Here’s an important message from one of the great environmental writers of our time, Mike Frome.

In 1902 the publisher Joseph Pultzer declared that journalism “is, or ought to be, one of the great and intellectual professions.” Later, that concept spurred me to make journalism my career. Even now I love and respect journalism as a great and intellectual profession, affording a sense of self and opportunity for expression in helping to shape society’s view of community and of the natural world around it.

This is not the way it works in mainstream or conventional journalism. For one thing, that brand of media continues to suffer under the illusion and delusion that "objectivity" actually prevails in newspapers, radio and television and that journalists must set aside personal feeling for their subjects or get out. But in case you haven’t noticed, business news is almost always interpreted from the business viewpoint. So are sports, food, automotive, aviation, travel and real estate news, and the news pages too, where miscreants like Bush and Cheney are treated like credible witnesses. Public relations, the spin-doctors working for powerful corporate and government interests, constitute a preeminent influence on how news is covered and presented. But then the media themselves are corporate, driven far more by profit than public service.

Journalists want to do better. They want to practice their profession and be proud of it. Unfortunately, the pressures for conformity and cost-effective results override the desire for professional fulfillment. But that isn’t the whole story, it is only the beginning. There is another and very different side to it.

The Internet and related technologies have transformed the way journalism is practiced. For one thing, a new breed has come along: nonprofit online-only dailies dedicated to local journalism with strong focus on investigation, in-depth reporting and commentary. One of them, voiceofsandiego.org, reports: “We focus on the city’s quality-of-life issues: politics, public safety, environment, education and housing. At local journalism awards, we regularly sweep daily newspaper categories…”

Another of the online dailies, Crosscut.com, in Seattle, in one recent issue features a report by Floyd McKay, a veteran newsman and journalism professor, headed “BUY LOCAL, THINK NATIONAL,” about a growing national model for sustainable communities. That may be a budding mainstream idea but you won’t see much of it in the mainstream media. But here it is in the March-April newsletter of the Ozaukee Community Awareness Forum (in southeast Wisconsin):

Saturday, APRIL 25, 2009: SECOND ANNUAL SUSTAINABILITY FAIR and EARTH DAY CELEBRATION!

“Going Green = Saving Green:  Food, Water, Power”

    Presented by:  Ozaukee Community Awareness Forum
              and Ozaukee Washington Land Trust

We are pleased to announce that the 2009 Sustainability Fair will be held at the Forest Beach Migratory Preserve (formerly the Squires Country Club property on Country Club Rd), 6 miles north of Port Washington on beautiful Lake Michigan!  The fair will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The time to look at ourselves, our families and our communities in terms of environmental sustainability is NOW!

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Clearly, the new technology has given rise to “citizen journalism,” manifest in (a) a variety of worthy, informative national newsletters and journals, plus (b) local and regional periodicals providing an interactive forum for dialogue, designed to bring new awareness to environmental issues and to create advocacy for them.

One of my favorites is the Weekly Spin issued by the Center for Media and Democracy. “Spins” in a recent issue include the following:

Wal-Mart Buys PR in Bulk
Source: Advertising Age, March 10, 2009

Wal-Mart Stores plans to hire a few outside public relations firms to develop "fresh, emotional PR programming" promoting its grocery, health, clothing, home, hardware, auto and entertainment products, along with Wal-Mart's events, financial services and website. Edelman, which has been Wal-Mart's main PR firm for three years, is among the five or six finalists for the major account. Wal-Mart wants PR firms with "excellent capabilities in the areas of new media, online, media relations, crisis communications and multicultural outreach," according to the company's request for proposals. Firms must have "knowledge of the online retail and online competitive landscape, and satellite media tour vendors." Wal-Mart will put its multiple PR firms "on retainer and then have them bid on individual projects, an effort by the notoriously frugal retailer to contain costs," reports the Wall Street Journal. "By expanding its promotional efforts now, Wal-Mart is looking beyond the recession, trying to improve its chances of holding on to its new customer base when the economy grows." Its PR targets include "customers, journalists, Wal-Mart workers and 'influencers' who blog or are active on social Web sites."

Oil Industry Advisor Comes Out of His Shell
Source: Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), March 5, 2009

The oil company Shell -- which is heavily invested in Alberta's tar sands, an especially dirty and greenhouse gas-intensive source of oil -- has launched a blog about climate change issues. It's "the first time a major oil company has used social media to make a public policy case," reports Siobhan Hughes. Shell climate adviser David Hone authors the blog, making him "the public face of Shell's climate agenda." Hone said the blog is "about recognizing that the paradigms have shifted and we have to shift with it and therefore it's about a solution and, whether we like it or not, that solution is going to come." Shell has previously courted public opinion, including by sending then-president of U.S. operations John Hofmeister on a 50-city tour in 2006. Hofmeister said "the tour helped improve public perceptions" of Shell, "even if there were some 'dicey moments.'" The Center for Media and Democracy's Diane Farsetta cautioned that Shell's messaging has "to be put in context. ... What we need ... is a totally independent discussion" of climate change issues that is "very critical of major oil companies."

Industry Seeks to Shape U.S. Healthcare Reform
Source: PR Week, March 4, 2009

After "President Barack Obama revealed a $634 billion plan for healthcare as part of his proposed budget," the healthcare industry and its PR firms sought to secure "a seat at the table." The head of Burson-Marsteller's U.S. healthcare practice, Chris Foster, noted that drug and insurance companies are "going to have to deliver on the promise of improving access, delivering more quality [and] controlling the cost of medications," so they should "be involved in that dialogue earlier rather than later." Rather than lobbying against measures like "mandatory pre-existing coverage for health plans," he suggested that companies tell the administration that "in order for that to work for us, here are two or three things we have to have in place." Drugmaker AstraZeneca will focus on "market competition," claiming it "leads to improvements in health outcomes." Insurance company Cigna is working to "simplify those issues" for its consumers. Burson-Marsteller's Foster faults the industry for a lack of leadership on healthcare reform. "There are certainly companies that are big enough and are doing important enough work that can and they should begin to lead. The mistake would be to not engage in this national dialogue earlier," he warned. "Communication drives policy."

