Following is a growing list of reporters who have had the courage to publicly expose the truth about animal cruelty in our society. To see a more comprehensive listing of media pieces covering SHARK's work in animal protection, visit Our History via the Media
On the Other Side of the Fence: Media Villains
Imagine uncovering evidence that the national finals of a professional "sport" was tainted, but the writers for that "sport" refused to report it?
SHARK investigators videotaped Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Vice Chairman of the Board Charles Soileau -- the number two person in the PRCA -- shocking some, but not all horses. That means tainted competition as well as animal abuse.
So why won't rodeo reporters and columnists report the scandal? This is a story of cruelty, corruption and cowardice. SHARK is naming names, and watching the scoundrels run for cover. Learn more at MediaVillains.com.
Once a sponsor of the National High School Rodeo Finals, the State Journal-Register chose journalistic integrity when it blitzed the rodeo with 2 hard-hitting exposes, an editorial opinion and an editorial cartoon, all in the same October 1, 2006 edition. This is perhaps the most hard-hitting rodeo expose ever!
See Also: State Journal-Register Tells Rodeo: Stop the Abuse
See Also: Activist: Ag Department has slipped in enforcing cruelty laws
Cheyenne, Wyoming is supposed to be a land of big, strong men. This article shows that the men are pretty wimpy, and the town's toughest hombre is a young reporter named Cara Eastwood. SHARK wholeheartedly congratulates the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle for reporting the truth about the cruelty of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo.
What happens when a media watchdog group examines the rodeo coverage of Dan Rather, CBS News and ESPN? It's an expose of cruel and cowardly rodeos and yellow journalism that will turn your stomach.
In September of 2000, ARTE producer Uwe-Lothar Mueller called SHARK president Steve Hindi to ask if he could really back up the charges made against rodeo on SHARK's web site. Hindi said yes – any time – anywhere. This led to a 10-day trip with Hindi and an ARTE documentary team through Arkansas and Texas, for a damning expose of three PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) rodeos. See the evidence in this award-winning documentary. Watch the rodeo thugs' lies are exposed.
In 1996, the television news serial Hard Copy challenged SHARK to prove its accusations of rodeo animal abuse. No problem, we said. So Hard Copy put us to the test at a rodeo of its choosing, in an out of-the-way place called Big Bear, California. What followed was a two night, award-winning expose that aired nationwide, throwing the Rodeo Mafia into a panic. The repeat airings only increased the panic of an animal abuse industry that relies on secrecy to hide its cruelty and cowardice.
The National Finals Rodeo was ground zero for yellow cowboys in 2004. When SHARK arranged a double-sided press conference at the NFR, complete with seats laid out for rodeo leaders to have their say, not a one showed up. Following the industry's cut-and-run attitude, rodeo sponsors, known as Corporate Thugs, also hid in their holes from the media.
"Cruel or Usual? ProRodeo Hall of Fame offered $50,000 to end steer roping"
One good man and his newspaper show what they're made of (guts and integrity), right in the home town of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Watch the cruel and cowardly rodeo cowboys run for cover!
"Electric Horsemen"
"Is a rodeo mafia covering up evidence of animal abuse in California?"
Southern California is a hot spot for the Rodeo Mafia, but Orange County Weekly journalist Matt Coker made it hotter than the phony cowboys wanted. This expose of cruel rodeos, an incompetent humane society and crooked law enforcement is not to be missed.
The following is an excerpt from a documentary on rodeos produced by National
Geographic:
The question is simple: Is it civilized to make sport of animals fear? Maybe
not. But rodeo is not very civilized in general. As a throwback to the
frontier, it's close to the moral equivalent of war in a negative as well as a
positive way: All the drama and try of it depends on an inevitable-and
unfair-cost to both humans and animals. There is no way to untie that knot.
Chris Matthews is more than an award-winning journalist. He's also a compassionate person who's not afraid to stand against cruelty and cowardice. Read what a real man has to say about the cowards who torture and kill bulls and horses in bullrings.
To look at him, you'd never know that Jens Romunstad, who looks like an NFL linebacker, would have such a soft spot for animals. This documentary shows that its insecure, pathological wimps who torture and kill animals. In this award-winning documentary, Biker Jens shows that real strength lies in caring, and having compassion for those who are voiceless.
A rare example of intelligent coverage regarding the nature of hunting, National Geographic produced a one-hour special exploring the complexity of issues surrounding hunters.
Anti-Cruelty Group Takes Aim at NFR SponsorsNational GeographicUwe-Lothar Muller and the ARTE European Television NetworkChris MatthewsFrank Feldinger & Hard CopyJens Romunstad aka "Biker Jens"HOME
