ABSTRACT
It should be stated from the beginning that there is a long and distinguished history of environmental reporting at the regional, state, and national levels. The list of excellent environmental reporters is too long to review here. Even small newspapers have, in the past, supported environmental reporters of high caliber. That is not to say that the American news media have always covered themselves in glory concerning environmental issues. Newspaper articles that followed a pattern of distortion and omission not dissimilar to that of today’s reporting contributed to the genocide of Native Americans in past years. Even today, the difficulties of this oppressed minority are still largely ignored, and even distorted by media reporters. However, the present situation concerning environmental reporting is a product of complex, new trends both at the economic and cultural levels of American society. The takeover of public radio and television airwaves by large corporations has had an important influence on what is reported to the American public. Big business in the form of Disney (ABC), Viacom (CBS), and General Electric (NBC) has literally taken over television reporting. The right-wing empire of Rupert Murdoch (Fox) continues to distort everything environmental. The cable news channels (CNN, MSNBC) are often primary outlets for right-wing, anti-environmental propaganda. The overwhelmingly negative publicity concerning environmental issues generated by a broad range of right-wing radio stations is a disturbing fact of life in today’s America. There has been an increasing trend of business interests taking control of newspapers throughout the country. It is not, therefore, very surprising that the regional news media in north Florida continue to use omission, distortion, and outright lying to protect their business and political interests.
