Role of the Media in Pollution Prevention

This session dealt with how the media cuts across the issues of technology and public policy. The role of the media had become controversial as their coverage of environmental issues continued to grow. The central question was: Is the media practicing objective journalism or public policy advocacy? Topics of discussion included: whether the media should be responsible for pushing government and industrial reforms; should the media try to balance the power and resources between corporations and environmental groups; is the media influencing environmental policy rather than educating the public about complex issues; has the media scrutinized the environmentalists' arguments as closely as they should, and has the media tried to portray the answers as overly simple without any trade-offs. close