The Great Australian 1985 Radio Show Fiasco

The Great Australian Radio Show Fiasco refers to an interview carried out in 1985 by reporter John Baxter on the Sydney, Australia radio station 2FC. In this interview, slash was openly discussed, excerpts from a slash K/S fic read aloud, and a fan (not the creator of the fic) was interviewed.
Many fans were horrified that what they considered private and secret was being openly discussed (and from the tone of the interview, mocked), and the fact that a fellow fan participated in the show only added insult to injury. However, at least one major zine publisher (Alexis Fegan Black) commented that while she had mixed feelings regarding the increased visibility of zines and slash, she was also happy to see an upswing in her business.
It is unknown exactly when this show aired, but fans commented on in it in the print letterzine Not Tonight, Spock! in May 1985, which would put the event sometime between January and April 1985.
Many fans in the past (and many in the present as well) considered their fannish creations and venues to be private, and when those activities were slash-focused, even more so. There have been periodic panics in fandom in which fans have felt the hot stare of journalists and other outsiders, something that fueled even more secrecy. 
See :Category:News Media for more articles about journalistic commentary on fans and fandom.
==Identifying the fic==
 
In 1987, Dovya Blacque, author of the story read aloud on the show, originally misidentified the title of the fic, as well as the date of the show.
Dovya Blacque made a correction to the fic's title in 2016, identifying the story as either The Edge of Certainty' or From the Fields when she commented in 2016:
==Dovya Blacque's Comments==
Dovya Blacque was the zine editor of As I Do Thee (1985) and left her name off of issue #3 due to this controversy, writing: "Due to unwanted publicity "Down Under" (and elsewhere), this name is being withheld to protect the...uh...innocent?" 
This same fan, without identifying herself, wrote an Open Letter to the Editors of All K/S Zines & All Other "/" Media Zines. This letter was published in Not Tonight Spock! #9 in May 1985, Datazine #36, The Hatstand Express #6, Universal Translator #27, Communicator #23: 
In 1985, the same author of the K/S story that was read on the air commented:
 
The author further recalled the event in a 2014 interview:
==Fan Comments==
===Comments by Alexis Fegan Black Regarding Visibility and Publicity===
Alexis Fegan Black, the prominent zine editor and publisher of Pon Farr Press, commented in 1987 on positive effects of having slash and Kirk/Spock fanworks exposed to a larger audience, citing the 1986 article published in the L.A. Weekly called Sigh-Fi: 
Black also wrote: 
===Other Fannish Reactions===
==See Also==
* Sigh-Fi, a 1986 newspaper article that was one of the first of its kind due its attempt to explain slash to a wider audience
* Caitlin Moran's Fic Stunt, in which journalist Caitlin Moran demanded that Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman read some Johnlock fanfic Moran found on the internet at a Sherlock promotional event
* 11 Scott McCall-Stiles Stilinski Fanfics That Prove Teen Wolf Fans Are Nasty AF, a controversial article posted to the website Teen.com that resulted in unwanted exposure for many of the named creators
* Hobbits Gone Wrong, Willamette Week 2004-07-13, covers the Bit of Earth and Tentmoot scandal and Thanfiction's part in it. A sidebar, "The Hobbit Shivered with Pleasure" (scroll down), covered the place of fan fiction in Bit of Earth's activities, focusing of course on slash.
* :Category:Perspectives on Fans
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Fandom Occurrences
Category:Zine Fandom
Category:Slash Meta
Category:Scandals
Category:1985 Fan Interviews
Category:1985 Events
Category:2020 Featured Articles