of
the interview “Media Watch” did with The Sunday Telegraph’s Neil Breen
regarding this matter.
Those
stranded polar bears on the shrinking Arctic ice - victims of global warming
- certainly tugged at the heart-strings.
That
photo was published not only in the Sunday Telegraph.
It
made it onto the front page of the New York Times.
And
the International Herald Tribune.
It
also ran in London's Daily Mail, The Times of London and Canada's Ottawa
Citizen - and that's just to name a few.
All
used it as evidence of global warming and the imminent demise of the polar
bear.
But
the photo wasn't current. It was two and a half years old.
And
it wasn't snapped by Canadian environmentalists.
It
was taken by an Australian marine biology student on a field trip.
And
in what month did she take it?
“The
time of year was August, summer.”
—
Email from Amanda Byrd to Media Watch
Summer, when every year the fringes of the Arctic ice cap melt regardless of
the wider effects of global warming.
So
were the polar bears stranded?
“They
did not appear to be in danger…I did not see the bears get on the ice, and I
did not see them get off. I cannot say either way if they were stranded or
not.”
—
Email from Amanda Byrd to Media Watch
And
they didn't appear stranded to Denis Simard of Environment Canada.
He
told Canada's National Post.
You
have to keep in mind that the bears are not in danger at all. This is a
perfect picture for climate change…you have the impression they are in the
middle of the ocean and they are going to die...But they were not that far
from the coast, and it was possible for them to swim...They are still alive
and having fun.
— The
National Post (Canada), Gore pays for photo after Canada didn't, 23rd March,
2007
Polar
bears are good swimmers. So how did all this come about?
Photographer Amanda Byrd gave her photo to fellow cruiser, Dan Crosbie - to
have a look.
“Dan
Crosbie gave the image to the Canadian Ice Service, who gave the image to
Environment Canada, who distributed the image to 7 media agencies including
AP.”
—
Email from Amanda Byrd to Media Watch
Associated Press released the photo two and a half years after it was taken,
on the day the United Nations released its major global warming report.
That's where Sydney's Sunday Telegraph got the photo, running it with a
story taken from the Daily Mail as Neil Breen explains.
…the
photograph represents polar bears standing on ice that’s melting. Now
obviously there’s a disputed account of when that was taken now, and maybe
it was taken in the Alaskan Summer when you would naturally expect ice to
melt but at the time it was sent to us, Associated Press in their caption to
us told us that the picture was taken of melting ice caps and to do with
global warming and that it was sent to them by a Canadian ice authority and
we had no reason to question it.
—
Statement from Neil Breen (Editor of the Sunday Telegraph) to Media Watch
But
Amanda Byrd didn't think her photo necessarily described whether global
warming is occurring.
I take
neither stand, I simply took the photos...If I released the image myself, it
would have been as a striking image. Nothing more.
—
Email from Amanda Byrd to Media Watch
That's not how Al Gore saw it.
He
used it in a presentation on man made global warming.
"Their
habitat is melting... beautiful animals, literally being forced off the
planet," Mr. Gore said, with the photo on the screen behind him. "They're in
trouble, got nowhere else to go."
Audience members let out gasps of sympathy…
— The
National Post (Canada), Gore pays for photo after Canada didn't, 23rd March,
2007
Well
that's because they're bears… and at a distance, they're rather cute.
