alexlockwood.net

Why local and digital is better for the environment

A group of bloggers have organised a Carnival of Journalism, each month addressing different key issues in the profession. This month it’s hosted by Andy Dickinson, who set the question: Is (digital) journalism better the more local it is and what does that do to growth?

I’m not one of the official cavorters, but it got me thinking anyway about local (digital) media and environmental journalism. For me, the crossover of local/digital journalism and environmental sustainability could be a fantastic growth opportunity for regional media, as well as local citizen journalism groups and networks, with the result being increased environmental awareness and activity.

Global problem vs. small actions
One of the biggest disjuncts in climate change has been between the size of the problem (global, system-changing) and the dominant ’small actions’ communications set (let’s change the lightbulbs; ‘do your bit’). The size and threat of climate change is communicated too effectively, and many people have felt overwhelmed or that the problem must be exaggerated. They feel their actions are too small to matter. And the national press, government and NGOs still communicate ‘huge’ and ’small’ at the same time, and so haven’t addressed this blockage on action. (Added: Read this letter to the Guardian):

Having noticed the gap between the scale of the problem and that of the environmentally ‘acceptable’ solutions, [people] assume that the problem is exaggerated.
Hugh Pemberton
Bath (Sunday 29th June)

In their ‘Warm Words 2′ report for the IPPR, Signit and Ereaut draw attention to the successes of local initiatives to bridge this gap between the size of the problem and the ’small actions’ response. They draw attention to a number of examples where digital is the hub around which local initiatives are leading to effective action on reducing carbon emissions. For example:

• Manchesterismyplanet.com (’saving the world, starting with Manchester’)
• Love Lewisham (Council run initiative)
• Planet St Helens (local community groups online)

Signit and Ereaut argue that what has emerged through these initiatives is a powerful repertoire of ‘communal address’ that differs from the campaigning or top-down national communications of government, NGOs and the national press. (The government was this week told to change its climate ads to be more communal, friendly, positive). What is emerging at the local level and disseminated via digital platofms is an energetic local discourse that:

• Deals in the real, the tangible, the directly imaginable
• Speaks the language of collective action, in contrast to the disempowered individualism of ‘small actions’ at the national level
• Addresses the individual as a member of a community, as opposed to a citizen of the planet
• Speaks peer-to-peer rather than from the standpoint of authority
• Pragmatic, descriptive and inviting (we are doing this – come and join in!)

The directly imaginable, communal address, community, peer-to-peer, and importantly, the ability to join in with activities… The digital/local combination is a powerful way of providing people with agency and positive local messages, so they can see how they can make a difference in tackling climate change in their local areas. For Signit and Ereaut, this locally-sited communal address offers:

…a potentially useful positioning for organisations promoting climate-friendly behaviour. As opposed to the voice of authority telling the individual what to do, the interested agency might usefully address the ‘communal individual’ as an equal, a partner in the collaborative process of combating climate change.

Local journalism is best placed to speak with this communal address, and digital journalism is inherently peer-to-peer and communal to where the individual is placed. This is why, for me, local (digital) journalism is potentially better than national journalism in tacking climate change, and should make the most of its advantage to grow community relationships and benefit the environment.

A caveat: local media need to do more
But none of these projects above (e.g. Love Lewisham) are run by traditional news media organisations. They are local community or council run initiatives.

So why hasn’t local media been so quick to capitalize on the power of this communal address around the environment? One possible reason for this was evident in a story from a couple of weeks ago. The editor of a regional paper celebrated World Environment Day by turning his newspaper green. Northern Echo (Eco for the day) Editor Peter Barron told HoldthefrontPage:

“Going green isn’t something I’d do every day, but as a one-off initiative to make people sit up and take notice, I think it’s been very worthwhile and the reaction has been very positive.”

Going green ‘every day’ is not an issue for digital local media. Are the editors and their teams missing the opportunities that digital media can give them of connecting strongly with their communities?

Of course this is not the only reason for a lack of ‘every day’ green in the regional press. The other is that local newspapers are, according to John Richardson in his book Analysing Newspapers, “responsive rather than proactive” in their campaigns. So most press-based campaigns are for health (cancer appeals) and social ills (violence, graffiti, drugs etc) responding to the present readership’s concerns.

But the chance for digital to grow new, younger audiences who are concerned with climate change in the paper’s local area has to be a key growth opportunity. And climate change is becoming a larger health issue, as well as a price/energy issue, which may by one way of expanding the campaign remit of local press.

Do the editors see the use of digital in this way? Some are, I hope. A few weeks ago I gave some advice to a student who was applying for a new environment editor position at the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette. The growth is great news. But, sadly, some local newspapers are also proving shortsighted: the Brighton Argus has just closed down its ‘eco-mag’ Rocks, and the future of their award-winning Environment Editor Sarah Lewis is in the balance. In Brighton? If these are the decisions made by local media in one of the greenest cities in the UK, then they may be missing out on the biggest opportunity for growth to come along for decades.

And if not, then citizen journalists and local activists will be the ones to use digital to communicate and mobilize and build their communities, offline and online, to actually get out there and do something.

Read contributions to the debate from Paul Bradshaw, Dave Lee, Jack Lail, Adrian Monck, Wendy Withers, John Hassell, and Charlie Beckett.