NASA and the Media

thor06 · Jun 27, 2008

<div align="center">This thread is a continuation/replacement of the side discussion taking place in the Phoenix lander thread.</div><div align="center"> </div><div>     The placement of this thread has it's own message.  In the USA all major media organizations are owned by large corporations and thus beholden to shareholders(profit motive).  The reporters themselves have little or no say in what is covered.  Sadly the definition of "news" as I learned it in college is dead.  We are responsible for this, democrat and republican.  </div><div>I just wanted to get this out in the open.  If you want to talk more about media ownership, we can do a new thread. </div><div> </div><div>  This thread: 1st Where does this sentiment come from?  Examples? </div><div>The media proves time and time again in science related subjects that it utterly cannot digest the difference between fact and fiction, between serious scientific debate and Hoaglandic-claptrap, and sadly even confuses the differentiation of 'theory', 'hypothesis', 'speculation', 'faith' and 'bullshit'.  Silylene wrote</div><div> </div><div>                              2ond How do we change/improve?</div><div>My thoughts:  The very first thing is more money for PAO, and I won't take it out of the NASA budget.  Underwriters for NASA TV?  Form a non-profit foundation to benifit NASA TV/PAO?  Every mission could have an official PAO rep responsible for helping reporters shape hard science into something the public can understand and appreciate, while maintianing the integrity of the science. </div><div> </div><div><div align="center">                 3rd Other ways NASA can maintain a continuous media presence.</div><div>  As it is now NASA lives in the media only during missions.  Phoenix/Shuttle/Hubble etc.  This is where my bread is buttered.  NASA TV needs to realize its potential.  PROGRAM GUIDE UPDATED AND AS CONSISTANT AS POSSIBLE.  No more galleryhistorvideofileeducation 24hr nightmare!  </div><div>  PSAs announcing "The NEW NASA TV" on other appropriate channels; SCI FI, Discovery, the big 4, etc. </div><div>  A nightly primetime news program on NASA TV.  Coordinated "TV events" during spacewalks, and some sort of telestration/crawl(most peole flip to NASA TV during a commercial, and end up "what the &@!$ am I looking at).</div><div> </div><div>  To be fair, the PAO commentators do a really good job during spacewalks, and overall I think NASA's coverage/media savy is getting better. </div><div> Your thoughts? </div> </div> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> www.watchnasatv.com ONE PERCENT FOR NASA! </div>

bobw · Jun 28, 2008

When people rag on the media, if you are a NASA PAO then they aren't talking about you, if you are Bill Harwood's "Space Place" then they aren't talking about you. When I log on to the CNN website and scroll down to the "SCIENCE" section and find a story about an astronaut stalking her boyfriend's girlfriend... if you put that there then yep, that's you. I think every manned mission has a press kit, usually a .pdf.  I read them a lot and they have contact information.  The unmanned ones all have links to the universities/research centers where they were developed and are operated and have contact information for the scientists. When Gravity Probe B went up looking for frame dragging I downloaded a big .pdf that went into a lot of detail about making the spheres and even e-mailed one of the scientists when reports said all four were made of the same material and the .pdf said there were two different materials.  It turns out that the soft stuff just didn't end up round enough.  The lady was very kind, informative, and "grateful that somebody was reading their website." Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'> Every mission could have an official PAO rep responsible for helping reporters shape hard science into something the public can understand and appreciate, while maintianing the integrity of the science.   Posted by thor06</DIV> It sounds like you want somebody to hand you your story.  In the thread that spawned this one silylene wrote "I am recalling the old Walter Cronkite days of the 60's".  Me too.  If Walt was around he would have one of those trundle bearings, a hunk of SARJ race and show us what is wrong.  Newsies don't do that anymore and I am very glad that NASA does. I read somewhere that a brain is like a sponge.  People aren't dumb, they can remember what hospital Britney is in, the name of Angelina's divorce lawyer, and the batting average of every player on the team.  The thing about that stuff is that Britney sells records, Angelina sells movies and baseball sells beer (see it at 11:00).  There is nothing to sell if you waste an hour a week taking apart a pancam and explaining how the CCD gets decoded. Sorry if you are insulted because I think TV is BS but, as you said in your opening line "Sadly the definition of "news" as I learned it in college is dead."  Have you seen Part 8 of the HBO series From The Earth To The Moon entitled We Interrupt This Program?  The kid tells the old hand space reporter "That's not news, that's sominex."  It is all touchy feeley now.  Korean astronaut was scared during reentry last time around.  That's all folks! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

