A Short Whale Tale

Most of the articles discussed to date have been rather emotive and often debatable, where the authors stance on the situation has been made relatively clear. To demonstrate that such emotive reporting upon the environment (animals in particular as that appears a recurring theme. My sympathies are certainly quite obvious) is not necessarily the standard I shall endeavour to include an article in which there appears no underlaying passion and no attempt at grandeur.

The ABC Online‘s article DEC to Investigate Sickly Humpbacks certainly fails to exhibit both of these, with the story presented in a factual and concise manner.

The article mentions that migrating whales are arriving in Western Australian waters in what appears to be a poor condition, with a quote from Peter Collins of the Department of Environment and Conservation stating that “many of this year’s whales appear sickly and thin.”

The facts are set out (that this observation has been made), there is no speculation or blame, and an authority on the matter has been questioned. Though there is not much to draw a reader in by way of emotive language it is certainly an informative piece for the little information it had to convey.

Humpback Whale. Photo: Reuters

Legalised Cruelty- Should Jumps Racing Be Banned?

A Short Course For this Horse

In a previous post I mentioned my displeasure at finding the inhumane sport of jumps racing described as “poetry in motion”, the cruelty trivialised when compared to the entertainment value for humans. This next article upon the same subject also takes a human perspective, though it has adopted a rather less partisan approach.

The Sydney Morning Herald article Vic Govt. To continue Jumps Racing Support  (Belinda Merhab) opens with;

“The Victorian government will continue to support jumps racing, despite protester calls that any blood spilt on race tracks will be on the racing minister’s hands.”

For those aware of the fatality of horse Shine the Armour two days prior (the fifth death in Australlian jumps racing this year), it may be assumed that the above-mentioned “blood spilt” would be that of a horse. The following paragraph corrects this assumption, however, with;

“Seven spectators were injured at Thursday’s Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool when riderless horse Banna Strand veered off the track and jumped a two-metre-high fence into the crowd.”

The article goes on to mention how such an occurrence has re ignited calls for the sport to be banned, with quotes from both pro- and anti- jumps racing supporters.

Tiger Numbers Increase

Photo: Reuters (SMH Website)

Jason Burke’s article “Reversing the Demise of Wild Tigers” published in the Sydney Morning Herald has quite a concise introductory paragraph which draws attention to what appears to be an exciting new development;

“The number of tigers in India has risen for the first time in a decade, according to a new official census.”

The following paragraph then goes on to mention that though tiger numbers have decreased 97% in the last century (a shocking fact that adds to the dramatic nature of the story), the news of an increase in population numbers insinuates the population is salvageable.

I say appears to be an exciting new development for though this, and the following paragraph (mentioned above) give hope to the optimists,the means by which such numbers were deduced are deemed precarious. This is mentioned briefly before the problems faced by wild tigers is listed.

A Race to the Bottom

One would have to wonder at the audacity of Max Presnell in presenting jumps racing as a glorious sport, brushing aside fatalities as of little consequence when compared to the entertainment value. For that is indeed what he does in the Sydney Morning Herald article “Jumps Racing Still An Unbridled Spectacle”.

The "Glory" of Jumps racing

Presnell opens the article with a particularly emotive first paragraph, describing jumps racing as “poetry in motion” and name-dropping Phar Lap (synonymous, perhaps, with courage and ‘heart’) in one long sentence.

He then goes on to speak of the enormous crowds pulled by the “sport”, mentioning that the races at Royal Randwick pale comparatively.

He appeals to the Australian ‘spirit’ by likening jumps racing to a scene from ballads by some of the country’s most celebrated poets, including Banjo Pattersons The Man From Snowy River;

‘But his hardy mountain pony he could scarcely raise a trot,

He was blood from hip to shoulder from the spur’

He then states:

 Epic lines from Paterson’s Man From Snowy River but a lean, weedy beast, with a dash of Timor pony, in such condition today would bring RSPCA action.”

This may almost insinuate that to abhor jumps racing is “un- Australian” (and I use this term with low regard for it, as it is often used in a derogatory manner).

That horses die and jockey’s are injured is trivialised, though used to add danger to the almost epic nature of the race.

This article creates a grand scene for a sport so drenched in the blood of the horses it proclaims to celebrate.

NSW shot in the Foot

There are two Robert Brown’s in Australian Parliament. One is a NSW MP for the Shooters Party. The other is the leader of the Australian Greens.

It is the former Robert Brown, of the NSW Shooters Party, that is spoken of in Sean Nicholls’ Sydney Morning Herald article “O’Farrell Over a Barrel as the Shooters Take Aim’. 

Though the article does not use particularly emotive language or appear to contain (on the surface at least) bias for or against the Shooters Party, it uses subtle cues in the way it is set out to paint a picture of the party as trophy hunters holding the NSW parliament hostage.

It is images, rather than words, which play the most important role in this portrait.

The initial photograph is of a smiling Shooters Party MP Robert Borsak holding what is (presumably) an elephant tusk:

The caption reads “Deadly Serious”, while in reality the MP does not look serious at all but rather happy to have possession of such a brutally obtained trophy. The Link posted directly beneath the photograph reads “The Thrill Killer”.

Further down in the article is an image of the very same Robert Borsak smiling next to the carcass of a Bull Elephant he had the apparent pleasure of killing. A bleeding bullet wound on the elephants forehead is evident in the photo.

Both of these images portray Borsak in a controversial way. Firstly, Ivory in Western culture is often used to symbolise the useless and brutal killing of animals for mere aesthetics, much like fur. Though the Shooters Party proclaim to be advocating the culling of “feral animals” out of necessity, the evident pleasure of the kill hints that the Shooters Party are attempting to disguise recreational hunting as conservation.

