Dear cnn, part 2
In case you missed it, the sad news of the week was that Mr. Wizard (a.k.a. Don Herbert) passed away. In a previous post I wondered where the next great public figure would emerge who would excite students about science. Although Neil deGrasse Tyson is showing good promise, he's confined a little too much to the stars. Mr. Wizard sent countless kids running into their kitchens to do science and I think we need that again.
I seem to pick on cnn a lot, but they earn it. If you've checked out the beta version of their new look then you might be dismayed to see that science no longer merits a banner title. Clearly my previous letter to cnn (see below a few posts back) was as useless as an amplifier that goes to 11. So I wrote another one:
"Dear CNN,
I recently wrote a brief letter encouraging cnn.com to better represent scientific news. Archaeology, paleontology and astronomy, while interesting, seem to dominate the content of science reporting by CNN and do little to showcase the tremendous progress made by scientists to advance human knowledge and to solve problems in the public's interest.
I write this note because I am sorry to see the omission of a 'Science' banner title in the beta page of the new CNN.com. I wish to encourage you to add a permanent science link to your banner. If there is room for 'travel', I think there's room for 'science'.
I am pleased to see the article on the front page on the development of a new standard kilogram. Was this an exception or the start of a new trend in informing the public on meaningful scientific progress?"