On the Media: Has Shark Week Jumped the Shark?

Discovery Channel's Shark Week is able to draw as many as 53 million viewers. While the cable outlet has included some conservation information in recent years, it seems to be shifting back toward fear-mongering based on fantasy rather than fact. The productions include Photoshopped film of a "megalodon" that is extinct, "deadliest" sharks that haven't killed anyone, and scientists played by actors.

Bob Garfield interviews marine biologist David Shiffman for On the Media August 15, 2014.

SEE ALSO:

"Broken Teeth And Fake-umentaries: Another Shark Week Gone By" (NPR)

"Discovery Channel's 'Shark Week' Gets Flak from Scientists for Selling Fiction as Facts" (International Business Times)

"Shark Week Is Lying Again About Megalodon Sharks" (Slate)

"Anger Builds Over Shark Week's Fake Submarine Documentary: Readers Sound Off" (Portland Oregonian)

"A Shark Scientist Bites Back" (Pacific Standard)