eHow.com's Teaching for HCI

[Bob Johnson]

As regards the subject line, well, they might as well be signing visitors
up as Handgun Control members. Supposedly a benign instructional
website, I found that guns/gun ownership was being portrayed in a very
poor light. Sadly, that's not as unusual as it should be. What WAS
unusual was that eHow seems to be interested in improving their act...

Before I post my e-mail correspondence with eHow, here's their
URL: www.ehow.com
Just search for "gun" and you'll see what I'm talking about below.

I would like to encourage other similarly minded gun owners to help
bring eHow back over from the dark side. You can reference my
e-mail with them if you'd like, but it will help if they feel that a large
portion of their developing audience feels strongly about this issue.

If you want to speak to me personally, you can e-mail me at
r1SPAMmalone@ucsd.edu (just remove the "SPAM")

E-mail correspondence with eHow follows (most recent mail first):
From: Eileen Tomasello <etomasello@ehow.com>

Thanks for your reply.Ê It's obvious that you are knowledgeable on
this subject and that you have a very strong opinion.Ê

You indicated that our journalistic credibility is in jeapordy because of
technical mistakes in both of our gun eHows. When you have a moment,
please let us know what they are.Ê Our managing editor will make any
necessary changes to ensure the information we are offering is accurate.

We'll have a look at the sites you've recommended and possibly add
them as related sites to both the eHows.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Eileen Tomasello

To: Eileen Tomasello @ eHow
Sent: 2/7/00 4:20 PM
Subject: Re: Response to eHow FeedbackÊ - GUN
Importance: High

Eileen Tomasello-

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ I returned to peruse your site and its links after receiving
your e-mail. Every linked website (ie, Sarah Brady, Handgun Violence,
etc.) was representing violently anti-gun organizations. Sarah Brady has
publicly stated that she wants to rid the US of all guns (her site's
progressively restrictive attitude towards guns leaves no doubt in my
mind that the organization continues to work towards the goals the
founder has stated.)
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Another web link goes to a page where the title banner is: "
'Gun free' home;...as all homes should be." Again, I do not believe
anyone would say that this organization doesn't have an agenda.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Thinking that I might have missedÊ other gun information on your
site, I did a search for both "gun" and "firearm." Firearm returned
nothing, while gun returned mostly unrelated articles. A subsequence
search for "self defense" provided many subjects, yet I noticed that
none have any references to responsible firearm usage.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ A reading of the only relevant article provided by searching for
"gun" (How to store a gun safely), revealed that this subject had been
written by the same writer as the first, contained similar technical
mistakes, as well as promoting several unsafe storage methods.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ It was rather disappointing to me to find that your site had
such difficulty maintaining its journalistic integrity, because I
otherwise found the site to hold a great deal of promise, and I hope
that the addition of countervailing opinions will restore some balance
to your subjects. If you are interested is additional possible websites
to link, I would recommend www.rkba.org, www.goa.org, and www.nra.org.
While these are well known sites, a little more searching will easily
yield additional sites. Some suggested future article topics: How to
clean/load/fire a pistol/rifle/revolver safely and accurately, how to
maintain a proper shooting stance, how to safely encourage youth target
shooting, how to select a firearm for self defense, how to find current
firearm laws in your area, how to obtain a concealed carry permit (CCW),
how to legally move your firearms by plane, train and car, etc. There
are many more subjects that you can write about, but I would hope that
your writers read "how to write objectively" first.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Sincerely,
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Bob

Initial Response from eHow:

>Thanks for your message.
>
>Your experience with our site doesn't sound like a very pleasant one.
>eHow is trying to attract readers, not alienate them.
>
>Perhaps you didn't have a chance to review the Related Sites to our
>Prevent Gun Violence eHow.Ê I've attached a link back to that site for
>your convenience.Ê If, after your review of the information, you still
>feel we are presenting a anti-gun biased eHow, please let me know.
>Here's that link:
>
>How to Prevent Gun Violence
>http://www.ehow.com/ehows/ehow00003846.asp
>
>Eileen Tomasello
>Customer Relations Manager
>
>People Magazine says "eHow.com shows how to just do it"
>
>-----Original Message-----
>
>Visitor is responding to: Prevent Gun Violence
>Ehow #: 3846
>I'd like to see the following improvements:
>Add information about how to learn responsible gun safety
>habits/training.
>
>
>I have a suggestion:
>Remove your flagrant anti-gun bias. Check your figures, and if
>necessary,
>include positive gun/self defense information to provide a balanced
>perspective.

[This message has been edited by Bob Johnson (edited February 08, 2000).]

 

[Oleg Volk]

Both my place of employment and them are under one roof now. I did some testing o their site recently. I also submitted some ehows on self-defense from wild critters (additions to a topic) and they did not acknowledge or include those.

Hmmm...did a search, very interesting. Shilling for HCI or just not being very selective about their sources? I think #2.

I am not sure if they can be reasoned with. I do suspect that a few dozen emails would make them wonder, at least. Start writing people. eHow is a small company which subcontracts their writing jobs...two or three people could change their course a bit.

 

[deanf]

Can a moderator or administrator fix the formatting in this thread?

It will not get the attention it might deserve if it's left as is.

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Keep yer stick on the ice.

 

[jaydee]

Formatting???? Not sure I understand Deans question, could you elaborate?

I am not an admin or moderator, but they could probably use a clarification.

Sadly, there are many oraganizations out there that share these one-sided views, and getting them to change is next to impossible, but we should make a concerted effort to dispell the many myths.

I am warming up the ole text generator and will make my comments known as well.

Thanks for the info Bob!

 

[T-Rex]

I tried the constructive approach, and invited them to come here for info etc., despite screwing up the URL for this fine organization. Here is a transcript of our correspondance. It seems that they may be open to input if it is consistent and constructive. Then again, I may have been being patronized. Either way, a whole pile of well chosen suggestions may be effective.

I sent them the following:

I'd like to see the following improvements:
-PLEASE Include safe gun handling rules (find at http://thefiringline.com)
-Include tips on conflict de-escalation and resolution.
-Include a less biased political action plan. The emphasis on
supporting
gun control is a bit counterproductive. There is considerable evidence
to support the assertion that a well armed society is less violent and
inherently safer than a disarmed one.


Reply:

Thank you for your suggestions - we appreciate them! We are in the process of reviewing How to Prevent Gun Violence and will take your suggestions into consideration.

Jeff Tinker and the eHow Team
www.ehow.com

Then I sent:
Oops! My mistake! I mistyped the URL for the site I referenced. The correct one is http://www.thefiringline.com The site is a forum that provides firearm owners and anyone else with information, and a forum to discuss firearm-related issues. Please feel free to drop by, as there is a thread going on right now regarding your organization. Some folks are a bit annoyed by a perceived bias, but if you ask for constructive input I'm sure they will be very helpful. I hope to see you there.
Hal

Reply:

Thanks for the tip! I really appreciate the heads up!


Jeff Tinker
VP, Operations
eHow, Inc.
415-284-1038

 

[DC]

Dean..

The "formatting" you referred to is a consequence of either Bob's or eHow's email program. Looks to me like its the type of formatting to make an e-mail "rich" or browser friendly.
It happens sometimes when copy/paste. Short of a mod or admin tediously editing it out..each character at a time...nothing can be done about it.

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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!