Role of Media in Environmental Concerns - Essay Example

What Role Does The Media Play In Highlighting Environmental Concerns And Shaping Decision-Making? Table of Contents Introduction 3 Types of Media 4 Role of Media in Highlighting Environmental Concerns and Shaping Decision-Making 5 Impact of Media in Highlighting Environmental Concerns and Shaping Decision-Making 9 Conclusion 11 References 13 Introduction According to Saettler (2004), media is fundamentally described as one of the effective communication means, through which, any sort of message relating to education, entertainment or news is disseminated to the audiences. It is widely viewed to be a chief method of mass communication in the current day context. As per the observations made by Saettler (2004), the important factors that demonstrate the proper usage of media include ‘the message’, ‘the symbol system’, ‘the educational task’ and ‘the learner.’ On the other hand, according to Merskin (2001), media is a unique presentation mode, which tends to fulfil various psychological functions that are helpful for communicating messages within the parties. In this present day context, wherein the entire world is experiencing increased level of globalisation, gaining momentum of liberalisation along with internationalisation and application of innovative technologies, the role of media has increased its significance as compared to the earlier years. It would be vital to mention in this similar concern that media often plays a constructive role in this modern society in the form of raising greater public awareness regarding any particular issue and most vitally, gathering viewpoints, attitudes as well as information towards such issues. It is strongly believed that media is regarded as amidst the most persuasive communication tools, which display the real stage of community (Dwivedi & Pandey, 2013; Duhe, 2007). With this concern, the essay intends to discuss about what role media plays in highlighting environmental concerns and shaping decision-making, with illustration to contemporary examples. Types of Media The diverse forms of media encompasses magazines, newspapers and books, internet medium, radios and televisions among others, which can further be categorised as the print media, electronic media and web media (The University of Iowa, n.d.). These diverse sorts of media are often acknowledged as mass media and are frequently utilised with the aim of disseminating various valuable information. It has been apparently observed that various organisations belonging to this modern day context and the governmental agencies or departments often use the above-discussed mass media forms quite extensively. It is worth mentioning in this similar regard that modern organisations generally tend to advertise their wide assortment of products and/or services through dissimilar forms of social media that comprise magazines and internet medium among others. On the other hand, the governmental agencies or departments generally use the above discussed mass media forms in order to deliver information about the respective governmental policies along with programmes to the regulatory bodies and the general public (The National Institute of Open Schooling, n.d.). Based on the above discussion, it can be affirmed from a broader understanding that one of the practices of mass media, i.e. magazines, generally come under the categorisation of advertising media through which, the organisations of this present day context promote their respective products and/or services. The other mass media forms that include newspapers and books along with magazines typically fall under publishing media through which, valuable information or facts are presented. Broadcasting media fundamentally encompass televisions as well as radios through which, important messages are transmitted to the viewers and the public. Specially mentioning, electronic media comprise computers along with internet medium as one of the chief communication means, which is widely utilised in this modern day context by contemporary organisations. It would be vital to mention in this similar concern that electronic media has gained its significance at large, amidst the above discussed diverse sorts of mass media with the establishment of modern society, which has embraced adoption as well as execution of innovative technological advancements. Moreover, certain crucial factors that comprise rise in industrialisation and trade liberalisation among others have certainly increased the application of electronic media by a considerable level (Corcoran, 2013). Role of Media in Highlighting Environmental Concerns and Shaping Decision-Making Prior to determining and analysing the role of media in highlighting environmental concerns and shaping decision-making, it can be affirmed that communication remains one of the fundamental constituents of community and its progress. Specially mentioning, earlier studies on mass media were primarily based on the supposition that the impacts of mass media remained much uniform, powerful as well as direct. However, in contrast, recent studies on mass media assume that mass media effects are found to be quiet selective as well as reliant on the facets of a community as well as individual disparities and are supported by numerous empirical findings. In the context of determining the role of media in highlighting environmental concerns, it can be affirmed that education relating to environment plays an imperative role in sensitising the need of the people and the importance of such programs in addressing and mitigating environmental problems (Dorji, n.d.). It is thus, environmental education would not only aid in eradicating any sort of environment related problem but would also support in complying with the aims along with the objectives of conservation. In this similar concern, media is certainly capable of playing a key role in showcasing environmental concerns and shaping decision-making by offering technical information regarding pertinent environmental problems as well as possibilities and about suitable innovations as well. For example, in order to highlight the environmental concerns and generate conservation, education strategy, specifically in developing countries like Nepal, emphasising various social media practices like television, newsletters and radio among others have been suggested at an extensive