My Fox Tampa Bay recently released two video segments about shark attacks, which seem to be in response to Wednesday’s attack at St. Pete Beach involving 19-year old, Jenna James. Kudos to the producers and reporters involved with these segments for taking the high road and reporting the facts of shark attack odds and stressing awareness as opposed to fear when it comes to sharks and swimming in the ocean.

The reports are full of information intended to help viewers understand sharks and why “attacks” and “encounters” with humans occur. The segments also touch on how the fictional shark in Jaws is responsible for a lot of the unwarranted fears about sharks and shark attacks.

The rarity of shark attacks is illustrated by pointing out that if you live in the state of Florida, you’re more like to be stuck by lightning four times (where did they get that from, anyway?) or win the lottery, than be attacked by a shark. To top it off, in the second segment, the anchorman even maintains his professionalism both leading into the segment and closing it out. (Some of the “big name” cable news networks should hire this guy to train some of their anchors when it comes to reports about sharks.)

Tampa’s Fox 13 gets two thumbs up from me for responsible reporting in response to this week shark attack.