(Again) Rename: Cowboy Bebop At His Computer

And I just got it from another troper who was a journalism major or something like that. We lose threads, we lose names, but it was something someone had told me that I can only check through the actual talking and touching of real human beings in the flesh like some sort of savage barbarian.

Yes, I'm as ashamed as you are that people still have to venture into the real world to do proper research.

On a random note, it's hard to read that post ^ with a straight face when you've heard one too many "Biblical puns" on current TV.

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

There's a difference between going "out into the real world" and having to talk directly to people in a field.

Furthermore, you basically stated that over a trope name that also requires familiarity with anime.

Finally, is that actually a term among journalists, or just a commonly known example? The context of it being brought up seems to be a term that encourages looking up why it's bad, but for the purposes of this site, it's the wrong direction. We explain tropes. We don't make the reader do the work. Journalists are supposed to do research, but a goal of this site is to basically be the research that people can look up.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

As always my viewpoint on renames tells me that this name completely sucks at describing the trope so rename it. Nothing else should matter.

Does anyone have any new opinions? All I'm seeing is "I don't like the name" versus "Well, it has massive inbounds."

We could do a crowner.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

Would like to see a larger sample size of wicks checked first.

Rhymes with "Protracted."

Thanks to this trope name, the only thing I know about Cowboy Bebob is "It has something to to with someone named Cowboy Bebob at a computer, only wait, I really know it doesn't."

The only things I can think of right now are:

• Blurb Fact Check Failure
• Poorly Fact Checked Review
• Review Fact Check Failure
• Review Research Failure

I now realized something that was bugging me about the name. It's an example of I Am Not Shazam (thinking this character is the name of a show). While that would still come from lazy journalism, that is not the only way it does.

Thus the name indicates only a certain example of this trope. It doesn't actually indicate the trope.

edited 13th Sep '11 12:52:53 PM by DragonQuestZ

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

If nobody else was going to mention that, I was. The difference between them, is not completely noticeable, they are pretty similar.

Also, this is about the 3rd time I've had to re-read the trope page for this because I just can't remember what it means.

edited 13th Sep '11 1:19:03 PM by DocDoomster

Without Re-Reading the trope at all, it's about when a news story involving a show makes a error that could have been avoided if someone had taken ten seconds on Wikipedia to get their facts straight.

That last half of the sentence is paraphrased, but yeah.

I'm going to see about changing the description, because it never outright says that in the first paragraph.

edited 13th Sep '11 1:27:16 PM by SalFishFin

I understand that now, it's an easy enough to understand trope.

It's just the "name" strikes me as bizarre every time I see it, I don't watch anime, so I don't get the reference.(and I don't plan on finding out in the future, no offense) It's like random words put together. And yes, I do know what Cowboy Bebop is, but it still doesn't help at all.

It's an Example Named Trope, meaning that the name is not a literal definition of the trope so much as one example of the trope in action. Compare the name Asbestos-Free Cereal.

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

The description could use a little touch-up. Maybe just a new first paragraph. Something like:

"This is when anyone who has any passing familiarity with the subject matter knows it's wrong. Or has talked to anyone with any passing familiarity with the subject matter."

Ugh, poorly worded, but I'm tired, and you get my point.

This is about news, not just anyone who Did Not Do The Research on a show.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

See "poorly worded" and "I'm tired."

Well I was a bit rushed, so I missed that.

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

Looks as if it's more like "someone has to write an article/review/blurb about a movie/game/how/work of fiction without bothering to do the proper research". An example I've seen myself is a newspaper review of James Cameron's Avatar - of all things - in which the author states that the Na'Vi connect to nature via their tails and NOT their braids (how one can mistake this is beyond me). I hope this helps clarify for people who may be confused on the trope's usage.

[The rest was unintelligible.]

(^ Well, for certain definitions of "tail"....)

Being tired can do strange things to a post — Discar your post was more or less word a verbatim copy of Critical Research Failure.

edited 14th Sep '11 7:06:48 AM by Stratadrake

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

I did a wick check. People, this trope has a serious misuse problem.

