Outraged about Early Show "Finding Nemo"

[michaeltx]

I like Oreilly but I dont think this will peak his attention untill it has more recognition behind it and there is something major pending ( ya know cotroversial legeslation and all that good stuff LOL)
but anyway the show headlines dont do the show justice. she overmaxed the little tank out at current lenghts (still babies). and said that they would fine.
basically a FW type setup. regualer gravel hangon filter a heater. add water and salt (which wasnt even talked about) a water conditioner and then the fishies. and any decorations
did anyone see the tank that was setup behind them.. it was a larger tank with a shark a few large angels and a ton of clowns. and thats just what was out a the time of camera pan.
the also had phirannas in a lot bigger tank and tried to get them to feed. I always thought of tetra as FW fish. I think the only reason they did this show was that all the products could be gotten from them. how knows the probably contacted CBS about doing the show in the first place. with all the people that are going to be getting these fish the are going to try to get in on it with the products.
sad though..
this is what the WHOLE artical says on the page and really realays nothing about what was done in the segment.....
With the success of the Disney's summer blockbuster film, "Finding Nemo," tropical fish are now finding themselves as the hot new pet. Carol Huntley-Weber of Tetra Fish Products visited The Saturday Early Show to show the ease of owning and maintaining an aquarium.

has anyone got a responce from either I havent....
and another sad thing is that they are saying go to tetra to learn more but the have nothing about marine fish its like the are classifying them in the same catagory and they are completely different....
Mike

 

[flamingkingofhe]

man that really pushes my hot spots

 

[iceburger]

I personally don't believe that this is CBS's fault at all, maybe they should research a little bit more, but who are they to argue with such an authority on aquariums (by authority i mean successful company) i think the harshest rebuke should be directed at Tetra...and not CBS...it is CBS's job to produce a show that people will watch...not know how many fish you can put in a 5 gallon aquarium...
so with Tetra being such an "authority" on fish they should have had the balls to tell the truth about "the ease of setting up an aquarium"...they're not just going to hurt themselves but every other person in the hobby in the long run...

 

[beth]

Originally posted by tangsfornuttin
That's why I like him.... I love watching him tell people off....
Somehow I knew you'd say that!
CBS is responsible because THEY are a major news network and should be reporting facts, not creating an opportunity for Tetra to have national free advertising and giving them the forum to tell lies to unsuspecting people.

 

[jim672]

Originally posted by Beth
[CBS is responsible because THEY are a major news network and should be reporting facts, not creating an opportunity for Tetra to have national free advertising and giving them the forum to tell lies to unsuspecting people. [/B]
I agree with Beth on this aspect.
Think about the carefully chosen time-slot for this piece. The 9 AM , Saturday morning slot when all the little kids are watching their cartoons. Flipping channels......"Mommy/Daddy look!! This lady says I can get a Nemo aquarium and it's soooo easy !!"
Tetra and CBS knew what they were doing.......
Jim

 

[elan]

Originally posted by iceburger
I personally don't believe that this is CBS's fault...

I agree with this one... Tetra gives CBS a call.. says they have a segment.. they research Tetra for credibility and find they have been in the aquarium business for a while and are quite successful.... thats pretty much sets their credibility... so the show goes from there..........
The blame rests on Tetra, and Tetra alone..... It would be nice if CBS aired another segment from others in the field that disagreed with Tetra, maybe Kent Marine, or someone else with Saltwater Expertise, but then again, I think anyone of the $ales companies will $ay the $ame thing.... buy product A and B, let $it, for a month and walla... Ea$y $altwater tank........ if that crashes, try it again with product$ C and D... better results....new and improved Nemo tank...
So, who is really to blame here? A Sales person for lying to the public trying to make a $ale?.... The poor

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at CBS for not realizing this?...
or the ignorant parents for not researching before they get into a Saltwater Tank, and just listening to the guy at the store...... (wait a minute... doesnt this represent 90% of the people on this board (before they found the board?) " The guy at the LFS told me (put in lie here) and thats ok isnt it???"
are we going to start a crusade against every LFS too? ( oh wait... we have already done that..lol).... ok... scrap that one...
but, in the end.. i guess what i am saying is, CBS shouldn’t really take all the blame here.... they did their due diligence regarding Tetra's credibility, and its Tetra alone who lied... I watched that show several times and they always bring in "experts" and see what they have to say....
Now think about this scenario... CBS starts a new policy in which every piece of information must be researched, and referenced by 3 different and independent sources... then sent to 3 other "experts" in the field, and then do their own experiments to see if these people are telling the truth or not........
where would news be?? Damn Slow..... and this is the price we pay for wanting information quickly, you have to give up some credibility..... There is a balance between quick information and correct information.... And if every once in a while a news broadcast gets it wrong, so be it....
But, when the experts at Tetra get it wrong, there is no excuse... Experts have had the time to research, and test, and source...thats why they are called experts.

