http://www.sha.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/boom-baby/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=boom-baby Society for Historical Archaeology Fri, 13 Sep 2013 15:12:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 http://www.sha.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/boom-baby/#comment-285 National Geographic’s Diggers: is it better? | SHA Blog Fri, 01 Feb 2013 05:21:48 +0000 http://www.sha.org/blog/?p=1565#comment-285 [...] [...] [...] [...]

]]> http://www.sha.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/boom-baby/#comment-208 National Geographic’s Diggers Redux | SHA Blog Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:42:05 +0000 http://www.sha.org/blog/?p=1565#comment-208 [...] Geographic’s Diggers Redux Posted on July 19, 2012 by Charles Ewen In my previous blog I reported on a meeting I attended at the National Geographic’s headquarters in Washington to [...] [...] Geographic’s Diggers Redux Posted on July 19, 2012 by Charles Ewen In my previous blog I reported on a meeting I attended at the National Geographic’s headquarters in Washington to [...]

]]> http://www.sha.org/blog/index.php/2012/05/boom-baby/#comment-103 Teresa Jean Terry Mon, 28 May 2012 01:07:00 +0000 http://www.sha.org/blog/?p=1565#comment-103 Like National Geographic Channel, many erstwhile educational venues sacrifice quality assurance and background research in favor of budget concerns even at the risk of public scrutiny. In other words, they don't care what the public thinks of them as long as they can do it cheaply and quickly. I'm sure the ratings of shows like American Diggers would not suffer if the producers were required to hire real archaeologists and forced to play by RPA rules, but show budgets would. The real point here though is that everyone falls prey to the quality versus budget dilemma - even this very blog. For example, American Diggers did not spawn the catch-phrase "Boom, Baby."  It's been around for at least twelve years. Watch "The Emperor's New Groove." Also, National Geographic Channel is NOT controlled by our old and trusted friend, The National Geographic Society, and is instead controlled primarily by the programming executives at FOX whom bought the broadcasting rights to the name in exchange for helping to promote the society's magazine. They were undoubtedly the network and programming executives who attended the workshop - NOT anybody actually connected to the National Geographic Society.This just goes to show that NOBODY will take the time to do background research if we, the viewing public, are not holding a proverbial gun to their head.  Therefore, the answer is not to moan and lament about how we as archaeologists have failed to get our message out to the general public. We have. Unfortunately, nobody wants to listen if it is going to cost them money. The answer is to enact tougher laws protecting cultural resources and a justice system willing to uphold those laws. Public Law No: 106-206 [114 Stat. 314; cod. 16 USC 460l-6d] enacted by Congress on May 26, 2000, specifies that permits to film on public land should not be granted if there is a possibility of resource damage. The premier episode of Nat. Geo's. Diggers did not acquire the necessary permits, and legal action by various Montana State agencies are in the works. Unfortunately, most government agencies interpret the law pretty loosely or disregard it entirely. We need to strengthen laws like 106-206 so that film executives are forced to not only apply for the correct permits, but those permits require resource monitoring by trained archaeological professionals.   Like National Geographic Channel, many erstwhile educational venues sacrifice quality assurance and background research in favor of budget concerns even at the risk of public scrutiny. In other words, they don’t care what the public thinks of them as long as they can do it cheaply and quickly. I’m sure the ratings of shows like American Diggers would not suffer if the producers were required to hire real archaeologists and forced to play by RPA rules, but show budgets would. The real point here though is that everyone falls prey to the quality versus budget dilemma - even this very blog. For example, American Diggers did not spawn the catch-phrase “Boom, Baby.”  It’s been around for at least twelve years. Watch “The Emperor’s New Groove.” Also, National Geographic Channel is NOT controlled by our old and trusted friend, The National Geographic Society, and is instead controlled primarily by the programming executives at FOX whom bought the broadcasting rights to the name in exchange for helping to promote the society’s magazine. They were undoubtedly the network and programming executives who attended the workshop – NOT anybody actually connected to the National Geographic Society.This just goes to show that NOBODY will take the time to do background research if we, the viewing public, are not holding a proverbial gun to their head.  Therefore, the answer is not to moan and lament about how we as archaeologists have failed to get our message out to the general public. We have. Unfortunately, nobody wants to listen if it is going to cost them money. The answer is to enact tougher laws protecting cultural resources and a justice system willing to uphold those laws. Public Law No: 106-206 [114 Stat. 314; cod. 16 USC 460l-6d] enacted by Congress on May 26, 2000, specifies that permits to film on public land should not be granted if there is a possibility of resource damage. The premier episode of Nat. Geo’s. Diggers did not acquire the necessary permits, and legal action by various Montana State agencies are in the works. Unfortunately, most government agencies interpret the law pretty loosely or disregard it entirely. We need to strengthen laws like 106-206 so that film executives are forced to not only apply for the correct permits, but those permits require resource monitoring by trained archaeological professionals.  

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