love
them, read them and will continue to do
so - at least that appears to be the
tendency.
Today there is a good handful of decent
magazines. There is certainly also a
good number of horrible magazines,
which should have never been made. Most,
however, serve the readers with an
acceptable coverage, leaving little to
remain unknown about the current status
of the scene.
But what is the current status of the
magazines then? What do they do to
remain interesting for the sceners -
and are they at all heard by the
sceners? There are many questions to be
asked, but few know exactly what the
situation looks like at the moment.
Most would agree though, that the news,
and the charts, are the most important
parts of a magazine - and should
therefore be treated by the editors as
such. These two parts are read by the
most people, and generally the readers
tend to read them first.
However, even though the charts have a
vital importance in keeping the scene
motivated, it seems as though they have
become somewhat of a chore for most
editors. There is done very little to
improve the way of the charts, and they
have therefore remained pretty much
untouched since they first came about.
It should not only be informative
reading the charts, it should also be
interesting - maybe even exciting. But
we can hardly say, they are anything but
informative today, and that is a real
shame. Every now and again the number
one position is replaced by a new group,
person or magazine, and all the editors
have to say about this, is just stating
the facts - instead of elaborating on
why this is, and casting more light on
the new star in the scene.
The voters have received a lot of
criticism for the poor state the charts
often are in. By poor state, I refer to
the tons of inactive sceners currently
ruling the charts - which is hardly
fair.
But the voters seem to think so, and to
be honest, the blame is on the magazine
editors themselves - and not the voters.
The magazine editors claim the voters
should keep up to date themselves, but
quite frankly, who's responsibility is
it to keep the voters up to date? The
answer is obvious: The magazines!
Many magazines tend to go with what is
known to be a success. It is rare to see
a new chapter, that looks at the C64
scene in a different way, but still
remains objective and informative at the
same time. There are plenty of room for
improvements in the magazines of today,
and they need to use a lot more energy
on this, than they do typing in
addresses in the address chapters.
Keeping the scene motivated is the
number one responsibility of a magazine,
at least in my opinion. How do we do
this best? Or rather, how do we do this
better? In the upcoming editions of MEET
THE PRESS, I will be discussing this
topic with some of the best magazine
editors in the scene, and hopefully a
Aood debate will come of it.
MOTIVATING THE SCENE will continue..
WORLD OF DEMOS WILL RETURN...
________________________________________
Perhaps the most detailed demo covering
chapter in the world, WORLD OF DEMOS, is
set for a comeback in PROPAGANDA, once
a staff has been assigned.
The chapter that took the world by storm
in the deceased, THE PULSE MAGAZINE, was
visited by some of the biggest names in
the demo-scene, such as; MADUPLEC and
SYNDROM/CREST, STEVE/X-FACTOR, DRAX and
METAL/VIBRANTS, TDJ/FOCUS and even
MR.SEX/BYTERAPERS.
It was not only a demo reviewing concept
alone, we also had ideas on expanding,
making more informative chapters for the
demo community - all to be part of the
WORLD OF DEMOS.
We never succeeded completely in making
WORLD OF DEMOS as great, as it certainly
had potential of becoming, but now we
have been awarded with a second chance.
WORLD OF DEMOS is set for a comeback
under the PROPAGANDA label!
We have only just begun searching for
fitting names to be the new WORLD OF
DEMOS staff, and hopefully we would have
completed this task by the time, the
next PROPAGANDA issue hits the market.
If you have any suggestions, as to how
we could cover the demo-scene better,
please send them to us, and we will be
most appreciative.
PROPAGANDA
one hot magazine
+T---M--------R------+
-|THE MAGAZINE REVIEWS|-
+--------------------+
Welcome to the obligatory magazine
reviews, which has always been a popular
part of meet the press.
I have made myself the owner of the
latest c64 magazines to have reached the
internet, and will now serve you my
humble opinion, on the experience of
reading them.
The point-system on which the magazines
are rated should be obvious once it
appears. They will appear after all of
the reviews. Hope they are taken as a
sign, that improvement is always a
possibility in the world. Remember that!
SUBJECT : VANDALISM NEWS, 28TH EDITION.
LABEL : ONSLAUGHT.
________________________________________
VENGEANCE is back and so VANDALISM NEWS
also saw its way to the drives around
the world once again. VANDALISM NEWS is
VANDALISM NEWS, and VENGEANCE is and
will always be VENGEANCE. Whether you
like it or not. VENGEANCE has a special
way of editing VANDALISM NEWS, that is
probably unique in the world. He speaks
his mind freely, and much of the
magazine is used for self-serving
propaganda, instead of objective
journalism. He has been criticised for
this in the past, but today there is no
doubt - VANDALISM NEWS is VENGEANCE
NEWS.
