As the Deepwater Horizon gusher continues, and reporters dig in the oil-slimed muck for new angles, I believe it important to review just how well the press has covered this story. My assessment is focused on the ecological story, although I do recognize the various facets of this disaster (political, social, economic). In fact, I am willing to fine-tune my focus even further, to consider how well the press has told the story of those without words, without voices – the wildlife and sea life of the Gulf.

There are several groups that I follow on Linkedin, including Green Communicators. One of the members posted a story today about the impacts of the oil on Gulf birds. As with many group posts, this one originated on Digg.com. The story is titled “The US Oil Spill Endangers the Rare Bird’s Habitat Near the Coastal Islands,” and came from a website named The New Ecologist. Given my interest in Gulf birds I naturally read the article, a ghastly mistake. Let me dissect this story to illustrate much of what is wrong about the current state of psuedo-reporting.

I admit that I had never heard of The New Ecologist. A quick look at the web led me to the parent company – Expedient Info Media. EIM, as stated on their web page, “is the premier online publisher of information and news. We publish blogs & web sites that cover wide variety of subjects with the goal of providing expert and detailed information, solutions and resources.” Their blogs include a pregnancy blog, one about pets, and a celebrity blog. Not exactly Scientific American or the New York Times.

The story begins with a grammatically mangled heading, and without attribution. There is no original material in the article; in fact, the majority of the material is from the American Bird Conservancy. I wonder if George Fenwick (their president) would be happy to see his information so thoroughly disfigured.

Most of the article lists birds (with photos) that the unnamed author considers at risk. Ignoring the fact that English is apparently the writer’s second language (at best), the avian line-up, in my opinion, is misleading. Many of the species are not rare, and none are threatened or endangered. This is not to say that all are not at risk from the gusher, but there are many other species in a far more precarious position.

Have we really wandered this far from the basics of journalism, the who, what, when, and where of my college days? I know; I earned my degree in journalism in the dark ages, the Watergate years. But underlying these new media and new communication tools should be something that transcends time – well researched, trustworthy content.

Here is my list of those species that concern me at the moment:

• Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle (endangered, slowly recovering, although numbers of nests in 1985 dropped to as low as 200.)
• Sperm whale (perhaps 2000 in the Gulf, feeding at depths similar to this well).
• Pygmy sperm whale (between 1500 and 2000 in the Gulf. Like most whales, this species is matriarchal, with females never leaving the Gulf. Recent studies show these females to be genetically distinct).
• Piping plover (most of the world’s population winters along the beaches and tidal flats of the Gulf coast. They arrive along the Gulf two days either side of July 7, although nonbreeders often oversummer).
• Snowy plover (breeds along Gulf beaches, although numbers swell in winter).
• Wilson’s plover (breeds along Gulf beaches).
• Reddish egret (most breed in Texas, and winter flocks in south Texas and northern Mexico can number in the hundreds).
• Whooping crane (the world’s entire population of this critically endangered species winters along the Gulf).
• Least tern (a beach-nesting tern, already declining from loss of habitat).
• Black skimmer (same story as least tern).
• American oystercatcher (an odd shorebird, that as the name implies, feeds on oysters. The population is small and disjunct. For example, there are probably no more than 200 to 300 in the entire Galveston Bay system).
• Seaside sparrow (this bird spends its entire life in Spartina alterniflora, the smooth cordgrass that borders saline Gulf waters).
• Nelson’s sharp-tailed sparrow (likes the same habitat as the seaside, but only in winter. This sparrow nests in the northern Great Plains).
• Clapper rail (like the two above, a rail that is a saltmarsh obligate).
• Whale shark (a little known species in the Gulf, although recent studies show that many more congregate in the northern Gulf than previously thought. The same could be said for the orca, a species of whale not normally associated with the Gulf. Recent sightings of 200 or more show that the Gulf may have hundreds or even thousands of orcas).
• Bottlenose dolphin (the near coast dolphin, although I would consider any Tursiops to be at risk).
• Redhead (90% of the world’s population of this duck winters in the Lower Laguna Madre of Texas).
• Lesser Scaup (a species of concern that winters in near Gulf waters; same goes for common loon, northern gannet).
• Black tern (this interior tern stages in immense numbers along the Gulf before heading south over Gulf waters).

No part of the Gulf is safe from this gusher. As Hurricane Ike demonstrated here in Galveston, a powerful storm moving west across the Gulf will push an overwhelming wall of water ahead. In fact, I am in Galveston at this moment, and although Hurricane Alex is far south of us already we are seeing high tides and gusting winds. One Ike this year will push oil deep into Texas marshes.

I wish I could say that this story from The New Ecologist is an exception. It is not. We have all seen the hundreds of brown pelican photos, the poster bird of this disaster. But many of those most at risk are rarely seen by a press safe on shore. Where is the investigative zeal? Where is the unwillingness to accept the first right answer? Where is the journalistic ethic that has kept this democracy safe since its founding?

If you wish to be a green communicator, begin with the basics of journalism. Follow the following bullets, and make sure that your communications are:

• Accurate
• Lucid
• Incisive
• Comprehensive
• Original
• Honest

Otherwise, you are simply another brush in the greenwashing paint box.

Ted Lee Eubanks

29 June 2010

Galveston, Texas

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