thor06 · Jun 28, 2008

Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>When people rag on the media, if you are a NASA PAO then they aren't talking about you, if you are Bill Harwood's "Space Place" then they aren't talking about you.When I log on to the CNN website and scroll down to the "SCIENCE" section and find a story about an astronaut stalking her boyfriend's girlfriend... if you put that there then yep, that's you.I think every manned mission has a press kit, usually a .pdf.  I read them a lot and they have contact information.  The unmanned ones all have links to the universities/research centers where they were developed and are operated and have contact information for the scientists. When Gravity Probe B went up looking for frame dragging I downloaded a big .pdf that went into a lot of detail about making the spheres and even e-mailed one of the scientists when reports said all four were made of the same material and the .pdf said there were two different materials.  It turns out that the soft stuff just didn't end up round enough.  The lady was very kind, informative, and "grateful that somebody was reading their website."It sounds like you want somebody to hand you your story.  In the thread that spawned this one silylene wrote "I am recalling the old Walter Cronkite days of the 60's".  Me too.  If Walt was around he would have one of those trundle bearings, a hunk of SARJ race and show us what is wrong.  Newsies don't do that anymore and I am very glad that NASA does.I read somewhere that a brain is like a sponge.  People aren't dumb, they can remember what hospital Britney is in, the name of Angelina's divorce lawyer, and the batting average of every player on the team.  The thing about that stuff is that Britney sells records, Angelina sells movies and baseball sells beer (see it at 11:00).  There is nothing to sell if you waste an hour a week taking apart a pancam and explaining how the CCD gets decoded.Sorry if you are insulted because I think TV is BS but, as you said in your opening line "Sadly the definition of "news" as I learned it in college is dead."  Have you seen Part 8 of the HBO series From The Earth To The Moon entitled We Interrupt This Program?  The kid tells the old hand space reporter "That's not news, that's sominex."  It is all touchy feeley now.  Korean astronaut was scared during reentry last time around.  That's all folks! Posted by bobw</DIV> Excellent, now we are getting somewhere.  Thank you for your thoughts Bob.  On the raging; it was just too general.  I watched NBC nightly news merge with entertainment tonight.  I wasn't dissapointed I was pissed, am pissed.  It is an assult on our democracy, the foundation being a well informed people.  Many reporters/mass media folk/professors hate it just as much as we do.  Some are friends/colleagues, thus my sensitivity to this subject.Ok now the good stuff:  The astronauts boyfriend ... chuck it in the bin labled "no such thing as bad press"I get the message... It's yellow journalism plain and simple.Mission PAOs...handing me the story.  No. well maybe...  Good critique bob. I thinking more like a mission liason.  The rift/animosity that was/is expressed here, exists in the real world as well.(that sounds funny...it's late sorry) NASA needs to go offensive/pro-active.  If I was a PAO official (who had the time/resource) I would be courtingthe big news organizations/TV networks Discovery etc.  "catch more bees with honey..."People not dumb...  Sounds funny but it is very important.  thank you bob I want NASA to engage them full on, in as many ways possible! TV is BS ... I'm not insulted, lol I should watch less for just that reason! I proclaimed to my girlfriend recently "by 2012 we will be able to watch the shows we like on the internet, and not pay DISH anymore, but we will have to watch commercials again...",  "we'll see" she said while writing the check to DISH. The HBO show..  Haven't seen it, I will.   I have seen the Discovery/NASA series "When We left Earth"  an excellent example of NASA+mass media=goodtouchy feely...  I have really been wrestling with this one.  How do we turn that to NASA's advantage?  I don't know about the "sominex reference"  The Korean astronaut story I'd buy.  If I were comming home on souyuz(just thinking about it makes my skin tingle), I'd be excited and fearfull.  A couple of good bumps would wipe that smile right off my face.<img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /><img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-surprised.gif" border="0" alt="Surprised" title="Surprised" />Thanks for your thoughts Bob, they are very much appreciated!more! more!   eric <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> www.watchnasatv.com ONE PERCENT FOR NASA! </div>

