DiversityIt’s not just “Bio”
It’s Culture, Language, Religion, Food, Media, etc., etc.
Media Reform Information Centerhttp://www.corporations.org/media/
In 1983, 50 corporations owned the vast majority of news media
In 2004, it was five
Time Warner, Disney, NewsCorp, Viacom, Bertelsman (NBC was a close 6th)
Why do we need diversity in the media?
“As a business proposition, consolidation makes sense. But for a society, it’s like over-fishing the oceans. When the independent businesses are gone, where will the new ideas come from?”

Ted Turner, “Break Up This Band?”The Washington Monthly, July/August 2004, pp. 30-36.
Why do we need hundreds of languages? Why can’t everyone just speak English?
“We should care about preventing the extinction of languages because of the human costs to those most directly affected. . . . Along with the accompanying loss of culture, language loss can destroy a sense of self-worth.”
At War With Diversity: U.S. Language Policy in an Age of Anxiety, by James Crawford, 2000 (p. 63).
Languages currently spoken: 6000
Number expected to survive this century: 600
Source: MIT Indigenous Language Initiative
Why do we need “heritage” breeds and “heirloom” varieties of food?
Genetic resource
Aesthetic and taste value
Cultural value
Connected to language!
See www.slowfood.com
Join the “slow food” movement
“Variety is the spice of life”
The Case of the Tomato
Those in the “tomato club” are planting 400 heirloom varieties. How many varieties are available at Lueken’s or Wal-Mart?
Diversity is good! Why?
Intrinsic value
The right of other species to exist
Instrumental value
Use values: What’s in it for us?
Non-use values
Aesthetic: Beauty and variety
Bequest (think 7 generations)
Existence value (knowing it’s there -- like an insurance policy or a bank account)

Media and Overpopulation: Mixed Messages

“Overpopulation is now the dominant problem in all our personal, national, and international planning. No one can do rational personal planning, nor can public policy be resolved in any area unless one first takes into account the population bomb. Schools, politicians, and mass media only touch the edge of the major problem.”
Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich
The Population Bomb, 1968
Ehrlich’s inalienable rights of mankind (sic)
1. The right to eat well.
2. The right to drink pure water.
3. The right to breathe pure air.
4. The right to decent, uncrowded shelter.
5. The right to enjoy natural beauty.

6. The right to avoid regimentation.
7. The right to avoid pesticide poisoning.
8. The right to freedom from thermonuclear war.
9. The right to limit families.
10. The right to educate our children.
11. The right to have grandchildren.
Population headlines from 1900
“Idea of China’s millions”
“Population and wages”
“Question of racial decline”
“Reversal of Malthus”
“When will the world be full?”
“Why not 300 million people?”
Population heads:1950 NYT
“Great Britain reports use (of birth control) increased to 60% of married couples”

“Planned Parenthood reports 333 clinics in U.S.: sees growing acceptance of methods”

“Gen. MacArthur hdqrs bars Mrs. Sanger from visiting Japan to give talks”

Population Headlines: 1968 NYT
“UN Gen. Assembly Soc. Committee backs ‘exclusive right’ of parents to use birth control”

“USSR specialist on capitalist economics, says solution to population explosion can be found only in communism”

Pope Paul VI bans all artificial means of contraception, dismisses warnings of population explosion danger, says threat must be met by socio-economic means, not birth control”


Quotes about baby 6 billionThe Arizona Republic: October 1999
“A healthy tree is one that grows and produces fruit”
“ That baby has less than one chance in ten to be born into wealth”
“If the US wants to curb population growth, it should set up more organizations that talk to youth about abstinence”
“Thomas Malthus. . .was wrong in 1798, just as the fearmongers at Zero Population Growth are wrong today”
“Celebrating the birth of the 6 billionth human is like celebrating that a cancer has metastisized”
Septuplets Heads (1997)
“The challenge of septuplets: The pregnancy of Bobbi McCaughey has illustrated the abilities and limits of reproductive medicine, not to mention the wonders of the human body”
“Septuplets’ mother tells of fears, faith in ‘Dateline’ interview”
“Oprah, hospital staff, get in on party for seven”
One lonely negative septuplet headline


“Multiple births provoke debate: Health and ethics experts question fertility treatments that preceded Iowa septuplets and Houston octuplets”
Population-Environment Connection: Media Avoidance
“Journalists are well aware of the controversial nature of the population issue, and prefer to avoid it if possible.”

