The Press is Dead…Long Live the Free Press

So here we are in the 21st Century looking for the signs of positive change in an ever-dawning Future. All the while being constantly reminded that many segments of the Mainstream Media still seem more interested in leading with stories that bleed, or in brow-beating the Past, rather than taking a more proactive approach to promoting genuine grass-roots change here in the Present.

So with the status quo being so well entrenched, people are increasingly turning to fringe sources of alternative “news” and information, and hoping that others are doing the same to preserve a realistic view of the world around them. Of course, this isn’t the time or place to delve into the greatly diminished role of the “Free Press” in protecting our various Democracies, but it bears mention that one of the greatest casualties of the Post-Modern Age has been the much publicised demise of the big, well-financed, and possibly overstaffed ‘Newsprint Giants’ of the 20th century, and quite possibly the venerable institution of Journalism itself.

Among so many besieged traditional specialties in the Media, ones that are in particularly obvious decline are the the crucial roles of Researchers and Investigative Journalists. People who were once trained to dig up and develop stories that go against the grain and demand accountability from Governments and Corporations, and thus assure some basics checks and balances to the free-market versions of Democracy. After decades of relative peace and prosperity, some might just say who cares if ‘print journalism’ is in peril? Just because TV News operations are even more indentured to their Corporate parents, doesn’t mean that we should be concerned about the fate of Journalism as a whole…Should we?

After all…What harm could this do to the Future, if some archaic form of Mass Media from the Past were to die off?

 

Seeding Cloudy Conspiracies

	Some poorly supported Conspiracy Theories have been making their way into the Mainstream Media. Ironically, there might be a deeper, more subtle corrosion beneath this superficial trend!

According to the recent surge of Public and Media interest in “Chemtrails” it seems that the amorphous realm of  ‘Conspiracy Theories‘ is no longer just being limited to the outer fringes of Society. Of course, there’s been an enormous amount of mainstream news coverage for all the officially sanctioned Climate Change issues, but during this time we’ve also been witness to a fracturing and perceptible shift in Public Opinion around the central Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) issue. This has resulted in a dizzying array of new points and counterpoints of discussion around the official stories that come out out of the UN, IPCC, and all the larger NGO’s and Environmental Groups, which invariably resulted in most truly alternative views being largely suppressed, rejected, or at least fully discredited through standard PR and Press (or propaganda?)  methods that offered no real room for rationale discourse or debate, outside the chaotic streams of  pseudo-moderated Comments fields, or obscure online forums. If you prefer to be spoonfed an opinion, or would like to consider a fact-based position on what actually causes the jet contrails implicated in Chemtrails, just click/scroll right down to The True Nature of Contrails

Generally speaking, the Media would certainly not turn against the hands that feed it, but rather than lose the over-stressed attentions of its brow-beaten Audience, certain segments of the Media (as a pandering reflection of its Advertisers first, and of Society as a close second) have been increasingly willing to selectively examine at least some of these more alternative points of view, even if they do verge on the realm of Conspiracy Theory. Not only to bolster flagging public interest, but perhaps to retain some general credibility as a balanced source of mainstream information, after having already whipped the leading Climate Change horses all the way down the backstretch to their disappointing finish in Copenhagen.

Unfortunately it seems that the lack of investigative reporting that we’ve seen for Climate Science is becoming even more obvious now in these fringe subjects as well, and leads us to wonder what the ultimate consequences will be of such Media-inspired lassitude?

In the same way that just a few key trigger points (such as ClimateGate, the failure in Copenhagen, and a cool Winter, etc)  started a right-wing Media landslide from the over-driven buildup of Global Warming issues, we also saw huge segments of both American and European populations get tipped off the AGW fence, and into the clutches of the right-wing media. These were loosely decided segments that might have otherwise remained open to further suggestions, or at least remain pliably indecisive. Can this be seen as a form of ‘statistical housecleaning for undecided remainders, or just a social backfire which will likely set the entire Environmental Movement back by at least a few paces. You can decide.

