UPDATE: 1/5/12 5:30AM – Due to reader pressure, the article has been changed – see below the Continue reading line.
The story about the hybrid sharks being a byproduct of climate change turns out to be an act of quote fabrication in some media outlets. This story by Dina Spector of the Business Insider, is a prime example of such quote fabrication:
After I showed the original press release contained not one mention of “global warming” or “climate change”, one of our readers decided to ask the researcher about this statement attributed to to Jessica Morgan in that Business Insider story:
According to lead researcher Jess Morgan, the hybridization might be a sign that the animals are adapting to rising temperature levels as a result of climate change.
Here’s the answer. Bolding mine.
I did the obvious thing this morning and emailed Jessica Morgan the following:
From: Dennis Kuzara [mailto:xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, 5 January 2012 1:04 AM
To: jessica morgan
Subject: Is this quote accurate?
Jessica
Dina Spector of the Business Insider,| Jan. 3, 2012, 3:09 PM, stated the following:
> The world’s first hybrid shark was discovered by scientists in waters off Australia’s east coast on Tuesday, reports Amy Coopes of the AFP.
>
> According to lead researcher Jess Morgan, the hybridization might be a sign that the animals are adapting to rising temperature levels as a result of climate change.
The press release made no mention of “climate change” or “global warming”. Is the quote in this news article that is attributed to Jess Morgan, (which I assume is Jessica Morgan) accurate?
Since sea surface temperatures have increased less than 0.45 degree C over the last 30 years, clarification of any known ties between shark interbreeding and climate change would be appreciated.
Thank you
Dennis Kuzara
And I received this reply:
On 1/4/2012 7:34 PM, Morgan, Jessica wrote:
Quote not correct – I have now stated numerous times that it is extremely unlikely that climate change caused the hybridization event – however, the hybrid-Australian blacktips are now being seen further south of their known range (Australain blacktips have a tropical distribution) in cooler waters suggesting that the hybrids may have a wider temperature tolerance than their parents (ie the hybrids may be better adapted to handle changing water temperatures). That long statement is being condensed and printed as your quote below.
Jess
==============================================================
Interestingly and refreshingly, Business Insider allows you to ask a question of the reporter, here’s a screencap of the footer allowing you to do just that:
You can click anywhere on the screencap (or the button) above to ask Dina that question. I’m sure we all want to know why. We look forward to hearing why the Business Insider makes up “scary” quotes from scientists where none actually exist.
According to her website at http://dinaspector.com:
Dina Spector graduated summa cum laude from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University with a B.S. in magazine journalism and a minor in geography.
A fine reference, and I’m sure she’ll have a good reason rooted in solid journalism that she’ll gladly share with us.
================================================================
UPDATE: The article has been significantly changed, both the headline and body of the text have been modified significantly, and the fabricated quote from researcher Jessica Morgan has been removed. See the screencap:
There’s no mention though of any correction on the story. http://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-first-hybrid-shark–2012-1
And, even though researcher Jessica Morgan says:
I have now stated numerous times that it is extremely unlikely that climate change caused the hybridization event
They still have “climate change” in the headline.
No duty to the truth or scruples with these folks I guess.
==================================================
UPDATE2: I’ve heard back from the editor:
Here’s a story about your story, I’m sure you are already getting some questions
—
Henry Blodget
CEO/EIC, Business Insider
257 Park Avenue South, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10010
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moving on to harp seals:
5 Jan: Summit County Voice: Bob Berwyn: Global warming: Harp seal habitat vanishing fast
“The kind of mortality we’re seeing in eastern Canada is dramatic. Entire year-classes may be disappearing from the population in low ice years – essentially all of the pups die,” said David W. Johnston, research scientist at the Duke University Marine Lab. “It calls into question the resilience of the population.”
The study, published today in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, is the first to show that seasonal sea ice cover in all four harp seal breeding regions in the North Atlantic has declined by as much as 6 percent per decade since 1979, when satellite records of ice conditions in the region began…
http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/01/05/global-warming-harp-seal-habitat-vanishing-fast/
Does the “and” part make it doubly redundant?
All this yada about “free speech”: the term actually (especially legally) refers to freedom to criticize the government, not freedom to lie and mislead without consequences.
And who tells me that this is the first inbreed ever in sharks?
Did they monitor that over the last 10000 years exactly?
