Role of Mass Media in tackling Environmental challenges.

IJSSMR

By

Nnamdi Chinedu Nwanyanwu. Ph.D.

+234 08038882786,
nnamsnd@gmail.com

Department of Mass Communication,

School of information and Communication Technology
Port Harcourt Polytechnic, Rivers State, Nigeria.

Abstract
This paper attempts to highlight the role that Media has played in setting perceptions and
creating awareness on environmental issues. In the past decades, sustainability and
environmental awareness have gained media attention. Due to increasing media coverage, our
society is becoming more aware of the effects that our activities put on the health of the
environment. In this regard the media has a big role to play in making people aware of
environment issues. It is the position of the paper that the media has always covered social and
environmental issues thus it is the most revolutionary device for spreading consciousness
towards environment protection. The paper suggests enough space be devoted in the media to
topics of the environment. When it is, there is a tendency to approach environmental issues from
an alarmist perspective rather than a scientific one. In order for the media to be more sensitive to
the subject of the environment, journalists specialized in environmental issues need to be trained.
The states should work with voluntary environmental organizations in the areas of training and
awareness-raising and promotion activities, and they should use the resources of the mass media
to do so.
Key word: Environment, Environmental issues, Mass Media, Challenges, awareness, journalists.
.

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Introduction

Environment is fundamental for all living things. The Air, water, soil and food quality is

deteriorating day by day, especially in the developing countries, (Aminrad, et al 2013; Sharma,

2012). Both developing and developed countries are facing serious environmental problems.

While some of the problems might be alike due to their global nature (e.g. global warming,

depletion of the ozone layer), others are specifically local ones. Unless the environment is

protected, the existence of life on the planet Earth would eventually be impossible.

Scientist from all over the world point out that environmental issue has serious consequences on

human health. (Hill, 2012; Jarup & Åkesson, 2009;). It is widely recognized that chemical,

physical and biological hazards in the environment may lead to serious health problems.

Environmental pollution has primary confluence in the rise of many types of cancer, respiratory,

cardiovascular and reproductive problems, leading to morbidity or even mortality.

Notwithstanding the aforementioned, research (Barr, 2003; Chun et al, 2012; Shivakumar, 2012)

has shown that still a great number of either businesses and citizens are unaware of the

seriousness of the environmental problems and do little or nothing to save the planet. As Louv

(2008) highlights, people and especially children, are alienating more and more from the nature,

mainly due to the lack of safeness in the modern society and the extended use of technology.

According to the author, this alienation leads to a “problematic stewardship” towards nature.

Scientists maintain that, current situation can be changed if people’s environmental awareness is

raised (Lahiri, 2011; La et al, 2000; Yarkandi & Yarkandi, 2012). Environmental awareness

according to Matthies and Schahn (2004) is defined as “a purely cognitive construct, indicating

whether someone is aware of the endangered environment”. Environmental awareness may also

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be defined as the act of helping social groups and individual to gain a variety of experiences, to

acquire a basic understanding of environment and its associated problems

Attempts have been made since then to inform and sensitize people and governments about

environmental pollution and other environmental challenges. The core idea of these attempts

was, and still is, that the more people are aware of the environmental problems and the correlated

health risks, the more their motivation to overturn the situation and act with caution towards the

environment.

The need to spread environmental awareness is enormous in the context of successfully

addressing environmental problems. It is linked to environmental education. Provision of

environmental education creates greater awareness in individuals and communities with respect

to putting environmental resources to use even while conserving them. On the other hand, greater

environmental awareness increases the scope of environmental education—as a discipline as

well as inclusion of aspects of it within the scope of other disciplines.

The concept of environmental awareness is explained as familiarity with an environmental

subject with real understanding of its deeper cause and implications. This demonstrates that

environmental awareness has a great effect on environmental stewardship attitudes and it has an

effect on environmentally friendly behaviours. The main advantage of widespread environmental

awareness is its contributions to public support for government action in environmental policy

and management. The main tool for creating such awareness at macro level is by far, the media.

The media, and especially the digital ones, can and should contribute towards this direction as

according to Hansen (2011), people have most of their knowledge regarding the environment

through the media. The power of media lays on the fact that they are widespread and shape, or

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even wield public opinion. As Sharma (2012) soundly states, “there is no doubt that the media

plays an instrumental role in modern societies”.

Mass media

Mass media refers collectively to all media tools and technologies including the traditional media

(performing arts, folk theatre and poetry), print media (newspapers, magazines and books),

electronic media (radio, television and cinema) and new media (internet and multi-media) which

are used as means of mass communication. Mass media play a significant role in shaping public

perceptions on important social, political, economic and environmental issues, both through the

information that is dispensed through them, and through the interpretations they place upon this

information. Mass communication does not exist for a single purpose. With its evolution, more

and more uses have developed and the role it plays in our lives has increased greatly. The

electronic media and the print media are the major mediums of spreading information about

environment among the populace—educating them about environmental concerns and ways to

address these. News, features, talk shows and discussions on television and radio are increasingly

focusing on environmental themes of today. In this modern knowledge-society, media plays the

role of facilitator of development, disseminator of information, and being an agent of change.

