London Banter - Transport for London and Geography

Give Geography its Place wrote:
Would TfL like Geography Education to be strong in Secondary Schools
and in the public? If so, support the Give Geography its Place
campaign by signing the petition at www.passion4geography.co.uk
that calls for the media to stop neglecting the subject.

1. Why are you particularly focusing on TfL, which by its very nature
has a limited geographical compass? This newsgroup
(uk.transport.london) covers *all* transport in London. If you want to
influence TfL, then lobby them.

2. The media that I read, listen to and watch are full of geography,
though they may not actually mention the name. You seem to regard the
latter as a problem...

----------------
"Sadly, the media, in spite of pumping these topics into our homes 24/7
seem to have forgotten that much of what they ask adults and children to
think about is actually *Geography*. We are, therefore, asking - why do
the media not use the label? Art, history, literature, technology all
get their recognition on TV and in the newspapers but Geography has yet
to be recognised in this important way. If its *Geography*, then lets
call it *Geography*! Why is the media so scared of using the 'G' word?"
----------------

I don't think the media is scared of the word "geography"; it's usually
dealing with one aspect of the subject, and has no reason to confuse
people by mentioning the umbrella term. Do you expect them to mention
the word "chemistry" when they're talking about Jamie Oliver's views on
cooking?

I think your campaign has the wrong focus. It's up to the educators to
promote the relevance of their curriculum, not for the media to distort
their stories to compensate for school subjects being, as you apparently
believe, obscurely named.

Cross-posted to, and follow-up set to, uk.education. This is not a u.t.l
issue.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)