[meteorite-list] Meteorite hunter takes £10,000 rock to auction - And a part

From: Peter Davidson <P.Davidson_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 13:58:51 +0000
Message-ID: <576F2B74A34E584AA173B40D1A8914C336B93A35_at_NMSMAIL01.nms2k.int>

Darryl

You are absolutely right and I had forgotten to add this to my original reply (never take a lunch break in the middle of writing an e-mail). However, that doesn't excuse the newspaper from sloppy journalism. In my museum career, Press releases are something I have very little involvement with. The museum Press Office deals with and issues Press Releases from time-to-time, though they do run them by the relevant curators for accuracy. Nonetheless, once the Press Release passes into the public domain, the media seem to then assume they have the right to utilise the information contained therein in whatever way they deem fit. So the Press Release may have been accurate and correct, but the reporting of it in the media may not.

Cheers

Peter Davidson
Curator of Minerals

National Museums Collection Centre
242 West Granton Road
Edinburgh
EH5 1JA
00 44 131 247 4283
p.davidson at nms.ac.uk


-----Original Message-----
From: Darryl Pitt [mailto:darryl at dof3.com]
Sent: 26 August 2013 14:46
To: Peter Davidson
Cc: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com; Rob Elliot (fernlea4 at aol.com)
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite hunter takes ?10,000 rock to auction - And a part



Peter, Rob, Folks....

First of all, the article in question appears to not be written by the Guardian but was a wire-service pick-up.

Secondly....

> In my case, press releases are written by a third party, usually with little or no knowledge of meteorites, but with a whole bunch of enthusiasm. Perhaps a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I rarely get to read and approve them, sadly.

I can promise there were not more than three press releases issued-if that. Rob, I personally find it curious that as a major collector offering a portion of your collection you would not insist on press release approval in the effort to help sell the sale on its merits and get things right-should that be of concern. To be precise, for those of us that cultivate major media I believe it's incumbent on us to police the messages being disseminated as best we can-because necessarily some details will be tortured.

However, in this particular article, there are so very many spurious claims-too many, in fact, for it to be so readily dismissed.


Sincerely,

Darryl


p.s. For those unaware, I offered the first collection of meteorites ever to be made available at auction (Phillips 1995) and helmed the largest meteorite auction ever (Heritage at over $1M hammer). Take note, neither project was with Lyon & Turnbull, "the only auctioneers known to specialise in meteorite sales." What a joke. (And please do consider that an auction house which has no sense of reality is a very dangerous entity with whom to conduct business.)






On Aug 26, 2013, at 7:37 AM, Peter Davidson wrote:

