To what extent is it the media's responsibility to assist in the dissemination of information about sustainable development (SD)? This rather provocative question became the main topic of a round-table discussion entitled The Role of the Media from the Perspective of Sustainable Development, which took place during the National Forum on Education for Sustainable Development on 29 January 2005 at the University of Geneva.
Dr. Jacques Mirenowicz, co-editor of the Swiss-French magazine La Revue Durable, began by saying that the subject of sustainability is a complex one, and the media is needed to simplify the subject for public consumption. This is, after all, what the media does every day: They take possibly complex subjects and present them in a simpler form. Dr. Mirenowicz went on to say that not only is SD complex, but it doesn't fit in the "time frame" that the media typically work with. That is, the media deal best with the present: It is much easier to describe what happened in Iraq today than to explain how global warming and lifestyles of over-consumption will affect the planet over the coming decades.
Gérard Tschopp, director of Swiss-French Public Radio (RSR), took the contrary position: The media exist to inform the public and to encourage reflection. The public media must also be aware of the subjects the public is interested in, and at times react accordingly. The media do not exist to deliver any sort of "messianic messages," said Mr. Tschopp. Rather it is the responsibility of the players in the SD arena to make themselves more visible so that they appear in the media more often.
The discussion led to a question that sometimes comes up while discussing the media, but which is not directly related to SD: Who sets the agenda in the media? Who decides which stories to cover and which stories to pass over? And could circumstances exist whereby sustainability should be given more emphasis?
For example, Dr. Mirenowicz displayed a French daily newspaper containing a weekly column on the environment. He then quoted an article in the business section about the new Airbus A380 mega-airplane; the article concentrated on the ongoing conflict between Airbus and Boeing. Dr. Mirenowicz said, "Why do they only talk about the conflict, and not say anything about the fact that this plane requires more fuel than any passenger plane in history, or that air travel in general is the most polluting method of mass transportation that exists?"
Daniel Monnat, editor in chief for information magazines at Swiss-French Public Television (TSR), noted that it was quite normal for different sections of a newspaper to place a different emphasis on the same news story. The business section is not the place to be writing about SD at every opportunity, he said.
Unfortunately, the two hours allocated for this round-table discussion flew by far too quickly. Judging by the animated discussion between the panellists and the audience, this session could have easily continued for another two hours.