Anyhow let’s get back to finding some verity behind “Chemtrails” since this seems to better represent the types of environmental issues that people still seem to have a stomach for these days…Just as controversial, poorly defined, and relatively as un-actionable as climate change, yet at least with a strong anti-authoritarian spin to feel like they can finally push back against the “establishment” somehow, just by ‘spreading the word’…Just like in the early days of a easily adopted Global Warming Movement.

Sp let’s look at Chemtrails. The persistent theory is that any jetplane ‘contrails’ (condensation trails) that are observed to linger in the sky, overlap, and/or form clouds are actually ‘chemtrails’ – Which are claimed to not only be a method of Weather Control, but also of Population Control, Global Dimming, and Bio Warfare, or possibly just very expensive waste disposal.  In the true spirit of conspiracy theory though, lets drill down through the alternating layers of confusion and deceit, and interpret the core samples with yet another new twist.

Let’s consider the possibility that this recent Media phenomenon of openly validating and reporting on the subject of ChemTrails, (among other fringe theories) might possibly be part of a very clever strategy for an even more subtle form of mass/media/mind control!  Why hasn’t the Media simply researched and explained the actual physical phenomenon of (polluted?) Contrails instead?  Could the truth actually be, that among all the rather flimsy issues out there, that this alternative ‘climate issue’ has been handpicked (among others?) to achieve higher Media visibility in order to just publicly debunk it, and thus discredit the entire concept of Conspiracy Theory, or worse yet to help derail any public credibility around the existence of an underground railroad for  suppressed information, or any other signs of a growing Alternative Press which might risk having an impact on the Mainstream Media Message, and general Public Consciousness in the event of a genuine crisis?

Science Journals: Purveyors or Gatekeepers?

	Publish or Perish !

After after harnessing the laws of Nature, and applying Truth and Reason to triumph over dogmatic Religion, Science now seems to be capable of falling into the same traps of power and corruption that can undermine all great human pursuits and lofty achievements. Hopefully, the same basic principals that allowed Science to persevere and flourish, can also be brought to bear upon its own methods now, in order to redeem itself to the Media and clamoring Masses that have lost their blind faith.

Since we’ve all been raised to believe that Science is based in Truth, and that Justice and Liberty are inalienable rights, it should come as no surprise that the General Public risks becoming(at least temporarily) disenfranchised by the fact that there seems to be some degree of suppressed dissent in the Scientific Community revolving around Climate Science.   From a Layman’s point of view, many people have grown weary of the arguments, and are ready to just “follow the money” when it comes to understanding the causes of the global warming debate. Most intelligent people are also becoming hyper-sensitized to anything that even remotely resembles propaganda, and have started to see past the all political posturing, economic interests, and ethical self-righteousness of the Climate Change movement to realize that we might actually have a more profound and underlying dilemma to consider here. One that is failing to address deeper ecological issues, while still trying to commoditize carbon dioxide through legislation. A dilemma which might eventually stem itself from our Society’s reliance on Science as the primary guiding force in human achievement and evolution. Therefore, in order to proceed into a clarified vision of the Future where environmental issues can be addressed at their root cause, let’s first consider the risks of losing our best guiding force in a world presently ruled by money and politics.

As we risk losing our faith in Science here in the Present, we need to regain a workable trust in what we had hoped were the infallible principals of the Scientific Method in order to move towards a more pre-verified Future outlook.  Since many people believe that Science has indeed supplanted Religion (which arguably supplanted Nature long ago!) as our guiding force in Society and Life as we know it, let’s proceed according to any other scientific or “religious” study by considering the facts as basic articles of faith, and as they exist within the scientific community itself. The first step to redeeming our views of Science would surely be to turn to the ‘scripture’ of Science, as it has been methodically collected and presented throughout the ages by the indentured librarians and peer-reviewed science journals that this community of researchers and trusted professionals places its own trust into.