The third image most highlights the idea that the NSW parliament is being held hostage. Similar to the hand written ransom notes popularised in movies, the Shooters and Fishers party demands have been listed as follows;

Sensationalised Supervillain Snake

The Daily Telegraph certainly knows how to make an article entertaining.

If not quite accurate.

The post titled “Meredith Schetrumpf trapped in home for Six Days by Red-Bellied Black Snake” begins with a very graphic introductory paragraph:

“A FRIGHTENED woman was held prisoner in her NSW home for six days by a large deadly red-bellied black snake.”

“Frightened”? Perhaps. “Deadly”? Certainly, if provoked. But “held prisoner“?

This line insinuates that the snake, who quite probably had no idea that Ms Schetrumph even existed, consciously held the woman for six days against her will.

Sensationalised? Just a touch.

The remaining article goes on to mention that no volunteer organisations (such as WIRES) were able to come to her aid.

The accompanying photograph speaks its own story, with the image of a snake and the inset of Ms Schetrumpf looking quite like a photo taken from a crime scene with an inset of the hapless victim;

The article Budgewoi Pensioner Trapped in Home For Six Days By Snake in the Central Coast Express Advocate was rather less fantastical.

It mentions the trial faced by Ms Shetrumpf and her ensuing campaign to establish an emergency snake recovery service, giving background information about her in a straightforward manner:

“Ms Schetrumpf receives a disability pension and lives alone with her pet dog, Jack, following the death of her husband.”

The parallel paragraph describing Ms Shetrumpf  from the Daily Telegraph was a little more confusing, shovelling a lot of information into one long sentence:

“Ms Schetrumpf, who receives a disability pension, lives alone with her pet dog, Jack, said she looked out her window to see a 2m king red-bellied black snake curled up at the gate on the path outside her front door on March 18.”

The article from the Central Coast Express finished off with some well chosen quotes from the Budgewoi woman, highlighting local concerns in a personal way:

“I know many of our local organisations are volunteers and they’re very busy.

“But not to be able to get anyone at all locally to help was very disappointing.”

“Why can’t the council have someone on staff who is adept at handling snakes and can help in these emergencies?”

Article in The Australian dubs Earth Hour Dim

A previous post spoke of an article from the Sydney Morning Herald which was full of optimism about Earth Hour and its symbolism. A rather contrary article was written for rival newspaper The Australian on the weekend by Bjorn Lomborg.

Far from a cynic on the issue of global warming, Lomborg says that climate change is something which needs to be addressed. The article is full of facts and figures highlighting the problems faced in reducing carbon emissions (far from the emotive language used in Humphries’ post), however that is where the agreement between the two articles appears to end.

Lomborg is not so much a cynic about climate change as a pessimist in how the worlds population are going about addressing it. About Earth Hour he posts:

“Actually, the only real result will be to make it harder to see. The environmental effect of the past three annual lights-out hours has been negligible.”

Evident pessimism as he disregards the heraldic symbolism Humphries so believes in.

He goes on to further suggest that almost all climate change initiatives currently being practiced are pointless and at times detrimental, with a variety of facts used to support his argument.

This percentage versus that percentage, et cetera et cetera. Summed up it virtually says a little isn’t enough so don’t bother.

Despite his cynicism of action (yet belief in need) he provides no real alternatives to the ones he so readily dismisses, opting instead to simply say “much more investment in research and development is needed”.

All in all a rather stagnant argument against what is more a symbolic event than a remedy to its cause.

Lights out for Climate Change

Earth Hour “A chance to Shine”

As Fairfax Media are the sponsors of  Earth Hour it comes as no surprise that the event has been quite well publicised on the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) website over the past week.

Earth Hour, organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), was first held in Sydney in 2007 and has since become a mass demonstration in favour of positive environmental change. It involves switching off non essential lighting and electricity for one hour, this year on the 26th of March from 8.30 to 9.30pm.

As with many things environmental, it has evoked a passionate response.

In “A Chance to Shine”, a descriptive and emotive feature on the SMH website, David Humphries goes as far as to compare Earth Hour to one of the “triumphs of good over evil”.

He opens the post by painting bleak picture of disheartened citizens of the world retreating from global issues as they feel unable to make a positive contribution;

“Over the past 20 years, the world witnessed a progressive withdrawal by people from what might be considered global issues. The immediacy of impact of pervasive media sharpened our perception that the world is battered by turmoil and we are powerless individually to do anything about it… The protagonists – politicians and others – urge us to know our boundaries, to steer clear of futile aspiration, to avoid the disappointment of expecting too much.”

The story then mentions the magnitude of Earth Hour, and begins to become more upbeat and positive as he gives further examples of  the “will of dwarfs” working toward something positive, including the worlds compassionate reaction to natural disasters.

That Humphries introduces Earth Hour in this delayed manner makes it seem almost a ray of hope in stark contrast to the miserable background that he formerly portrayed.

Humphries evidently believes that Earth Hour is a powerful symbol, condemning critics who “advocate the restraints of ‘realism’,” and using strong imagery to emphasise the importance of symbolism itself;

“Pragmatic idealism is perfectly legitimate. It doesn’t render you impractical, but recognises the importance of symbols in bringing people together, in investing a sense of community, in again empowering the individual lulled into acquiescence by a sense of hopelessness.”

The post ends rather succinctly with Humphries saying that although Earth Hour will not by itself solve the problem of climate change, the movement was certainly a step in the right direction.

I’m sure the WWF would thank him for so furthering its cause.