re: Race to Mars
What could be done is to suggest life is discovered without showing it.
I'm pretty sure science can be entertaining, interesting, captivating. (Sagan's Cosmos).
What has been noticed, however, is that astrologers are more able to sell their stories, predictions than astronomers and those to blame are not the astrologers.
Astronomers (and amateur astronomers) must be able to communicate and perhaps that's why we're sometimes contacted by the media.