看報紙，在英國這個階級分明的國家裡，也是一種階級的區別...你是看獨立報、衛報、還是每日電訊報或是太陽報都表示著你的身分與地位。(有關於這些的差別，請容許我下次在敘說...這次還是回到鱷魚事件吧。)
平常...總是對每天下午在街角散發LITE或是the london paper的年輕工讀生報以拒絕的微笑，一方面是我背上的書已經夠重了，不想再增加負擔，或者是因為手上已經提了超市買回家做晚餐的料理材料。(請別笑...倫敦的留學生生活中買菜可是一件大事，又不像以前在加拿大大家都常常去外面吃，買菜總有同學開車載我去。提購物袋是我在倫敦訓練臂力的每日WORK OUT)
今天從法國大使館辦簽證不順遂，就連進去V&A博物館用我的博物館會員證換了超現實主義的門票都提不起勁去看。於是就在博物館中庭曬曬太陽就準備回家。在皮卡地里圓環轉車時，突然心血來潮，接過街邊報童的the london paper，準備等等在公車上翻閱。
忽然，一行字映入我眼簾....TAIWANESE ZOOKEEPER.....ㄟ ....這不就是昨日的鱷魚咬斷手臂事件嗎? 竟然在倫敦的每日免費報the london paper上連續刊登了兩天的消息了，連衛報也有這條新聞只是篇幅小的多大約五十個字吧...不像london paper連這兩天用大照片刊出。(附圖即是我翻拍手上的今天報紙)
衛報guardian的報導；
Thursday April 12 2007
Kaohsiung, Taiwan: The lower left arm of zoo veterinarian Chang Po-yu was bitten off by a crocodile when he tried to pull a tranquilizer dart from its body. In a bid to rescue the arm two bullets were shot at the crocodile but it was unharmed. Chang eventually underwent emergency surgery to have his limb reattached.
取材自昨日的london paper網站:
The zoo vet, Chang Po-yu lost his left forearm while he was giving an anaesthetic to the croc.
Chang, thought the animal was adequately sedated and tried to pull a syringe from the alligator’s body, when it suddenly turned around and bit off his left hand and forearm.
The zoo-keeper was rushed to hospital, but he was not re-united with his arm until an hour later when police arrived and shot the croc dead, freeing Chang’s forearm from its mouth.
Paramedics rushed the limb to the hospital and doctors were performing microsurgery in a bid to reconnect it to Chang’s arm overnight.
”This is a difficult operation because we have to sew back his muscles, nerves and blood vessels, which are badly severed,” one doctor told reporters.
Police shot twice at the crocodile which was ill and hadn’t eaten for a week, but it was not killed.
”The crocodile was unharmed as we didn’t find any bullet holes on its hide,” said a spokesman.
”It probably was shocked and opened its mouth to let go of the limb.”
The 17-year-old reptile is one of a pair of Nile crocodiles kept by the Kaohsiung zoo. The crocodile is listed as an endangered species, and is rapidly disappearing from its native African habitat.
A worker at the zoo said it was the worst incident she had seen in the 28 years she had worked at the zoo.
This was the second animal attack at the zoo in two months. On Feb. 11, a chimpanzee bit off part of the finger of a three-year-old boy when his father held him too close.
The london paper的You Tube影片連結:
http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/news/article/1157147062009?packedargs=suffix%3DArticleController
但是不知諸君是否注意到一點，不管是哪一份英國的報紙，即便是只有短短數行的報導...”The crocodile was unharmed ”是這兩份報導共同的敘述，反觀昨天的台灣媒體，在搞不清楚狀況下就下了「現代武松打虎 員警射殺鱷魚立大功」的標題(2007/04/11 20:51 記者林稚惠、湯暉恆／高雄報導 etoday網站)
不論是「現代武松打虎 員警射殺鱷魚立大功」或是「搶救斷臂槍殺鱷魚 員警：救人第一」我時在認為媒體對標題愛下猛藥的態度實在值得再檢討。先不論員警原來的想法是什麼...最新的園方態度是說他們不是要殺鱷魚只是要鱷魚吐出手臂。但是從一開始對於員警的訪問中可以清楚明白，當下的決定其實是命令要射殺鱷魚的。請見以下對話，節錄自「鱷吻／當機立斷 陳福一開兩槍射殺鱷魚」2007/04/11 23:40 記者陳左鈞／高雄報導:
當時開槍射擊大鱷魚的員警是鼓山派出所陳福一，執行勤務將近14年來第一次開槍射擊，要面對的竟是兇猛的尼羅鱷，雖然很害怕，一心只想著救人的他，還是硬著頭皮一槍一槍的開下去，只希望讓大鱷魚趕快張開嘴巴。
陳福一說：「我只想儘快開槍，就算沒有打死牠，也要儘快讓牠把手放出來，基於身體髮膚受之父母的原則之下，我將心比心，就想能儘量把他手臂救出來。」
先不管這是一位執勤14年的員警破天荒的第一槍...(心中OS:南台灣的治安還是相當的淳樸呀。) 但是記者們皆以嗜血地射「殺」而非用「射擊」這樣的字眼來形容，實在是缺乏危機意識，在這個動物保育相當重視的年代...另一造的「苦主」又是隻被誤認為保育類動物的嬌客，這樣的形容和下標重手，不但缺乏動物保育的基本常識和尊重，並容易在國際與論上引起負面的影響。
員警自己都說這是不得已...記者先生小姐怎麼可以還用這麼嗜血的口吻來形容這件事呢，是不是在下標時應該同時表達出事件的衝突矛盾並給予視聽大眾機會教育呢??
若以英國報紙的「階級制度」來看，這次事件最有興趣的就是向太陽八卦報跟the london paper這種以知識份子標準而言拿在手上會不好意思的報紙最為關切。衛報只有短短數語，獨立報完全不見其報導。那麼，我們的台灣媒體在極度扒糞的同時...哪一天能夠真的拿出新聞專業與良知來編輯呢?
我們的報紙和媒體只分藍綠，卻沒有道德階級的區分。台灣的社會階級不若西方國家嚴明，這是我喜愛台灣社會的地方。但是現在我卻不得不開始擔心這種全面性的媒體庸俗化將會侵蝕個台灣社會的文化根基和每個國民的文化水平。有這樣的媒體，我們有資格談公民美學和素養嗎?
Lights亂說話....請包涵....祝福張組長和鱷魚都能健康平安。
