"Between the Lions" *update post 10*

[woodchick]

So, here's my letter to WGBH . Any comments?

---
Greetings,

I was watching "Between the Lions" this morning (episode: Dear Mr. Blueberry; I Wanna Iguana) with my daughter and was surprised by a segment we saw. There was a short video clip about whales where they tell us that whales are mammals and mammals are animals that feed their babies milk. In addition to whales they show small clips of a mamma cat nursing her kitten and a human mother feeding her baby a bottle!

While many parents do feed their children (artificial baby milk: formula) via bottles, it is not the recommended baby food. Both the American Association of Pediatricians and the World Health Organization recommend breastfeeding as normal and formula as merely a substitution.

I am disappointed that a show produced by WGBH, who I've come to look to for quality television and accurate information. I hope that you will consider editing that particular segment to show a mother nursing her child.

[Rubyandwillsmom]

Let's all email them @ [e-mail]

[Rubyandwillsmom]

Here's my email

Dear WGBH,
While I must admit the only thing I let my child watch is PBS I have to complain. You are contributing to a huge issue.
Our children need to know that Bottlefeeding is risky rather than normal. Breastfeeding is normal and acording to the AAP the best way to feed a baby. While I understand that you must take into consideration FCC guidelines about nudity, it is very easy to not use images of bottles in your programs. Instead of showing images of bottles you could have them say "People feed thier babies like all other mammals" and show images of other mammals nursing. I also understand that you may have sponsors that make Formula and I'm sure that is an issue. You wouldn't put images of people doing other risky behaviors on your programs, why this? Please read the
International Code of Marketing of
Breast-milk Substitutes
http://www.who.int/nutrition/publica...de_english.pdf
Thank you, Faithful viewer, Adrienne Paulin

[rmzbm]

Oh, that makes me sad...I LOVE Between the Lions! I didn't see this episode but I will write...update if anyone gets a reply!

[marohogan]

I just sent them an email, too.

[annettemarie]

I deleted one post that included an email response from the television station. Please remember that posting private emails without the express permission of the author is a violation of MDC's copyright policy.

[gentle_mama04]

Can someone summarize what they replied? I am curious.

[woodchick]

Gosh, I'm sorry. That was me.

The response was just an auto-reply that said the usual about how they care about viewer comments and they may respond to 'specifics' later on.

[Momtwice]

Originally Posted by Rubyandwillsmom

Dear WGBH,
While I must admit the only thing I let my child watch is PBS I have to complain. You are contributing to a huge issue.
Our children need to know that Bottlefeeding is risky rather than normal. Breastfeeding is normal and acording to the AAP the best way to feed a baby. While I understand that you must take into consideration FCC guidelines about nudity, it is very easy to not use images of bottles in your programs. Instead of showing images of bottles you could have them say "People feed thier babies like all other mammals" and show images of other mammals nursing. I also understand that you may have sponsors that make Formula and I'm sure that is an issue. You wouldn't put images of people doing other risky behaviors on your programs, why this? Please read the
International Code of Marketing of
Breast-milk Substitutes
http://www.who.int/nutrition/publica...de_english.pdf
Thank you, Faithful viewer, Adrienne Paulin

About nudity..they show an episode of Mr. Rogers every year around Thanskgiving with breastfeeding moms. These camera shots explicitly show the breast and nipple.

[woodchick]

I got a response back today!

The email apologizes for causing me offense at their depiction of feeding babies bottles. And that their main concern is promoting literacy. They promise to keep my comments in mind for the future.

hrm.

I think I was misunderstood. I was not offended by seeing a bottle fed baby in general...just that they used that particular image while trying to explain "mammalness". As if being bottlefed was a natural part of being a mammal.

Did anyone else who wrote get a response?

[Meiri]

The analogy that I found worked, when I wrote to a news station regarding them showing a bottlefeeding during a report about a breastfeeding issue, was to ask if they were now going to show basketball footage during the hockey reports.

Indeed that show is about promoting literacy, but bad analogies and unapplicable illustrations do not exactly promote literacy or logic, do they? They wouldn't show cheetahs during a story about lions as that would be silly and confusing. They did exactly that though by discussing mammals feeding their babies milk from their bodies, then showing bottlefeeding being done by the humans. That, to me, sends the confusing message to watching children that maybe we are not mammals, as "we" are not nursing the baby like the mammals do.

Try that tack and see if they understand.

[Janice in Canada]

I remember studying mammals in school, and remember they: had hair, were born live, were warm-blooded and fed their babies milk.

It was only when I got into this breastfeeding advocacy, that I made the mental link that "mammals" are actually named after "mammaries" - ie latin for the breast! The whole name of the group is determined by the presence of mammary glands!

NOte - we are called "mammals" not lactates or some word that means "drinks milk" - which would be appropraite for bottlefeeding milk. We are "mammal" because we MAKE milk in breasts. The program would be more accurate to show a dry breast with no milk, than a bottle holding milk. (in the strict sense of the meaning of the word).

I agree with Meiri, with the goal of literacy, it is important to be accurate.
I already teach my kids the latin roots of words - it makes spelling and understanding words so much easier.

Janice

[motherearthdancer]

my emailear Sir or Ma'am:

I am writing in regards to the "Between the Lions" show that addressed whales as mammals. You showed other animals nursing, but when it came to show humans, you showed them as bottle feeding. While I am not offended by bottle feeding I feel it would have been better to show humans as the mammals they are, and nursing our young as well. I understand that the main purpose of the show is to promote literacy, but I hope that in the future, when showing educational segments about mammals feeding their young, you would be more of an advocate for breastfeeding moms and show a healthy dipiction of a human baby getting the best possible food for him. After all, even the world health organization says breastmilk is best for babies, and the most natural way for baby to get said nourishment is thorugh our mamary glands.

Thank you for your time,
Sincerely,
Mrs. Chrystie J. Sargent

[woodchick]

Chrystie,

I like your letter. I stumbled over my own thoughts when writing mine and yours gets the point across much better!