 

[elan]

dont get me wrong, i sent a letter to both Tetra and CBS, I blasted Tetra, and told CBS about what Tetra did and suggested they no longer keep a working relationship.

 

[hairtrigger]

CBS and Tetra both suck. Watch CNN, and get fish stuff from swf.com.

 

[billsweet]

i read all these statements from people who were outraged byu this segment but not one person speculated on its impact on our world as hobbists
i believe that any person who wanted to give their child the gift of a saltwater aquarium and a "nemo fish" would at least seek advise from the lfs in the case of people living in my area they would recieve great advise on new set-ups and the acclimation of new fish.
i believe that giving the gift of a saltwater aquarium to a child might be the only way some of these youngsters will ever see these beautiful creatures. and i know that at least one of these youngsters will become a great hobbiest
any press for our hobby can only expand knowledge in this area to people who have none any misinformation can be damaging but sparking an interest our hobby can only be a great thing!

 

[sammystingray]

I see nothing but dead fish, and idiot parents with a dead dalmation AND now a deceased clownfish/tang combo on their heads.....not that they care. The world is full of morons that listen and believe everything they are told. CBS is at fault........if this site allow you to use the board to slam a store (remember the petswarehouse lawsuit?) then this site is legally responsible for providing the platform........same is true in all forms in all of life.......not just legally, that was just an example, but morally and ethically.....no research whatsoever on something you are airing to millions???? you are at fault.....give me a break. Just because it is the "norm" and everyone is competetive doesn't mean a single thing.....you still suck and aired without research to even see if what you were presenting was facts at all......bottom line is that the early show and CBS really didn't care if any of it was true because Nemo is so cute.....you are at fault CBS, and you have my email....which I am sure you will ignore.

 

[sammystingray]

BTW the fact the hobby is considered, and spoke of, as hard is what keeps idiots out of it....those with REAL interest will seek info on their own as we all have. All we need is the drone morons being told it is easy, and here they come.....not to this board for help, but tothe hobby for two months.........enough time to kill about a million fish......crazy number?? I think not, and if you think that nobody will retardedly kill a fish and never try again over a movie, then you give the masses too much respect in my opinion. I am usually sickened by how people will pretty much do and act exactly as the media tells them to, and this is just another case.....does anyone doubt that if MTV starts showing "hip" people with bananna peals on their heads, that a bunch of sheep (AKA idiots) will do the same thing?? I don't especially like the guy so he gets no credit, but......."does art imitate life, or does life imitate art"???

 

[hairtrigger]

CBS News is also coming under fire for trying to bribe the former Iraqi prisoner of war, U.S Army PFC Jessica Lynch, to give interviews. They reportedly offered her the potential for future deals with MTV, Simon and Shuster Publishers, and CBS Entertainment. Those are all umbrella entities of Viacom Corporation in case you just want to boycot the whole company. Oh yes, and Lynch told them to pi$$ off.

 

[benrock]

Here is an interesting article I found on the subject in hand; check it out if you have time.
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/r...,3308990.story

 

[elan]

