Irene Nervala holds a Ph.D. degree and postdoctoral lecture
qualification and is a professor at the University of Hamburg. Her studies
focus on both political and environmental issues in Europe. Furthermore she is
an integral member of ‘Integrated Climate System Analysis and Prediction
(CliSAP)’ where she is in charge of the field ‘media-based construction of
climate change’. Fellow author Henrik Bodker is an associate professor at the department
of Information and Media studies and has a Ph.D. Both these authors are very
credible due to their impressive qualifications in the field of journalism.
This introduction to environmental journalism is referenced with other reliable
sources enforcing more heavily its credibility. The article demonstrates the
importance of environmental journalism in today’s society and the complexities
of it. It is stated that environmental journalism is found most prominently in
print. As opposed to other mediums, print ‘relate to those of the wider field’.
The report also refers to environmental journalism as varying widely in
relevance. At times it can be relevant to the world where as others it is only
relevant to a very small community. The article however focuses heavily on
climate change and does not explore other subjects of environmental journalism,
however, climate change is broadly and unbiasedly covered with references to a
range of different opinions on the issue.
Mcleish, K. (2012) Original Barrier
Reef campaigners return to fight. ABC news. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-17/original-barrier-reef-campaigners-return-to-fight/4319376?section=qld
The ABC, being a public broadcasting service, has an
expectation from their audiences to report unbiasedly and of high quality. ABC
news is a great example of this. The claims made in the introduction to the
report are immediately backed up by interviews with the subjects of the report.
The scientific aspects of the report are either made or reinforced by Dr. Eddie
Hegerl. Dr. Eddie Hegerl is a marine scientist who was one of the
environmentalists that fought to save the Great Barrier Reef 45 years ago. As
this report is based around the anniversary of this event, he is a very
reliable source of information on the topic. The history given is either
reinforced through video footage and or, again, by Dr. Eddie Hegerl. Award
winning reporter, Kathy Mcleish closes the report by relating it back to issues
that are facing the Great Barrier Reef today and in doing so makes the report
relevant to the audience. Dr. Eddie
Hegerl makes a small statement about the relevance of the Great Barrier Reef to
the whole of Australia and beyond as a potential world heritage listed site and
a creater of jobs and tourism. This issue of relevance is discussed in the
article above and in this case it is relevant to the whole of Australia, in
reference to tourism and jobs, and the whole world in reference to its
uniqueness. All claims made in this report are backed up by very reliable
sources making it a fine example of the ABC’s entertaining yet dependable form
of reporting. It is consistently honest and not prone to over-exaggerated or
rumour based reporting.
Smail, S. (2012) A call for urgent action to save the Great
Barrier Reef. ABC Radio Australia.
Retrieved from http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/a-call-for-urgent-action-to-save-the-great-barrier-reef/1024212
ABC radio Australia also has a reputation for unbiased and
high quality reporting. A story, which aired on The 2nd of October, called for
urgent action to save the Great Barrier Reef. Reporter Stephanie Smail, simply
summarises and creates segways between topics. Guest speakers Nick Heath of
World Wildlife Fund and Russell Reighelt from the Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park Authority consistently reinforce her words with their expert opinions
founded from research in their fields. They also offer their hopes and
recommendations for preserving and saving the reef. Stephanie Smail also makes
reference to a study from the Australian Institute of Marine Science and their
findings. No claims are made without a credible source to offer insight or researched
facts. Therefore this report is a very reliable source of information for the
general public. The radio report reinforces credibility and reduces bias by
having more than one guest speaker and making reference to other reports. Although
the audience is predominantly listening to one of the two expert, guest speakers,
the language used is always comprehensible by an audience with little knowledge
in the area. In comparison with other mediums, radio does not have video or
pictures to strengthen or increase interest in the report. Therefore clarity of
expression and reliability is important and the ABC does this well.
Phillips, N. (2012) Great reef catastrophe. The Sydney
Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/great-reef-catastrophe-20121002-26vzq.html
The Sydney Morning Herald is a commercial media outlet and
the difference is immediately apparent. The title of the report ‘Great reef
catastrophe’ immediately feels like an exaggerated ploy to get clicks after
reading ABC articles that tend to have more candid titles. The language used in
the piece also seems much more evocative then the language seen in the ABC
reports. The report also references vaguely such as ‘a landmark study has
found… Researchers warned…’. The report is scattered with pictures an ads that
are sometimes not immediately decipherable. The information contained within
the report is very statistics based with diagrams to assist, which make it look
more attractive to readers. The reporter
is however an experienced science reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald and
does make references to a number of scientists when quotes are employed. This
report is angled by the evocative language used. Some information in this
report can be cross referenced with the ABC radio report and found to be
consistent. Although this report has an abundance of information it can be seen
that it is not the most reliable source available to the public.
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