Ausmarine editorial – April 2009
A reader writes (see opposite) to complain of legalistic misinformation about the fishing boat that was involved in the tragic collision on Sydney Harbour last year.
He was, quite reasonably, upset by the defence lawyer's baseless blaming of the fishing boat's crew and, probably more so, by the general media's acceptance of that misrepresentation.
Having closely followed the trials and tribulations of Australia's maritime industry for more than forty years, I guess I have become immune from or inured to such media misrepresentation.
I have become used to the general media's description of practically every ship as a "tanker" and every fishing boat as a "trawler". They have become emotive words that serve to assist with the essential sensationalising of every story.
Similarly, I have come to expect, without exception, the use of the adjective "worst" in connection with every tragedy or even accident. Our TV stations, commercial radio and daily newspapers seem tragically unable to sell themselves without resorting to hyperbole.
The other problem with the general media is their lack of interest in history. Most have no files more than five or seven years old. Even if they do, they are loathe to use them. Mostly the young journalists are too lazy to even "Google" the facts. Probably, they have been brought up on the old but true saying of "don't let the facts stand in the way of a good story".
These character traits of the general media have been shown off loudly and clearly recently with their coverage of the Sydney Harbour collision and the oil spill from the 'Pacific Adventurer' off Brisbane. The absence of facts and the hurt or damage that their ignorant coverage causes appear of absolutely no consequence to the "agnorant"* young journalists employed by the general media.
Unfortunately, however, the media is only partly to blame for this sad state of affairs. A major contributing factor is the inability or unwillingness of all parts of the maritime sector: shipping; fishing; aquaculture; stevedoring; offshore; shipbuilding; tourism; and more, to vigorously respond to such misrepresentations.
The fishing industry is undoubtedly the worst offender. Having no national association, and not much in the states, it does not have a spokesperson. As a result, most of the gross misinformation published about it goes unanswered.
Unanswered claims, no matter how defamatory or misleading, quickly become generally accepted as the truth. It is very difficult to correct such "truths" months or years down the track. They soon become conventional wisdom.
Other industry sectors have been much better at refuting erroneous reports and commentary than the fishermen. However, we still see numerous instances of such poor responses as to the 'Pacific Adventurer' and the 'Iron Baron' grounding of some years ago.
They inevitably lead to distortion if not outright misrepresentation which is costly to the industry in both the long and short run.
The maritime industry and all its sectors needs to study the farming, mining, timber, wine, pharmaceutical, medical and accounting industries, for example, to see how effectively they respond to actual or perceived misrepresentation. If it doesn't, its already poor media and public image will continue to deteriorate.
* "Agnorant" – Try combining ignorant and arrogant.