Conversations flow during SEAchange 2011

Event examines Valdez and Deepwater Horizon spills

By Chris Liang
Multimedia Intern

April 7, 2011

From Exxon Valdez to Deepwater Horizon, how have we grown as citizens of planet Earth? What approaches are environmental and media institutions taking differently? With questions like these in mind, the UW Libraries, UW Department of Communication, UW College of the Environment, and the UW Master of Communication in Digital Media came together to co-host SEAchange 2011 on April 2 at the UW Research Commons.

The event assembled marine scientists, journalists, politicians, researchers, professors, and students, as well as numerous communities who were profoundly impacted by the oil spills, under one roof. Their common goal? To restore the natural resources that have been damaged by the disasters, and to plan and limit the chances of any similar occurrences in the future.

Twenty-two years ago, the Exxon Valdez oil spill served as a wakeup call for not only Americans, but the entire globe. The infamous spill is considered one of the most destructive human-caused environmental disasters in history. The contamination altered the nature of the Alaskan marine ecosystem, as well as the behaviors and customs of the indigenous population.

From the extent of the oil spill to the procedures of the cleanup, the media at the time reported every detail regarding the tragedy that occurred in the remote land of Prince William Sound, Alaska. Last year, when the murky substance known as petroleum went gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, it flowed for three months into the waters of the Gulf, devastating the wildlife and the natural habitats around the area.

To the communities that depend on these resources to survive, the damages done to habits and lifestyles were beyond calculation. Theresa Dardar, a representative from a Native American coastal Louisiana community, said that during this time of year her husband would normally be fishing for crab. But this year, she said, he is not fishing because he wouldn’t be able to sell any crab that he catches due to lingering fears of food safety.

The diverse population of representatives seemed to have indicated the complexity of the problem, but on the other hand, the event was also the perfect opportunity for experts of different fields to align with one another in resolving the matters at hand. Roger Simpson, a professor in the UW Department of Communication, thought it was great that the conference encouraged a cross-discipline exchange of ideas. “It molds the department towards a more scientific approach of journalism,” Simpson said.

Experts like Fred Felleman from WAVE Consulting, and Shirley Laska and Kristina Peterson from the University of New Orleans, were also aware of the widening gap between science and journalism. In their sessions, they each made brief comments about the decline of science reporters in news agencies. In the past, prominent agencies would hire at least a dozen or more reporters with sufficient scientific knowledge to cover scientific stories in depth, the researchers said during the presentation. Nowadays, most agencies have two or three such reporters at most, most of them fresh out of journalism school.

Issues like these play a significant role in determining the community’s involvement in response to the catastrophes. Sandra Hines, who works for UW News and Information, said she was surprised at the variety of headlines and coverage that were out there when the crisis had just occurred. “No wonder readers and citizens are thrown off,” she said.

As the intertwined politics of the oil spill unravel, it becomes evident that the initial leaks are but the tip of the iceberg. The real difficulty lies in how the media, researchers, fishermen, indigenous populations around the Gulf, or simply inhabitants of this planet, can come together as a community to address adversities. As David Domke, Chair of the Department of Communication, said during the concluding session, to effectively tackle the problems of the spill, we first need to address the level of discomfort and distrust among the various parties. If we cannot trust each other and work together, we cannot solve the issue, he said.