[meteorite-list] MediaWrongs and Fixing the Same.

From: Darryl Pitt <darryl_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:01:06 -0500
Message-ID: <E1C4FD70-9A76-407E-B350-F9BE7339C9F8_at_dof3.com>

Folks, I want to briefly mention the importance of immediately
reaching out to the media when they get the story wrong.

When I saw the following piece (which Darren also provided below), I
contacted AP and explained their story was inaccurate: I informed AP
the Willamette meteorite did not fall billions---or even millions---
of years ago and the auction, with 92% sell-through and more than 50%
of the objects selling for more than the HIGH estimate was factually
misrepresented by the headline "Meteorites Get Little Action at
Auction."

And after being able to prove the inaccuracies, they changed both
points on deadline. If you click on Darren's link below you'll
notice the edits which were made to the text which he embedded in the
email.

More than two hundred news stories distributed throughout the world
were about to mischaracterize the vibrancy in the state of meteorite
collecting---and AP sent out a correction to all subscribers.

Gratefully the headline was modified in most cases to read "2
Meteorites Get Little Auction at Auction." instead of the headline
below "Meteorites Get Little Action at Auction,"---an extremely
different message as it regards the outcome of yesterday's auction.

When the media gets facts of our beloved interest wrong---quickly
help them get it right.


All best,

Darryl



Begin forwarded message:

> From: Darren Garrison <cynapse at charter.net>
> Date: October 28, 2007 9:50:00 PM EST
> To: Meteorite Mailing List <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Subject: [meteorite-list] More on the auction
> Reply-To: cynapse at charter.net
>
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/28/
> AR2007102801211.html
>
> Meteorites Get Little Action at Auction
>
> By RICHARD PYLE
> The Associated Press
> Sunday, October 28, 2007; 7:47 PM
>
>
>
> NEW YORK -- Two of the world's most famous meteorites failed to
> attract buyers
> at an auction Sunday, while an ordinary metal mailbox zapped by a
> falling space
> rock in 1984 was sold for the unearthly price of nearly $83,000.
>
> A 30-pound chunk of the Willamette Meteorite, which was found in
> Oregon in 1902
> and has been steeped in ownership controversies for more than a
> century, was
> offered by Bonhams auction house at an estimated value of $1.3
> million but was
> withdrawn from sale after bidding ended at $300,000.
>
> Similarly, the 1,410-pound Brenham Main Mass, dug out of a Kansas
> farm field in
> 2005, was withdrawn by Bonhams CEO and auctioneer Malcolm Barber
> after it drew a
> top bid of only $200,000 _ well short of the pre-sale estimate of
> $630,000 to
> $700,000.
>
> In both cases the sellers, who were present, said they weren't
> worried because
> potential purchasers were known to be interested in the
> extraterrestrial rocks
> even though they may not have joined the bidding.
>
> "I'm disappointed, but it was not through any lack of effort," said
> Philip Mani,
> a San Antonio lawyer and geologist who is one of three owners of
> the Brenham
> meteorite, along with Steve Arnold, who found it, and Allen
> Binford, who owns
> the wheat field near Greensburg, Kan., where it was discovered.
>
> "We are in the process of putting together a plan, and we have a
> number of
> inquiries from people expressing interest."
>
> The entire 15.5-ton Willamette Meteorite has been owned by the
> American Museum
> of Natural History since 1908, with pieces loaned or given to other
> collectors
> from time to time.
>
> The small piece was offered at auction by Darryl Pitt, curator of
> the Macovich
> Collection, the world's largest collection of space rocks, who
> traded the museum
> a Martian rock for the Willamette chip in 1998.
>
> The fact that it went unsold was "not really a surprise," Pitt
> said, adding that
> he also expected a lot of interest from prospective buyers.
>
> Having sold several other rocks, including a Siberian meteorite _ a
> product of
> history's largest known meteor shower _ for the day's top price of
> $122,750, he
> called the auction "not a bad day. It shows there is a lot of
> interest in
> meteorites."
>
> The couple who bought the Siberian rock declined to identify
> themselves.
>
> Scientists believe the huge Willamette meteorite, the largest ever
> found in
> North America, crashed billions of years ago in what is now Canada
> and was
> pushed southward by glaciers before it was discovered in an area
> occupied by
> Oregon's Clackamas Indians.
>
> The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, which includes the
> Clackamas, has
> objected to the auction of the 30-pound fragment. The tribe
> believes the
> meteorite is a sacred object that was sent to Earth by the Sky
> People; demands
> for its return to the group have been refused.
>
> "I don't know what to say about their claim," Pitt said after the
> auction.
>
> Among the more than 50 meteorites, moon rocks and other items that
> Bonhams
> auctioned off for a total of $750,000, a surprise star was a
> mailbox that had
> sat outside the home of Carutha Barnard in Claxton, Ga., until it
> was blasted
> one night in 1984 by a three-pound rock from outer space.
>
> In spirited bidding, the mailbox _ somewhat the worse for the
> experience but
> with its red metal flag still bravely in the "up" position _ went
> to an
> unidentified bidder for $82,750 including the buyer's premium of 20
> percent. A
> tiny piece of the rock itself, less than an ounce, went for $7,700.
>
> The Valera Meteorite, noteworthy as the only space rock documented
> to have
> caused a fatality on Earth, was sold for $1,554. Its victim in 1972
> was a cow in
> Venezuela.
>
> ? 2007 The Associated Press
>
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Received on Mon 29 Oct 2007 11:01:06 AM PDT