Morton on Mars

I should have know that Oliver “Mapping Mars” Morton would have the edge on the mainstream media for the current blizzard of Mars news – and particularly for the breaking Methane story. Azeem directs me to Morton’s incredibly well-informed weblog which is currently running between 48 hours and a week ahead of the broadsheets (add 24 hours for broadcast outlets because they get their stories from the broadsheets). This is a really good example of the power of the best weblog media. Morton is a Mars maniac and knows his planet (although his excellent book is weirdly out of print, according to Amazon, which doesn’t seem right given the year we’ve had). More to the point, his insight is accessible, authoritative and accountable. A mainstream media outlet might be able to provide two from that set but certainly not all three.