http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/news-release/releases/2001/h01-232.htm
I saw this news story (ok, one like it) linked on these message boards a week ago. It, frankly, blew me away. I mean, more so than an announcement or discovery within the scientific community would. That shooting star display last month? Feh. We were bound to run into some wayward rocks sooner or later. But this…this…I don’t know why, but it really sparked my imagination. In a “the future is now” sort of way because we truly are living in a science fiction novel and we’re just taking it for granted.
But if it weren’t for the SDMB, I would have never known about it. Why? Because mainstream media all but ignored it! We have discovered another planet 150 light years away and we’ve determined if it can or can’t support life (as we know it). How in the world isn’t this big news? But apparently it isn’t.
Well, I work on the editorial board of the school newspaper and I wanted to do my part to make sure people knew about this. Tonight, after the meeting, I asked who the news editor was. I was directed to the campus editor, who works on the news section.
I introduced myself and said “I have a news story I think you’d be interested in. You may be able to get something off the AP wire. See, last week scientists used the Hubble telescope to determine the atmosphere of a planet 150 light years from here.”
He looked at me strangely and said, “The Hubble? I thought that was broken.”
OK, this really isn’t starting off well here. “No,” I said “They fixed it awhile ago. Just a few corrections and it’s up and working again.”
“ah, ok…” he said, I think hoping to end the conversation.
“Well, you see, it’s been pretty much ignored by all the news.”
“Well…there has been a war going on.”
“True, true,” I said, trying to figure if two plus two still equals four. “But, there are still other things to report on and I thought you’d be interested in this.”
“I don’t understand. What does this have to do with campus?”
At this point I remember that he’s just the campus editor, though I thought he might actually be interested in a few things outside our shell of a world.
“Well, is there a news editor I can speak with? I was directed to you, but maybe you’re not the right one to speak with on this.”
“I’m the highest ranking person here right now.”
At this point, the logical thing to do would be say “Thank you,” and come back at another time. Instead, I persisted.
“I just think that this is a really important discovery and maybe we should put something in the paper.”
“If it’s so important, why haven’t other newspapers reported on it?”
AHHHH!!! WHAT KIND OF LOGIC IS THAT? Because they’re all idiots, maybe. Or they think no one would ever find discovering an alien world outside our solar system the least bit exciting. That’s what we’re here for. We determine what is important and pass it on to the reader. If everyone waited to find out what everyone else thought was important, no news would ever run.
“Well, they did report it. It just wasn’t that well publicized is all.”
At that point the conversation broke down. We somehow got on the topic of Jerry Springer through God knows what leap of logic.
But the conversation wasn’t the worst part. No, the worst part was how he was looking at me. It’s hard to describe but it was mostly pity I think. Pity that I would waste his valuable time talking to him about this. Pity because he saw me as some sort of fan-fic writing, pasty skinned, living in mom’s basement uber geek. This isn’t Star Trek, it’s freaking real life. Right here. Right now. I’m sorry you can’t see that.
So you don’t want to run my story. Fine. Wonderful. But that look…that look. Tomorrow I’m going back into the newsroom. I’m talking with the news editor. I’m going to get a story run on it if I have to write it myself. I’ll do it just to spite you.
