While environmental activists have always been negatively labeled as radical, spontaneous, and sometimes dangerous, the media has profited off of their controversial tactics in the hit television series Whale Wars. This show not only highlights the travels of this group but the producers frame this series to show the activists as environmental heroes protecting the future of whales and dolphins.
The documentary follows of the travels of activist group the Sea Sheppard Conservation Society aboard their ship The Steve Erwin. This group is passionate about the conservation and protection of the ocean’s ecosystems by ending the destruction of the habitat and the slaughter of wildlife in the oceans. In this television series, TV crews follow the radical group as they stalk the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic waters in attempts to stop their whaling efforts by any means necessary. This group targets the Japanese because the Japanese have found a loophole in the treaty that lets them whale as much as they want in the means of “scientific research.” This series brings viewers aboard the vessel and into the day-to-day action of this group’s effort to stop the excessive whaling of the Japanese.
While this documentary follows the action of this controversial activist group, Animal Planet is put in the middle by framing the series to show the Sea Sheppards as heroes and the Japanese as insensitive murderers. Similar to the ideas in Robert Entman’s article Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm, the producers use the two concepts of framing, salience and selection, to appeal to their viewers. For salience, Animal Planet has chosen to follow this group and depicts the controversial tactics of the Sea Sheppards to be a bigger deal then they are. This can be seen in clip #2 showing the drama of seeing a whale being killed and dismembered. The producers highlight the concept of salience in this clip by showing that a whale dying is a horribly tragedy, as well as hearing the commentary of activists for a dramatic spin. Animal Planet utilizes the concept of selection by choosing exactly what footage to be shown to the public. This specific footage makes these interactions between the conflicting groups to look extremely tense. Animal planet also tries to select footage to show the Japanese as heartless and violent while the activists continue to be shown as modern day heroes fighting for a cause. This kind of selection is shown in the clip #3 where the Japanese start to throw grenades at the Sea Sheppards during a confrontation.
This series while framed in favor of the Sea Sheppards, has given activists the kind of positive attention that they strive for. The increasing popularity of the show has educated viewers on the exact message that activists try to convey and more is being done to stop excessive whaling. For more information about this series check out the website:
http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/
http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/sea-shepherd/
~Andrea Osterhout
