Things Fiction Must Start Doing #1: Homework
Seriously. How hard is it to do a little research before publishing/releasing? The sacrifice is small, and the rewards are large: You don't look like an idiot. Or offend your fanbase.
Let's look at a few common issues:
A) Religion
Is it so hard to have some respect for other people's beliefs?
There are a lot of interesting verses in the bible. There is no need to make up your own, when 20 minutes of looking can find you a perfectly good real one. Yeah, I'm looking at you, Joss ""And they shall be among the people, and they shall speak truths and whisper secrets, and you will know them by their crafts." Whedon. And as for Wicca...
Witchcraft is a practice done by many. Wicca is a specific religion. HUGE difference. Let's take a quick look at the fact-sheet shall we?
Wicca was created by Gerald Gardener a British civil servant, who first went public with his Fertility Cult in 1954, after the repeal of the old Penal code (anti-witch legislation that had long since ceased to have any meaning but was still technically on the books). It's a Mystery Religion that draws upon elements from many sources, and despite now-disavowed claims of continuity with "the old religion", is generally believed to have been created in the 1930's by mixing elements from Celtic and Norse mythology with more contemporary Christian and Occult ideas, and a solid serving of newly thought-up stuff alongside. As a Mystery Religion, it guards it's secrets (mysteries) quite carefully, revealing them only to those who gain formal initiation, and then only in steps as the initiate moves from his/her first to third degree (the word degree here being used in the sense of "college" degree).
Now let's consider what Mass Media does wrong.
First of all, Wiccan is used as a catch-all term for magic practitioners. This is very erroneous. Wiccans practice magic, but they make up a tiny minority even among those who practice Ceremonial Magic. Aes Denai don't like to be called wiccans, even if they practice similar magical rites. Astratu, who have much less in common, like it even less. And then there are practitioners of magic who don't follow any religion.
Secondly, Wiccan seems to be used as a substitute term for Neo-pagans. What the hell? That's saving a few gorram letters. And insulting a whole lot of people for that minor benefit. Devotees of Wicca are a small minority among the thousands of Neo-Pagan religions and paths, and most of them hate being mis-labeled as "Wiccan".
Thirdly, there seems to be an impression that Wicca is for girls or is "feminist". While some Neo-pagan paths are female-centric, Wicca itself is very much a two-gender cult, who's rites celebrate heterosexual sex (It's not called a fertility cult for nothing, folks). It is in no way a "no boys allowed" clubhouse.
Fourthly... Oh, dear mods, the BurningTimes. Just... no. Mob Action and Hysteria are pretty endemic to the human condition, but the idea the modern Neo-pagans are "persecuted" because several hundred years ago people who have nothing to do with them were burned at the stake is plainly ridiculous. The old Pagan religions had long since faded from Europe, and there is no evidence that even a single so called "witch" was anything but a Christian an Athiest or an Agnostic. By the time of the Witch hunts, there were no pagans, and in all likelihood, no witches. The witch trails were caused by greed (Accusing people of witchcraft was often a way of stealing their land), hysteria, and in some cases, mind altering chemicals. People were accused because others stood to benefit from their deaths. It was in many ways, the perfect scam for people who wanted to bump off a neighbor and take his stuff. This was Christian on Christian violence (With some Christian on Jew and Christian on Muslim thrown in). It was not Christian on Pagan violence for the simple reason that NO PAGANS WERE PRESENT. guh.
B) Culture
Okay, occasionally poking fun at the Brits is fine. we know you don't mean it. But there are limits to what's in good taste. Or even funny at all.
I'm going to pick on Mr. Whedon again. Gypsy is an ethic slur. It's like "Chink" or "Gook" or "Nigger" (You can bet they'd never let the N-word fly, but all minorities are not created equal). Janna Kalderash would call herself a Romani or Roma or Rom. 5 minutes of google would have revealed this fun fact, allowing a more realistic show, free of racist language.
C) Hacking
Yes there are people out there called hackers who can access your computer illegally... under the right conditions. Like say, your computer being connected to an outside network. You cannot just go online and "hack" into the US Strategic Nuclear Missile Control Computer. Why? Because NORAD, contrary to what Holywood seems to think, is not staffed by Complete Frakking Idiots who would connect nukes to the Internet. You cannot remotely access a computer from a hundred miles away if it is only on a local network that does not extend beyond the building it's in. And this is only the most glaring mistake that is commonly made.
Joss Whedon- actually gets a Kudos on this one. Buffy is one of the better shows out there on this score. In Season 1 Willow is able to (illegally) accesses the Mortuary's database, not by the power of MAGIKAL HAX, but because she's the one who programmed it, and left backdoors. This is both reasonable and plausible, unlike almost every other TV show out there. Later seasons continue to be surprisingly realistic about computers... Willow is unable to break military encryption protocols in season 4. So kudos, Joss, you've shown you can do one thing right. Puts you ahead of the game in the entertainment industry, by my count