The world was indeed watching last weekend as yet another Burning Man community formed, celebrating its first year on Nevada's Hualapai Playa. Burning Man has gained increased media exposure over the years as the number of participants and the level of artistic endeavors has risen. During Burning Man 1996, the media became obviously present for the first time yet still never seemed to be a central part of the experience. In contrast, this year's Burning Man Festival saw the media presence grow exponentially as the playa was teaming with fuzzy microphones, weather-dust-protected cameras, and media choppers.

The media at the festival has become a double-edge sword for many: on one side, we want to share this incredible, unexplainable experience wth the world. We want the world to see the amazing creations, ideas and individuals that come together to create such an event. We also want to debunk the beliefs that the Burning Man Festival is only about 5 days of naked mud orgies and satanic rituals. (Okay. Perhaps for some of us, but we want to express the other side too!) Sharing with anyone who would like to know the expression, freedom, beauty, intensity of survival, and community that forms on the playa each year is what the media coverage allows.

However, the other side of that media sword comes with something that all of us work hard not to do: interefere with another's experience. It's all about self-expression and involving yourself in the community to the extent you personally choose. The event being thrust into the spotlight and the media's swarming over the playa was seen by many as an interference with their direct experience at Burning Man. Media became a distraction from the activities and non-activities of the actual Festival itself and hampered the true nature of the event for some.

Yes, the media was ever present last weekend. Yes, there were many cameras, photos, interviews and note-jotting on the playa nearly everywhere we turned. The people behind the cameras and the microphones are, on one hand, participants as they are interacting with the community in a very specific way. They are also the ultimate spectators. It got to the point where, at the burning of the man, cameras and fuzzy microphones lined the inner circle of participants. Media members were nearest the man and the procession, filming and shooting for the rest of the world to see. So, while the Black Rock community remained seated, the media stood in front creating a direct barrier between Black Rock townspeople and the event in which they came to participate.

Citizens of Black Rock are generally press-friendly. We welcome the media members, as individuals who contribute to the overall event. Perhaps the media need to experience the event more like the the Black Rock citizens do: with survival, art, any identity you want to bring to our desert community, creation and discovery, without the obvious press badges and big recording equipment that screams main-stream media. Perhaps instead of just viewing it through the lens and crashing at a hotel in Gerlach as some of them did, they should become more a part of it and live with us on the playa, becoming a part of our wonderful Black Rock community.