thor06 · Jun 28, 2008

First of all Thor, tanks for responding in detail, it was most helpful, and I think the discussion has progressed as a result.My question is, perhaps given your media experience, can you give us some tips on how to handle/write for/respond to the media?I think it is important for the rest of us to realise the constraints that media people have to operate under.  Onstraints of time, length, comprehensibility, and marketability.  Not to mention competitive pressures from other organisations.I have had a lot of interaction with the media over Mars stuff, and generally people on the ground have been very good.  Errors are normally brought in higher up in the food chain.  In my experience weekly and monthly media is best, followed by newspaers and radios.  TV is the most diffficult and frustrating.  It can take a whole day out of a busy program to film a 5 minute story.regardsJon Thank you for the kind words and understanding.   It's now really late, so I will craft a response tomorrow.  I mean later today<img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-tongue-out.gif" border="0" alt="Tongue out" title="Tongue out" />.  This could be the beginning of something wonderful.  Yup, bedtime starting to blubber.best regards eric  <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> www.watchnasatv.com ONE PERCENT FOR NASA! </div>

bobble_bob · Jun 28, 2008

Posted this in the mission thread but will put in here aswell/ There was a picture of the ISS in one of the newspapers in the UK, with the headline "The ISS taken by Discovery as they seperated yesterday". This headline was printed just short of 1 week after it had landedHave we all missed something and Discovery went back up there without us all knowing <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-surprised.gif" border="0" alt="Surprised" title="Surprised" /> Getting it wrong is one thing, getting it totally wrong is another. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

MeteorWayne · Jun 28, 2008

Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Posted this in the mission thread but will put in here aswell/ There was a picture of the ISS in one of the newspapers in the UK, with the headline "The ISS taken by Discovery as they seperated yesterday". This headline was printed just short of 1 week after it had landedHave we all missed something and Discovery went back up there without us all knowing  Getting it wrong is one thing, getting it totally wrong is another. Posted by bobble_bob</DIV> Hi thor06, hope you'll let me into your thread to explain myself in more detail <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" />Thanx for starting this thread. It's been a sore subject with me for a while, I probably started something on it back in the uplink days bit it didn't get much action.There's some very smart folks here, and there seems to be some interest, so I suspect it will be very useful.Part of my venting about the media is out of my personal frustration as well. I began news reporting back in 1970 at my college radio station, and continued that for more than 20 years. I'm a news junkie. I subscribe to 2 daily newspapers, buy the Tuesday NYTimes for Science times, 2 weekly newspapers, 2 Astronomy mags, Science , Nature, Scientific American (I have 45 year's worth in my basement), Science News, Discovery, 3 weathar mags, etc...But I have high standards for news reporting, and the dumbing down of reporting saddens me greatly.I've been consulted on a few dozen articles in local newspapers; about 20% are by good reporters who listen and learn, and make the effort to grasp the subject and write a superb article. I always write and thank them for their efforts and copy the editor.Another 40% manage to get the quotes right, but don't understand what they are writing about.The rest don't care,. they are just taking up space in the newspaper.That's  not a very good percentage.I am frustrated by the people who get to ask questions at the Phoenix News Conferences, Shuttle News conferences, etc. Ususally there are a few who know something about the subject, while the rest are asking questions that extract no useful information, or are asked just so they can say they asked one. Even some "famous" network space correspondents are infamous for asking vapid questions.Now it may well be that the newtork or newspaper sent an unqualified reporter, so that gets to the "top of the food chain" issue. But shouldn't a reporter have enough basic knowledge of the subject to understand what is being said?I guess I'm a dreamer...I do a lot to try an popularize science. I teach adult education classes in Astronomy, write the NAMN newsletter and articles for the NJAA newsletter, and make guest appearences on the NYC CBS radio station and the local cable channel insert into CNN Headline News.I can do more, and as a result of the furstrations noted above, will do more.This is mostly in response to your first point, I'll address the others in followup posts, when I have time for a thoughtful reply. And i'll be back to this point more when I've had a chance to let it ferment in my brain for a bit of time. For now, I have to check the news!! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id. I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function </div>

