[meteorite-list] Darryl's edited NYT letter

From: Meteorites USA <eric_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:05:15 -0700
Message-ID: <4DA4B07B.20308_at_meteoritesusa.com>

All this "negative" talk about the "negative" talk Adam, doesn't help
either.

Doing nothing, accomplishes nothing. If we keep our mouths shut, the
media tramples us with non-facts, and the uninformed public will believe
it.

We have a duty to the meteorite world to publish scientifically correct
information and rebuttals and to keep it truthful and factual.

Regards,
Eric


On 4/12/2011 12:57 PM, Adam Hupe wrote:
> I agree with what Rob said about changing the context even slightly.
>
> I think it best to avoid all forms of media these days, good or bad. Grave talk
> of land-owner swindles, smuggling, black markets, fraud and lawsuits we have
> been exposed to lately in the press has already done an untold amount of
> damage. It is unlikely that this avocation can survive much more of this.
>
> The damage is real, accumulates over time and can't be done overnight.
>
> Adam
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: "Matson, Robert D."<ROBERT.D.MATSON at saic.com>
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Sent: Tue, April 12, 2011 12:40:15 PM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Darryl's edited NYT letter
>
> Hi All,
>
> The main problem with the Times' editing of Darryl's submission is that
> they altered his factually correct letter into an inaccurate (or at
> best,
> misleading) one. The following sentences appeared in the Times' edited
> version:
>
> "As a result of the harvesting done by Bedouins, Berbers and others, 32
> specimens from Mars and 43 specimens from the Moon have been discovered
> in the deserts since the mid-1990s. The number of such specimens
> recovered by scientists beforehand? Not one. Since the mid-1990s?
> Just four."
>
> Now compare this with what Darryl actually submitted:
>
> " ... as a result of the harvesting done by Bedouins, Berbers and
> others,
> 32 istinct specimens of Mars and 43 distinct specimens of the Moon, as
> well as other exotic samples, have been discovered in the hot deserts
> since the mid-1990s---all of which have undergone study. Conversely, not
> one such specimen was recovered by scientists IN THESE REGIONS [emphasis
> mine] before this time, and since then scientists have recovered only
> four such specimens."
>
> This significant error of omission invites researchers "in-the-know" to
> accuse Darryl of being uninformed, and by inference unfairly calling
> into question his credentials for opining on the subject. This is the
> problem with journalists uneducated in scientific disciplines -- they
> don't appreciate the nuances introduced by the seemingly harmless
> removal of a word here, or a short phrase there. The sciences are not
> like prose: every word is usually there for a reason.
>
> --Rob
>
>
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Received on Tue 12 Apr 2011 04:05:15 PM PDT