First-ever ChatGPT-written Article Printed in a National Newspaper
“Make up a Washington Post article about how ‘Shark Week’ lacks diversity”
From the Washington Post news section, a story composed by artificial intelligence from the prompt “Make up a Washington Post article about how ‘Shark Week’ lacks diversity:”
‘Shark Week’ lacks diversity, overrepresents men named Mike, scientists say
Researchers say Discovery’s programming overwhelmingly featured White men as experts while emphasizing negative messages about sharks
By Daniel Wu
December 5, 2022 at 9:32 p.m. EST
Lisa Whitenack loved sharks as a kid. She spent rainy days leafing through a guide to sharks in Reader’s Digest. Every summer, she would watch “Shark Week,” Discovery’s annual TV event that spotlights the ocean predator with seven days of dedicated programming.
But when the scientists appeared on her TV screen, she rarely saw any women she could look up to.
“Why would I know I could do that?” Whitenack said. “I don’t come from a family of scientists. I didn’t see very many people that looked like me on television.”
Whitenack, now a biology professor at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., found her way into shark research anyway. When the pandemic lockdowns came in 2020, she saw an opportunity to study the source of her old misconceptions. Was “Shark Week” feeding audiences the wrong messages about sharks — and who studies them?
Whitenack led a team of researchers to examine hundreds of “Shark Week” episodes that aired between 1988 and 2020. In a study published last month by the Public Library of Science, their research claims that Discovery’s programming emphasized negative messages about sharks, lacked useful messaging about shark conservation and overwhelmingly featured White men as experts — including several with the same name.
The programming featured more White experts and commentators named “Mike” than women, said David Shiffman, a conservationist at Arizona State University who was a co-author of the study.
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Originally published in The Unz Review on December 7, 2022.