Pooping bees are not more trustworthy than journalists

Everything is media criticism, and most of it is dumb

Dec 26, 2022

Ok, I will get right to the point: I am writing this post because I am mad about the DUMBEST, MOST INFURIATING VIDEO I HAVE EVER SEEN ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

This will take quite a bit of explaining, but let’s just start with the video that makes me want to punch my laptop:

@theangrybeekeeper Not a weatherman 🐝 #TAB #fyp #southernontario #niagararegion #beekeeper #weather #imnotaweatherman #update #genz #genx #kids

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Can bees predict the weather?????

So, on the Friday before Christmas, as Environment Canada was issuing increasingly dire warnings for southern Ontario, this guy who goes by “The Angry Beekeeper” on TikTok posted a different video standing on his front porch to talk about the impending winter storm.

“By the time this is all done, it’s not going to be over 10 centimetres. … Everyone remain calm. Everything is going to be ok.”

@theangrybeekeeper #stitch with @ctvnewsottawa I’m still not a weatherman 😅🐝 #TAB #fyp #southernontario #niagararegion #beekeeper #porchtalk #weather #theangryweatherman #beekeeping #update #coldsnap #december

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Apparently this guy likes making TikTok videos standing out on his front porch in the Niagara region and making weather predictions, and if you look back at his past videos, most of these only get a few thousand views.

For whatever reason, the TikTok algorithm picked up the “Everyone remain calm” video this week, and as of right now the video has 2.3 million views.

Ok, I know what you’re asking:

Why would anybody care about weather predictions from a random beekeeper on TikTok???

I first found out about this mini-trend in the run-up to the storm, when I saw a different video in my feed with a lady saying something like, “I don’t trust the media. I trust the bees.”

Apparently The Angry Beekeper’s strident confidence has to do with bee poops and other bee behaviour (beehaviour?) as he explained in a different video:

@theangrybeekeeper Storm Update 🥶 #TAB #fyp #southernontario #beekeeper #niagararegion #weather #update #porchtalk #prediction #bees #beekeeping #storm #snow

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Of course, the bees were wrong.

Hundreds of people were stranded on passenger trains between Toronto and Ottawa, as a result of the blizzard. Huge traffic accidents occurred on major highways. Local governments shut down an enormous number of roads across the province.

Niagara Region — where the bees live — declared a state of emergency due to the severity of the storm.

Niagara Region @NiagaraRegion

A snow squall warning is in effect for southern #Niagara today until Tuesday afternoon. Total snowfall amounts of 15-30 cm are possible in some areas with significantly reduced visibilities due to heavy and blowing snow. Stay safe.

This is the point I am trying to emphasize:

The storm was actually bad. It was not just media hype.

I really, really hate how absolutely every conversation eventually becomes a discussion about media criticism, and all of it bemoans the inadequacy of the news media.

Part of this beekeeper guy’s schtick is lampooning journalists. His starting point for this whole episode was condescendingly dismissing the journalists who were “hyping the living heck out of this” impending storm.

It’s also worth emphasizing that and I and the Niagara beekeeper wouldn’t even know that there was a storm coming if it wasn’t for the news media.

The implication here is that back in the good ol’ days of Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, the stentorian and dignified news media weren’t so alarmist. But I really need to emphasize that the person is basing his predictions on either a) bee poops or b) nothing but his own intuition.

In every conversation I have about politics, culture, sports, geopolitics or any sort of current events, before too long somebody will say something about how the information we have isn’t completely reliable, or the framing is skewed, or our reactions are being manipulated by the media.

Listen for it. Inevitably, every discussion about current events brushes up against the idea that the media can’t be trusted. Once you start to notice it, you see it absolutely everywhere.

I think it’s a very good idea to understand the media’s structural biases and shortcomings. They exist. It is a good idea to use critical thinking skills when reading and listening to the media.

However, you know who has ulterior motives and shamelessly tries to manipulate you? Literally every corporation trying to sell you something.

You know who engages in clickbait and dishonest tactics more than journalists? The overwhelming majority of content creators on TikTok, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

It’s great to try to be a skeptical and thoughtful consumer of the media, but I get really annoyed when people act like journalists reporting the news are not a trustworthy source of information, because LITERALLY EVERY OTHER SOURCE OF INFORMATION IS LESS TRUSTWORTHY, MORE PRONE TO BIAS AND ULTERIOR MOTIVES, AND GETTING THINGS WRONG.

Seriously. Name one source of information that’s more reliably accurate and has less of an agenda than the news media.

Don’t say “the bees.”

If you are listening to a guy talk confidently into a camera and tell you the media is wrong, and his source of information is just bee poops, you are not engaging in thoughtful media criticism.

You have lost the plot.

So, let’s bring it back to the video we started with. The journalists got it right. They were not overhyping the storm. The Angry Beekeeper was wrong.

And then, in the most condescending way imaginable, he made a dumbass joke about the Canadian housing market WHICH WAS ALSO AN IMPLICIT CRITICISM OF THE MEDIA.

Dude. The media got it right. You and your bees got it wrong. Maybe sit down and shut up for a minute.