I do not believe that it is the professional responsibility of archaeologists to confront pseudo-archaeology.  Although archaeologists and their work are inherently negatively effected by the misinformation spread through pseudo-archaeologists, their job does not revolve around combating this, and if it did it would be a never-ending battle.  Archaeologists’ primary concern is to research past civilizations in order to help us more thoroughly understand the human race and our ancestors, this job in and of itself is a crucial one, that already requires full attention. Sadly, pseudoarchaeology is not a phase, and it will not slowly fade into the background, however publicly addressing it will likely only emboldened and give more attention to a small subset of the archaeological community.  

Additionally, pseudo-archaeologists have countless sources of information that already dismiss the ludicrous ideas that they present, and the same goes for those that buy into pseudo-archaeological tropes. Therefore, this is not an issue stemming from lack of information, this is just people believing what they choose to believe in.  While the insanity that is so frequently spewed from pseudo-archaeologist is incredibly frustrating to those archaeologists who have dedicated their lives to sharing the research and discoveries with the world, there is very little that can be done to fix stupidity.  There is a quote by Matshona Dhliwayo that perfectly encapsulates how I feel about this issue, “A wise man should never argue with a fool. A wise man should never agree with a fool. A wise man should avoid a fool.”  

Rather than push the burden of pseudo-archaeology onto archaeologists, who as I previously stated already have other priorities in their field that take precedent, I believe this should be the job of the media.  Mass media platforms have endless resources and something as simple as fact-checking the content that they distribute could be used to easily counteract and block the spread of pseudo-archaeology. For example,  shows like Ancient Aliens do not need to exist, and the air time and money going these pseudo-archaeologist and their platforms could instead be given to actual archaeologists to help educate and capture the interest of the general public. This could also help bring awareness to the importance of preserving archaeological sites, and bring necessary funds to archaeologists so they can further their research. Essentially, I believe that giving archaeologists a larger platform to share their invaluable research is the key to opposing pseudo-archaeology.  The media which ultimately does control a massive portion of what the public sees could easily remove any spotlight given pseudo-archaeology and instead allocate those resources to genuine archaeologists.