Dear NBC News San Diego,
I watched your 11-o-clock news show on 2/24/10 and have a couple of questions about the report you did on the death of the whale trainer Dawn Brancheau.
You presented the tragedy, the response of Seaworld San Diego in canceling their afternoon Shamu show and a short history of the whale’s connection to two other deaths but you failed to mention anything about the growing consensus that imprisoning Orcas and forcing them to splash, tap dance and cuddle for a crowd of braying yahoos is anything other than exploitation and torture.
The story has gotten a lot of coverage today in the media. I see that your report is very similar to the original piece that appeared in the Orlando Sentinel and many other places. The only difference is that most of the other reports did include something about the opposition to whale capture and performance training.
There are any number of animal rights organizations who would have gladly fed you a polite little sound bite about the practice of taking these animals from the wild and trapping them in relatively small fish bowls for the profit of Seaworld Inc. Why did your journalists not include them?
I’m not an animal rights campaigner, I’m not suggesting that Dawn Brancheau should be called a ‘Whale Prison Guard’ or 'Whale Torturer' rather than a ‘Whale Trainer’ but I am interested in your editorial decision to completely miss the point of view of the whale.
I imagine it must be very hard for journalists to always track down every angle in all the complex stories that you cover. What I would like to know is whether this omission was a deliberate editorial choice or the result of journalistic ignorance?
If it was a deliberate choice was it made because of some financial interest or corporate partnership with Seaworld or some other business interest of NBC in the exploitation of animals?
If it was down to journalistic ignorance would you like me to provide you with the names and contact details of animal rights organizations such as Peta (People for the ethical treatment of animals), The Whale and Dolphin Conservation society, the Sea Shepherds etc etc?
There is a very good documentary just out called The Cove. It’s going to win an Oscar next month and it shows how cetaceans are captured and slaughtered in the wild and how big players like Seaworld support this. It’s an excellent piece of undercover journalism that I can’t help but think your newsroom would enjoy it immensely as news professionals.
My questions are honest enquiries and I am a private citizen without any affiliation to any protest groups. I look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Yours Sincerely,
Andrew Newsham