T. Michael Maher
Univ. of S. Louisiana
Population & Environment, Vol. 18, #4, March 1997
Why?
Americans generally “do not make many direct, unaided connections between population and environment.”

Pew Global Stewardship Initiative
1993
Case Study: Three Topics
Do journalists make the connection between the following problems and overpopulation?

Urban Sprawl
Endangered Species
Water Shortages

(50 randomly selected articles on each topic
from newspapers, magazines, wire services)

Results of Case Study
Population growth mentioned as a cause of the environmental problem:
10.7% of stories

Reducing population growth mentioned as a solution to the environmental problem:
0%

Why is overpopulation ignored?
To purvey the ideology of elites who make money from population growth?
Ignorance? Shallowness of media?
“Spiral of silence?”
Fear of isolation -- need to run with the pack
Remain silent so others can put up with you
Biases common to media stories
1. Simplification:
audiences eschew the complex
2. Personalization:
Individuals cause events rather than institutional, historical or other abstract forces
3. Symbolization:
Audiences want dramatic action, intriguing personality or stirring slogans
R. Entman (1989)



Other possible reasons
Emphasis on people rather than process
Emphasis on crisis rather than continuity
Isolation of stories from each other
Official assurances of normalcy
Summary of Findings
Most expressed deep concern about overpopulation problems
Beyond the bounds of their assigned stories
“Classic conflict form” is a problem
Invisible, slow, impersonal social forces are not in a “story frame”
Journalists’ comments
“I don’t think globally when I write a story; I think, ‘what do the people in this town want to know about?’”
“It’s not the journalists. . .It’s the editors.”
“I’ve got 20 inches to explain why a garter snake is endangered.”
What can environmentalists do to get this on the agenda?
Keep making the connection between population and environment to the media:

“If someone were intelligent enough to mention population, I would mention it in the story.”

Keep making the connection to politicians:

“Officials in these small towns are pretty short-sighted.”


The Population Media CenterInteresting organization with an ambitious mission
http://www.populationmedia.org/index.html
Founded in 1998 by William Ryerson
Population Media Center (PMC) strives to improve the health and well being of people around the world through the use of entertainment-education strategies, like serialized dramas on radio and television, in which characters evolve into role models for the audience for positive behavior change. Our mission is to collaborate with the mass media and other organizations worldwide to (1) bring about stabilization of human population numbers at a level that can be sustained by the world's natural resources and to (2) lessen the harmful impact of humanity on the earth's environment. The emphasis of the organization's work is to educate people about the benefits of small families, encourage the use of effective family planning methods, elevate women's status and promote gender equity.

“. . .and then. . . they kill your dog”
What the mass media tell us about the environment
(and fail to tell us) and why:
A brief overview and history

“Tell it like it is,
without fear or favor.”
Michael Frome
Environmental journalist

Media FramingHow it affects what you know
Media framing theory:
Defines how issues or stories or persons are “packaged” so as to allow certain interpre-tations and rule out others, based on world view and other factors.
intentional or unintentional
unavoidable in human communication.
Examples in Environmental Media Coverage
Biosolids:
http://pus.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/15/3/359
Voyageurs National Park (and other issues)
http://www.environmentalframing.org/efc_main/p articipants.shtml
Population growth
http://dieoff.org/page118.htm

My Personal Favorite:Recycling (NYTimes headlines)
“Rewarding recyclers and finding gold in the garbage” (happy ending frame)
“Makers start bearing the cost of recycling TVs in Maine” (pro-business frame)
“Transfer stations in park raise doubts about city’s waste plan” (political frame)
“Aiming for a zero-energy home” (personal responsibility frame)
What’s out of the frame?
Full-cost pricing (What is the REAL cost of the raw materials that are considered waste and who pays for that cost?)
Why are landfills and garbage burning plants subsidized and recycling efforts are not or are subsidized half-heartedly?
Why can’t we legislate mandatory recycling efforts? Why aren’t current laws enforced?
Why is it that individual consumers are supposed to figure out what to do?
Some basics about mass media
Media are plural
News values:
Timeliness Unusualness
Proximity Conflict
Prominence Impact
The “5 Ws and H”: The News Questions
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
Overview: 150 Years of Environmental Reporting
Walden (1854)
Muckrakers (1890-1910)
Silent Spring (1962)
Earth Day 1970 (emotion)
Reagan Years (1980s)
-- “voluntary compliance”
Earth Day 1990-optimism
Revisionism (90s)
Earth Day 2000 (realism?)


