There are many different types of mass media manipulations. The simplest are outright lies. For example, John Edwards first claimed that he did not father his mistress's child. But nearly three years later, he admitted the truth.
But how do you cover up a big problem? For decades, governments buried documents related to UFOs. It was not until 2008 that the UK began releasing government reports, and they are still releasing documents. (I'm not choosing a side in the UFO debate -- I'm only showing that there was a cover up and not delving into what they were covering up.) Another common tactic is to claim ignorance. Did Bill Gates really not remember sending emails that demanded a link between advertising agreements with ties to their web browser? Did Toyoda really not know about the Toyota accelerator problem until recently?
The most intriguing examples of manipulation are the active cover ups. Did you hear about the train derailments that have been happening for decades? Of course not. There is no need to cause panic regarding domestic terrorism. (Most train derailments never make it past the local news, even when hazardous chemicals or munitions are involved, regardless of whether the cause was accidental or something else.) And remember the baseball steroid use controversy? Every single network news channel covered this boring congressional hearing rather than the heated debated on extending the Protect America Act.
However, the most amateurish cover-ups are the ones where they try to rewrite history after it has been made public. Iran does this all the time: Everybody loves Ahmadinejad and Iran did launch missiles! (Their pictures prove it!) And Neda killed herself; she was not shot by the government. At least, that's how they want to rewrite history.
And along with Iran, we now have SeaWorld.
Jonah? Are you in here?
First, the facts: On 24-Feb-2010, an orca whale named Tilikum killed a trainer, in front of a crowd of people. This same whale has been associated with two other deaths, including another trainer.
All of the witnesses seem to have the same story -- and they went live with their stories very quickly. They say that the whale grabbed the woman by her waist, shook her, and dragged her under the water.
"Queequeg! Ready yar harpoon!"
It did not take long for SeaWorld to render their own version of the story. First sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons claimed that trainer Dawn Brancheau fell into the tank.
Then SeaWorld's curator of zoological operations, Chuck Tompkins, said that the whale grabbed her by her ponytail and pulled her underwater. I've known many women with long hair. It should be pretty easy for witnesses to distinguish "grabbed by the hair" from "grabbed her around the waist."
While this certainly appears to be a tragic accident, SeaWorld is doing a very poor cover-up. The story keeps changing and it does not match witness accounts.
Hard To Port!
When caught in a lie and an ever-changing story, there are really only two alternatives: admit to the wrongdoing, or divert attention. Perhaps this is why SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment President Jim Atchison said that this incident "has been vastly overplayed within the media." And General Manager Dan Brown refused to take questions at a press conference, saying "Please bear with us, we've just lost a member of our family."
While the loss is heartbreaking for her family and friends, SeaWorld is not a family -- it is a corporation. (Owned by Anheuser Busch, recently bought out by Inbev.) The right to privacy given to families does not apply to corporations. If a person is killed at a public event, even by accident, the company has a duty to quickly and accurately define the situation.
Frankly, I would not mind if SeaWorld simply said that they were still investigating or were waiting for the coroner's report. But that is not what they have done. They have attempted to alter history -- "she slipped into the pool" and "she was grabbed by the hair" are not the same as "she was grabbed by the waist" or by the arm (one witness said it could have been her arm, but none of the witnesses have said that it was her hair). This was a tragedy, but SeaWorld has attempted to rewrite history, likely to shift the blame from an unsafe animal with a history of killing people to the trainer.
Thar She Blows
The real question that I have: Most animal parks record every show and every moment that an animal is with a trainer. This is done in case of an accident. In the event that somethings goes wrong, they can review the footage and change their procedures in order to prevent it from happening again. If a tiger or an elephant attacks their trainer, there is footage that can be reviewed. Did the trainer do something wrong? Did they miss some sign of danger? Or was the incident an unprovoked attack from a wild animal?
Considering that alarms and sirens went off immediately, you know that staff members were watching. So where is the video? I'm not asking CNN to air Dawn's last moments. I am asking for clarity. What is SeaWorld covering up? (I'm guessing liability. If it was the handler's fault, then they probably don't have to pay the family. But if it was the animal, then there are some hard decisions to make.)
NOTE: This is not a discussion about keeping wild animals at amusement parks, or even about what should be done with the whale. Everyone has their own inflexible opinion. (Personally, I think the whale is too dangerous and should be let free... near Japan where they still do whaling. Kind of like Running Man on the high seas.) Instead, this is a discussion about corporate media manipulation.