Print media, which is still influential media, can play a big role in environmental protection.

Radio is cheap and easily accessible medium. Its signals cover almost the whole country.

There is a growing population of the young that are ardent users of new media (Social Media and

Internet) platforms. With Facebook or Twitter, youths today are very much connected with each

other and other global/local issues can be shared through the internet. Social media platforms are

also utilized by industry and government agencies as a preferred tool of communication with the

general public.

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The print, broadcast, and Internet media can be a powerful ally in educating the public on

environmental matters. In order to perform this role effectively, it is often necessary for the

Government to work with the media (and sometimes educate the media). This is often done

informally, through regular briefings and information centres.

Media has a big role to play in making people aware of environment issues and taking actions to

protect the environment.

Environmental problems are among the challenges facing mankind globally. The mass media as

the fourth estate of the realm is socially responsible. Regarding the issue of environment

awareness, media plays a vital role in spreading the true message. Along with bringing it into the

hub of debates and discussions, it tries to suggest alternatives to people and policy-makers. First

of all, the mere awareness also creates a genuine interest to probe into the exact matter. Thus,

environment awareness is one of the important issues which media presents consciously and

effectively to say a few things to the people. The awareness on environment has shown

multiplicity of results in the form different issues of livelihood rights, of displacement and

rehabilitation, of sustainability, of pollution led damages and its control etc. Thus, the all

pervading media has really raised the awareness on environment among people.

Functions of Mass Media for Society

Surveillance: Surveillance refers to the news and information role of the media. The first

function of mass communication is to serve as the eyes and ears for those seeking information

about the world. The internet, television, radio and newspapers are the main sources for finding

out what is going on around us. Society relies on mass communication for news and information

about our daily lives.

The surveillance function can be divided further into two main types

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Warning or Beware surveillance: These occur when the media inform us about threats from

environmental degradation terrorism, depressed economic conditions, increasing inflation, or

military attack. There is however much information that is not particularly threatening to

society that people might like to know about.

Instrumental surveillance: These have to do with the transmission of information that is

useful and helpful in everyday life. News about the weather is an example of instrumental

surveillance. News apps have made mass communication surveillance instantly accessible by

sending notifications to smart phones with the latest news.

Interpretation: The mass media do not supply just facts and data. They also provide information

on the ultimate meaning and significance of events. Articles that analyze the causes of an event

or that discuss the implications of government policy are also examples of the interpretation

function. Interpretation can take various forms. It could be editorials, Editorial cartoons ,

commentaries etc.

Linkage: The mass media are able to join different elements of society that are not directly

connected. For example, mass media attempts to link the dangers of air pollution as a result of

illegal refineries with escalating heath challenges.

Transmission of Values/Socialization: The transmission of values is an important function of

the mass media. It has also been called the socialization function. Socialization refers to the

ways an individual comes to adopt the behavior and values of a group. The mass media portray

our society and by watching, listening, and reading, we learn how people are supposed to act

and what values are important.

Correlation: Correlation according to Innocent et al, (2018) refers to the ways in which the

media explain events and issues and ascribe meanings that help individuals understand their roles

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in the larger society. Correlation addresses how the media presents facts that we use to move

through the world.

Entertainment: Media outlets keep us up to date on the daily comings and goings of our favorite

celebrities. We use technology to watch sports, go to the movies, play video games, watch

YouTube videos, and listen to iPods on a daily basis. Most mass communication simultaneously

entertains and informs. People often turn to media during our leisure time to provide an escape

from boredom and relief from the predictability of our everyday lives. We rely on media to take

us places we could not afford to go or imagine, acquaints us with bits of culture, and make us

laugh, think or cry. Entertainment can have the secondary effect of providing companionship

and/or catharsis through the media we consume. The media can entertain and at the same time

inform people on environmental issues. Nnamdi (2018) opined that for a journalist to be

successful in communication, his article should convey the information, education and

entertainment in an interesting manner. Thus if environmental issues are subtly included in an

interesting piece, consumers will get the massage better.

Transmission: Mass media is a vehicle to transmit cultural norms, values, rules, and habits.

Consider how you learned about what is fashionable in clothes or music. Mass media plays a

significant role in the socialization process. We look for role models to display appropriate

cultural norms, but all too often, not recognizing their inappropriate or stereotypical behavior.

Mainstream society starts shopping, dressing, smelling, walking, and talking like the person in

the music video, commercial, or movies. Have you ever bought a pair of shoes or changed your

hairstyle because of something you encountered in the media? Obviously, culture, age, type of

media, and other cultural variables factor into how mass communication influences how we learn

and perceive our culture.

