Transit of Venus-a cautionary tale

The following thread is on the Ice in Space boards. It is quite funny really but a reminder that you need to be careful what you write on a forum like this. Just because astronomy is not a main stream subject (like football, politics etc) for the general public does not mean that your comments are not seen and in this case published in a local newspaper.

www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=92089

www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/20...6/339021_skeney.html

Yes, sad really, The attitude of most of the media in Ireland is probably the same, Ireland as a "modern" technologically advanced nation have done little to engender an interest in science or astronomy - so the prevailing view of both public and media is ignorance.....I would not be surprised if that journalist was the type who read her weekly newspaper horoscope :laugh:
after all....the number of astrologers outnumber astronomers 10/1

OH my oh my that is very funny , god love her she needs a chill pill
Perhaps a night out ? under the stars in preference would help to bring relaxation and peace of mind
to the poor lost soul :laugh:

Re the venus Transit , a visually beautiful event sadly lost to most Irish eyes, would have loved a h alpha sketch moment however small it was.

:scope: Looking up is good for the human condition
Deirdre Kelleghan
Vice Chair IFAS
@skysketcher

It's an interesting thread with some interesting contributions and it *does* raise some questions that astronomers (and scientists in general) have never really got to grips with in terms of communication to the general public.

For example, many people still believe the Moon landings were a hoax conjured up in a Hollywood basement. Many people believe that the Mayan's predicted the end of the world in a few short months from now.

I think the article the journalist wrote was actually pretty well put together and to be honest, I actually can see why she would write what she did. After all, many people would have rather more pressing priorities in their lives right now than getting excited about the ToV.

Looking at it another way, Thursday of last week saw a large proportion of the Country getting excited by a sporting fixture. Way more than getting excited by the ToV. But even in the world of sport, I'd imagine rather less people tuned in to listen to another fixture yesterday morning where in fact, the odds of a victory for the Ireland team were significantly greater - and indeed proved to be so...

One other comparison - Katie Taylor. Nuff said.

The independant media will report whatever they feel the people want to be reported. Other elements of the media will report what they want to report and put a particularly positive or negative spin on it according to their affiliations.

In this case, this journalist has given her opinion. However, note that the right-of-reply is given at the bottom of the article. I'm sure a concise and lucid explanation from a keen astronomer as to why the ToV was impressive would have gone a long way. Instead, posts were made on a forum that were pretty harsh - and the journalist read and then reported them. Talk abouting shooting yourself in the foot...

For astronomy to persuade mainstream media that it is a subject deserving of a slice of people's busy lives, we need to educate the journalists first. But lambasting them on boards is hardly going to endear them to astronomy - and worse, scientists in general. And that's a major opportunity lost...

My view on it for what its worth, this lady has an excellent editor. Who has an eye for publicity and has gotten a few percent on circulation in a time when Newspaper circulations are about 25% down on this time 4 years ago. good job.

As for what she said, I found it very funny. After all we all did get up at 4am in case the clouds lifted in IRELAND! Had someone on Have I Got News For You, come out with that it would have been taken very well.

As for the points raised about the attitude to Astronomy in the Irish Media.

Firstly the media are only interested in a subject if it has sales potential, and lets face it, in this interest what excites does not to 70% of the population.

However, lets look at the success of Brian Cox in the UK, he has added personality and little sexiness to the subject ( my wife tells me its his eyes!! i dont know ).

So what can we do here in Ireland.

First we need to look at where the media goes for its information for Astronomy. Are we happy this is a fair representation of our clubs in this country?

What are doing to make the subject appealing to the general populist?

I agree with the previous post. Much of the stuff on Ice in Space was totally out of order. The journalist found the ToV boring and wrote a light hearted article. In response, she is told that she could have been "a syphilitic fish-wife" and that "she is either a dope or she's being intentionally controversial". Personalised attacks like that are off limits. Not all the posters took that line of course, and in her response the journalist did not properly acknowledge the people who took a considered view. However, she was right to round on the intolerance of some of the critics.

I think that a better approach would be to try to explain why some of us found the event fascinating, without denigrating the majority who have other concerns. Most of the people I mentioned it to showed no more than a passing interest in the transit, no more than I have in the latest production of La Traviata. Let's stick to attempting to communicate the wonders of astronomy and science, and not resort to bully-boy tactics.

Mike