Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Adios Charismatic Megafauna: The Guardian is Dropping the Polar Bear as a Symbol of Global Warming

Knut, we hardly knew ye.*

From The Guardian:
Why we're rethinking the images we use for our climate journalism 
Guardian picture editor Fiona Shields explains why we are going to be using fewer polar bears and more people to illustrate our coverage of the climate emergency

At the Guardian we want to ensure that the images we publish accurately and appropriately convey the climate crisis that we face. Following discussions among editors about how we could change the language we use in our coverage of environmental issues, our attention then turned to images. We have been working across the organisation to better understand how we aim to visually communicate the impact the climate emergency is having across the world.

Our goal is to provide guidelines for anyone working with images at the Guardian. We are also asking the agencies and photographers we work with to provide images that are appropriate to the changing narrative.

The concern over how best to depict the climate emergency led us to seek advice from the research organisation Climate Visuals, who have found that “images that define climate change shape the way it is understood and acted upon”...MORE
Unfortunately, two of the photos chosen to communicate the climate emergency are:
Smog in China

Smog is made up of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, particulates and secondary ozone (Los Angeles style) or sulfur dioxide and fog (old-school London style) none of which have much to do with global warming.

And steam from a power plant in Wales:

I know it's hard to take a picture of CO₂ but still. 

* Like an ursine VH1 Behind the Music, Knut had his highs and lows.
January 2007
The Arctic: Boating Paradise
Knut's got that death threat licked.

August 2007
Fatty Knut Put on Strict Diet 
Knut, the world's most famous polar bear, is off the scales after eating too many snacks and has been put on a diet. The Berlin Zoo said Knut's handlers have been told to stop feeding him extra rations of croissant, fish and meat.
"Knut has become noticeably round," zoo vet Andreas Ochs said. "So we shall be feeding him restrictively."

September 2007
Knut Feigning Sore Paw to Get Attention
Knut sticking out his tongue at visitors last week.
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DPA
Knut sticking out his tongue at visitors last week.
Knut the celebrity polar bear has been receiving get-well messages from around the world ever since he slipped on a wet rock and hurt his paw last Friday -- but his keeper at Berlin Zoo thinks he's only pretending to be in pain because he likes the attention.

September 2007
POLAR BEAR TOLD TO STOP SNACKING
Looking more like a furry Sumo wrestler each day.
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DPA
Looking more like a furry Sumo wrestler each day.
December 2007
Knut the Polar Bear's Birthday
He even did a bit of break dancing!
He even did a bit of break dancing...

January 2008 
Knut Signs $5 Mil. Hollywood Deal: Series, Idol in the Wings?
The on-screen version of Knut will be every bit as friendly as the real-life Knut.
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DDP
The on-screen version of Knut will be every bit as friendly as the real-life Knut.
February 2008
Polar Bear Trademark Battle Grips Nuremberg

March 2008
First Solar and Knut the Polar Bear (FSLR)
Still Think I'm Cute?

Fangs for the memories: Knut is separated from this little boy by six inches of glass
One year on, cuddly Knut has turned into a 22st killing machine

May 2009
In Today's Polar Bear News...
Berlin - Berlin's famous zoo resident, Knut the polar bear, was the subject of financial wranglings Tuesday, as zoo chiefs tried to agree on the sale of the bear from Neumuenster Zoo to Berlin Zoo, where he was born and gained worldwide fame. Peter D...

Courtroom wranglings over price of famous Berlin polar bear Knut
Berlin's famous zoo resident, Knut the polar bear, was the subject of financial wranglings Tuesday, as zoo chiefs tried to agree on the sale of the bear from Neumuenster Zoo to Berlin Zoo, where he was born and gained worldwide fame.

Peter Druewa, the chief executive of Neumuenster Zoo which owns Knut, said he was not prepared to sell the bear for less than 700,000 euros (944,000 dollars), while Berlin Zoo refused to pay "a cent more" than 350,000 euros.

March 2011
UPDATED: Knut the Polar Bear has Died 
But by then the world had moved on, Knut went into croissant rehab and the Hollywood deal fell through.