Does "Shark Week" on Discovery Channel actually help shark conservation?

[DavidBrown]

Here's an interesting article on the history of "Shark Week" on the Discovery Channel and its evolution towards shark conservation.

I wonder if these shows meaningfully contribute to conservation awareness of sharks? Hopefully they do.

Discovery Shark Week still swimming, not sinking - latimes.com

 

[snowleopard]

I'm genuinely amazed that for 25 years there has been a never-ending stream of shark documentaries pumped out via the Discovery Channel. Also, that the week-long event still garners extremely high ratings. I think that is impressive as sharks are awesome.

 

[DavidBrown]

Another interesting article on how the Discovery Channel is working with shark researchers and conservationists to try and change the tone of their "Shark Week" programming from sensationalism to science and conservation (i.e., actual discovery).

Shark Week at 25: Discovery seeks to keep fest relevant, builds conservation ties - The Washington Post

 

[nanoboy]

Another interesting article on how the Discovery Channel is working with shark researchers and conservationists to try and change the tone of their "Shark Week" programming from sensationalism to science and conservation (i.e., actual discovery).

Shark Week at 25: Discovery seeks to keep fest relevant, builds conservation ties - The Washington Post

We watch a lot of Nat Geo, Discovery Channel, and Animal Planet docos. Is it just me, or do many docos portray animals as scary, dangerous, poisonous, or man-eating? David, are the shark docos merely giving the American audience what they want then?

 

[DavidBrown]

We watch a lot of Nat Geo, Discovery Channel, and Animal Planet docos. Is it just me, or do many docos portray animals as scary, dangerous, poisonous, or man-eating? David, are the shark docos merely giving the American audience what they want then?

I suspect that this is probably a case of "give the audience what they want" - the programming executive from Discovery seems to say exactly that at the end of the article. Talented film-makers CAN change perceptions and make entertaining programming and hopefully this is happening to some degree.

I have a colleague who was doing some research in the Serengeti when National Geographic came out to film some lions. She said that they had a script that dictated what footage they wanted as opposed to filming actual lion behavior and ecology. She was very disillusioned by the whole process.

 

[nanoboy]

I suspect that this is probably a case of "give the audience what they want" - the programming executive from Discovery seems to say exactly that at the end of the article. Talented film-makers CAN change perceptions and make entertaining programming and hopefully this is happening to some degree.

I have a colleague who was doing some research in the Serengeti when National Geographic came out to film some lions. She said that they had a script that dictated what footage they wanted as opposed to filming actual lion behavior and ecology. She was very disillusioned by the whole process.

Yeah I have found the BBC docos to be far more compelling than the American ones. Is there an American equivalent to David Attenborough? Like the American voice of wildlife? I don't mean Oprah or Alec Baldwin though.

After I posted, I was relaxing a bit and reading the 'Discovery News' iPhone app, and there was an article about sharks that referred to shark week.

Here is the article: US Shark Fin Soup Appalling and Widespread : Discovery News

Apologies if it was already posted on the thread.

 

[DavidBrown]

Yeah I have found the BBC docos to be far more compelling than the American ones. Is there an American equivalent to David Attenborough? Like the American voice of wildlife? I don't mean Oprah or Alec Baldwin though.

PBS has a series called "Nature" that features high quality wildlife docos, as do some other PBS series. National Geographic used to make high-quality nature shows before they had an entire network to program; hopefully they still put out some good shows. I don't get the National Geographic channel so I'm not sure what the state of their wildlife programs is.

 

[nanoboy]

PBS has a series called "Nature" that features high quality wildlife docos, as do some other PBS series. National Geographic used to make high-quality nature shows before they had an entire network to program; hopefully they still put out some good shows. I don't get the National Geographic channel so I'm not sure what the state of their wildlife programs is.

Oh yeah, I forgot about PBS. They have some good documentaries. If you like birds (parrots in particular), then you should get your hands on "Parrots in the Land of Oz".