Media 101 - How "not to" promote a reality show

Hands up, who did not watch the "Balloon Boy" media sensation last week either live, or on hand held devices like a Blackberry or iPhone?

One...two...three...o.k, four of you. Thanks.

For the rest of us, a few hours spent following what seemed like the gripping story of a flying saucer balloon with a wayward six year old child inside had at least 200 million Americans and a handful of Dutch enthralled.

Sadly it was a hoax. Remember the Bigfoot scandal, yes we covered that too.

There's a point to this post. There are good and bad ways to promote a show concept to the major media and without the proper media guidance, stunts like these set very bad examples with serious consequences.

The family is facing $500,000 in fines and a minimum of 6 months jail time. Our guess after the dust settles will be a quick documentary, bankruptcy from legal bills, and a divorce.

Shark Tourism - On The Media "Today Show"

Question: Are the media pro shark or anti shark?

Answer: Anti shark

For commercial shark diving operators worldwide the answer to this question would seem obvious. For the past decade the media has shown little interest in correcting the ongoing and rampant shark killing stigma of the Jaws Legacy.

When it comes down to hype and the media's lifeblood, advertising sales, nothing compares to a shark attack on a human. These gruesome media packages dive slow news cycles and explode worldwide with the speed of Santa Ana wildfires.

Knowing this there is absolutely no excuse for shark diving operators who allow negative shark images and video to be presented to the media without any direction or industry leadership. In a word this is, "criminal behaviour" towards the very animals that we as commercial shark diving operators spend years attempting to show in a different light.

If the commercial shark diving industry is to continue with operators enjoying offshore operations in countries that are not their own such as the Bahamas and Mexico this kind of blatant, inexcusable and criminal media mismanagement must end.

The future of two of the western hemispheres best known shark sites absolutely depends on it...and we are losing this battle. A veritable flood of questionable images and video have come out of the Bahamas, Tiger Beach site recently. This dive site is still under a C and D that all but demands shark protocols for operators and is still under regulatory decision making by the Bahamian government.

Why operators are allowing disturbing video's and images that abjectly defy this Cease and Desist order to be posted on public sites, with little thought towards blow back, will most likely be discussed (heatedly) when this site is shut down.

For commercial shark diving operators whose media skills are not up to the task you have two options.

1. Leave the industry.
2. Clean up your act.

Case in point the Today Show on MSNBC this morning recycling a horrific cage breach video from Isla Guadalupe. This mornings show was watched by 5,998,000 people in the USA alone. Major media is not to blame here. Without the negative images and video we provide them with they cannot skillfully move forward with their well know agenda.

Having a commercial shark diving operation present them with a video now used to promote and highlight anti shark agendas in Australia will lead to the death of sharks. The true horror of negative shark media.

Responsibility for what becomes anti shark media begins and ends with the operator:

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CNN Good-MSNBC-Bad

Got an email from Jeremiah over at Neptunic SharkSuits yesterday about the following video. For those of you who do not know Jeremiah he's an "industry gray beard" a guy who's been around the block and few million times and whose time in water with sharks commands respect.

MSNBC's coverage of a dead Great Hammerhead caught in Florida this week could have been taken from any script written in 1977 for a local anchor. Missing is the "sympathy for the devil" and any basic understanding about shark conservation. Now take CNN's coverage of sharks this month and you get the feeling that perhaps MSNBC is pulling anchor scripts from 1977:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Top 10 Extreme Vacations-Sharkdiver.com

For the second year in a row 2007 and 2008 MSNBC has named Shark Diver one of the Top 10 Extreme Vacations on the planet.

Top 10 extreme vacations

We've found 10 extreme vacations to get your heart racing and, just in case you aren't quite ready to swim with the sharks, we've also included a similar — albeit less-adrenaline-pulsing — alternative with each of our top adventure-filled trips

6. Shark diving
If "Jaws" didn't permanently scare you out of the water, pack your gear and go deep-sea diving with the sharks off the coast of Cape Point, South Africa. Apex Shark Expeditions runs day trips into False Bay (some 30 minutes from Cape Town) between November and June, inviting you to swim for over an hour with Mako and blue sharks without anything but your wet suit between you and their fins.

Low-adrenaline alternative: Check out the world's largest predatory shark — the great white — in the Pacific waters around Mexico's Isla Guadalupe; Shark Diver outings put you underwater — and safely behind bars — in a secure steel cage.

Ahhh, that cold, clean refreshing mass media. Thanks to MSNBC and Shermans Travel for this honor, and thanks to all our divers who made it so!

MSNBC-End of the World Adventures?

MSNBC came up with a travel article today. It's always nice to see great journalism at work. Of course we are kidding, this is your classic "End of the World" reportage that gets eyeballs (got ours) and needs to be addressed.

"No one knows why random things like ray attacks and zip-line snaps happen. You would need a mathematician — or a theologian — to wager a guess. Why are more people taking their chances on vacation, even when you take chance out of the equation? The answer, say experts, is we don’t know danger when we see it anymore. We can’t tell the difference being brave and being stupid."

Which leads us in the dive community to the timely discussion about assumed risk and what is a "safe" wild animal encounter or not. That discussion is being had right now in the Bahamas and we'll know soon where it leads. In the meantime this latest event has provided media fodder for the likes of MSNBC as they chew out more doomsday articles that in turn provide great copy for sites like the Cyber Diver Network.