Harry
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/12/24/mann-hockey-stick-co-author-bradley-it-may-be-that-mann-et-al-simply-dont-have-the-long-term-trend-right/#more-53634
Just assume that nothing these people (global warming alarmists) have ever written, or will ever write, is worth reading. The probability is you will be more right than wrong, and just think of all the time you’ll save.
Wattsnext?
In less than a decade, the global warming “crisis” will be utterly discredited. Earth will be naturally cooling and humankind will be very concerned about the adequacy of global food supply. There will be bitter recriminations about the trillion-plus dollars squandered on the scam of global warming. Broken wind farms will litter the landscape, with no money to decommission them. Corn ethanol for motor fuel will be considered heresy. The names of the leading global warmists will live in infamy.
It strikes me that the simplest explanation is that since taxonomy was historically based on morphology, which can be inexact, and not genetics per se, that what they have “discovered” is that there is a certain amount of morphological heterogeneity within that shark population that they are (mis?)- interpreting as seperate discrete species. In fact, history (and DNA studies) may subsequently prove that the two groups and their “hybrids” are all one population. There are many current controversies in taxonomy, especially in the marine realm. In fact, it may even be that the simple geographic variable of their distribution (water temperature, prey species) itself is CAUSING the differences in morphology, and is not the RESULT of it.
This hybrid shark scare is yet another thing that should be added to the Warmlist.
A complete list of things caused by global warming
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
There’s an even bigger story behind this, and that is ‘news for sale’
There’s a big network of small ‘news’ organizations, maybe more than 10,000 outlets that have published this in remarkably efficient fashion, and it’s always the same organizations, the ones that went with the untrue story ‘Russia plants flag on seabed at north pole’ (this was an attempt to stoke up oil prices). Something very strange is going on with syndicated news.
It would appear that Dina Spector is taking the pistrix
Thanks for getting the clarification by Jessica Morgan.
The alarmist reports in the MSM, as shown in the previous thread in general, and here in particular, underline yet again the dire state of scientific education in our institutions, right across the globe.
It seems that a general ‘knowledge’ of AGW, decorated with a degree in PR or Media Studies, is sufficient to become an instant pundit, with pulpit (MSM) to push alarmist ‘science’, and to give any scientific papers who are not alarmist, the required spin.
This state of affairs has been going for a good decade. We find such people everywhere, from the small local papers to the big organisations like the BBC.
If even the scientists who did the research and wrote the papers cannot get a retraction, then what chance have we to convince our politicians that they are and have been taken for a ride by the alarmists?
Finally – I hope it is now evident that climate “science”, in the form of AGW alarmism, is such a failure because neither physics nor biology nor geology nor palaeontology is taken into account in their ‘models’. And they’ve been shown to be abysmal statisticians and computer programmers as well.
It puzzles me why so many scientists still keep their mouths shut about this dismal “science”.
I think it’s more a sign that one shark [snip . . not cool] the other shark.
Good to see that the annual slaughter of Harp seals and the complaints by Newfie fishermen that they eat to much fish due to an increased population are inconvenient statistics not worthy of mention in the BBC report. Otters have recently recognised our river after a 50 year absence. Is this due to changes in Co2?
First, to clear up the B.S. issue: In the USA there are two main tracks for a 4-year college degree, the B.S. (Bachelor of Science) and B.A. (Bachelor of Arts). Both degree types are available in many fields. In general, the B.S. curriculum contains more “hands-on” or practical courses, while the B.A. curriculum has more theoretical courses. Typically the B.A. has more writing, philosophy, or investigative emphasis, while the B.S. goes more toward practical applications.
Each field of study could have its own set of degree tracks. I taught music for many years. The B.S. was reserved for music education; it required methods courses within the education department. The B.A. was reserved for performers and researchers in music but had several required courses outside of music; a broad and somewhat strong degree. The strongest degree in music was the B.M. (Bachelor of Music) degree, which had the highest number of credits in the student’s major (e.g., piano, voice, composition, theory, etc.) and the fewest credits outside of music. There was also a B.M.E., Bachelor of Music Education, which was stronger than the B.S. but was diluted by the education credits and not as strong in music as the B.M. Not many schools offered all four of these; most offered one or two.
In journalism the B.A. was considered a stronger degree than the B.S., but at some schools only one of the pair was offered. I don’t know the situation at the young lady’s school.
