Need
Right now, Brazil’s once-ravaged Mata Atlantica Forest is being restored after losing more than 90% of its original 330 million ares. The American Bald eagle, down to just 417 nesting pairs in 1963 because of indiscriminate use of the pesticide DDT, now has more than 10,000 nesting pairs across the country. Off the Australian coast, scientists are finding that portions of the Great barrier Reef are beginning to recover, despite once being written of as a major ecological loss.
There are great stories of hope for the environment to be told.
Yet in the rare instance environmental news is heard, this is more likely what is told – much of the natural world is in trouble. Fisheries upon which we rely for food are crashing around the globe. Air pollution from China is showing up in U.S. streams and lakes. Meanwhile, the natural world faces an unprecedented crisis resulting from human-caused extinction.
Both environmental views are true. Yet we hear relatively little of the problems, and less still of the successes. Too often, we in the media are guilty of chasing after the latest crisis – an oil spill off the coast of Louisiana or timber sales in the old growth forests of Indonesia. We rarely examine the root causes of these problems. Nor do we provide a vision for resolving them. Because of this listeners, viewers and readers are left not knowing what to do, other than throw their hands up in defeat.
The reality is that environmental issues are complex, with many successes and many more challenges. The trick is to be able to tell each story in its full complexity, explaining all sides of the issue, while still making it accessible to the general public. That deftness in storytelling is what is so often missing from much of the environmental reporting now heard in the U.S.
The easy approach records a “talking head” from two sides of the issue (even though there may be many other views), and considers the story balanced. While this may provide a quick way to examine an issue, it all too often gives very little insight. Instead, it serves to trivialize the complex, simplifying what cannot be simplified to at best a couple of sound bites. What’s left out when such methods are employed is something big – the story’s context – the rich connecting tissue required to make the story complete.
It’s little wonder then that listeners tune out when they hear reports on complex environmental issues such as climate change or habitat loss. Without context, the issue becomes unintelligible. So what happens is a self-defeating cycle: reporters treat complex issues in a simplistic way. Listeners change stations and readers put down the paper, and consequently editors assign fewer complex stories, thinking the public doesn’t care about those issues. The public, and in fact the nation as a whole, remain under-served when it comes to significant environmental topics.
Environmental and conservation issues, by nature, are multifaceted; the web of life involves many disciplines, from biology and chemistry to sociology and architecture; in fact, sometimes even philosophy and poetry. So it’s not surprising few reporters are well-equipped to handle such issues. It’s easier for everyone, from the reporter to the editor and news director, to just avoid the issues altogether. But the planet now stands at a crucial crossroads in conservation. The natural world is facing an unprecedented crisis of destruction and extinction. And the only thing that can reverse that decline is an informed, actively engaged public. A public with the information it needs to make the right decisions, right now. And that means the creation of a new way to present that information – a way that involves the listener, gives them the context they need, and provides hope that they can indeed make a difference.
After all, the U.S. has always been a country of deep optimism. News consumers want, and deserve, a greater vision than the one they are receiving right now.
Mission
Our mission is to inform and educate the public about the significant environmental issues facing the world today. We will do that by producing engaging, sound-rich, in-depth features focusing on conservation and biodiversity issues around the globe, as well as environmental business stories in the U.S. We will engage the public through sound story-telling, and educate them with the information they need to be better citizens.
Our goal is to provide a voice for little-heard stories of critical importance. And by providing a wide range of views, we will help to educate the public about these complex issues.
Most importantly, when possible we will try to provide a ray of light and the possibility of hope.