Have you ever watched one of those cop shows on TV?
A cameraman goes on patrol with police and videotapes officers as they interact with the public. In almost every show a suspected felon resists the police. Often two or three officers must wrestle the man to the ground and cuff him before he gives up. He knows he hasn’t got a chance. He knows the police have the legal authority to apprehend him. He knows he can’t win, but he resists for resisting’s sake.
Yes, I said man, but we all know that occasionally women resist in the same fashion. And what surprises me even more: sometimes large corporations do almost exactly the same thing.
In a surprising example, the CBC has chosen to wrestle with The World Health Organization (WHO). As a recognized world authority, the WHO has asked the news media to stop using the term swine flu, requesting that they call it H1N1. The CBC has chosen to ignore the voice of authority and in the ensuing wrestling match could cause collateral damage.
Although I had noted the CBC’s use of the term, I learned much more during a conversation with Gord Sloan, of Guelph. Four decades ago Sloan lived on a family farm, so his rural background has given him an insight and interest in agriculture – much better than most city dwellers.
Some months ago when he heard of a new strain of flu dubbed “swine flu,” he realized it could have adverse effects on the hog industry. Indeed, a study commissioned by the Guelph-based Ontario Pork Producers indicated that Ontario producers lost $9-million because of depressed commodity prices in the first four weeks following the introduction of the term swine flu.
It doesn’t have to be that way. In April, the WHO indicated it would not use swine flu to describe the disease, but call it instead H1N1. Although the media have been largely slow to follow suit, the federal government soon did. Recently, delegates at the Tri National Agricultural Accord unanimously endorsed a statement asking media to cease using the technically incorrect name for diseases.
Where does Gord Sloan fit into all this? He has stepped into the fray and challenged the CBC to stop wrestling with the WHO, the federal government and the hog producers. By the time I wrote this, he had challenged a comment on the CBC website in which they suggested it would be confusing to change how they refer to the illness given they had previously called it swine flu.
Sloan’s efforts to contact them succeeded in opening an email exchange with Vince Carlin, the CBC ombudsman. Carlin agreed to review the issue; he had received more than 60 complaints about their persistent use of “swine flu.” In a report to Sloan, he argued that swine flu is “an accurate descriptor and is scientifically more precise than H1N1.”
Sloan and many others concerned about the welfare of those in agriculture reject that. Congratulations to Sloan, who has had the courage to jump into the fray. Getting into a public wrestling match doesn’t involve physical dangers of a street brawl, but still requires a degree of courage.