The Private-Public Problems of Polluting People

Since the awareness of pollution entered the main stream media, activists have tried their best to find ways to grab the public’s attention and make an impact. However, there is a continuous battle between public problems (problems that affect most everyone or damage or threaten a public good) and private problems (problems that effect a select few and damage or threaten a private good) and their role in the Public Sphere. Jugen Habermas defines the Public Sphere as ‘a realm of our social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed.’ Basically, Habermas is saying that private people come together to discuss common concerns of public issues.

Today there are so many different concerns and such a large variety of audiences that it is hard to deliberate for the common good. However, Greenpeace continues to draw attention to pollution problems around the world and widen the Public Sphere. Commercial media has been an effective way to bring up public issues, such as energy efficient light bulbs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQJd2DNLl28&NR=1

In the commercial above, Greenpeace uses a clever and funny way to get the publics attention about how to save energy. This is a public problem because the world does not have an endless supply of clean energy resources, especially not enough to keep up with the United States energy usage. This is a Problem that affects everyone who uses electricity… that means you reading this right now! However, there are some debates about what problems are public and which are private.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukoMEB_Wzbk&feature=related

In this commercial, also by Greenpeace, the topic of pollution from manufacturing and discarding videogame systems is brought up. Some may argue that this is a public problem because the waste from these systems goes into the environment compromising it for all those who live in our earth’s environment. On the other hand, many would argue that this is a private problem because like Hays states, ‘it depends on the parties involved.’ This is like hunting for dear that is on your own property. If it is on your land, it is yours to do with what you want. In the same nature, if a game system is in ones home, it is up the owners what to do with it and how to get rid of the machine if broken or finished serving its purpose.

By: Megan Dalgleish

Whale Wars

While environmental activists have always been negatively labeled as radical, spontaneous, and sometimes dangerous, the media has profited off of their controversial tactics in the hit television series Whale Wars. This show not only highlights the travels of this group but the producers frame this series to show the activists as environmental heroes protecting the future of whales and dolphins.

The documentary follows of the travels of activist group the Sea Sheppard Conservation Society aboard their ship The Steve Erwin. This group is passionate about the conservation and protection of the ocean’s ecosystems by ending the destruction of the habitat and the slaughter of wildlife in the oceans. In this television series, TV crews follow the radical group as they stalk the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic waters in attempts to stop their whaling efforts by any means necessary. This group targets the Japanese because the Japanese have found a loophole in the treaty that lets them whale as much as they want in the means of “scientific research.” This series brings viewers aboard the vessel and into the day-to-day action of this group’s effort to stop the excessive whaling of the Japanese.

While this documentary follows the action of this controversial activist group, Animal Planet is put in the middle by framing the series to show the Sea Sheppards as heroes and the Japanese as insensitive murderers. Similar to the ideas in Robert Entman’s article Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm, the producers use the two concepts of framing, salience and selection, to appeal to their viewers. For salience, Animal Planet has chosen to follow this group and depicts the controversial tactics of the Sea Sheppards to be a bigger deal then they are. This can be seen in clip #2 showing the drama of seeing a whale being killed and dismembered. The producers highlight the concept of salience in this clip by showing that a whale dying is a horribly tragedy, as well as hearing the commentary of activists for a dramatic spin. Animal Planet utilizes the concept of selection by choosing exactly what footage to be shown to the public. This specific footage makes these interactions between the conflicting groups to look extremely tense. Animal planet also tries to select footage to show the Japanese as heartless and violent while the activists continue to be shown as modern day heroes fighting for a cause. This kind of selection is shown in the clip #3 where the Japanese start to throw grenades at the Sea Sheppards during a confrontation.

This series while framed in favor of the Sea Sheppards, has given activists the kind of positive attention that they strive for. The increasing popularity of the show has educated viewers on the exact message that activists try to convey and more is being done to stop excessive whaling. For more information about this series check out the website:

http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/

http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/sea-shepherd/

~Andrea Osterhout