12.

'THE MEDIA IS NOT DOING ENOUGH TO ALLEVIATE ENVIRONMENTAL

PROBLEMS. DO YOU AGREE?
Clarification of terms:
the media: includes traditional media (print newspapers, books,
magazines, etc) and new media (the Internet and social media like blogs,
online chat groups etc).
not doing enough: taking insufficient action
alleviate: reduce / make (problems) less severe (by highlighting the issues,
creating awareness etc)
environmental problems:
o harmful effects on the earth that have developed as a result of
human interference or mistreatment biophysical environment
o some examples: deforestation, oil spills, pollution (eg air and water),
overpopulation and waste issues, global warming, extinction of
plant and animal species, destruction of marine life, depletion of
natural resources (eg through fishing, logging and mining) etc.
Assumptions:
The media plays a part in alleviating environmental problems.
Approaches:
The media is doing enough to alleviate environmental problems.
The media is not doing enough to alleviate environmental problems.
The media is doing enough to alleviate environmental problems.
-

The media is taking adequate action by disseminating information

and creating awareness about environment problems.

The power of the media is evident in that its influence is widespread and can
shape public opinion. In addition, the digital revolution has enabled
widespread access to the Internet and new media. This means that readers
and viewers have greater access to information and by highlighting key
environmental issues, the media can make people better aware of the
existence and severity of these problems.
The Annual Environmental Media Awards have been presented by the
Environmental Media Association (EMA) since 1991 to the best television
episode or film with an environmental message. According to the EMA
website, the EMA Awards honour film and television productions and
individuals that increase public awareness of environmental issues and
inspire personal action on these issues. Past winners for feature films
include Interstellar in 2015 (on climate change and sustainability), Avatar
in 2010 (on depletion of natural resources) and Erin Brockovich in 2000
(on energy depletion and water development).
Calling itself the first and only 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network,
Planet Green was launched by Discovery Channel and TreeHugger in 2011.
According to Eileen ONeill, the president and general manager of the
Planet Green network, the TV/Internet partnership promises to deliver a
greater range and depth of green information than either medium could
provide on its own.

The Internet offers instantaneous, cost free and unlimited access to a vast
number of environmental videos, blogs, forums, websites and educational
portals that feature environmental problems in the world today.

The media has also been actively exposing environmental injustices and
unethical practices of governments, businesses and firms. By creating
awareness of misdeeds, such errant parties can be held accountable and
brought to justice for the ruin that has been caused to the environment.
According to chinadialogue, an independent organisation dedicated to
promoting a common understanding of Chinas urgent environmental
challenges, in 2014, Chen Jie, an ex-photography editor at the Beijing
News and an active photojournalist completed seven pieces on the
environment. One of Chens pieces, Death of the Desert, an exclusive
report on the devastating effects of the Tengger desert pollution in Inner
Mongolia and Zhongwei, Ningxia province, prompted a reaction from
Chinese president Xi Jinping. The State Council formed an investigation
team to look into the situation and this led to dozens of officials in Inner
Mongolia losing their jobs or being punished.
In 2015, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists worked
with 13 journalists from radio, print and online news outlets in Africa to
create the largest ever investigative journalistic partnership in Africa. The
Fatal Extraction project exposed serious environmental concerns and
human rights issues in multiple Australian-listed mining companies in
those 13 countries. These companies are accused of negligence, unfair
dismissal, violence and environmental law-breaking across Africa,
according to legal filings and community petitions gathered from South
Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Cote
dIvoire, Senegal and Ghana. It has been recommended to the Australian
Parliament that it adopts mandatory reporting and sets clear guidance on
when companies should disclose social and environmental issues.

The media industry themselves are increasingly aware of the need to

play a part to be environmentally-friendly (by reducing waste for
example) and are directly or indirectly adopting more green policies
or practices.
The Green Press Initiative is committed to advancing sustainable patterns
of production and consumption within the U.S. book and newspaper
industries and within the paper industry at large. Recommended
guidelines for paper use and action steps are provided for book and
newspaper publishers to understand and be mindful of the environmental
impacts of their publications.
The Newspaper Association of America is a non-profit organization
representing nearly 2,000 newspapers and their multiplatform businesses
in the United States and Canada. Members are actively establishing new
business practices to reduce their products impact on the environment.
For example, member newspapers have voluntarily committed to using
recycled-content newsprint. In 1989, 35% of all old newspapers were
recycled. Today, more than 72% of all old newspapers in the United States
are recovered and recycled. This has helped to dramatically reduce the
impact on forests, dependency on imported oil and the need for more
landfills.
A by-product of the move away from paper-based publications to digital
platforms indirectly helps to alleviate the impact on the environment.

