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I posted a bit about this in another comment. Basically I think we can avoid it by having multiple ways of picking the winners.
by keiferski 5y ago
I posted a bit about this in another comment. Basically I think we can avoid it by having multiple ways of picking the winners.
- bduerst 5y agoSure, that aligns with the authors, but what do you do when your winner heavily criticizes your sponsor and portrays them in a bad light? It doesn't necessarily mean the story is correct - it is science fiction after all - but how will get sponsors with this conflict of interest?
- keiferski 5y agoWell, in some sense this is an inevitable problem with any contest that a) has sponsors and b) isn’t just making propaganda. I think the solution will just be to have a variety of funding sources and a variety of ways that winners are chosen. Ideally the “corporate” sponsors won’t be the only sources of prize money, but one among many. Even then, I don’t really foresee any controversial organizations being a sponsor anyway. More like: engineering company sponsors contest about physics. Overall, the goal is to create great literature, not write polemics, so I am not particularly worried that this will be an issue. Certainly there is always the chance that the winning story will be harshly critical, but great sci-fi is usually nuanced, not black-and-white.