Global Warming: Who’s the Real Enemy

- SOCIAL REPORT –

	Political strategy is a moving target in any debate, but can we at least be sure that our Leaders have selected the right objectives in their bid to win the battle against Global Warming?

In the ongoing heavy-weight bout against Global Warming, the tag-team proposals for pricing CO2 emissions (primarily either via Taxes or Carbon Cap and Trade) both took serious blows to the head at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference and were allowed to drop to the mat. Rather than standing back up in desperation, and vowing to take the fight into the streets, the proponents of these (so-called) “solutions” seemed content to just hang onto the ropes and wait for the bell to end the Copenhagen round. This event has now fallen apart with little to show for it than promises that things will be settled at the next U.N. Climate Change Conference, that nobody can even be bothered to set their forward sites upon at this point. Hell…Even the Copenhagen Conference website was dismantled less than a month after things wrapped up in Denmark, with little of value being forwarded from the defunct address.  Luckily there are still lots of excellent resources out there to explain the functions and perceived benefits of such complex concepts as Carbon Cap and Trade, for example…

One can’t help feel as though the Post-Copenhagen letdown has left us to either take this fight to a more personal level as the Media moves on to it’s next ‘cause celebre’, or otherwise just allow Human Nature to overtake us, and simply focus on our more immediate needs as we sub-consciously recoil from the unknowns of an uncertain Future.

IR: Subtle Effects of Global Warming

IMPACT REPORT: More Subtle Effects of Global Warming

We all know the Earth is warming, but it’s getting harder to get a clear reading on exactly what the causes and effects are of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) because of all the polarized rhetoric in the Media around the “man-made” aspects of this question. Obviously decisive precautionary actions must be taken to immediately reduce greenhouse gases while we sort out the rest of society’s environmental ills, but what if the Science behind AGW has somehow become too skewed by political or funding pressures? What if the need and desire to create a unified and global movement against Climate Change has now also became a leveraged force that can be managed to produce new political alignments, financial vehicles, and world banking results as well? As Environauts, we can start our search for answers by looking at the Present for signs of possible Futures. Let’s begin the process in Copenhagen.

PR Values: Remembering the Brave

In our look at the Social Climate, it has become increasingly clear that unless the Mainstream Media can radically change the way it gathers, presents, and distributes its environmental news and socio-politically relevant information, that we might well need to increasingly turn to alternate (more independent) mediums and channels in order to form and share the kind of progressive Public perceptions and opinions that will be required to reshape our Consumer driven Society for the better…and possibly avoid looming political and environmental debacles as well. The Past certainly holds lessons for us all.

In our zeal to seek out new paradigms and standards for Communications however, we shouldn’t overlook the lessons to be learned from our forebearers. In this case, the enormous power and latent capacity held within the current Media regimes, as well as the immense strides being taken by the ‘old guard’ to advance into a new era of bi-lateral Public Relations with their respective Markets and Audiences. Before moving on to our alternate Channels, we need to take a closer look at those organizations and talented professionals who are not only adopting new Production and Communication methods, but who are also innovating their staid Broadcast-based Media methods to have a greater impact within the much touted realm of Social Media. Some of the methods that the Mainstream Media might yet effectively adapt and evolve into would include radical new approaches to Advertising philosophies, Corporate Sustainability (CSR) efforts, and various new approaches to the many outdated or misguided Public Relations (PR) methods and strategies that we now see encroaching the Social Media space…For better or worse.

On Remembrance Day, what better Corporate objective could there be than to apply new models of Communication in order to honour those who’ve fought and sacrificed for our hard won Freedoms and Liberty. Of course there are many Corporate interests that simply wish to be aligned with such noble ideals, without bringing anything of new value to the table, but we’ll let naturally selective market forces decide who should survive in this Public Relations arena, and simply focus on those who are clear champions of a just cause.

As such, let’s narrow focus on some select PR and CSR professionals who are leading the way towards progressive new modes of communication though, in hope of brighter and safer visions of the Future. Let’s start this series by taking a look at one of the pioneers of progressive PR and now Corporate Sustainability…