A second helping of astro-hype

re: A second helping of astro-hype

Daniel Pendick — Sat, 24 May 2008 12:59:37 GMT

Thanks, kurtisw. Interesting points. I understand the need to be ready to release information, but in this case, and in an increasing number of others, the feeling of the thing has changed. Back in the day -- I've been feeding at the trough of press releases since 1992 -- is was indeed about releasing information and resources we needed to cover the story. Now it seems more about engineering fake news events. I noticed that one of the PPT slides released for the teleconference, for us reporters to look at while the scientists spoke, the astronomer (Alicia Soderberg) was pasted right into the slide alongside the data! How strange.

As for Nature, I have nothing good to say about their embargo policy. Best that I just shut my mouth before I hurt someone's feelings.

re: A second helping of astro-hype

kurtisw — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:15:20 GMT

I agree with you that this particular event was overhyped. But as a professional astronomer who's put out a press release some time after publishing on arXiv, I'd strongly argue that such a practice is not bad form in and of itself.

There are many reasons why we might put out a press release after the preprint has been released. Sometimes (such as with Nature), the journal institutes an embargo, and they put a LOT of pressure on us not to talk about the discovery in advance. Sometimes there are many institutions involved, and it takes a while to coordinate press offices. And sometimes (as is our case), we just weren't ready, so we timed the press release to coincide with the official publication.

ArXiv is a way for us to rapidly share our research with other professionals, and is not viewed by most of us as an ideal way to share our research with the general public (though anyone is welcome to read it!).

I do agree that some press releases (especially many from NASA and Nature) are over-hyped, and that annoys me and most of my colleagues. But the hype does mean money and public support...

re: A second helping of astro-hype

Antitax — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:07:33 GMT

They can behave childishly for people who handle expensive equipment, the latest technology and prestigious jobs. Competence does not guarantee maturity. They are separate fields. Because one has the former does not mean one has the latter. Still, their real scientific achievement matters more than how they display it.