EXAM 1 Media, Culture, & the Environment

FSU IDS3164

Environmental Communication

expresses both wonders and threats to nature; it’s pervasive (it’s everywhere)

Barriers to Environmental Communication

connecting with audiences (ex: debate to protect bison → most ppl haven’t seen a bison before); anti-environmental and confusing communication (pro-fracking groups, food labels, oil/gas press releases)

Communication (textbook def)

expression in specific contexts, as well as the significance of these symbolic modes of interaction to create shared meanings, values, and/or actions

Communication (simple def)

what we express, how we express it, and with what consequences

Public Sphere

the forums and interactions in which individuals engage with each other about subjects of shared concern/interest; + grief = recent centering of nonhumans at funerals (mourning glaciers)

Environmental Communication

models of expressing (naming, shaping, describing, orienting, negotiating) our ecological relationships in the world, including with nonhuman entities

What are the types of Environmental Communication

Pragmatic, Constitutive

Pragmatic Environmental Communication

serves instrumental purpose → informs, educates, alerts; consists of verbal and nonverbal modes of interaction

Constitutive Environmental Communication

invites specific perspective, evokes certain beliefs and feelings → wants you to think a certain way about an issue; consists of verbal and nonverbal modes of interaction that shape, orient, and negotiate meaning, values, and relationships

Crisis Discipline

addresses the threat of species extinction

Care Discipline

focuses on positives; involves duty to prevent harm and duty to honor people, places, and nonhuman species with which we share our world; goal of not just surviving but thriving (not just bouncing back but forward)

Toxic Positivity vs. Toxic Negativity

Dialogue that allows only space for optimism and happiness can be oppressive, but the opposite is true, too: spaces that enable only sadness and cynicism can be confining/paralyzing as well

What are the other spheres of influence that exist parallel to the public sphere

Personal (one’s private opinion), Technical (scientific, specialized knowledge)

What is the Green Gap

disconnect between people's stated pro-environmental values and their actual everyday consumer choices

3 Categories of Values Associated w/ Environmental Behaviors

1. Self (focus on health, quality of life, prosperity, convenience)

2. Social-altruistic (focus on other ppl like family, community, humanity)

3. Biosphere (focus on well-being of living things like plants and animals)

The 1st Period of Environmental Communication focused on…

Indigenous thought prior to 1492

What are the 3 Key Concepts from Indigenous Cultures during the First Period (of environmental communication)

1. Storytelling (communicating sequence and meaning for events)

2. 7th Generation Principle (we should make decisions based on how they’ll impact the next 7 generations)

3. Interdependence (mutual reliance/need between humans, animals, ecological world; creates leaders full of respect)

The 2nd Period of Environmental Communication focused on…

Arrival of European settlers and years following (1500s - mid 1800s)

Describe the 2nd Period of Environmental Com: Arrival of European Settlers

progress largely defined as dominating nature and indigenous people for colonial farms and cities; centered white males

Frontier Myth

idea that nation was justifiably founded by pioneering people conquering empty, “savage” people and places

What are the 3 Reasons for the Shift Away from Early Colonial Attitudes (& towards loving nature)

1. Romantic aesthetics (appreciation of wilderness/beauty in wild nature; idealization of life closer to nature)

2. American national identity (new nation couldn’t match European architecture but could forge identity around distinct natural landscape)

3. Transcendentalism (natural objects assumed importance, they reflected universal spiritual truth & god is present in nature)

The 3rd Period of Environmental Communication focused on…

Wilderness Preservation vs. Natural Resource Conservation

Describe the 3rd Period of Wilderness Preservation vs. Natural Resource Conservation

valued nature just because it’s nature vs. valued nature for natural resources

Who was a Key Preservation Figure during the Third Period (preservation vs. conservationism)

John Muir wrote essays that described the mountains and valleys of Nevada that inspired awareness of sublime object (Yosemite) and awe

What was the 1st successful proposal for preservation of nature to gain widespread national attention and support from the public

Yosemite National Park (1890); trickle effect of groups dedicated to wilderness began to appear

Describe the Conservation Movement (counter-vision to Muir)

manage America’s forests like natural resource needing to be cultivated and harvested efficiently

• idea of greatest good for greatest number of people

• hunting, fishing, hiking

• human relationships w/ environment should be determined by economic demands (water power, dams, etc)

What are the First 3 Periods of Environmental History in the U.S.