Originally posted by sammystingray
CBS is at fault........if this site allow you to use the board to slam a store (remember the petswarehouse lawsuit?) then this site is legally responsible for providing the platform........same is true in all forms in all of life.......not just legally, that was just an example, but morally and ethically.....
With all due respect i must disagree with you strongly... (dont hurt me)....lol...... If someone gets on this site, and gives someone "bad" advice, (which i have seen before), how can you hold the SWF site responsible?
Say someone decided to say that firecoral is easy to handle and you dont need gloves........ and someone gets seriously hurt... are you going to hold the site responsible? and then what about the moderators?? and what about all the members who decided to ignore that post???... There has to be a line drawn on legal and ethical liability.....The majority of the blame should go to the perpetrator, and then to those who should have had some diligence in the matter, but only to a certain degree....
In the topics scenario, ( and information quoted in this thread and (?) are assumed)
Viacom Corporation is at the top of the list...
CBS is owned by viacom
CBS entertainment, a subsidiary of CBS (??)
Early Show, owned by CBS(???)
Then the producer for running the show,
Then the scheduler for giving Tetra Air Time.
Then the hosts for giving Tetra credibility on the AIR...
then the folks at Tetra for sending someone incompetent to the show...
Then the person who lied on national TV....
Who here is responsible?? I know the person who lied is... maybe the people at Tetra for sending this person with obvious lack of knowledge... But, CBS??? or the hosts??... they are taking guidance and knowledge from the "experts" who showed up.......
Same thing goes for this site... I hear moderators say you shouldnt have a tang in a tank (say twenty times) smaller than 55 gallons...... I do expect those that have become sharks/moderators to know what they are talking about... and i therefore will pass on this knowledge to others as facts from the experience of the experienced.....
But, I am simply hoping this site monitors the sharks and only make sharks out of people who are knowledgeable in their field. Like Beth for Disease, Guy for DSB, ophiura for starfish, you and all the other moderators for all around knowledge.
Everyone on this site holds all of you to a higher degree of expertise... Because you have been designated as those with expertise.......
If you mess up, and give bad advice, yes, we hold you responsible… but only because you have been designated a “shark”…. now, the extent of the responsibility is only to the certain level depending if there has been malice or intent to harm….. And i trust the other moderators would “banish” those sharks who have intended to harm members on the board…
As far as suggestions or experience from members on the board, I think most people here take everyone’s advice with a grain of salt…Some i value more than others, but i am very skeptical…. now, if i get advice from a shark, i take that much more seriously, and i also take it more as a fact than i do with other members….
Sometimes i just want simple advice, or opinions, and sometimes i want facts….
Back to the topic of discussion, The show had put faith in Tetra for their expertise. Tetra had ignored their responsibility to the public to provide “good” information as so called “experts”… And they probably knew what they were doing… The people at CBS, or the Early Show, or the Hosts, were only relying on “expert” advice… And they did not portray that they knew anything about saltwater keeping… just that they had brought someone from Tetra who knows about saltwater keeping. The primary blame simply rests with Tetra…, specifically the expert who gave the “Bad” advice.

 

[clownfish1452]

I just wanted to say thank you for doing this post. I also saw the show I was going to post on it and I just have not had any time. I will also do all I can to help.
Sarah

 

[michaeltx]

Elan there is a difference between the board and a news reporting agency.
on the board let say i give horrible advice to (XXX) about their tank. well there are several htousand other members that would jump in and say NO if you do that this will happen but mainly the bad advice will be corrected.
and beleive me I have typed some things that were passed along from different sources that wasnt right :-( but anyway on a news agency wiether it be CBS ABC NBC or FOX a lot of people watch a agency faithfully and what they say is the way it is. so what hapens if they report false information on any subject? they have to retract it. but they are also supposed to do their research before they air a segment. Just checking with one information outlet is not the way they normally do buisness they check with multiple places to check the information before hand. thats why you dont see all that many retractions. but if that story causes harm to someone that can be directly linked to the false info then the reporting agency can be held in some way reliable. atleast that has been my understanding LOL
I think all in all it was a bad judgement call on both parties!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mike

 

[bigred]

This is what I sent them:
I don't believe that salt water tanks are for everyone. They aren't the easiest thing to take care of and involve a lot of money and time. It take alot hard work to keep these tanks healthy. The Blue Hippo Tang you had in the tank on your show today gets up to 12" long and should never be put in a 15 gallon tank. Also the tank you showed was overloaded with fish which can cause them to stress and die. Not every person is capable of have a saltwater tank. Please don't make it seem that easy.
Thank you Steve.

 

[michaeltx]

alot of people are putting a 1 in front of the 5 and it wasnt it was only a 5 gallon bowfront NOT a 15 gallon.
sorry bigred nothing on you I just keep seeing 15 all over and it was only a 5 gallon

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15 is bad enough though....
Mike

 

[xxchris060]

I noticed one of my lfs are playing this out good. They have a banner that say "NEMO IS HERE".
I also sent cbs a email.

 

[broomer5]

I didn't see the show, nor read the transcript.
It's a shame too - they really could have done a good job explaining that it's possible to keep these fish - but it's not as easy as it may sound.
I don't think they did their homework - but I'd guess they probably thought they did.
I'm sure they know they screwed up - and wish they had presented it differently - maybe.
It's unfortunate and irresponsible as far as I'm concerned.