As noted on this week's "Spotlight" page, the film The Cove, took home an Academy Award for a five-year documentary chronicling the killing of dolphins off the coast of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture.

Rick O'Barry, an actor turned dolphin-lover, shamelessly held up a poster during the ceremony encouraging viewers to get information about his cause by sending text messages with their mobile phones.

But dolphin hunting, like whaling, is a practice that, while morally repugnant to some, is perfectly legal in that part of Japan.

To what extent is the media, by presenting "prestigious" awards to films such as The Cove and providing unwarranted attention to Sea Shepherd "arrests," encouraging the sensational, over-the-top and often ridiculous tactics favored by such groups?