Journalists must be more accountable by declaring their interests says George Monbiot

Following the publication of Magnus Linklater’s article attacking the RSPB’s bird of prey campaign, Mr. Linklater failed to mention that he is a trustee of a 4,000-acre estate. Once again here was an article totally biased and full of so many inaccuracies, many individuals who contacted Raptor Politics maintain what Mr. Linklater had written (putting it in a polite way) was a complete load of old cobblers, and that was the only adjective describing what people felt about the article we could publish. George Monbiot using the professional skills of an experienced journalist totally destroyed claims made by Magnus Linklater using logic and common sense together with a few old fashioned facts.

 

Despite claims, Scottish Natural Heritage reports the golden eagle population is greatly suppressed.

 

Magnus Linklater maintains that “golden eagles are flourishing”. Rubbish again. The official conservation body Scottish Natural Heritage reports that the golden eagle population is greatly suppressed. Why askes George Monbiot? Well we all know the answer to that question.

Read the article by Terry Pickford, What Future awaits the Golden Eagle in the 21st Century.

 

George Monbiot asked the important question, how did nature manage to survive for the past 3bn years, with no landowners and gamekeepers to look after it? That’s the question you might ask yourself after reading Magnus Linklater’s article in the Observer magazine, attacking the RSPB and suggesting that grouse moors, pheasant shoots and “vermin” control are necessary to protect the natural world.

 

Read George Monbiot’s rebuttal on his  Blog here.

August 16th, 2012 | Category: Bird of Prey Persecution, gamekeepers, Golden Eagle, Grouse Moors, Grouse shooting

1 comment to Journalists must be more accountable by declaring their interests says George Monbiot

• Paul Doherty

  August 17, 2012 at 11:13 am · Reply

  Here’s a quote from Magnus Linklater writing in The Times in 2007:-

  “the salutary experience of Langholm Moor, in the Scottish Borders, where the population of another bird of prey, the hen harrier, was allowed to explode, resulting in the almost complete annihilation of most other birds, including grouse, curlew and lapwing.”

  Here’s a quote from a scientific paper published as a result of the Langholm study:-

  “We found no evidence to suggest that raptor predation limited the populations of any of the three wader species. We infer that concerns over the impact of natural densities of hen harriers on vulnerable upland waders are unjustified.”

  Citation
  Amar, A., Thirgood, S., Pearce-Higgins, J. & Redpath, S. (2008). The impact of raptors on the abundance of upland passerines and waders. Oikos, 117: 1143-1152.

  When this paper was written at least one of the scientists was employed by the Game Conservancy Trust (a shooting organisation)so it would be difficult to dismiss it as RSPB funded propoganda.

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