Focusing in on our century
1920sSocial science methods Applied to journalism
Objectivity
No human interest
1960s: Silent Spring
Thalidomide scare
Clean Air & Water Act
Social change
“New Journalism”
1970s
Emotional tie to nature
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Media hype
Public responsibility
Superfund cleanup
“Can-do” attitude

Recent History and Attitudes
1980s
“Morning in America”
EPA told to dismantle its own programs
Lobbyists write rules
Garbage barge looks for home (send it away)
George Bush vows to be environmental president
Exxon oil spill story wins Pulitzer Prize (1989)
Recent history
1990: Earth Day hyped
Optimism abounded
Personal responsibility
1991:
“Barely a flicker”
How do we feel? Good!



Backlash
Reporters harassed
Revisionist Reporting
No real problems
Environmental alarmists


Current State for Environmental Journalists
Professionalization
Graduate schools offer master’s degrees in environmental reporting
Society of Environmental Journalists (sej.org)
Respected science writers write as journalists
Best and worst reporting:
big, dramatic projects, but
Too little too late
Few regular beat reporters hired
Limited audience for alternative media sources
Last hired, first fired
Nonexistent at small, local media sources
Hostile editors and publishers
What’s Next? 2003 and beyond
Emphasis on environmental justice and democracy
Minorities
Poor individuals and countries
Worker and resource exploitation
Eco-terrorism watch
What’s Next? 2006 and beyond
Media frame the issues globally
Local reporters doing int’l stories
English as a world language
Issues more contentious
More grass-roots activism
More despair, but also more focused anger by activists
Current Criticisms of Media
Cover events, not trends
Cover stories as conflict, not as the search for truth
Unqualified reporters
Present all environmentalism as opinion or politics, not education or science
Overabundance of skepticism/cynicism
More Media Criticisms
Good reporters becoming “contrarian”
“Afghanistanism”: focusing on far away
“eco-journalism”: crisis reporting
Ignoring complexity & uncertainty
Too many officials/few citizens or scientists
Subtle risks not reported
Blurring of advocacy and objectivity
Media self-criticism by professional journalists
Forces in the field have intruded on the integrity of journalists’ domain
Impact of new technologies: 24 hr. news cycle
Push for market share: maximize profits
Retreat from in-depth coverage of serious stories
From Good Work: When Excellence and Ethics Meet, by Howard Gardner, et.al., Basic Books, 2001
What caused these mass media problems? Professionals theorize
The waning of family control: Mergers/buyouts
An insatiable quest for ever-higher profits
The diminishing returns of increased speed
Technology and short-range perspectives
“Pseudo-information” and a “bewildering barrage of facts” without context
Violation of the newsroom culture
No understanding of firewall between news/ads
Editors’ altered roles: money, not quality
Media names to know:Environmental Reporting
Tom Meersman, Star Tribune
Dennis Anderson, Star Tribune
Bill Moyers, PBS Television Reporter
Frontline, PBS Documentary series
Bemidji Pioneer? Sorry, nobody responsible
Northern Student? Sorry again
Society of Environmental Journalists (sej.org)

What can you do?
Respond to the media: criticize and praise
Bring issues to the attention of media
Understand how media work
Give up “whatever” attitude -- CARE
Understand media’s limitations
Media are plural, not singular
Different media have different roles
Suggested Improvements
The media must educate the public
Writers must educate editors & publishers
Scientists must work with the media
Scientists and journalists must advocate
Environmental groups must learn to use media effectively: be wise and assertive

People and the Environment: Mass Media Perspective
Small group: Tuesdays 5:30-6:45, Bg 209

