Exploring News Literacy Concepts through the “Octopus that Almost Ate Seattle” piece from the New York Times Magazine

November 1, 2013

Marnie Hanel, a journalist based in Portland, Oregon, recently published a piece in the New York Times Magazine centering around the controversy that erupted when diver Dylan Mayer caught a giant Pacific octopus in Seattle’s Puget Sound. When pictures of Mayer’s catch hit the Internet, they caused an uproar among local environmentalists who believed the Octopus was endangered and might eventually disappear from the Sound.

But the fears were misplaced. The giant Pacific octopus population was in fact robust -- and the animal was routinely being enjoyed at a trendy 'locavore' restaurant favored by Seattle's "food community."

Center for News Literacy Director Dean Miller conducted an interview with both author Marnie Hanel and her editor, Jon Kelly, about how the article dealt with many of the issues central to News Literacy.

Read the full piece here: The Octopus That Almost Ate Seattle - NYTimes.com

Audio Clips

READER BIAS

     Journalist Marnie Hanel first describes the inherent bias in the reader.
[audio mp3="/sites/default/files/wp-uploads/2013/11/Marnie_Bias.mp3"][/audio]

     Editor Jon Kelly followed up on the discussion of the reader's bias brought to the story.
[audio mp3="/sites/default/files/wp-uploads/2013/11/Jon_Bias_Followup.mp3"][/audio]

     Ms. Hanel goes on to describe the evidence of reader’s cognitive dissonance through the reader comments.

[audio mp3="/sites/default/files/wp-uploads/2013/11/Marnie_ProvisionalTruth.mp3"][/audio]

     Editor Jon Kelly speaks about the use of humorous language in the piece.
[audio mp3="/sites/default/files/wp-uploads/2013/11/Jon_Language_Use_In_Story.mp3"][/audio]

POWER OF IMAGES

     Ms. Hanel describes how professional images of Dylan Mayer’s catch played a critical role in the spread of the story.

[audio mp3="/sites/default/files/wp-uploads/2013/11/Marnie_PowerOfImage.mp3"][/audio]

PROVISIONAL TRUTH

     Ms. Hanel describes the evolution of the facts of the story as it began to develop, indicating a prime examples of how the inherent “truth” of the story changed over time.

[audio mp3="/sites/default/files/wp-uploads/2013/11/Marnie_ProvisionalTruth1.mp3"][/audio]