BLOG: Green-ida
Ideas for an Earth-friendly media
By Corey Cook, Staff Writer
June 16, 2008 | noon
Our world is in peril right now.
The hole in the Ozone layer is increasing yearly, many of Earth’s wondrous species are on the brink of extinction, and Earth’s natural order is decaying right before our eyes. I am sure you have heard something similar to this right?
Statements like those are a part of a new trend in the media in recent years: focusing on the increasingly fragile state our planet is in. However, the media can exaggerate this aspect at times, to the point where it seems there is no hope for change. On the contrary, there has never been a more important time for change, and it can all start on how the media present the problems (and solutions) facing our fragile planet.
The first is simply that the media need to balance their subjects realistically. In other words, the media need to think about their audience and consider the changes the average middle-class American can actually make. Documentaries and news specials about ways to help in the environment in the future are nice and necessary, but America needs shows and news specials that show how the average American household can make a difference with the environment now, without spending in excess.
With rising gas and produce prices, the media could lead the charge by showing cheaper and more realistic alternatives to everyday living, helping people keep some "green" in their pockets and viewers watching their programs. For example, instead of showing how the cars of tomorrow will run off alternative fuels, the news media could have a special on today's fuel efficient cars to see if they are really worth those extra dollars.
Another way the media can help is to realistically depict the problem. In other words, the media should try not to paint a negative picture but also not pretend that no problem exists. The world is in peril, that is very true, but it is not like no one has done anything to stop this from progressing. In fact, many organizations have pitched in to help out all over the planet. The media should focus some of their broadcast time on that, and I am not just talking about a special during Earth week. There is no bigger news than our own planet, and if we want it to still be our planet, we should spend some time talking about those who are trying to preserve it.
On the flip side of that argument, the problems with our planet are as just as important as the gains we make. Ignoring the problem of the environment is just as detrimental to the environment as the Exxon-Valdez oil spill was to wildlife in Alaska. The changes we make in our planet, however minute, still cause aftershocks in almost every aspect of our lives. The media should spend a balanced time showing both the losses and gains we make on a daily basis with our planet because people need to know that for every time someone clear-cuts a forest, someone else is trying to replant it.
Finally, the media just need to have some humility about how people treat the environment. Most people are not out to purposely harm the environment. In fact, most people do not assume that their actions are hurting the environment. One way to fix this is having programs can show the simple things people do that are hurting the environment but that are not casting those people as wasteful. The media need to learn this aspect and not just apply it to their programming but also to themselves.
The media need to realize that all the fuel used by transportation for their reporters, all the high tech equipment they use to report, the electricity they waste for filming... all make them part of the problems with the environment as everyone else. Just like everyone else, too, they need all of this to do their daily functions in society. Having a little bit of humility about themselves would let people know that the media are just as human as the are, for if we are to solve this problem, we can not do it alone. We need the support of one other to find ways that we can all lend in to make our world just a little greener, and with a greener media, this idea can grow.