It is really unfair of me to rate this
edition, as it is more of a comeback
edition, than a real release of usual
standard. VENGEANCE came back, and had
a lot on his mind - which is natural.
This edition had pretty much all the
defects a comeback issue would have,
but in time, when VENGEANCE settles into
the rhythm, it will no doubt rise in
quality again. This edition, however,
was poorly written, which is surprising,
as it is edited by an Australian, who
has English as his prime language. It is
also filled with spelling errors, and
reeks of stress.
VANDALISM NEWS is assisted in the news
department by JAZZCAT, and as a result
is more or less a direct copy of the
coverage found in DOMINATION. JAZZCAT
and VENGEANCE may be friends and close
colleagues in the same group, but they
ought to settle on doing their own
magazine or do what most would probably
find most fitting - merge, and make
DOMINATION and VANDALISM NEWS one.
The point of the LIGHTERSIDE is not to
amuse, but to offend. It was founded as
a competitor to SATIRICA (now THE SCENE
SHOW), but never found the style of
which the chapter ought to be written
in. Again VENGEANCE uses his opportunity
as editor to rag on opponents. I have
high hopes for the future though. VANDA-
LISM NEWS can be much better than this,
and no doubt VENGEANCE can too. When
this edition is forgotten, VANDALISM
NEWS will once again be a real player -
who can be respected by its competitors,
instead of just disappointing.
SUBJECT : VITALITY, 2ND EDITION.
LABEL : ALBION CREW.
________________________________________
VITALITY, another new magazine to have
hit the scene, has golden dreams of
becoming a famous magazine, read and
loved by all. Although it may not be a
current goal, it seems to be one for the
future - and at first glance, it did not
appear to be that unrealistic a hope,
till reading the text opened my eyes to
the facts.
VITALITY, which is edited by DR.SOFT,
UNLOCK, KMEG, QUESTOR of ALBION and
MAVERICK of SAMAR, carries itself
gracefully. The English is somewhat
acceptable, although they are by no
means top of the class.
Here comes the problems. VITALITY claims
to target primarily the ever growing
Polish scene, but also cover very little
of the news outside of Poland - very
little indeed.
As the scene basically includes the
world, this magazine fails to satisfy
anyone but the Polish scene. I fail to
see how a Dane, like myself, should be
at all interested in a magazine like
VITALITY - and I recent the fact, that
it is released world-wide, when it
really only concerns the Polish scene.
It even calls itself an English magazine
and with English being the only real
language in the scene, it should be
directed towards all sceners. It should
have been written in Polish, not that I
in any way would approve of that, but it
basically would have made no real
difference to me, if it had.
However, with that being said, they
still serve charts, which does not
restrict itself to Poland alone, but is
open for all to enter. This magazine
ought to make up its mind and figure
out, whether it wants to cover the
Polish scene - or just the general
scene.
The interview with MR.SEX surprised me -
although reading the words of master
TATU is always inspiring - as I thought
he was from Finland. Well, he is, and
that is just another paradox in this
magazine, that has no real plan in who
they want to target as an audience,
but probably ends up being read and
voted on by the Polish people in the
end anyway.
VITALITY seems like a good magazine. It
has a lot of good sides to it, and if
it would broaded its horizon, it could
perhaps become a player in the scene.
But this would have to include letting
the rest of the scene be a part of the
magazine, instead of just one people,
one nationality, one slice of the scene.
The scene is one - and should be only
one. DRIVEN is in my mind the only
magazine, that has successfully targeted
one continent - but they have a real
purpose, VITALITY do not.
All VITALITY does is divide the scene
into countries. What a shame!
SUBJECT : PALLADIUM, 3RD EDITION.
LABEL : ASCRAEUS.
________________________________________
Although I rarely bother commenting on
the outfit of a magazine - considering
the text is what should matter - I will
make an exception in this case. This
outfit is just about the most annoying
I have ever seen, and trust me, I have
seen quite a few.
The graphics is horrible, and beams
(flickers) like crazy. They have the
nerve to be using IFLI graphics,
claiming they are setting a new standard
for magazines. What a joke! Please, if
anything, you are setting a new LOWER
standard.
As luck would have it, my version of
this magazine was bugged like hell -
here I am talking about my disk - and
because of that, many chapters refused
to load. However, what I could load, I
took as a sign of the overall strength
of the magazine, and a review came from
that.
What is required from a decent magazine?
