The plight of an East African baboon that wandered around Hsinchu County and Taoyuan for 17 days before being shot and killed by a hunter on Tuesday last week has captivated the public. People saw its carcass displayed like a spoil of war, then saw government officials bowing to its body placed in a makeshift coffin.
As of the time of writing, there is much that people do not know about the baboon or where it came from, and the facts of the matter have been bandied back and forth on social media to a level that has rivaled the attention given to former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) trip to China or the news of the suspected suicide of a high-school student, allegedly as a result of bullying.
From the outset there have been waves of contradictory information circulating about the case: What species of baboon was it? Where had it been sighted? Did it constitute a threat to life and limb? Would it be better to use a tranquilizer gun or just shoot the animal and be done with it?
Some of the questions have been answered, some were initially thought to have been answered only for subsequent new information to be revealed that seemingly disproved the earlier assumptions. The case has begun to sound suspiciously similar to a conspiracy theory.
A glance at social media focusing on the baboon’s wanderings certainly bear this suspicion out: Multiple unverifiable sources, contradictory information about central controversies and the emergence of a confrontation between different camps.
First, let is look at the multiple unverifiable sources of information. Can people definitively say which, if any, of the sightings were reliable? With emerging generative artificial technologies, fabricating sightings for the sake of it has become easy enough to do convincingly, thereby reducing the credibility of genuine sightings.
Next is the issue of contradictory information about central controversies. People have only speculated on where the baboon came from. The animal was originally thought to have escaped from a zoo, but doubt was cast on that theory as the result of new information apparently revealed by a coroner.
Without a definite source, it is difficult to determine responsibility, and the news media, lacking key evidence, have offered little more than speculation.
Finally, there is the confrontation between different camps. Initially, people were unclear as to the particular species of baboon, and therefore unable to predict how it might behave, and so the residents of Hsinchu and Taoyuan were understandably concerned about their safety, especially as they had been given little guidance on what to do if they encountered the animal.
On the other side of the argument, people concerned about animal rights, to the extent in some cases that they appeared to sympathize with the stray baboon as if it were the protagonist of a movie, were hoping that the drama would end without anybody getting hurt.
The baboon’s brutal, bloody ending sparked controversy, and the officials’ bowing was criticized as excessive. The incident has come down to what is more important, prioritizing human safety or respecting all life.
Conspiracy theories take one further from the truth, and it does not take any sophisticated motivation to promote them or become a believer: All it requires is a constant obfuscation of the facts.
In cases such as these, the news media should do more than entertain and amplify the issue; they should work to provide practical information and seek to establish the truth, rather than sharing conspiracy theories.
Chang Yueh-han is an adjunct assistant professor in Shih Hsin University’s Department of Journalism.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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