Number of wicks checked: 50 - (2 empty, 1 with no mention of the trope).
Random sample? Yes, mostly.*

Total numbers:
Correct examples: 14 (2 sharing a page)
Incorrect examples: 26
Other/Can't call: 10

Correct usage:
Bifauxnen: Vague, mentioned with the Trope Namer, but used correctly.
F Zero:News article. Correct.
Mis-blamed: Compare-and-contrast. Correct.
The New Rock & Roll: Sinkhole, but example is valid.
TropeNamers.Anime And Manga: Index.
Whose Line Is It Anyway: Two correct examples with newspaper articles.
Columbine: You could argue that the pothole should have been placed differently, but basically correct.
Murder Simulators: A See-also.
Preview Piggybacking: Correct, provided Hobby Consolas counts as news, which I'd say it should in this case (gaming example).
Coldmirror: In-work listing of examples found "in magazines and on websites". Correct, probably.
Anarchist Cookbook: Mention of news, so technically correct.
Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch: Index
Urban Legend of Zelda: Mostly correct, if slightly confusing.

Incorrect:

The Mexican: Should be I Am Not Shazam
Characters.Suburban Knights: Should be I Am Not Shazam.
Everything's Messier with Pigs: Incorrect: Seems to relate to general mistaken facts in media, rather than facts about a work. (Also, example should be taken out and shot.)
Disc-One Final Dungeon: Should be I Am Not Shazam.
Sonic X: Not a news story.
Film.How To Train Your Dragon: Should be I Am Not Shazam.
The New Rock & Roll: Not a news article. (potholed twice on the page, hence the double mention)
Million Dollar Money Drop: Should be Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch.
Headscratchers.Epic Mickey: Should be Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch.
YMMV.Tina Fey: Incorrect. Refers to the general misunderstanding, not the mistaken news articles (which actually are mentioned).
Hitman: Doesn't look right: sinkhole, and, unless I'm very mistaken, doesn't refer to a news article.
OFWGKTA: No news story mentioned.
Weird Al Yankovic: Not a news story.
Sasameki Koto: Incorrect. Should be I Am Not Shazam, no mention of news articles.
Disclosure: Should be Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch.
Word Salad Title: Should be I Am Not Shazam.
Memes.Naruto: Should be I Am Not Shazam.
Pantheon.Knowledge: Should be I Am Not Shazam.
It's for a Book: Not a news story.
World War Two: No mention of a news story.
Headscratchers.The Chronicles Of Narnia: Not a news story, so doesn't fit the current description.
Transformers The Movie: Unless Orson Welles: A Biography counts as news media, no mention of a news story.
Epic Mickey: Not a news story.
Covered Up: Not news.
MindScrew.Video Games: Not specifically news. Homestar Runner: Should be I Am Not Shazam.

Other:

Vehicle Title: Mentions the work Cowboy Bebop (when it doesn't have to), but does so correctly.
Narm.News: Sinkhole, but the example as a whole does describe a Cowboy BeBop at His Computer situation.
ASCZ's Horrorshow: Page doesn't exist
JustBugsMe.Glee Season 2: Trope title not found on page nor in page history.
New Media Are Evil:

Probably okay, but the wording is weird.
The Aimz: Page doesn't exist.

Can't call:

The Red Tape War:

Quinton Flynn:

Doesn't look right, but I'm not familiar with the details.

Epic Mickey:

Zettai Hero Kaizou Keikaku:

Not sure how obvious a mistake this is, nor if the You Tube show referred to should count as news.

In short: in the wicks, this trope seems to be misused more often than not, often confused with I Am Not Shazam and Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch. Many people also seem unaware that the Cowboy BeBop at His Computer trope refers to factual errors in the news.

I didn't expect anywhere near this amount of misuse. Going through the wicks, I found myself wondering whether I was mistaken about the trope definition, and double-checked the page several times.

edited 15th Sep '11 8:21:50 AM by Antheia

I think Epic Mickey seems correct to me. Gametrailers.com, while not actual "news" per se, is still something that distributes information about videogames.

Fight smart, not fair.

True, but I wasn't sure if it was really the "didn't bother to check" kind of error, as opposed to "I typed what, and how did it make it past the proofreaders?" I could be wrong, of course.

The Homestar Runner example is misuse. It should be under I Am Not Shazam.

edited 15th Sep '11 1:36:23 AM by DoktorvonEurotrash

It does not matter who I am. What matters is, who will you become? - motto of Omsk Bird

It's rather important to note that it is okay for this trope to overlap with I Am Not Shazam. If a news story pulls an I Am Not Shazam, it is probably a correct example of this as well.

Rhymes with "Protracted."