> Dear Anne, Rob and Listees
>
> I have come to know Rob over the last few years (he could almost be described as a neighbour) and I was convinced when I read the newspaper articles about the forthcoming auction that they were misrepresenting what Rob actually said and what he intended to convey in the interview. Having experienced a similar thing recently myself (not meteorite-related) I can fully appreciate his anger and frustration. I attended a course run on behalf of the museum by a former television and newspaper journalist on the pitfalls and dangers associated with press interviews. I have to say I was a very illuminating day. Not just hearing from this very experienced reporter, but seeing actual examples of TV interviews where things went badly wrong and the how the words actually said on screen were creatively edited to achieve maximum embarrassment for the interviewee. What Rob says, or alludes to, about reporters/journalists is true in that they basically have very limited knowledge of the subject they write about, but are st
ill required to file a story that will grab people's attention by distorting the facts and misrepresenting the interviewee. The old journalistic saying about "never letting the facts get in the way of a good story" has more than a hint of the truth about it. Rob is an experienced and knowledgeable meteorite collector/dealer and I know he would have all the necessary paperwork and permissions.
>
> Anne, The Guardian newspaper is one of the few UK newspapers I actually read. It consistently and (usually) accurately reports the news and it is fearless in tacking our increasingly right-wing government and its very obvious shortcomings. I am certain this is just a blip and I would urge all list members (around the World) to read, or refer to The Guardian (and its sister Sunday paper the Observer) when they want to find out anything about the UK political scene that is not tainted by the right-wing bias of most of the UK press.
>
> Kindest Regards
>
> Peter Davidson
> Curator of Minerals
>
> National Museums Collection Centre
> 242 West Granton Road
> Edinburgh
> EH5 1JA
> 00 44 131 247 4283
> p.davidson at nms.ac.uk
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
> [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Anne
> Black
> Sent: 19 August 2013 22:01
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Fwd: Meteorite hunter takes ?10,000 rock to
> auction - And a part
>
> On behalf of Rob Elliott:
>
> And Thank you Rob, it is good to hear from you.
>
>
> Anne M. Black
> www.IMPACTIKA.com
> IMPACTIKA at aol.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: FERNLEA4 <FERNLEA4 at aol.com>
> To: impactika <impactika at aol.com>
> Sent: Mon, Aug 19, 2013 2:54 pm
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Meteorite hunter takes ?10,000 rock to
> auction - And a part
>
> << will contact the Guardian, the Auction House and Rob Elliott and
> explain to them how wrong they are. >>
>
> Hi Anne.
>
> Hope all is well with you.
> Don't worry, I'm not that naive!! :-) I may no longer be one of the major meteorite dealers, but I'm still as involved with the meteorite world as I ever was. I haven't posted to the List in perhaps 10 years, yet I still lurk.
>
> To explain.......
> In my case, press releases are written by a third party, usually with little or no knowledge of meteorites, but with a whole bunch of enthusiasm. Perhaps a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I rarely get to read and approve them, sadly.
> The press releases are then sent to newspapers, radio, tv, etc. and more often than not, sensationalised before going to press. Depending on the publication, accuracy isn't always a priority.
>
> Another publication or a press agency may take part of that printed article, add their own "flavour" to it, possibly call me for a quote (not always), and then print it. And so it goes on.....it can end up being a game of Chinese Whispers, where the finished article bears little resemblence to the original release or quotes given. I don't even remember speaking with The Guardian, so I'm pretty sure the journalist took third, fourth or even fifth-hand information, and did his best.
> There have been some excellent articles about my auction, and some poorly written articles with a whole bunch or errors and paragraphs simply made-up.
>
> Regarding the "smuggling" rubbish, I was horrified to read that. I remember saying something along the lines of how the Russian Government, had quickly clamped down on all of those in and around Chelyabinsk, who were selling fake meteorites within hours of the fall, even bits of mud and earth from the town, and claiming some sort of weird meteorite significance, just for a bit of profit.
> I received many pieces of Chelyabinsk from Russia, all with the hefty UK import duty and value added tax charges paid in full, and with the paperwork to prove it.
>
>
> I've been collecting meteorites for 20 years and I learned how the media works long ago. It's not something to take on lightly, especially if it goes national or world-wide. Sadly, some journalists don't let the facts get in the way of a good story!!
>
> If you could post this to the List on my behalf, I'd be very grateful.
>
> Cheers,
> Rob.
>
> Rob Elliott
> www.meteorites.uk.com
> Fernlea Meteorites,
> The Wynd,
> Off Dickson Lane,
> Milton of Balgonie,
> Fife. KY7 6PY
> United Kingdom
> Telephone: 01592-751563
> Mobile: 07880-888660
> International Tel: +44-1592-751563
> Email: fernlea4 at aol.com
> Laptop #1
>
>
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Our exclusive summer exhibition is now on! Discover the epic tale of Mary, Queen of Scots until 17 November 2013.
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National Museums Scotland, Scottish Charity, No. SC 011130
This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the addressee please inform the sender and delete the email from your system. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of National Museums Scotland. This message is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. No liability is accepted for any harm that may be caused to your systems or data by this message.
Received on Mon 26 Aug 2013 09:58:51 AM PDT