bobble_bob · Jun 28, 2008

My current annoyance in the media is the way they report UFO sightings. Not sure if people outside the UK know this, but we have had a few sightings this past week, and from credible sources such as the military. Every time the media report it they talk about UFO's and how aliens are invading the country. I dont think Hollywood films help either, as a UFO and talking about "do aliens exist" are 2 totally separate things. Just seem to be a general rule by the media that UFO = little green aliens, when infact anyone with half a brain cell knows that a UFO by definition is anything that cannot be identified.Ive given up now hoping the media will report good science/space news. Its a big shame that people dont know that right above them people are building the ISS and risking their lives doing so, but the same people know what Britney had for breakfast for example <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

thor06 · Jun 28, 2008

Hi MW!   I have been busy today sorry for the delay.    Hi thor06, hope you'll let me into your thread to explain myself in more detail     MWYou're funny!  It is an honor.  I have been the beneficiary of your knowledge/info/updates for a long time.  IMO you are the "mentor" of this forum, and a good one!  You encourage and nurture, all the while feeding us updates and scribble notes.  Which BTW were a dead givaway to your reporting background.Part of my venting about the media is out of my personal frustration as well. I began news reporting back in 1970 at my college radio station, and continued that for more than 20 years. I'm a news junkie. I subscribe to 2 daily newspapers, buy the Tuesday NYTimes for Science times, 2 weekly newspapers, 2 Astronomy mags, Science , Nature, Scientific American (I have 45 year's worth in my basement), Science News, Discovery, 3 weathar mags, etc...    MW   I had a hunch your frustration was more personal.  The vast amount of information you digest  gives me pause, and sheds light on how you are able to have such an informed opinion on so many subjects.  I too did the news for my college radio station, and worked for the newspaper.I just did ads though, for the paper, back then I was an engineering student.  Later my passion for news won out and I changed to journalism, concentrating on mass media and society as an academic pursuit.  The consolidation of media ownership and susequent "dumbing down", is a personal nightmare.  The consequences are really dire. I'll leave it at that for now. I do a lot to try an popularize science. I teach adult education classes in Astronomy, write the NAMN newsletter and articles for the NJAA newsletter, and make guest appearences on the NYC CBS radio station and the local cable channel insert into CNN Headline News.I can do more, and as a result of the furstrations noted above, will do more.  MW My first reaction is; Wow, you do more than enough already!  But, you are in a great position to do a lot of good.  So, thanks and more power to you! eric  <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> www.watchnasatv.com ONE PERCENT FOR NASA! </div>

thor06 · Jun 28, 2008

Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Posted this in the mission thread but will put in here aswell/ There was a picture of the ISS in one of the newspapers in the UK, with the headline "The ISS taken by Discovery as they seperated yesterday". This headline was printed just short of 1 week after it had landedHave we all missed something and Discovery went back up there without us all knowing  Getting it wrong is one thing, getting it totally wrong is another. Posted by bobble_bob</DIV>hi bob,   When they get it that wrong I have to laugh.  Did you contact them?  If not in the future you should.  There is at least a chance they will be more careful next time.  Was it this photo?  The timing seems right. http://watchnasatv.com/wntv/wallpaper.html Great picture BTW! My current annoyance in the media is the way they report UFO sightings. Not sure if people outside the UK know this, but we have had a few sightings this past week, and from credible sources such as the military. Every time the media report it they talk about UFO's and how aliens are invading the country. I dont think Hollywood films help either, as a UFO and talking about "do aliens exist" are 2 totally separate things.  Bob Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard about this I think.  The report was there was a party, and they released chinese lanterns(a simple hot air ballon of sorts)  It was the lanterns people were seeing, or maybe this is why you are upset? AS far as the media and UFO's; IMO it's a mixed bag.  The reports of invasion, are in trash rags right? Or, are you talking about TV news teasers;  "aliens invade country, news at 11"  If it's the former, who cares.  If it's the latter, that's what they feel thay have to do to, forgive me, to put asses in seats. "the ratings game"As an aside:  I have had my run-ins with the UFO community on you tube, again it's a mixed bag of enthusiasts, debunkers, and out right wackos.  I fall somewhere between enthusiast and debunker.  The Rendlesham forest incident is intriguing, and any time there is a pilot sighting with radar contact, my ears perk up.  The bottom line however has changed little.  IMO Until such time as we have real proof, the rational conclusion is; no visitors.The NASA relationship with the UFO community is.... well there is none.  Many feel like NASA is withholding information.  NASA basicaly says no we are not, no go away!  There might be an opportunity here.  The UFO you tube videos crush "NASA videos" in views probably 10,000 to 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9runNgtTb0Type NASA into the you tube search and you will see what I mean. When I first started my You tube channel, this really made me angry.  I even tried to debunk some of these but later gave up.   IMO many are young people who want to believe.  I suppose there is no harm in that.If we can come up with some ways to get the UFO community into the NASA fold, there could be some tangible benifits.  I'm open minded.cheers boberic  <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> www.watchnasatv.com ONE PERCENT FOR NASA! </div>

