Last week KTLA-TV produced a report on mercury in seafood that did include statements from NFI but still missed the mark on a number of journalistic issues, including the title which was rife with exaggeration; "Fish and Mercury: Recipe for Disaster"- Yum, I'd like an extra helping of hyperbole with my headline, please.
Granted the report was featured on KTLA's Extras page along side such recognized journalistic feats as Martha Stewart's Puppy Killed in Freak Kennel Explosion, Rapper 'Coolio' Busted at LAX for Drugs and of course Boy Gets His Head Stuck in Storm Drain.
While those headlines aren't quite as important as say "Five Held in Plot to Bug Democratic Offices Here," (Washington Post; Sunday, June 18, 1972) they are supposed to represent KTLA's journalism standards and should at least be well research and accurate.
Here's our letter to KTLA management:
March 10, 2009
Patrick O'Keefe
News Manager
KTLA-TV
Los Angeles
VIA Email
Dear Mr. O'Keefe,
I am writing to draw your attention to a number of errors in fact and violations of basic journalism tenets contained in your station's March 5th report on mercury in commercial seafood. We were pleased that KTLA reached out to the National Fisheries Institute for inclusion in the report but must insist that the issues herein be addressed.
The title of the report found under KTLA Extras is "Fish and Mercury: Recipe for Disaster." As you and your staff well know there is no "disaster" associated with this subject and certainly no "disaster" associated with any aspect of the report. This title is an obvious violation of the The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics that clearly states reporters should "Make certain that headlines... do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context."
Further along the report states that "extremely high levels of mercury can cause nerve, brain, and kidney damage, and even death." While this is true, the fact of the matter remains that those examples come from patients exposed to mercury via industrial contamination and not consumption of commercial seafood. In fact no person in the United States has ever been officially diagnosed with methylmercury toxicity as a result of consuming commercial seafood. (Myers, Gary et al. "Nutrient and Methyl Mercury Exposure from Consuming Fish." The Journal of Nutrition 137 (2007): 2805-08)
The report also states that "mercury is a chemical element that enters the air and water from coal-burning and other industrial processes." While this too is in fact true, as it relates to the mercury found in commercial seafood it is not entirely accurate. The vast majority of mercury found in the oceans and thus commercial seafood is naturally occurring and not the result of pollution. (Barber, R.T., Vijayakumar, A., Cross, F.A. "Mercury Concentrations in Recent and Ninety-Year-Old Benthopelagic Fish." Science 178 (1972): 636-639)(Gibbs, R.H., Jarosewich, E., Windom, H.L. "Heavy Metal Concentrations in Museum Fish Specimens: Effects of Preservatives and Time." Science 184 (1974): 475-477)(Kraepiel, A.M.L., Keller, K., Chin, H.B., Malcolm, E.G., Morel, F.M.M. "Sources and Variations of Mercury in Tuna." Environmental Science and Technology 37 (2003): 551-8)(Miller, G.E., Grant, P.M., Kishore, R., Steinkruger, F.J., Roland, F.S., Guinn, V.P. "Mercury Concentrations in Museum Specimens of Tuna and Swordfish." Science 175 (2003): 1121-2)
We ask that you review the independent science for which we have provided you citations, edit the title of the report and correct the inaccuracies mention above.
Thank you for your consideration.
Gavin Gibbons
National Fisheries Institute
cc: John Moczulski
Vice President
KTLA-TV
