As you might know from this blog we’ve had a number of interactions with A & E’s History and the Dr. Oz show in the past few weeks. The two case studies stand in stark contrast to each other and now some independent arbiters are weighing in.
Yesterday TheTVNews.TV compared the two as part of its daily video report, also available on YouTube. 2 minutes and 24 seconds into the report it’s time for The Big Picture segment and that’s where host Jeff Grimshaw offers this analysis:
- Today’s installment of The Big Picture, analysis and commentary, is aptly entitled “A Tale of Two Fish Stories.” Fish story number one recently aired on the Dr. Oz show and it dealt with some alleged unseen health risks associated with certain seafoods. Fish story number two was to air on History’s Modern Marvels and it too contained some precautionary rhetoric about seafood. In stepped National Fisheries Institute’s Director of Media Relations, Gavin Gibbons, supplying scientific proof what he called demonstrable evidence of errors in both stories. And with what he called public perception of a valuable source of protein on the line here’s where the two stories diverge—Dr. Oz’s group was said to have stone walled the inquire and then proceeded to bring in its legal staff. On the other hand History was extremely responsive and although they could not pull the East Coast airing of Modern Marvels they did preempt West Coast and all subsequent airings pending the validation of the NFI objections. Like all news gathering organizations on a shortened multi-platformed news cycle the TVNews-dot-Tv lauds the actions taken by History; bold, responsive and committed to getting the story right. By the same token we hope that media entities like the Dr. Oz show will emulate History and will strive to put accuracy in reporting as the paramount criterion above air schedules, reputation and everything else. What’s your opinion? We’d like to know.
