# The news media are going to ruin the eclipse for millions of people
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [July 26, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171 "2017-07-26T15:53:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/1 "2017-07-26T15:53:35Z")
Seemingly every article I read advises everyone to wear eye protection, implying they should do so even during totality. Nooo! You will totally miss the corona! You may as well not even bother.
I assume most of those traveling long distances will know better; but this eclipse cuts a very unusual swath coast to coast, and residents along the way will have their experience ruined by this bullshit. Just as bad, they may tell others not to bother traveling or taking off work for the other eclipses coming in the next few years. “Don’t waste your time, I was excited but it was a total letdown.” Uggghhh.
All because the media don’t trust their readers to understand a slightly more complicated safety warning. :mad:
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### Author:  [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/2 "2017-07-26T15:56:06Z")
They have to dumb it down like that. Give too many details or facts, and the average idiot won’t understand it. Then they’ll sue YOU because THEY were too stupid to live.
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### Author:  [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/3 "2017-07-26T16:23:09Z")
But what about the many people who could understand, but will be misled?
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### Author:  [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/4 "2017-07-26T16:30:26Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#):
>
> But what about the many people who could understand, but will be misled?
More importantly (to the media outlets), what about the many lawsuits against media outlets for allegedly misleading the many people who are too dumb to understand instructions more complicated than “put on your eye protection and leave it on.”?
Seriously. Media can’t risk that level of liability. Dumb people can sue, too, and do so with disheartening regularity. Too dumb to protect their eyes, not too dumb to play the litigation lotto.
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### Author:  [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/5 "2017-07-26T16:49:34Z")
But driving is much more complicated, and we hand out licenses every day!
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/6 "2017-07-26T20:25:10Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#):
>
> But driving is much more complicated, and we hand out licenses every day!
To which one can only respond: :eek:
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### Author:  [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/7 "2017-07-26T20:52:06Z")
I was in Reading, PA for the [March 1970](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_March_7,_1970) eclipse and made a [pinhole viewer](https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/box-pinhole-projector.html). I went out at the start of the eclipse and no one else was in our apartment complex’s parking lot. Not too surprising since there’s not a lot to see, yet.
I want back out 45 minutes later where there was a pretty big bite out of the sun. The sky was quite a bit darker, and still no one.
I went out again at maximum, about 96%, and the sky was really dark, the birds had stopped singing, etc. Still not a soul. Either the others in the complex were a really incurious bunch (entirely possible in Berks county) or they’d gotten the impression the actinic rays of an eclipsed sun would strike you down even if you didn’t look at it.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/8 "2017-07-26T21:02:49Z")
> [@DesertDog](#):
>
> …or they’d gotten the impression the actinic rays of an eclipsed sun would strike you down even if you didn’t look at it.
I was on the island of Guadeloupe in 1998, and all the kids were warned to stay indoors with blinds and curtains drawn, _for the entire day._
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### Author:  [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/9 "2017-07-26T22:09:39Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> I was on the island of Guadeloupe in 1998, and all the kids were warned to stay indoors with blinds and curtains drawn, _for the entire day._
Now that’s just _mean_!
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/10 "2017-07-26T22:19:32Z")
Well _pfft_. Can’t we just get some spotlights out here so that we can see it better?
😛
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### Author:  [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/11 "2017-07-26T22:54:41Z")
I’m not sure the science is really settled on whether there will be an eclipse in the first place.
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/12 "2017-07-26T23:06:12Z")
Well, they were trying to burn me to death on the day of the last eclipse, and I told them to let me go or I would blot out the sun, and it totally worked.
– the Boss
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### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/13 "2017-07-26T23:18:40Z")
Then there are those that have to ask if it’s okay to look at a _lunar_ eclipse.
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### Author:  [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/14 "2017-07-26T23:21:51Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#):
>
> Then there are those that have to ask if it’s okay to look at a _lunar_ eclipse.
Absolutely not. You’ll turn into a wolf and start chasing cars, peeing on hydrants, etc.
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### Author:  [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/15 "2017-07-26T23:54:47Z")
It’s times like these that make me really miss Bill Hicks.
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### Author:  [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/16 "2017-07-27T00:45:51Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#):
>
> Seemingly every article I read advises everyone to wear eye protection, implying they should do so even during totality. Nooo! You will totally miss the corona! You may as well not even bother.
>
> I assume most of those traveling long distances will know better; but this eclipse cuts a very unusual swath coast to coast, and residents along the way will have their experience ruined by this bullshit. Just as bad, they may tell others not to bother traveling or taking off work for the other eclipses coming in the next few years. “Don’t waste your time, I was excited but it was a total letdown.” Uggghhh.
>
> All because the media don’t trust their readers to understand a slightly more complicated safety warning. :mad:
Can you cite or quote one or more of these warnings? Everything I have seen has said that the protective gear is not needed during the complete eclipse. Given the millions of people who will be able to only see the partial eclipse, some warnings would appear to be appropriate.
As to wearing the glasses during the complete eclipse, they will still be able to see the corona (if somewhat marred) and I suspect that when the complete eclipse occurs, they will take off the glasses just to keep from falling on their faces. (To say nothing of the fact that most of them will be surrounded by crowds that will include people who can explain why they do not need protection for the one and a half to two and a half minutes of the full eclipse.)
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### Author:  [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2017, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/17 "2017-07-27T01:05:21Z")
I wonder if people would trust someone in a crowd telling them “it’s fine” vs. the impression they had from seemingly authoritative media sources.
The proximate cause of my spleen-venting was Vox:
> **[A solar eclipse is coming to America. Here’s what you’ll see where you live.](https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/7/25/16019892/solar-eclipse-2017-interactive-map)**
>
> Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. In text, video and audio, our reporters explain politics, policy, world affairs, technology,...
> [@](#):
>
> Just be careful: Even on eclipse day, it’s not safe to stare directly into the sun without special viewing glasses.
But it is definitely not the first time I’ve seen articles take this approach. Which of course is technically correct (due to the use of “day”) but misleading.
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### Author:  [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/18 "2017-07-27T01:18:21Z")
Most folks won’t be on the “Path of Totality”, therefore advising no direct viewing isn’t a bad thing.
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### Author:  [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2017, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/19 "2017-07-27T01:29:48Z")
meh
The same site says
> [@](#):
>
> During the partial eclipse phases, and even through the eclipse’s “Baily’s beads” and “diamond ring” phases — when you can see the last bits of sun peeking through the craters of the moon — you need eye protection. **You can only take the protective glasses off when the moon has completely covered the sun during totality.**
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### Author:  [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2017, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-media-are-going-to-ruin-the-eclipse-for-millions-of-people/792171/20 "2017-07-27T01:37:00Z")
It’s a bad thing for the millions who will be in the path and will miss out! Here in Missouri where I live, we have a huge share of that group. But here’s another frustration: the schools in my town, including a prominent state university, are holding classes that day. The university is sponsoring eclipse activities, but they are all here in town, where it will be a 98% partial eclipse! Lame.
They should have waited a day or two, as so many students come from three metro areaa that will have totality in at least part of the metro: St. Louis, Columbia, and Kansas City. Or they could pile interested students into buses and drive an hour south. I talked about this to the guy organizing the activities, and his response was “98% is close enough for me”, as though there is only a slight quantitative difference and not a fundamental qualitative one. Idiot.
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