1. Indigenous thoughts prior to 1492 (storytelling, 7th generation principle, interdependence)

2. Arrival of European settlers & years following

3. Wilderness preservation vs. Natural resource conservation

The 4th Period of Environmental Communication focused on…

Ecological sensibility & commitment to public health

Describe the 4th Period of Ecological Sensibility & Commitment to Public Health

spawned by global pollution of 20th century & international diplomatic effects; news coverage of air pollution, nuclear fallout, oil spills = created a public outcry for greater ecological protections

• results in first earth day, clean air act, national environmental policy act, creation of environmental protection agency (EPA)

Rachel Carson

founder of modern environmental movement; biologist & writer credited for voicing 1st nationally recognized public challenge to business practices that affect environment; wrote “Silent Spring” which documented environmental harm caused by pesticides

The 5th Period of Environmental Communication focused on…

Grassroots movement for environmental justice (late 1970s - 2000s)

Describe the 5th Period of the Grassroots Movement for Environmental Justice (late 1970s - 2000s)

challenged dominant idea of environment as a place apart from where people work, live, learn, and play; connection to other social justice issues like civil rights movement

• ex: 1982 Warren County, NC protest: attempt to stop state’s plans to locate toxic waste landfill in black rural community

Environmental Racism

Systematic discrimination of health and well-being of people of color through decision-making about where people live, work, and play

In relation to environmental racism, Environmental Justice calls for what?

1. recognize and halt burdens imposed on poor and POC communities by environmentally harmful conditions

2. more inclusive opportunities to be heard

3. vision of environmentally healthy & culturally thriving communities

The 6th Period of Environmental Communication focused on…

Global movements for sustainability & Climate justice (2000 - today)

The 6th Period of Environmental Communication introduced Sustainability, describe it

capacity to negotiate environmental, social, and economic needs and desires for current and future generations

What are the 3 E’s and 3 P’s that Sustainability (6th Period) accounts for

• Environmental Protection, Economic Health, Equity

• People, Profit, Planet

Describe Climate Justice (6th Period)

global movement that recognizes relationship between global warming and social justice; identifies root cause of current climate crisis as primarily due to First World fossil fuel consumption

What are “Frontline Communities”

Low-income communities and communities of color around the globe are those most significantly impacted first by the climate crisis; solutions to the climate crisis are to be found by listening to & learning from these communities

What are the 2 Barriers to the creation of Environmental Media

Digital Divide (uneven distribution/access to info & communication technologies) + Who can afford to use media vs. who can afford to own media

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

way of studying how a products “life” develops, from raw material extraction to exposure

• initially viewed from cradle to grave perspective, now cradle to cradle POV; AKA instead of tracking product until it’s trash, now design products to be reused infinitely

What are Stuart Hall’s 3 Ways a Media Consumer/Audience might Decode/Interpret a Cultural Text

1. Dominant Position: audience agrees w/ text’s cultural biases

2. Oppositional Position: audience rejects with text’s cultural biases

3. Negotiated Position: audience agrees with some of text’s cultural biases, but rejects others

Sustainability Gap

we know scientifically what we need to do & how to do it, but we’re just not doing it

Public Service Announcements (PSAs)

nonprofit advertisements that serve public interest (seen as previous example of environmental communication)

• example: Smokey Bear

Communication & Corporate Sustainability

Many industries have worked to improve their environmental performance and to link their goods, services, or brand identity with “green” initiatives

• Ex: Patagonia’s sustainability mission statement

3 Common Corporate Environmental Communication Strategies

1. Green Consumerism: efforts to buy products to try to live more sustainably

2. Green Marketing: corporation’s attempt to associate its products, services, identity w/ environmental values & images (purpose of product advertising, image enhancement, image repair)

3. Greenwashing: attempt to promote appearances of practices, products, consumption as “green” while denying harmful environmental impacts

