[BCNnet] Birds, science & journalism

[judymellin]

The point I got from Steve's post was that he considered the "science" to be
flawed, not the reporting.  The reporter used what he/she was given and had
only that to work with.

Many folks had a problem with the seemingly-less-than-scientific way the
data were gathered and the conclusions that were drawn.  I did not
participate in the crow study since we have very few crows at Poplar Creek
but I did the chickadee study since there seemed at least to be an effort to
compare 2002 numbers to those from 2001.  Even then, we apparently had the
high count for chickadees during the observation period (32 individuals) but
it was reported that the most individuals seen was 23!

Here is an article that I wrote for our Poplar Creek newsletter on this
subject.  It is not as detailed as it might have been because of space
constraints but I hope my point came across.

Judy Mellin
Bird Monitor
Poplar Creek Prairie Stewards
Hoffman Estates

WEST NILE VIRUS AND YOU!

Well, not you personally but you as you are all Poplar Creek!  Lots of folks
have wondered how the virus affected “our” birds and you will be pleased to
know that we saw very little effect in the target species.  Here are some
statistics based on how frequently the birds are seen on a weekly monitoring
basis.

Our chickadee population is close to 100% as they are always there for us,
flitting and “chickadee-dee-dee”ing.  The site has never been a hot bed of
crows and we consistently show about 70% presence over the years.

I had thought blue jays were showing a sharp decline because their presence
is 2001 was 85% and then dropped to 61% in 2002.  But, as usual, the more
data we have, the better we can draw conclusions and I found that our blue
jay population seems to run on a two-year cycle as we had 66% in 2000 and
82% in 1999.

There are many factors to consider before we can draw conclusions about any
changes in the numbers of birds.  In 2001-2002, we had no “real” winter so
it is hard to know what diseases may have survived.  The spring of 2002 was
extremely cold and wet while the summer was extremely hot and dry.  These
factors would affect egg-laying rates and survival of hatchlings.

So we need to be vigilant in watching our fine feathered friends and keeping
records of what’s really happening!

Judy Mellin



----- Original Message -----
From: "Ryan Chew" <ryanwc@msn.com>
To: <COszak@aol.com>; <sdevore@voyager.net>; <BCNnet@ece.iit.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 11:02 AM
Subject: [BCNnet] Birds, science & journalism


> A friend of mine tells the story of advising Adlai Stevenson about how to
> get his message out on Industrial Policy in the early 70's, a decade
before
> it became one of the hot topics in politics.  Stevenson's idea was to give
> an hour or two speech at a committee hearing, and expect reporters to
> attend.  The results were decidedly mixed.
>
> My friend suggested that he try packaging it in a press release,
emphasizing
> the important parts.  Reporters can still read the whole speech, but
you've
> shown them what's most important.  Stevenson bridled at the suggestion,
> calling it "selling me like soap," but he eventually recognized the
> necessity.  You may lose some of the complexity in a press release, but
you
> help reporters zero in on what's important.
>
> There are good reporters and bad reporters.  There are also good and bad
> ways to get our message across to reporters.  It's easy to get frustrated
> about what shows up in the papers, and I sympathize.  But we can also
> improve the way we communicate with them.  Giving a detailed analysis of
25
> years of research is probably not going to help much.
>
> Succinct press releases summarizing research in a page or two will help a
> lot.  Even if no article results, a release can educate a reporter to
write
> a better article the next time.  Likewise, if you feel something important
> was missing from an article, a follow-up phone call directly to a reporter
> can help make sure they understand more of the nuances of an issue the
next
> time they cover it.
>
> (I'd caution that one or two informed callers will have more of an impact
> than all of us calling to complain.  Reporters will handle advice like
most
> of us - once we make them feel defensive, we'll lose the argument.)
>
> I agree with Chris that the survey was accurate enough to publicize - it's
> not nearly as difficult for experienced observers to pick up population
> trends among large, sociable birds and feeder birds as it is to document
> nesting trends for cerulean warblers.
>
> But the survey is just a first step.  I interviewed a lot of people after
> the Christmas Bird Count, and almost everyone was very circumspect about
> West Nile, admitting that there are far too many factors for us to
attribute
> CBC changes to West Nile or to spraying to counter West Nile.
>
> The reporters and the public were sensitized by that first round of
> publicity, and that creates space for good science, well communicated, to
> draw a more complete picture of what's happening, which will help guide
> public opinion and public policy.  I'm glad Steve opened a discussion on
how
> to get that done.
>
> Just my two cents.  Let's keep talking.
>
> Ryan Chew
> An ex-press secretary and occasional free-lance journalist
> www.chicagoriverpaddle.com
>
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