I remember being in a media storm. Back when the Martinez Beavers were first THE NEWS and channel 2,3,or 7 or the Chronicle was always on the phone looking to talk. I remember how crazy it all got. How there were so many people saying so many things that it was next to impossible to stop the inaccuracies from blossoming. Someone reporting the mayor wanted the beavers or that a child was bitten by the beavers or that beavers eat fish.
It was impossible to control the narrative. The best we could manage was to just hang on.
It was like riding a dragon. There was no telling when it would go and when it would stop and which direction it might turn next. All your could do is cling tightly to the scales and hope you didn’t fall. What I learned is that the media is like sharks. Once they see other sharks biting they all join in. They al want to say just what the other guy is saying and everything happens at once.
Until it stops.
We are in a beaver shark moment right now. But not about Martinez. about how beavers can benefit the planet as we cope with climate change. About California in particular. Yesterday the LA Times and LA magazine, Phys.org and Yahoo news ram the story. Everyone is saying the same thing. And every cringing mistake is being repeated at gale force.
We are riding the dragon, Hang on.
California says the beaver can be superhero in fighting climate change
California launches beaver restoration effort to fight climate change - Los Angeles TimesOkay raise your hand if you see the quote that will drive me insane when every news castor in the world repeats it.
Here it is: “Alternative strategies are underutilized or simply not considered, said Lundquist, who added that landowners could save time and money they spend trying to unblock beaver dams.”
Trying to unblock beaver dams? TRYING TO UNBLOCK BEAVER DAMS? How could a sentence like that possibly happen? Was Kate talking about a flow device and the reporter just wrote it down wrong? Do you honestly think farmers and ranchers HAVEN’T tried to unblock beaver dams? It doesn’t work because beavers FIX them. That’s why the killing happens.
Please please please please say the magic word flow device the next time the phone rings. Who ever it is. Whatever they ask you. You can always spot the seasoned politician in a crowd. Whatever question you ask they are going to answer by saying the thing they wanted to talk about in the first place. Be seasoned. Control the narrative. Say Flow Device. Or Pond leveler. Or Beaver Deceiver. Or Beaver Baffler.
Pretty please. For me?
