Shouldn’t there be more than three types of articles about conservation?

Recent articles in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal got me thinking about how conservation is covered by the news media and led me to the conclusion that most stories related to conservation fall into one of three categories— an important work of art returns to view after a major conservation treatment (“Winged Victory Returns to the Louvre”, by Inti Landauro, The Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2014); a wealthy corporation pays for the conservation of a major monument (“Corporate Medicis to the Rescue”, by Gaia Pianigiani and Jim Yardley, The New York Times, July 16, 2014); or terrorists destroy a major monument(“Insurgents Move to Erase Iraq’s Heritage”, by Nour Malas, The Wall Street Journal, July 26-27, 2014). It is too seldom that there is an article or television segment that lets the public know what conservators do on a daily basis to ensure that the cultural heritage will be there for future generations. Perhaps if conservators cultivated working relationships with those in the media, coverage of conservation would not be limited to a few narrow categories.