Wow, CNN. All fish look alike? Do better!
Hello @cnn @cnni, these fish are NOT Chinese Paddlefish, they’re American Paddlefish. https://t.co/yAVRscS6Gn
SO MANY news stories are posting the incorrect species.
Important for media to properly ID species, especially regarding extinction and biodiversity loss. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/h0L0zzon7e
— Dr. Solomon David (@SolomonRDavid) January 7, 2020
The New York Times did get the correct fish for its article:
It’s not hard to find correct images/ID. THESE are Chinese Paddlefish (?Liu Chen Han https://t.co/CHSiRrqDfw)
And no, these fish likely didn’t reach 23 ft long (anecdotal report), verified max length is ~12 ft long. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/ldz3YTYlxX
— Dr. Solomon David (@SolomonRDavid) January 7, 2020
Some media sites were even worse than CNN, however:
NONE of these photos in recent media stories are Chinese Paddlefish.
First three are American Paddlefish, last pic isn’t even a paddlefish (it’s a sturgeon)?♂️
Journalists, #TeamFish is here to help with future stories ?? pic.twitter.com/ufFLk3cxVz
— Dr. Solomon David (@SolomonRDavid) January 7, 2020
Live Science has it wrong, too:
OK @LiveScience, please see above tweets. Your header image is not a Chinese Paddlefish, it’s an American Paddlefish.
Proper species ID matters! Especially concerning extinction & biodiversity loss! https://t.co/qwnteuCSZZ pic.twitter.com/I7VBHZya3O
— Dr. Solomon David (@SolomonRDavid) January 9, 2020
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And these media sources are hyping the size of the allegedly extinct fish:
ALSO, to many outlets reporting on this: the fish has never been verified to reach 23 ft long!
I know this makes for exciting headlines, but it’s inaccurate.
We don’t seem to report anecdotal size for Elephants, Great White Sharks, or Pandas, why for new(ly extinct) species?
— Dr. Solomon David (@SolomonRDavid) January 9, 2020
This is a pretty good lesson that everything the media reports needs to be fact-checked. Everything.
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