rate, to reach out to the mass populaces within the nation (Dorji, n.d.). This would eventually ensure greater environmental supervision and broader sustainable advancement in the country context, considering the fact that environment and livelihood of people are mutually interconnected to one another (Dorji, n.d.). In this modern day context, it can be apparently observed that environmental concerns are largely escalating due to ever-increasing population rate and thus, augmenting the need for greater awareness amid the public about the stated issue. In this regard, media can be observed as playing a crucial role in promoting environmental education amid the public, resulting in the appropriate recognition and mitigation of the adverse environmental effects. It is strongly believed that media might play an imperative role in promoting greater environmental consciousness, prolonging coverage on environmental issues and shaping the decision- making of the people towards embracing environmental education (Dorji, n.d.). For instance, media, in the form of internet medium and newspapers has played a decisive role in highlighting the environmental concerns and shaping the decision-making techniques used in “The Association of Southeast Asian Nations” (ASEAN) countries. This is performed through the release of “The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report”, which displayed the positive as well as the negative impacts of environment that are posed to the welfare of the people belonging to ASEAN economies (ASEAN Secretariat, 2014). Based on the above discussion, “The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report” highlighted that extreme changes had taken place in the environment during the past fifty years and around 60% of the ecosystem services were contaminated as well as unsustainably used during this period. These ecosystem services were identified as erosion regulation, capture fisheries, water purification, provincial climate regulation, waste treatment and safety from natural hazards. Notably, the aforementioned report also displayed that the environment has been degraded and unsustainably used due to which, certain crucial events have been occurring, further disrupting the environmental balance at large. These events include increased level of climate change, broader depletion of the ozone layer and gaining momentum of acid rain along with transboundary air pollution among others (ASEAN Secretariat, 2014). With regards to determine and analyse the role played by media in highlighting environmental concerns and shaping decision-making of the individuals, it can be stated that in today’s, continually advancing information and communication technology, media possesses certain prime advantages. These advantages evidently include disseminating valuable information speedily and conveying the same to huge masses of people throughout the globe. In order to raise greater awareness about the environmental concerns and provide effective environment related education to the ASEAN citizens, media might play an indispensable role in addressing such concerns at large. This could be in the form of providing precise, balanced and comprehensive information regarding the environmental concerns to the ASEAN citizens and covering varied environmental issues like climate change and depletion of ozone layer among others. It is worth mentioning that in the context of highlighting environmental concerns, media might encourage the people or the citizens of ASEAN to take initiatives in contributing towards preserving environmental sustainability. This can be justified by taking into concern the illustration, where media might help in promoting the conception of practicing 3Rs that signify ‘reduce’, ‘reuse’ and ‘recycle’ (ASEAN Secretariat, 2014). It is worth mentioning that apart from highlighting various sorts of environmental concerns, media often plays an effective role in determining decision-making of the individuals at large. It can be apparently observed in this similar concern that media aids in shaping decision-making of the people by stimulating their respective interests towards better environmental reporting and offering the citizens with the foundation to make any informed decision. These ways or forms of shaping the decision-making of the people eventually trigger adoption of sustainable practices resulting in protecting the environment by a considerable degree (ASEAN Secretariat, 2014). In the circumstance of determining the role of media in shaping decision-making, there has been a prevalent acknowledgment that media often plays a decisive role in the community by providing information based on which critical decisions are made. Thus, in essence, can be affirmed from a broader understanding that media is regarded as one of the prime instruments when making effective decisions, providing valuable information and offering a solid platform mainly for aggregation as well as articulation and formation of public opinion (Nyabuga, n.d.). It has been previously discussed that media plays an imperative role in highlighting environmental concerns and shaping decision-making of the individuals by promoting environment related education program and portraying the ill effects of environmental concerns. In this similar concern, various crucial aspects studied in the education program, such as ozone depletion, frequent occurrence of droughts and presence of pollutants as well as nuclear wastes in the ecosystem, ultimately, motivates people to shape their decisions when taking steps in mitigating the environmental concerns. It can be thus affirmed that the promotion of environment related education program would not only aid the people to address the environmental concerns but would also enable them to participate in varied environmental affairs. However, addressing and mitigating the environmental concerns of future generations are identified to be quite difficult in the background of present policymaking, which eventually triggers for the need of formulating effective policies concerning the mitigation of adverse environmental concerns. Taking into concern the above discussed issue, it is to be stated that the decision-making of the individuals must be based on long-term goals, which would eventually result in coping up with the environmental concerns at large (United Nations, 2003). Impact of Media in Highlighting