Consuming Nature: Mass Media and The Cultural Politics of Animals and Environments (original) (raw)

's research interests include environmental rhetoric and the rhetoric of international anti-American movements. He holds an MA in Communication from Wake Forest University where his thesis examined the intersection of religion, communication and the environment. At the end of his non-fiction book Collapse, after outlining how the destructive practices of most human societies are steering them toward ecological collapse and causing extinction of species, Jared Diamond (2005, p. 522) pins his hope for change on the global awareness-raising potential of the media: "Our television documentaries and books show us in graphic detail why the Easter Islanders, Classic Maya, and other past societies collapsed. Thus we have the opportunity to learn from the past mistakes…an opportunity that no past society enjoyed to such a degree." Diamond indicates the two most important factors to prevent collapse are "long-term planning, and willingness to reconsider core values" (p. 522), both of which, we contend, can be instigated by the media, as the agenda-setter of public policy, as the cultivator of national identity and values, and as the primary cultural storyteller. The stories media choose to tell matter. Scientists can discover all kinds of problems and solutions to species issues, but if the media fail to convey and frame these discoveries productively, and if people's media-cultivated value systems don't allow them to care, then all the information in the world won't matter. The commercially-driven mass media package human identity and all our surrounding environment for daily consumption in the public sphere. It is of critical importance whether they choose to ignore humanity's responsibility toward the natural world and simply have us consume it as a product, or whether they actively cultivate ecological responsibility and newfound respect toward animals as fellow sentient beings. This chapter explores the necessity, potential, and challenges of relying on the media (journalism, television, advertising, film, radio, internet, etc.) to inspire the social change needed to reverse the destructive behaviors and beliefs that are contributing to our global ecological calamity. We address this both in specific terms related to how media raise awareness about habitat and wildlife