Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and Al Gore's documentary, however, in most cases environmental
NGOs do not fare well in dominating news production.
9
Conventional
media have a clear preference for governmental, political and corpo-
rate institutions (Manning,
2001
; Cottle,
2000
;deJong et al., 2005;
Hannigan,
2006
). Complex, slowly developing environmental disasters
brought to the media via repetitive stories and campaigns of environ-
mental NGOs, such as climate change, have generally little attraction
for sound-bite media, even with the scientific and governmental com-
munities supporting (and often paying for) such news coverage.
The Internet opens a quite distinct set of media opportunities and
battles on the environment. Essential is that the Internet is multicentred
and not (yet) monopolised, and information production and dissemina-
tion are affordable also for nonwealthy actors. Moreover, the Internet
remains difficult to control and access, and production and dissemi-
nation of information take place largely outside the control of global
media corporations and governments. Although media sceptics warn
us that commercialisation also may get hold of the Internet, they seem
surprised that this has still not happened: “It seems at times almost
too good to be true in terms of the extent to which there may now
be wide access to a medium not utterly dominated in terms of content
by the smooth voice of infotainment and large-scale capital” (Paehlke,
2003
: 103). Although professionalisation still plays a role in the new
media (e.g., in terms of being able to built and manage Internet sites),
this is less dominant and monopolistic as with the old media (Scott
and Street,
2001
: 46). Equally, capital needs for news production and
dissemination with the new media are a fraction of what they are with
the conventional mass media. It is clear that the preconditions of the
new Internet battleground for environmental advocates are much more
advantageous than those of the conventional media. And, indeed, the
Internet traditionally has been dominated more by social movements
of different kinds than by state authorities and TNCs (with the excep-
tion of the Internet-related companies themselves, of course). Only
recently, corporations and governments are discovering the potentials
and powers of Internet (cf. Chapters
6
and
7
).
9
Also within the environmental movement and among activist groups there are
clear differences in media access and influence, although not always along the
lines of member size, economic resources and political power. In that sense,
media have their own rationalities, which cannot be reduced to mere economic
or political ones.
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