Misinformation and Omission in Science Journalism

Abstract

On 7 February 2012, one of the largest whale sharks ever recorded was found presumably dead and towed to Karachi harbour. On 8 February, ‘whale shark’ was the third most searched keyword as shown on Google Trends. Reports on landmark events such as this could educate the public on marine conservation issues. We collated 45 internet news reports and examined whether or not reports a) are scientifically accurate for information on the species in question and b) educate readers on specific or broad biology or conservation issues. We found only 46.6% of the reports to be factually accurate. Only a minority of the reports discussed conservation of whale sharks. Scientists should step-up public communications as a meaningful educational exercise in light of overwhelming public interest in such events.