Environmental Concerns and Shaping Decision-Making After acquiring a brief idea about the roles played by media in highlighting environmental concerns and shaping decision-making traits of the people, the impact of media becomes quite clear. Identifiably, media imposes both positive as well as negative impacts on the community while highlighting environmental concerns and shaping the decision-making characteristics of the individuals. When assessing its positive impacts, it becomes apparent that media offers information along with news relating to the environmental concerns as needed by people, often with a debatable notion, highlighting on both the favourable and unfavourable information to the aspect. These news or information ultimately supports people to understand the underlying reasons for such environmental degradations and thereafter, helps in shaping decisions for addressing and subsequently, mitigating the same. Media has also been argued to play a key role in educating the public about the environmental emphasising the promotion of quality environment concerns and related educational program at a larger scale, involving the mass. It is worth mentioning that media can bring in optimistic societal changes amid people helping them to acquire a better idea about how to protect the environment and promote individual well-being. Moreover, media has also helped the public with information about the varied governmental programmes as well as policies linked with environmental concerns, facilitating scope for debates and critical justifications to such measures among the public. Stimulating discussions about how the adopted governmental mechanisms would prove to be beneficial for the society, media thus performs a crucial role in shaping their perceptions and shaping their decisions regarding the issue (Randle, 2001). On the other hand, irrespective of these positive impacts led by media in shaping the decisions of the public regarding environmental issues, a major negative effect of media can be witnessed in terms of its strong stimulation of change in the traditional cultural ideologies of a particular nation. This often obstructs the currently practiced lifestyle choices of the society and encourages them to accept change. For instance, the traditional culture of a country gets affected through mass media when it flows against the economic interests and practices of the society, prohibiting huge inflow of visitors in particular instances and arguing against major industrial sectors too. To be precise, in such circumstances, economic bases in the society are portrayed as a cause to imbalances in environmental settings by the media on one hand, but are also feared to shift economic stability by the society on the other. In addition, when promoting environmental responsibilities by shaping decisions of the public, media often has to witness a friction with the rigid change in the behavioural attitudes prevailing within the community, causing unrest within the societal framework. It is in such situations that promoting change in the behavioural attitudes of the people, media is also witnessed to polarise the modern ideologies in two or more groups, leading to conflicting arguments and tension within the community. Certainly, these negative effects ultimately restrict the use of effective mechanisms for coping up with environmental concerns at large. Nevertheless, it can be apparently observed that both positive and negative media effects impose strong influences on the decision-making of individuals within a particular societal context regarding environmental concerns (Gentile, 2003). It is worth mentioning that media plays a decisive role in determining the decision making of the government officials and scientists among others regarding environmental concerns or issues, providing extensive front-page coverage of these similar issues like global warming and spills. This can be justified with reference to the case where ABC Evening News for 25th August 1976 published news coverage regarding the environmental concerns of drought and famine that declined the growth of the cities belonging to England. This eventually urged the environmental activists and the government officials belonging to the nation to take major decisions in coping up such severe environmental concerns, resulting in making better growth of the cities (Sachsman, 2000). Conclusion Based on the above analysis and discussion, it is clearly observed that media has been playing a decisive role in highlighting environmental concerns and shaping decision-making of the individuals at large in this modern day context. Various practices of media, like advertising media, publishing media, broadcasting media and most importantly, the electronic media have been playing effective role in highlighting environmental concerns by generating greater awareness to the public regarding environment related issues along with the underlying causes and promoting environment related educational programs amid the public. It is worth mentioning that amid various forms of media, electronic media, such as in the form of internet marketing, is playing a bigger role in facilitating the people to address and cope up with the environmental concerns. There are various instances based on which, the role played by media in highlighting environmental concerns and shaping decision-making of the individuals can be observed. For instance, in Nepal, various forms of social media, such as radio, television and newsletter among others are suggested at a greater magnitude for highlighting environmental concerns, which would eventually ensure better environmental supervision and broader sustainable advancements. Apart from these, another instance, wherein media has been viewed to play a decisive role in displaying environmental concerns is publishing reports regarding the ill effects imposed by the environment to the well-being of the individuals in ASEAN in the form of publishing media. Thus, it can be concluded that these instances ultimately portray the strengthening role of media in highlighting environmental concerns along with shaping decision-making of the individuals and its significance in future, enabling every individual to become aware about the environmental concerns and take decisions accordingly for mitigating those effectively. 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