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

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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?”