Stephanie A. Wiltse

Stephanie A. Wiltse is a fan most known for creating and editing the for-profit and highly-visible Beauty and the Beast (TV) newsletter, Pipeline.
Because of this visibility, and Wiltse's interactions with the show's TPTB, Wiltse as called upon by mainstream press and media as a fandom spokesperson. 
The newsletter provided fans with information, much of it presented as first-hand. Wiltse's position, and out-spoken opinions, also made her a figure of controversy, especially after changes in the show at the beginning of the third season. 
Wiltse's 1990 nay-sayer remarks, first stated in Notice to All Naysayers, were a flashpoint for many fans.
A fan in 1991 described Wiltse as "an editor who has done more to prolong with "War of Words" than all the so-called "naysayers" and "dark-siders" combined." from Once Upon a Time... Is Now #23 (June 1990) 
Wiltse was a fan of the third season. From 
==Connections to TPTB==
Wiltse's newsletter was started with the help of Ron Koslow, and boosted by strong contact with other TPTB of the show such as Roy Dotrice, as well as industry leaders such as Earl Weirich, VP in charge of Public Relations at Family Channel. 
In 2000, Nan Dibble described Wiltse as a "media-savvy Roy Dotrice friend." from NAN DIBBLE'S HOTLINE UPDATE - 11th December 2000 
Wiltse also passed on speculation and information she'd gotten over the years regarding The Long-Rumored Koslow Beauty and the Beast Movie.
=="Pipeline" Trusted and a Place of Connection==
==Active in "Helpers Network US"==
Helper's Network US
In charge of updates: Helper's Netwrok 92002)
==Spokesperson and Go-To Person for the Media==
Wiltse, and the founders of Helper's Network US were members of The Loyal Collective, and in turn they were who the mainstream press contacted when they needed sound-bites and interviews regarding the show. 
Wiltse describes the journey her newsletter took her on:
Pipeline is full of statements from Wiltse about how many phone calls she'd fielded, interviews she had done, and how the press saw her as the go-to spokesperson for the entire fandom. From 
 
From a 1990 news article: 
In 1991, Wiltse took it upon herself to speak for all of fandom in a letter to the actress who portrayed Diana Bennett: 
In 2001, Wiltse was a helper: 
Also from 2001: 
Some fans were not comfortable with Wiltse's self-proclaimed status as their spokesperson, especially when she declared to be truths that they did not agree with. 
=="Pipeline" as a Center of Controversy==
===Editorializing===
Wiltse had a heavy editorial style. 
From another fan: "I'd never subscribed to "Pipeline" because (with respect and affection for those involved) I was put off by the air of censorship apparent in the first issue." from Once Upon a Time... Is Now #23 (June 1990) 
Wiltse, along with three other fans, wrote a series of open letters in 1990 taking other fans to task. 
Wiltse's letter was I have wrestled long and hard with my conscience whether to reveal what went on behind the scenes of fandom itself during the last several months. (April 1990). 
One fan's reaction to this letter series: 
In 1991, Wiltse told fans the work to improve fandom's image had failed as she addressed fandom politics and power struggles: 
===Feud with "Tunneltalk" and Its Editor===
Wiltse had a long-running and public feud with Barbara Storey, the editor of Tunneltalk v.2 n.2 (April 1991). 
The letterzine, Tunneltalk began in March 1990, just after the third season controversy was heating up with fans. 
Wiltse and the editor of that letterzine, Barbara Storey, did not agree the subject of fan spokespersons, overreach, some fans' influence with TPTB and topic of a unified message (or lack thereof) and implications of fans' like or dislike of the third-season changes. Mainly, when fans expressed their unhappiness with the changes, were they, 1) close-minded and ungenerous aka nay-sayers, 2) not grateful, 3) saboteurs and troublemakers?
Wilste also made comments about Storey's involvement in at least one Creation Con: 
These altercations with Storey were complicated by The Beauty and the Beast Cease and Desist Letters and the topic of profit and fandom.
From a fan in 1991: 
Regarding a series of fan letters written to Tunneltalk:
Wiltse addressed these criticism in a very personal and public letter to "Pipeline." See Excerpts.
==Publications==
*Pipeline (newsletter)
*Pipeline (blog)
* The Helper's Gazetteer Proposal
* The Gathering Place
==Media and Wiltse==
* "CBS' New-Look Beast" May Be No Beauty, "The Charlotte Observer (December 8, 1989)
* CBS's Beastly Makeover by Tom Shales, "Washington Post" (December 12, 1989)
* "Family Channel wants to see beauty and beast tie the knot." by Mark Dawidziak from the "Detroit Free Press" -- see clipping in Once Upon a Time... Is Now #27 (October 18, 1990)
* Interview with Donna Huffaker, Stephanie Wiltse, and Barbara Storey, interview on "Entertainment Tonight" (1990)
* Reaching for Demographics by Mark Dawidziak for Cinefantastique (January 1990)
* "Beasties working to keep show alive" by Scott Williams, Tampa Bay Times (Jan. 16, 1990) 
* The Chronic Rift: Episode 23 - Beauty and the Beast ("Andrea Lipinski and Keith DeCandido welcome Elfquest artist Wendi Pini and fans Stephanie Wiltse and Angela Fernan as they discuss the cult CBS TV series, Beauty and the Beast." (April 1, 1991)
==Essays and Meta==
* I have wrestled long and hard with my conscience whether to reveal what went on behind the scenes of fandom itself during the last several months. (April 1990) 
==References==