Good English! Does PALLADIUM have good
English? Certainly not! Horrible in
fact, but unfortunately a lot of mags
are no better - some are even worse,
if that is possible. "Everybody wants
to do their own mag" said a great
scener once, and he was right. Even
those, who were not meant to do one -
and that includes many.
Another horrible side to this magazine
is a chapter called FANTASTIC, edited by
ARCANE. This editor seem to think the
world deserves to know about his many
problems in life - his struggle to face
the reality, we are all going to die,
and why politicians are cheating us into
a corrupt society. Please, oh please!
I have absolutely nothing against a good
political debate, but I prefer it to be
between someone who actually knows
about it. Life is not black and white,
there are thousands of nuances, and
attempting to see and analyse them all
is impossible.
Please, oh please! Write about the C64
and the scene, we are all a part of, and
leave "the real world" out of it.
When I turn on my computer, I do not
want to read about politics - just as
well as I do not want to read about the
C64, when I read about politics. It is
two separate worlds, or at least it
should be.
RAZOR RAMON's chapter, DR.RAZOR's, is no
better either. It is an absolutely
uninteresting chapter, that serves no
purpose as an informative or even
entertaining role in this magazine. But
then again, why break a bad rhythm,
when you have found it. I have not seen
the first two editions of this magazine,
but I assume it was not much better.
The only chapters, that come close to a
decent rating, would have to be the news
chapters. They are fairly well written,
but unfortunately drowns in the overall
incompetence of the rest of the
magazine. Once again we have been
"awarded" a new magazine, that has
absolutely nothing new or original to
offer us. It is just another magazine
in a line of many, and they will never,
ever make it anywhere.
PALLADIUM is written by and for its own
editors. They, and no one else, could
possibly have any interest in reading
this pathetic excuse of a C64 magazine.
+------------------------+
| PROPAGANDA |
|Automatic for the People|
+------------------------+
SUBJECT : THE CREST, 2ND EDITION.
LABEL : INDEPENDENT.
________________________________________
There has been a lot of controversy
following the release of this brand new
magazine to have seen the light of day
in the scene. It is mainly directed by
dytec members; hardsequencer and dodger.
The controversy has not been surrounding
the contents or look of the magazine,
but instead the name of the magazine.
Magazines have been a draw of contro-
versy since antichrist invented the
conncept, but never has the name been
the cause of the controversy. Till now!
the crest is a magazine, not a group. So
begins the magazine its informative
quest to set the readers straight on
scene affairs. "This magazine has
nothing to do with the group crest" is
written in a intro page to the magazine,
and followed by the proud words of the
modern editor; "This is an independent
production".
Not only does the name of the magazine
bring back memories of great demo group,
the outfit also has scary similarities
to the style of crest - especially the
logo. But, I am by no means a demo
fanatic, so I will leave this alone.
I took the liberty of looking up the
world crest in a dictionary, and found
it had a few different meanings. It
could mean a shield, but also the
feathery thing found on the head of a
rooster. Why do I mention this? Well,
basically just because the editors of
the crest claimed they were in love
with the meaning of the name, and
therefore refused to drop it.
The magazine itself is fairly main-
stream. It does not revolutionize - or
even attempt to - the magazine industry,
but instead concentrates on what is
well known to be a success. They cover
the news well, and that is a good sign
of proper scene journalism. The release
charts is also offered to the illegal
part of the scene, and the graphics
reviews satisfy some parts of the legal
scene. Then we have the interviews and
the editor, who speaks his mind - on
what other subject, than of course:
the crest. Where is the debates about
scene affairs? Cut out I suppose.
The crest is an ambitious and clean cut
magazine, but also a new magazine, and
unless they can figure out ways to
attract the readers, I see no reason why
they should get any at all.
the crest covers some of what the
larger, more established magazines,
offers. It is a case of deciding between
peter andre and michael jackson. peter
andre tries to sing like wacko jacko,
but he lacks the experience - and
certainly the talent. Whether the crest
has any talent or not remains to be
seen. They did however not fall through
in this edition, but still need to
improve, instead of just working the
mainstream - which is boring.
We await the future of The crest!
+--------------+
**........ |JUDGEMENT PAGE| ........**
\/\/--/\>< |JUDGEMENT PAGE| ></\--\/\/
+--------------+
VANDALISM NEWS ..
VANDALISM NEWS 28TH EDITION /\
________________________________________
VITALITY ..
VITALITY 2ND EDITION ><
________________________________________
PALLADIUM ..
PALLADIUM 3RD EDITION ><
________________________________________
THE CREST ..
THE CREST 2ND EDITION /\
________________________________________
BYE FOR NOW, DUKE
