Breaking the HABit Part III: Know Thy Neighbor’s News Source
This is Part III in a series on the obstacles to HAB education, which delves into HAB news coverage and why you might have never heard of them.
Click here to continue to Part I, which explores some of the challenges faced and how to combat them.
Click here to continue to Part II, which looks more closely at HABHRCA and legislating against algal blooms.
Despite the sheer amount of readily available data we have access to in the Information Age, Harmful Algae Blooms remain one of the least-researched and -reported symptoms of Global Climate Change. Where we have placed our faith in the circulating news to appraise us of the dangers of the day, they have largely failed us, and must be taken to task.
The three most circulated American newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today) and the “Big Three” American cable news networks (Fox News, MSNBC, CNN) must immediately begin rebroadcasting local coverage of algal events and blooms, starting with the spring and summer blooms of 2019. These are the outlets that Americans most fervently look to for the news of the day and they have a responsibility to provide us with accurate and timely coverage, including and especially with regard to those stories which may soon pose an imminent danger to our communities. It is high time that we, the consumers, demand more from these corporations than they have become accustomed to providing.
Information dissemination surrounding algae blooms is staggeringly low. For a plague which is so inextricably tied to our effects on our environment, algae blooms have taken a back seat to other environmental and economic concerns. Coverage by mainstream news outlets pales to that of other natural disasters, floods or fires, and does nothing to draw attention to the rapidly deteriorating climate.
Time and again, when an algal event becomes a crisis, local news outlets are the ones stepping up to provide early and accurate coverage, but these outlets can poor funded and have limited reach. Oregon Public Broadcasting, for example, has provided fantastic and thought-provoking discourse on the subject, such as “As Salem Frets About Toxic Algae, Should the Rest of Oregon?” but as a member station of National Public Radio, their budget is often rail-thin and highly reliant on donations.
NPR, a non-profit public media organization, has, in fact, been at the forefront of national algae coverage for several years, yet their federal funding has decreased year by year, to now comprise about a tenth of the organization’s overall operating costs. Public media operates at a critical intersection in society, being available to anyone at any time for virtually no cost, which is vitally important, even in the modern Information Age. Good, consistent, investigative reporting and journalism will always be necessary in our society for the continued flow of information, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the case of HABs and their gross under-reporting.
SUPPORT LOCAL
Until such time as the multi-billion dollar media corporations see fit to bequeath us with timely and accurate coverage, we must take up the mantle of educating ourselves, and those around us, to the best of our capabilities. Local environmental news is absolutely central to continued efforts towards mitigating humanity’s razing of the planet’s resources and, in some locales, may be one of the only ways for citizens to educate themselves about their local resources. Information can be difficult to obtain reliably, programs grossly underfunded, and infrastructure dated, if present all. Still, even in the face of such challenges, it is of vital importance that citizens engage with local news outlets and educate themselves about their local ecology.
Overwhelmingly, the vast majority of coverage on HABs in the United States is reported by news media reporting on the county or state level. This means, on the whole, these stories are getting less creative manpower, less production funding, less widespread visibility, and less mainstream traction, than similar coverage of nationally-broadcast local disasters. These events are no less harmful and no less concerning to the general public. If mainstream media is unwilling, or unable, to deliver the story, then the onus is then upon the general public itself to seek out this information, through whatever local channels are available.
Additionally, citizens should consider volunteering time or resources to local ecological efforts in their area. Freshwater lakes, salt marshes, river deltas, and secluded bays are among the many natural features that can become susceptible to an algae bloom, and many locations that have seen past blooming continue to bloom with greater severity in the future.
This is Part III in a series on the obstacles to HAB education, which delves into HAB news coverage and why you might have never heard of them.
Click here to continue to Part I, which explores some of the challenges faced and how to combat them.
Click here to continue to Part II, which looks more closely at HABHRCA and legislating against algal blooms.