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Mobilization: Mass communication functions to mobilize people during times of crisis

(McQuail, 1994). Think back to the bomb that rocked Lagos state on January 27, 2002.

Regardless of your association to the incident, Nigerians felt the impact as a nation and people

followed the news. With instant access to media and information, we can collectively witness the

same events taking place in real time somewhere else, thus mobilizing a large population of

people around a particular event. It is obvious that the mass media can be used effectively and

efficiently to help people learn about their environment and how best to protect the environment.

Media and the Environmental Awareness

The environmental emergency that we are facing, needs to be addressed and analyzed “within a

social frame of reference” (Arlt et al., 2011). Media seem to be an interesting approach towards

such direction. The great potential of the media in regards to the provision of information, the

construction of knowledge and the cultivation of skills and attitudes, has been proved

scientifically over the years (Prathap & Ponnusamy, 2006; Suoranta, 2003; Tisdell &

Thompson, 2007).

As far as the environmental issues are concerned, media either as a risk communicator, or as a

promoter of data, information and good practices of any kind, should smooth the progress of

people to become more environmentally responsible and cultivate an environmental awareness

(Sharma, 2012; Arlt et al., 2011). Additionally, media (electronic or printed) could help people

associate reasons and effects, thus to get informed and to reflect upon the given information, in

order to understand the origins and the causes of the major environmental problems (Forno,

1999; Hansen, 2011).

Generating public awareness and environmentally friendly behaviors is a complex and

multidimensional task (Arlt et al., 2011; Hansen, 2011). To achieve this, different kind of

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information and ways of presentation should be exploited (Miranda & Blanco, 2010). Moreover,

as Kapoor (2011) highlights, there is a need to use low cost and environmentally friendly

technologies in order to cultivate ecological attitudes. All the aforementioned could be

accomplished by the use of digital media, and especially the Internet. Firstly, the blending of text

and multimedia contributes to the presentation and decoding of complicated situations and

events, and secondly, the proper choice of internet-based approach could be low cost and

“green”.

Some of Internet usages to raise the environmental awareness are the following:

 Documentaries and amateur videos: Exposing an environmental situation or hazard could

be a difficult endeavor. The power of pictures and videos to illustrate, captivate or shock is

undoubtedly, as according to Ottino (2003), “seeing and representing are inextricably linked to

understanding”. Via the Internet, people have an instant, cost free and unlimited access to a great

number of environmental documentaries

 Blogs, Forums and educational portals: such websites on the one hand give access to a

vast amount of information regarding the environment and its protection and on the other hand,

provide a virtual space of communication and exchanging of information and ideas without any

consumption of paper and ink and without the burden of travelling.

Certainly the role of the media in the effort of awakeness for environmental issues should be

addressed by placing critical and skeptical to the extent that a significant portion of the media is

linked to business groups or state-owned ownerships. Such dependencies cumber ideologically

the role of media and their democratic functioning, particularly if the element of

commercialization is mediated in the media products. For this reason it is useful to enhance the

education movement in the media, which in the theoretical and political field works for the

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establishment of a critical reader / viewer and beyond that for the transition of passive recipient

to an active effector who is involved as a player in the process of communication. Key demand

of the movement is to coordinate the various efforts that occur on the side of the state, civil

society, teachers, and their families towards a broad pedagogical use of new information

technologies and modern forms of communication and education particularly on education

geared to protect the environment and not the commercialization of environmental problems.

Conclusions

The modern way of living is aggravating the planet. The vast use of carbon and chemicals, the

extended deforestations and the large-scale of agriculture, farming and fishing are deteriorating

the soil, air and water quality. Notwithstanding climate change and environmental pollution

remains for decades a prime subject of International agendas, research indicates that little is done

regarding the communication of such scientific results and their impact on ecology and health

and the enhancement of the public environmental awareness.

The literature findings indicate that media, and especially digital ones, play an important role in

the enhancement of environmental awareness and the establishment of a more ecological friendly

way of living. In fact, they constitute a flexible environment in order to decompose and explain a

complex issue, as an ecological disaster, via different types of information, cartoons, features,

documentaries, commentaries, text, pictures, multimedia presentation, virtual simulations, smart

technologies that assist individuals in monitoring their resource use. The priority of state

environmental policies should be on education and this can be achieved with the help and use of

the mass media. Since digital media are used widely by young people, it’s easier for them to

share environmental issues. Increased training and education of journalists and experts, as well

as increased interest and awareness is important for the public. The media should be used more

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effectively in environmental education and opportunities for increased media involvement.

Instilling environmental awareness in all through attention-grabbing and entertaining educational

programs in the media should be prepared. Environmental issues need to be placed on the social

agenda, public awareness has to be raised, and environmental education needs to be provided to

media organizations, as well. To do this, universities and environmental organizations must

cooperate and develop joint projects

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