MeteorWayne · Jun 28, 2008

Eric, just FYI the Cardiff UK incident has a thread in "The Unexplained"There's a link to some video showing the lanterns as the helicopter approached them It's pretty sad that these professional pilots were so easily fooled. Maybe I shouldn't be so tough on reporting.... Naaaah, yes I should!<img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-innocent.gif" border="0" alt="Innocent" title="Innocent" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id. I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function </div>

thor06 · Jun 28, 2008

Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Eric, just FYI the Cardiff UK incident has a thread in "The Unexplained"There's a link to some video showing the lanterns as the helicopter approached them It's pretty sad that these professional pilots were so easily fooled. Maybe I shouldn't be so tough on reporting.... Naaaah, yes I should! Posted by MeteorWayne</DIV>lol, stay tough, nothing wrong with calling a duck a duck! Thanks for the link MW, I'll check it out.I'm currently working and reworking a response to Jon's question.   eric   <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> www.watchnasatv.com ONE PERCENT FOR NASA! </div>

bobble_bob · Jun 29, 2008

Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>hi bob,   When they get it that wrong I have to laugh.  Did you contact them?  If not in the future you should.  There is at least a chance they will be more careful next time.  Was it this photo?  The timing seems right. http://watchnasatv.com/wntv/wallpaper.html Great picture BTW! </DIV>HiThe picture they used was http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/247320main_iss_full.jpg which just so happens to be my desktop wallpaper. I didnt comtact them, but i will in future when they get something so wrong like this.Another paper also reported on the ice on Mars findings with Pheonix, but this report was a full week after i had read about it on various websites. Least it was reported eventually though! i tend not to read science reports in newspapers now, i can find more reliable information and better reported information on these forums <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

neuvik · Jul 29, 2008

Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>The avatar:    I'll change it soon enough, but comments like this:  Most of us regular users would prefer to see all political discussions in regards to presidential candidates off this thread, and that includes making a current presidential candidate your avatar. by the exoscientist that suggest exclusivity will not make it happen any faster.  I assure you, I don't see him as "my socialist messiah".    Posted by thor06</DIV>He is probably trying to prevent the more scientific discussions from being over run by political warfare.  Nothing more than that. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> I don't think I'm alone when I say, "I hope more planets fall under the ruthless domination of Earth!"SDC Boards: Power by PLuck - Ph**king Luck </div>

nimbus · Jul 29, 2008

The racist accusation in that other thread was off-base.   And I agree that that avatar is just going to attract unwanted complications while doing no good for any discussion outside of the open forum. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

MeteorWayne · Jul 30, 2008

Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Which I admit is wordy and strays off topic, but they are responses to issues raised in the thread.  Did anyone reply to the on topic stuff? no What I recieved was this jewel: Pheonix is having some problems I see. Also coming out of Lurkdom to say this,  Keep your stupid Nasa Hating Socialist messiah out of the Pheonix Discussion. He hates manned Nasa flights, and would rather see the money go towards midnight basketball programs in harlem or something. Posted by stupidlaminatedrockWhile this in itself does not constitute a problem, the fact that I was the only one outraged suggests complicity.Does this person speak for you? Is he saying what many of you think?My point ; this kind of closed minded thinking is not helping anyone, not McCain, not space.com, and certianly not NASA. The avatar:    I'll change it soon enough, but comments like this:  </DIV>thor, glad this thread is here so we can discuss it where the discussion DOES belong.You committed an easy to do, hard to resist thing, by reponding to the other person's stupid post in that thread. The best thing to do is ignore it in the thread, and report it. You note it was removed fairly quickly, IIRC.That's what I did. Any continued discussion of the subject in the Phoenix thread WAS off topic, and diluted the subject. I was just as outraged as you were, but that was not the place to discuss it.You took it as me addressing you about the off topic comments. That was not the case. I accidently left your reply in there, which I have corrected. I apologize for that as it led to the misunderstanding between us. It was meant as a statement to ALL participants to keep the thread about Phoenix. I mean jeez it's a big enough thread (>1300 posts),  we don't need unrelated stuff in there.If Pluck had PM's like every other forum software out there, we would have had the conversation offline immediately so there would have been no misunderstanding. I'm sorry it went down the way it did. As for why I butted in, the Mods are proabably as frustrated as the rest of the users are, so don't check in as often. I was trying to save the thread, which I think was a good thing.I was honestly just trying to exorcize the off topic discussion, which was dangerously close to becoming an unrelated flame war. Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Most of us regular users would prefer to see all political discussions in regards to presidential candidates off this thread, and that includes making a current presidential candidate your avatar. by the exoscientist that suggest exclusivity will not make it happen any faster.  I assure you, I don't see him as "my socialist messiah".    Posted by thor06</DIV>That statement is 100% correct. In a thread dedicated to a mission, THAT'S what we want to talk about in there. My advice: Don't let a troll bait you

