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Media as Environmental Advocate

By Rahne Ervin

Issues regarding human impact on the environment have found a mouthpiece in the media. As this subject becomes harder for skeptics to dismiss, various media are providing the scientific findings to world citizens. Global warming concerns are rapidly gaining in significance worldwide due, in part, to mainstream media conversations; it is no longer an extreme idea. Media attention to Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth and the movie The Day After Tomorrow allowed these films, and media discussion of them, to offer dramatic, and accessible illustrations that help to generate worldwide awareness of the problem. The internet also gives voice to these issues. For example, currently CNN.com has two environmentally themed topics under their “Hot Topics” section. If you click “Climate Change,” you can find 100 recent stories on that subject. MSN.com has added “Green” to the index on their main page. The high cost of gas and the new trend to buy fuel efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles attract media attention as well. A recent example of this is a TV ad showing a girl embarrassed to be seen in her father’s SUV -- until she finds out it is a hybrid. The media has become a spokesperson for environmental issues resulting in their legitimacy to world citizens.

 

Media as an Auctioneer

By Guadalupe D. Flores

One role the media plays in international relations is that of an auctioneer among global nations. On December 26, 2004 a 9.0-magnitude earthquake created a tsunami taking nearly 230,000 lives and leaving around two million people homeless in 13 nations, including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh. The tsunami disaster relief effort that followed was covered extensively by global media. The first pledges of monetary aid from western nations were condemned by a UN representative as being stingy and unresponsive. At the same time, media provided some initial ‘rankings’ of country bids. What occurred next was a bidding war among the elite nations. The media coverage unleashed a “we-can-top-that” effect. Our first bidder was to the United States, which promised $15 million, then afterwards, $35 million. Following in America's footsteps, Japan would pledge $500 million. As the disaster relief efforts entered its 10th day, Germany and Australia surpassed that figure, offering $674 million and $810 million. These monetary statistics were publicized as a display of what has been described as “competitive compassion” prompted by media comparisons of national generosity. While the media coverage benefitted the victims of the tsunami, it is disappointing to see that nations needed a bidding war in order to fully engage in this humanitarian cause.

 

Murdoch Country – Media as de facto Nation-State

By Meryl Blazer

We may readily recognize the global reach of content produced and distributed by today’s media conglomerates—but media influence doesn’t always end there. The November 2007 New York Times article, “Rupert Murdoch, Embroiled in the Caucasus,” details how Mr. Murdoch’s own media empire, News Corporation, became a player in international politics involving Georgia, Russia’s President Putin, and Washington.

In the short version, Georgia’s Imedi television—managed by Murdoch, and the country’s most popular television channel—aired and supported opposition to Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who then ordered Imedi shut down, alluding to the station as a “Kremlin tool.” In response, Mr. Murdoch himself spoke out against Mr. Saakashvili—of benefit to Putin’s designs on the country, but putting Murdoch, a naturalized U.S. citizen, at odds with the policy of personal friends in the White House.

American diplomats were dispatched to Georgia to coax Mr. Saakashvili—and News Corporation and Imedi executives—“into making peace and toning down their disagreements.” Enthused one senior State Department official of Mr. Murdoch, “[Imedi’s] American partner is one of the world’s all-time-greatest media people. He knows how to make things happen.”

Headquartered in New York, News Corporation holds $64 billion in media assets worldwide.

Imedi TV, an independent Georgian television station resumed broadcasting just over a month after authorities forced it off the air amid a violent crackdown on opposition protests. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)