Quote:
Originally Posted by brucel
Whilst I'm not sure I always agree with this assertion, I do think any publicity that generates interest in Astronomy (or any Science) is a good thing.
We have to live with the 'over-hype' because that is the only way to get attention these days.
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Unfortunately the publicity is not always but often inaccurate, incomplete, or very biased just to get a boost in ratings or sales or to entertain public opinion. I remember when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 smashed into Jupiter and the black impact sites on the clouds of the planet were very impressive.
Next morning the front page of a Sydney paper showed an infra-red image glowing brilliant white at the impact site with the associated artiicle describing how Jupiter looked in Sydney backyard telescopes. I knew the newspaper got it wrong but what about those that didn't know and thought they would see a similar sight when they looked at Jupiter when the next impact hit. (It took about a week for all the fragments to hit).
Now what if I read another article in that paper about a topic I know little about and think wow and then think that if they hyped up the Jupiter article by twisting the facts, what have they done to any other article. They no longer have any credibility and I think if astronomers too get down to that level just to get some publicity they too will have no credibility and the general public will learn this and eventually not bother.
The reason for the recent trend in the media to call every lunar eclipse a blood moon is simply beyond me for I never heard of the term growing up. Supermoon too is a modern description and then when combined with blood moon the media have a field day with the totally irrelevant descriptions. Have you noticed too that whenever there is a lunar eclipse it is being reported as the last one for many years. Then 6 months later we have another last one and then another last one. Each eclipse may have one aspect that won't be repeated for many years but that is not mentioned, only that it is the last eclipse for some time. Yet again incomplete and inaccurate reporting leading to hype.
I think astronomers can still be enthusiastic and inspirational and still tell the facts about something in an entertaining way, (the guy with the beard on Stargazing Live comes to mind). This type of reporting gives a great boost to public interest and I hope it continues especially in the teaching of basic night sky knowledge. I don't think any commercial network would ever consider such a show unless it had a reality television twist. (Maybe astronomer wants a wife or instead of big brother house it is big brother observatory or instead of dancing with the stars it is dance of the planets).