That's my 2 cents on that incident.Now I'll go back and reread the last few posts in this thread and comment later when I have some time to think about it Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id. I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function </div>

nimbus · Jul 30, 2008

Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I don't care where I am or in whatever thread, I take a firm stand, delcaring outrage at such a racist statment.  The fact that few others have done so, as I said suggests complicity, he said what others are thinking.  This is supported by this statement: Obama's picture will " attract unwanted complications" really?  That is just sad..sad sad sad.   Posted by thor06</DIV>No, not really.. It happened just like I said, so it's obvious what I said won't really happen.  I don't remember seeing anything racist in any comment meant for you.  I did see the usual very polarized political flaming, but there was nothing racist about it.  Regardless of my political position, you're coming off as a very very touchy guy with a very very strong bias for one of the candidates, and you're even wearing that candidate's mug on your sleeve, which is bound to attract flames.  There's nothing racist about pointing that out.You sound like that other user who came stomping in to the physics forum a while back, complaining about some petty bickering that had happened in another physics forum that no one had heard about, and demanding that something be done about it.  You're forcing political matters unrelated to scientific topics, during the run up to an election that's breaking the all-time mud throwing records, and wonder why it's causing trouble.I mean, look at this: " The reality is quite different. We basically went through this before. The "clique" reply to each other at least daily. "hey andrew how are you...." "hi MW feeling sick today...." "so sorry hope you feel better...." all with in the "pure science" phoenix thread. There is nothing pure about it, you all go off topic when ever it suits you(sorry but you 2 are the best example). It makes people jealous,"Say what? Sounds like you're just way too thin skinned to stand other people who know each other talking like good friends without including you. The nerve of them!

Side jokes and word play and greetings are nowhere near comparable to off-topic political food fights.   <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

thor06 · Aug 6, 2008

You know what.... your right on both counts.  I should not have mentioned Obama, though my intent was only to say that Obama may come around on NASA funding and direction.  It was a mistake, and poorly worded.  I apologize.Thin skinned while true, I suppose "sensitve" would be a nicer way of putting it.  I expected too much from people I don't even really know.  Again my mistake.  I apologize to andrew and MW if I offended.Finally I deleted the dribble post, embarrasing, and I know better than to get emotionally involved. eric  <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> www.watchnasatv.com ONE PERCENT FOR NASA! </div>

thor06 · Aug 6, 2008

I was happy to see the folks in the Phoenix thread were quick to see the rumor for what it was.  There was no science team briefing the white house.  The varing rants against the media were funny and expected.The truth of the matter IMO:  Little Phoenix got 3 days in the news cycle.  I think it has had more media coverage in the short time it has been on Mars than Cassini has had in 4 years! Plenty of big news outlets at the impromptu audio briefing.<img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" />It almost seemed crafted...As if there was a media strategist at work.  Though truthfully, I believe it was just a rumor/mixup/screwup.  3 days in the news cycle, free of charge, works for me.  No such thing as bad press.  <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> www.watchnasatv.com ONE PERCENT FOR NASA! </div>

Testing · Aug 6, 2008

I posted this link before but it is appropriate here. Bypass the media. And talk back to the author.http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/newui/blog/blogs.jsp  <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

NASA and the Media

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