Due to limited resources and in terms of priorities and importance,

the media cannot devote too much attention to environmental
issues. An assumption is that the coverage on environmental issues should
be a priority as traditional and new media enable widespread coverage but
the media has a duty to report on other news as well. Also, media outlets are
hampered by limited resources like a lack of environmental journalists and
limited space on a print newspaper. As a result, certain kinds of news tend to
be covered more by the media as compared to news on the environment
which does not get top priority even though the problems may be pressing or
demanding our attention.
In a report entitled Environmental Coverage in the Mainstream News: We
Need More which was published in January 2013 by the Project for
Improved Environmental Coverage, it was revealed that environmental
stories represent just 1% of news headlines in the United States and that
entertainment stories garner nearly three times more headlines. It also
found that for some news organizations, entertainment and crime garner
twenty times and sixty times more coverage than the environment. In a
ranking of 30 nationally prominent news outlets in America, Clearly as
report author Tyson Miller was quoted, There is a lot of room for
improvement and local newspapers and independent news organizations
can be looked to as models when it comes to prioritizing environmental
coverage.

Sometimes the medias actions to alleviate environmental problems

are hampered by obstacles beyond their control that restrict them
and render them incapable of taking sufficient action to alleviate
environmental problems. Some of these obstacles include exposure to
many kinds of pressure, threats and violence, censorship or government
legislation.
pressure, threats and violence - According to a new report released by
Paris-based body Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF or Reporter Without
Borders) in 2015, India has emerged as the deadliest country for
environment journalists, with at least two inquisitive reporters in the Asian
nation being murdered in 2015 and many others harassed, threatened and
subjected to physical violence. Jagendra Singh, a freelancer for Hindilanguage papers for more than 15 years, died from burn injuries in Uttar
Pradesh state after he posted an article on Facebook accusing a
government minister of involvement in illegal mining and land seizures.
Sandeep Kothari, another Hindi language reporter, was found dead in
neighbouring Madhya Pradesh. Police said local organized crime members
had pressured him to stop investigating illegal mining. Reporters Without
Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. In the COP 21 era, we
need to realize that the highly sensitive nature of this subject only too
often causes grave problems for those trying to shed light on pollution and
other forms of environmental degradation. Their meticulous but dangerous
work of gathering and disseminating information is nonetheless vital if we
are to achieve the badly needed increase in awareness of the dangers
threatening our planet.
censorship or government legislation - Some governments resort to
censorship whenever they are blamed for environmental problems. When
Under The Dome, an online documentary about air pollution in Beijing,
went viral in March 2015, the Chinese Communist Party quickly had it
removed from websites. In Ecuador, draconian legislation prevents

journalists from covering oil drilling in the Yasuni National Park, where the
biological diversity is internationally recognized.
-

Even if the media helps to inform the public and create awareness of
various environmental problems, it does not necessarily translate to
more people actively participating in environmental events or
supporting environmental causes. Although media outlets can play a part
in covering environmental problems, in reality, there is often a limit to what
they can do and how far they can go. As a result, it is not fair to blame the
media for not doing enough to alleviate environmental problems. Ultimately,
real power to do so lies in the hands of the people and it is up to them to take
actual action to address these problems.
Undeniably, social media certainly helps spread the word about
environmental issues, but the extent to which this awareness spurs people
to actively participate in real-life environmental events can be questioned.
In a 2012 article entitled Can Social Media Really Help Make a Difference
for the Environment? Tom Szaky, the founder and CEO of TerraCycle, the
worlds first company that manufactures and packages products from
garbage, raised doubts about the effectiveness of the medias impact on
addressing environmental issues. He wrote, If someone clicks Like on
TerraCycles Facebook page, or retweets a Treehugger.com tweet, thats
fantastic. But it doesnt take down our carbon output or bring back a
demolished forest. Social media can be a fun, virtually interactive way to
substantial awareness, but the true threat is that people will think
retweeting or clicking Like will be enough. Social media is best used as a
nudge in the right direction inspiring behaviour, spreading positive
ideas and helping to spawn change in the real world. Its bad and
ineffective when people find gratification solely by tapping that Like icon
because that Like in most cases, wont do anything but display your
time spent on the computer.

The media is not doing enough to alleviate environmental problems.

-

Ultimately, the media is too profit-driven to pay attention to

environmental issues. Newspapers or television channels do not bother to
place a priority on environmental problems as these problems simply do not
attract a large readership or viewership. Also, most environmental problems
tend to be long term issues and not attention grabbing or sensationalistic
news that can sell and make money for the media organisations in the short
term. As a result, environmental news is neglected as resources are
channelled to other more profit-making news (like entertainment or crime
coverage).
In 2013, the New York Times abruptly cancelled their Green Blog, causing
uproar and questioning among the environmental set as to the
publications motives. While this did not come as a huge surprise to many
as the publication also got rid of their environmental desk earlier in the
year, what was interesting was that the Times did not say that it was
closing the blog because of a lack of audience, but that so it could "direct
production resources to other online projects." If the Times did not cancel
the Green Blog due to readership, as is the case when most blogs are
removed, then what does that say about the medias priorities for green
issues?

State-owned media organisations that are overly influenced by the

government are unable to fulfil their intended role as an
independent watchdog.
Editors and journalists in these media
organisations do not make an effort to address environmental concerns or
dare to do so. Also, they face immense restrictions on what news to report
and how much to devote on environmental news. Therefore these journalists
and editors make the choice not to challenge the status quo for fear of
getting into trouble with the relevant authorities.