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I recently heard a discussion of citizen journalism on National Public Radio. The general tenor was not especially friendly or approving. Daniel Schorr, the ancient guru, was asked what was wrong with it – not what was right with it. He said he wished citizen journalism had better editing, like we had in the old days. Sure, take the feeling out of it; attribute everything to somebody in charge, and keep it bland and shallow.

But here is the opening paragraph of the Internet newsletter of the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC):

Patrols have finally spotted a bull buffalo with the naked eye!  After a long, lonely winter with no buffalo in our company, it has been a great pleasure to see him.  This magnificent, solitary bull is keeping to himself, grazing along Duck Creek, still keeping his distance from the Yellowstone/Montana boundary.

I think that’s a beautiful opening. Then, reading on, we learn:

Yellowstone National Park recently reported that the presence of buffalo is increasing near Madison Junction, which indicates that the spring migration is not far off.  It is possible that we will see mixed groups of buffalo moving towards their calving grounds on Horse Butte within the next few weeks. Field activities may soon be picking up, and BFC and the buffalo will see how the new Adaptive Management Plan will play out in the field…

While the cattle industry still wields the heavy hand of tyranny against wild buffalo in the name of "disease management," their brucellois argument is falling apart.   Their current effort to pass a state law that would prevent even disease-free bison from roaming public and tribal lands makes it clear that buffalo just aren't welcome by ranchers.  But decision-making will not always remain with this unsustainable industry, and sooner or later, the truth will prevail and wild buffalo will reclaim their rightful place all over this land!

Roam Free!

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And from the latest Internet newsletter of Friends of the Clearwater in Idaho:

In This Issue

Rescheduled Cabin-Fever Clearwater Issues Potluck
Northern Rockies Grizzlies: Biology, Ecology, and Policy
Comment on the Nez Perce National Forest Plan for Vehicles in Roadless Areas

On Tuesday, March 3, at 6:30 p.m., Friends of the Clearwater (FOC) will host a seasonal community potluck to talk about emerging issues affecting the wildlife and wildlands of the Clearwater basin.  Please bring your friends and family, musical instruments, and your favorite main or side dinner dish, appetizers, salads, desserts, and/or beverages to share.  We hope to discuss the future of natural resource policies under the new national administration and congress and to brainstorm 2009 FOC educational events, organizational celebrations, and field trips and workshops.  Participants can also learn more about the upcoming travel planning processes of the Clearwater and Nez Perce national forests and how they can effectively comment on these proposed designations of off-road vehicle trails and areas.  Join us …

Meadow Creek, a spectacular drainage in the Nez Perce National Forest, is under assault.  Most of this 220,000-acre roadless area has been proposed for wilderness designation in the past, as its outstanding wilderness characteristics provide assets for wildlife, watersheds, and recreationists.  Contiguous to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and adjacent to the Frank Church Wilderness (separated only by the narrow, primitive Magruder Road), it serves as an important biological corridor for species moving between wildernesses.  Its contributions of cold, clean water and anadromous fish runs make it the most important tributary to the wild and scenic Selway River.  But Meadow Creek is under tremendous pressure from organized off-road vehicle (ORV) groups who would like all of its trails opened to their motorized abuse.

The Nez Perce National Forest has released its draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) designating routes open to vehicle use across the entire forest, available at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/nezperce/recreation/index-... This "Travel Planning" effort is supposed to address the problem of unmanaged and unregulated motorized recreation, which has dramatically increased throughout the West over the last decade.  This lack of management has already caused incremental damage of Meadow Creek and many other wild places in the Nez Perce National Forest.  Wildlands that once experienced only quiet recreation via horse and foot travel are now being used by ORV enthusiasts…

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A friend of mine, James Godsil, helps me to sum it up with this excerpt lifted (without permission) from his on-line periodical, Milwaukee Renaissance:

From Culture Consumers to Culture Creators in Old Milwaukee

It is now well within our reach to

Create our own culture!

We now can be our own Le Monde and Les Tempes Modernes,

How about a Great Lakes Times,

All the news fit to create,

Let’s be our own Guardian

Let us create a Milwaukee New Republic.

The Milwaukee Renaissance

(On-line Magazine and Movement Resource)

Is ours to craft!

Finally, my life journey has led step-by-step into a community of sacred values, where the gods walk on every road and every road is sacred. Along the way I came to believe that society needs transformation, a viewpoint of human concern to counter injustice and greed. Journalists ought to be advocates for the health and safety of the planet, concerned with global warning, acid rain, destruction of tropical and temperate forests, toxic wastes, pollution of air and water, and population pressures that degrade the quality of life. The spiritual ecological dimension of writing with green ink provides a way of life with its own rewards.

Cheers,

MICHAEL FROME

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MICHAEL FROME, Ph.D.

mfrome@aol.com http://members2.authorsguild.net/mfrome/

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Read it all in Heal the Earth, Heal the Soul: Collected Essays on Wilderness, Politics and the Media, with profiles of old heroes and a lot more. Order your copy from Amazon.com




Rebel on the Road: And Why I Was Never Neutral
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"Michael Frome is the pioneer conservation journalist, a premier environmental muckraker. His memoir is a reflection on years spent teaching himself and others to write subjectively, live purposefully, and age gracefully."

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