Megalodon Is Still Extinct; Is Discovery’s Credibility Next?
Despite several documentaries claiming otherwise, Carcharocles megalodon sharks are extinct, according to a consensus of scientists, though Discovery’s Shark Week is once again under fire for convincing viewers otherwise.
As Slate points out, TV viewers would be hard pressed to conclude from Discovery’s Shark Week offerings over the past two years that megalodon no longer exists. In 2013, Discovery aired Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives, a program that relied on actors playing scientists and photoshopped images to posit that the megalodon shark, which went extinct some 2 million years ago, has survived until the modern era. This year, the network followed it up with Megalodon: The New Evidence and a similarly dramatized documentary Shark Of Darkness: Wrath Of Submarine that purported to prove the existence of a massive great white shark, albeit one smaller than a megalodon, as The Inquisitr reported.
“@TrevorABranch: @WhySharksMatter a Megalodon dies every time you say that mermaids don’t exist, right?” I’m why they’re extinct
— David Shiffman (@WhySharksMatter) August 17, 2014
Christie Wilcox, a marine biology student and blogger, says that Discovery’s message to viewers is that “they don’t care what their audience thinks, they don’t care about educating their viewers, and they don’t care about accuracy.” She adds that “all they care about is ratings, and they’ll deceive if not outright lie to their audience to get them.”
Megalodon was believed to have consumed 2,500 pounds of food per day. #MegalodonLives pic.twitter.com/Gjh2gLWQj8 — Discovery (@Discovery) August 16, 2014
There are many valid reasons why a trusted network like Discovery should be more careful about their programming, not the least of which is their immense reach, says David Shiffman, writing for Slate. “Misinformation on this large a scale matters,” he says. “Shark Week documentaries are watched by tens of millions of people, and they generate almost twice as much Twitter conversation as the infamous ‘Red Wedding’ episode of Game of Thrones.” A marine biologist who engages in school outreach programs, he claims that “Not once since The Monster Shark Lives aired have I spoken to a group of children and not been asked about megalodon.”
It’s no shock that megalodon captures the public imagination, The Daily Beast points out, since they were such impressive predators. Yet Discovery’s approach to the topic matters:
“A fact-based documentary about what scientists know about these fascinating animals could have been both educational and entertaining. Instead, the Discovery Channel chose to lie to their viewers, actively spreading fear and promoting misunderstanding about one of the most threatened groups of animals in the world. Again.”
Discovery Executive Vice President for Public Relations Laurie Goldberg told Shiffman on Twitter that Shark Week 2014 has more hours of programming than previous years, adding “most are the factual ones you enjoy.” Despite criticism of their megalodon docudramas from both fans and the scientific community, there is no indication Discovery will be backing down from its hyperbolic path anytime soon.
[Image via Business Insider]
