Role Of Media Reporting In Environmental Litigation
The definition and role of media has expanded rapidly in past few decades especially when it comes to propagation of environmental awareness. From print and radio, media has expanded to television, social media, and online news and so on, and its role in spreading environmental awareness has increased rapidly.
With a whole range of media reporting on critical environment issues, these media representations become critical inputs in what becomes public discourse on environmental issues, and thus serve as integral instruments for environmental litigation.
When we look at major environmental issues such as global warming, climate change, solid waste management, air pollution, water and sanitation issues, land health etc., what we see is that even though there are various think tanks and scientific agencies publishing material about them, it is the media which really takes the front seat in shaping public agenda due to their vast outreach and it’s ease in breaking down complex issues to make it more understandable to the public.
In court proceedings then naturally, these media snippets which have shaped public opinion become critical in environmental litigation as compared to a complex research paper due to its outreach and ease of understanding.
Whether it was the draught in Maharashtra, air pollution in Delhi, ground water depletion in Chennai, pollution from coal mines in West Bengal, it was the media which brought these issues to the foreground and helped organizations like the National Green Tribunal litigate on these issues, given the role of media on shaping public discourse with regards to these environmental problems.
What finds place in environmental litigation is localized issues which are reported in the media. These localized issues such as deforestation, groundwater crises, draughts, floods which reported by the media not only raise public awareness but form the basis for litigators to litigate on these environmental issues. In shaping public and legal discourse, the media allows the public and litigators to identify trends in environmental issues which in turn help evaluate which environmental issues are the most critical to address.
Improved reporting through greater specificity and contextualization through combined efforts of journalists, editors, and scientists will certainly help to more effectively engage the public and widen the spectrum of possibility for appropriate action by litigators.
In the next few decades, we face unprecedented challenges and tough choices about how to use Earth’s resources. Whether we thrive as a species will depend on our ability to think globally and creatively, and to work across borders to solve our common problems.
News media worldwide should play a key role in helping us understand these problems, and in identifying and spreading the most effective solutions. The media development sector can also take a leadership role in this conversation. The sector can identify the most effective and engaging technologies and storytelling methods. These story-telling methods form the basis of environmental litigation.
It can channel resources into driving adoption of the pioneering work of environmental reporters, who are among the most innovative and collaborative practitioners of the journalism craft. The sector can partner with issue-based donors and perhaps even marketers to craft a compelling case for the importance of environmental news in regions where the topic is often neglected.
Such a robust environmental media development effort could improve environmental news and journalism overall. What’s more, it could better position us to face the environmental challenges to come and help environmental litigation achieve its objectives.
Therefore environmental journalists have a large responsibility on their head, to make sure the forefront environmental issues are communicated effectively to the public and litigators.
As litigation is an area which can contribute the maximum in solving environmental problems on-ground and help organizations like the National Green Tribunal safeguard the environment, it is up to the media to provide the right knowledge and data to serve as instruments for environmental litigation, and shape public discourse towards the right direction.
The news media have the potential to act as a powerful influence on the civil litigation system, influencing decision making in particular cases and on the system more generally as media reports influence the decision making of various participants in the system. It is the responsibility of both the media and the litigators to effectively use their influence towards better decision making and judgements in the environmental arena, for a better tomorrow and to create a sustainable, environmentally-friendly future.
