If you open TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, or the news and search for climate change, you will get similar answers: The World is Ending. Global warming is on the rise, the icebergs are melting, deforestation is ruining ecosystems, pollution is impacting more cities than ever, etc. Similarly, I see videos all the time that say the earth won’t be sustainable for my kids or future generations to see. In short: we are killing the Earth, and we are killing it fast. These news articles are written to incite a reaction: we need action, and we need it fast. However, headlines like these exaggerate the issues preventing real change from occurring. If the world is so doomed, nothing I do is going to stop it.
The world is not doomed. Granted, the world is not in the best shape, but it is far from doomed. Headlines that provoke fear and this “doomism” do not promote fear or action, rather they are promoting apathy. I would argue that the media has a huge responsibility in the current climate crisis facing the world today. Titles like, “Humanity has 20 years to shape up or face mass extinction” promote false information and numb the audience’s reaction. These “click-bate” titles the media push in order to get views have created an idea that there is little to nothing that can be done to save the Earth, so why bother taking any action? It will not solve the problem. Because of this idea, the average person is unlikely to change their daily behavior because they believe the climate crisis is much larger than it actually is.
So, who is to blame for the climate crisis we are facing? Big Corporations? City Pollution? Factories? Farmers? Humans? I would argue that the media has a huge responsibility in the climate change crisis we are facing. These “click-bate” and hyperbolized titles have undermined the research and work thousands of scientists have put into bettering various aspects of the Earth. Similarly, true crises are not being taken seriously as they are getting lost amongst these headlines. This attitude of apathy being created is dangerous. We are losing a huge part of the population who could be making a real change towards climate change, but don’t because they think the problem is far greater than the small changes in their daily life.
In short, the media plays a huge role in how information is consumed amongst the general public. Fear-mongering articles no longer provoke responses, but rather apathy so it is time for a change to be made. We need to shift our mode of communication into accurately displaying data and facts and provide real solutions for the public to prevent the climate crisis from growing. Stop pushing fear and doom, and post the hope and action required.
“It is important to communicate both the threat and the opportunity in the climate challenge. Those paying attention are worried, and should be, but there are also reasons for hope. There is still time to avoid the worst outcomes, if we act boldly now, not out of fear, but out of confidence that the future is largely in our hands.”
Sources:
Degroot, Dagomar. Opinion | Our Planet Is Not Doomed. That Means We Can, and Must, Act. – The Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/07/our-planet-is-not-doomed-that-means-we-can-must-act/.
Nardi, Anne. “The Issue of Clickbait and Exaggeration in Environmental Journalism.” North Central Region Water Network, 6 Apr. 2021, northcentralwater.org/the-issue-of-clickbait-and-exaggeration-in-environmental-journalism/.