Conversations with Chris Palmer discussion

Hello all! I know we're still a small group here, but I thought I'd get the conversation started.

A lot of people look forward to watching Shark Week on Discovery every summer. However, a lot of the information highlighted in these programs focuses on the more dangerous aspects of sharks, making people fear them and, as a result, be less likely to support efforts to preserve them. What are your thoughts on Shark Week? Do you enjoy the programming? If so, what draws you? What might Discovery do differently that would help sharks rather than further tarnish their reputations?

I think Discovery could generate a lot more compassion for sharks and their place on the planet if they could emphasize (in a big way) the impact that sharks have on the ocean ecosystems and the importance of healthy oceans to our own lives. Sharks are essential to the health of the oceans in numerous ways--not the least of which is that they maintain the balance of the food chain. What would happen if there were no sharks? Think, Yellowstone before the wolves were reintroduced in the 1990s - the elk population overgrazed their own food sources, which created an unwelcoming environment for other animal species, which, in turn, strengthened a cascade in which the park seriously deteriorated. In the case of sharks, the entire marine ecosystem would be thrown off balance, with important consequences for the planet and for all its inhabitants.

Hi Sheila, excellent points! I totally agree. I appreciate you expressing all that so cogently.
The challenge for Discovery is how to do that and also get sky-high ratings--something they feel they have to achieve if they are to stay in business.
What other thoughts do you have on Shark Week or other programs on the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet?

Ha! Since I read your first book, I find it difficult to watch those shows now! But if these networks can cover more of the muckraking social topics -- i.e., trafficking of wild animals, or what really happens at companies like Have Trunk Will Travel, that was taken to court by Animal Defenders International, or cover what really happens in the university labs that test on mammals -- dogs and apes, or do a piece on the palm oil plantations, and consequences both for the animals and for us, (i.e., how the rainforests provide essential carbon catch regions)-- I think any of these subjects would draw a huge audience and make the public more aware of the realities.

I think Discovery imagines that they wouldn't get a "huge" audience for those kinds of shows, but I think (as I know you do) that they are wrong and need to be more conscious of their founding missions (which are inspiring) when making programming decisions and less obsessed with ratings.
Thanks for reading my first book! I'm honored!
I'm not familiar with Have Trunk Will Travel. I'll Google it.