Green Image Enhancement (part of corporate green marketing strategy)

Use of public relations to improve brand/ethos of corporation/industry by associating it with positive environmental messages, practices, & products

• ex: 2009 Hagen-Dazs honeybee ice cream campaign

Examples of “Green Washing”

Vagueness (“all natural” is not necessarily green when you consider arsenic to be natural); Lesser of 2 Evils (claim can be true in product category, but detract from environmental impacts of category as a whole → organic cigs)

Brand Identity

Strategy to promote an organization’s distinct ethos/character, and clarify its primary purpose with intended audience through consistent image and message; fuels recognition and amplifies differentiation; involves tagline

Tagline

concise memorable catch phrase constructed to evoke an organization’s brand identity

Advocacy

act of communicating in support of specific cause, policy, idea, or values; takes many forms (ex. advertising, political campaigning, community organizing, lobbying, sit-ins, etc.)

Advocacy Campaign

a collective, strategic course of action, involving communication, which is undertaken for a specific purpose; requires labor such as fundraising, accounting, data analytics, etc.

What is different about Environmental Advocacy Campaigns

change something beyond just one person for the collective & systemic change

What is the period before environmental advocacy campaigns called

critical rhetoric

Critical Rhetoric

questioning or criticism of existing policy, societal value, or ideology; may envision alternative; the period before environmental advocacy campaign

• ex: Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring”

What are the 4 Features Shared by Most Successful Campaigns

1. Purposeful (specific goal)

2. Large audience (strategic, systemic solutions)

3. Defined time limit

4. Involves organized set of communication activities (ex: efforts to understand, educate, and/or mobilize different groups)

What are the 4 Questions Environmental Leaders ask when Researching/Designing Campaign

1. What exactly does campaign want to accomplish?

2. Who has ability to respond (primary audience)? Who has influence with these decision-makers (secondary audience)?

3. Why will campaign proceed as it will? What is reason for organizers and allies to choose approach (campaign strategy)?

4. How will overall campaign strategy be implemented?

What are the 3 Communication Tasks involved in Successful Advocacy Campaigns

1. Researching: For example, who already works on similar issue(s) and how does our goal/strategy relate?

2. Storytelling: communicates sequence and meaning of events

3. Organizing: gathering people to inform, identify collective problems, debate solutions, build collective capacity, and take further action

Q. What health problems are flame retardants linked to and who is the most vulnerable affected?

low fertility, cancer, attention problems, thyroid problems, low birth weight babies; children most vulnerable

Q. What pressure did the tobacco industry begin to feel in the 1970s and why?

pressure to create self-extinguishing cigarette because people were dying in housefires

Q. How did furniture become the scapegoat for cigarette companies?

Fireproof the world around the cigarette, companies claimed furniture is the problem because it isn’t fireproof; problem is fuel rather than ignition sources

Q. How is the coal industry behaving similarly to the tobacco industry?

refuse to change and try to convince us their product is good for us; cigs are good & CO2 is “good” and will cause a greening of the Earth

Q. What did Naomi Oreskes discover about those attacking her?

They were the same people that attacked those working on similar issues like the ozone hole

Q. What 2 categories does Fred Singer distinguish between? (?)

deniers (those who wish to have decisions that are evidence-based) and criminals/skeptics

Q. What (2-3) characteristics were Seitz and Singer united by?

1. skeptic of climate change

2. worked with tobacco industry

3. cold war scientists

4. shared anti-communist political ideology

Q. How do environmentalism and socialism become linked?

The need for government action (not about science, it’s a political debate about gov control)

Q. What is the nickname “watermelon” used for?

someone who’s green on the outside, red on the inside; believe green movement is secretly communist

Q. What was new law proposed in 2011 and what were the varying reactions?

Law proposed that companies wouldn’t have to add flame retardant chemicals; mothers were worried, firefighters agreed, and some (Dr. Heinbauch) were against and told stories of dying babies that convinced people to vote no

Q. What truth was discovered about Citizens for Fire Safety?

they paid Dr. Heinbauch to oppose the 2011 bill; 3 of its top members were the largest flame retardant makers in the world