Instructor: Louise Mengelkoch Office Hrs: M-F 1-3
Office: Bg 214 e-mail: lmengelkoch@bemidjistate.edu
Phone: 755-3358
“Tell it like it is, without fear or favor.”
Michael Frome, Environmental Journalist


Course Objectives
This is a small group section of the interdisciplinary course, People and the Environment, and will provide more specific focus in pursuing the overall objectives of the course. That is, this section will pursue how the news and entertainment mass media portray environmental issues. Basing our inquiry on the tried and true basic questions asked by journalists around the world for hundreds of years, we will grapple with the following questions:

Who tells us about environmental issues?
What do they tell us?
Where do we find this news and information?
When do we find it?
Why are these issues covered (or not covered) in the way they are?
How do these media professionals do their work?
How do we respond?

Texts:

Please choose ONE of the following two articles to order on-line (available only in hard copy). The price is $6.50 and includes shipping. Here’s the URL: https://secure1.startribune.com/company/ic/home/newspaper/special_reprints_new.htm

1. “The Minnesota River in Crisis,” a reprint from the Star Tribune, 1999.

OR

2. "The State We're In: A Star Tribune Report About Conservation," 2001, a reprint.

3. Daily editions of the New York Times
You are required to buy a subscription to the New York Times (available through the bookstore -- sign up IMMEDIATELY). Cost: approximately $27.50.

I will NOT allow you to substitute articles from the on-line edition which you print off yourself. These two editions are quite different from each other. Whoever pays the cost of printing (either you or BSU or someone else) would pay more than the cost of the subscription anyway.

4. Sustaining the Earth. (This is for the large-group portion of the course, but I just wanted to mention it so you don’t forget. It is available in the bookstore.)

Assignments and grading for small- and large-group portions of the course:

1. 30%: Environmental Media Journal. This should include the following:

*All the articles on environmental issues you find in the New York Times, neatly clipped and put in your journal.

*Include either 1 or 2 above in this journal.

*These articles should be arranged according to the topics in your textbook for the large group (Sustaining the Earth). You should have a 250-word response in each section. For example, type a response to the all the articles about solid and hazardous waste, about biodiversity, about water, etc.

*The front page of your Media Journal should include a 500-word essay summarizing what you learned from all these articles, especially as they relate to the course.

Your journal should be in a 3-ring binder or something that keeps everything in order and is easy for me to read. It should be "reader-friendly" and attractive, which is always an important thing in mass media. It should have a title and a subtitle. I will show you an example in class. Due date: last small group meeting. Your journals will be ready for you to get back the day of the large-group final.

YOU ARE ALLOWED TO DO THIS PROJECT WITH A PARTNER. HOWEVER, KEEP IN MIND YOU BOTH RECEIVE THE SAME GRADE, NO MATTER WHO DOES THE WORK. YOU ARE ALSO BOTH REQUIRED TO DO ALL THE READING.

See below for an alternative to the Media Journal.

2.10%: Attendance. I will take attendance in the small-group sessions.

3. 10%: Participation. This will be determined by scores on weekly quizzes about environmental stories in the news. Each week, two of you will work together to create a five-minute quiz on articles in the previous week’s Times. Please bring along all the relevant NY Times articles from the previous week for discussion and, as assigned, the Star Tribune article.

4. 35%: Large-group tests,

5. 15%: large-group attendance. Please sit in my section during the large-group presentations. I will take attendance at these sessions.

The final exam for the large group is Tuesday, Dec. 19, 1-3 p.m. There is no exam for the small-group portion of the course.

IMPORTANT: ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY TO THE MEDIA JOURNAL!!!

Attend the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists with me in Burlington, Vermont October 25-29. Check out the organization’s website at www.sej.org. Report on the trip either with a PowerPoint presentation to the small or large group, or write a 500-word op-ed piece for the Northern Student or a newspaper of your choice. This is going to be an awesome conference, and it’s very student-friendly. Here’s a breakdown of the cost:

Airfare: $550 from Bemidji (approximately)
Conference fee: $65 (includes some meals)
Hotel: $87 per night (single or double)
Extra field trips (see conference website): $25-$50

Financial aid may be available for those who need it.

NOTE: If you go to this conference, you must still read the NY Times articles and bring them to class each week. You are excused only from the journal assignment.