Second, about the sharks: Recent discovery does not necessarily mean recent origin. The oceans are wide and deep, and even the small fraction embraced within the study has a forbiddingly large volume and discouragingly small penetration by human investigators. For the population of the hybrid sharks to have reached the large levels enabling discovery, they must have been around for many years, likely centuries or millennia. The fact that only a few generations have been somehow isolated simply testifies that individual sharks don’t live long enough for more generations to be extant at once.
I for one welcome our new shark overlords!!!
At 5.10 pm on Wednesday 7 Feb 1992, I seated myself in the lounge of the Eola Hotel in Natchez, Mississippi, to avoid the rain. A newspaper by my side, “The Sun” carried headlines of “Kite Lifts 6 year old girl 200 ft into the sky.” “Renter finds $23,000 in toilet bowl.” “Porker Gives Birth to Human Piglet.” “Man shoots at Opossum and blows up his house.” But the corker was “Tourist Finds Basketball-Size Diamond!” It was reportedly found near Australia’s Ayer’s Rock by Chicago tourist & businessman Harry Kurtz…… It’s archived, probably it’s peer reviewed.
The USA press is strange. I am an Australian and often we Aussies are at the setting for these fascinating stories with a tendency to terminological and factual inexactitude.When a USA news reporter writes about Australian waters with hybrid sharks and climate change, my left ear hears “usual American press bullshit”, then my right ear hears “Read Darwin on Evolution and definition of ‘species'” and my wild frontier says “Global Warming is a Crockett of sh.. .”
It’s getting so bad that I’m gaining a preference to look at the rear end of sows in labour as better value for new discoveries than “Science” and “Nature”.
Competition – What name would YOU give to your very own Human Piglet or Hybrid Shark pet?
Example. We knew a 6 year old girl who played with kites on a farm. She had a pet dog that she named “Porkie”. Sweet little kid, picture of innocence. People would remark how nice “Porkie” was and she would say with sparkle “thank you for your kindness (but never “You’re welcome”). Eventually, one lady visitor asked if he was named that because he was fat and the 6-year-old replied “No, we call him Porky because he r..ts pigs”.
Time to lift the game, Team USA.
They changed the story title to:
The World’s First Hybrid Shark Could Be A Sign Of Climate Change
It was:
The World’s First Hybrid Shark is Another Scary Sign that Global Warming is Real
Has no one heard of the “Headington Shark”?
http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/the-worlds-strangest-monuments/9
If that doesn’t proove global warming then I don’t know what does!
🙂
Looks like Dina changed the second paragraph now. Also, at the bottom of the page she linked to another article she did on climate change. It just regurgitates the tired old “proofs” that climate change is happening. She is a hack.
http://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-global-warming-scientific-evidence-2011-8
How does one earn a BS in Journalism? Did she major in Ink Chem?
Another somewhat related topic to this. Check out the reintroduction of the so called ‘Red Wolf’ in North Carolina and elsewhere on the US east coast.’experimental populations’.. Lots of millions of dollars have been spent and are continuing to be spent on this ‘coyote’ since the 1970’s. The powers that be [grant seekers and ESA (Endangered Species Act )] advocates] got on the bandwagon. Around 1990 or so DNA testing proved that the so-called ‘red wolf was nothing more that a hybred coyote-grey wolf. That has not stopped the continued grants. In fact they have increased. I don’t have time now to present the facts, but this whole issue stinks big time. It, like global warming has a 30 year head start on the truth. A lot of dollars at stake there. It is a program that never should have been started and now will likely take an equal amount of dollars to rectify. I hope to expand on this when the opportunity presents itself but I’ve got to work now.
Her editor is the one to be contacted.
What she did – inventing a story, is a serious breech of journalistic ethics.
She should be fired.
While people may (rightly) criticize Dina for her article, please do not forget that there is (or should be) an editor in the publication process, and that he or she shares equal blame for this kind of story.
I am surprised she did not graduate Magna Cum Laude with a BS. She seems very good at BSing.
Shouldn’t one of the questions asked to the researches be “Why aren’t there more hydrids since we came from cold glacier age to an interim warming?” If climate change or warming/cooling can cause hybridization there should be lots.
Here are email addresses to the CEOs:
Corporate Contacts:
CEO / Editor-in-Chief: Henry Blodget – hblodget@businessinsider.com
COO / Publisher: Julie Hansen – jhansen@businessinsider.com
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/contact#ixzz1iaepUQ2z