News and extreme events are the only occasions that the Italian media use to talk about the environment. For the rest, they do not fully grasp the extent of climate change, ecological transition, scientific research, preventive actions. In this synthesis are the conclusions of the "Eco-media 2022" report curated by Pentapolis institute Ets with the collaboration of the Institute for journalism training of Urbino. The Report monitored the coverage of environmental issues in the Italian news media from 1 January to 30 September 2022. In essence, the Italian media do little or nothing to delve into the issues that produce climate-related disasters, protests or summits and environment. “We need a more modern journalism, able to connect with economic issues. The green, unfortunately, tends to be excessively spectacular and is not fully perceived in the strong connections with the production system". This is what we read in the first pages of the document.
Environmental information is a decisive factor for progress
All the media - some more, some less - during the monitoring period devoted space to the collapse of the Marmolada glacier, the flooding of the Marches or other events, all very detailed. There is no mention of the misfortune of Ischia as it occurred after the end of the monitoring. Laziness of information operators, superficiality in dealing with sources, unpreparedness in the newsrooms? The mixing of several factors has produced a strong misalignment between specific news and the reasons that produce it. This is the real point of collapse of the Italian press. TV remains the most powerful means of information, but in 2022 the war in Ukraine was the main reason that prompted the editorial staff to talk about the environment, pollution and nuclear risk. A second reason was the increase in gas prices and high bills. It is true that Rai dedicated analysis sections to the environment in the afternoon. However, in the information of the Tg, there were no insights after news events. In short, the public has to wait for the dedicated broadcasts to understand what is at the origin of the news on the television news. The growing demand for analysis of ecological imbalances, especially by young people, is not satisfied and the drops in audience in that age group are very clear. One also emerges from the Report lack of homogeneity of information between paper and online newspapers. The former pay more attention to the circular economy, the ecological transition and sustainable development. For those online, the most recurring keywords are ecological transition, renewables, climate change and pollution. And many times keywords remain without recognition of what happened. As for the radios, there are broadcasters that, despite the high viewing figures, have shown no interest in the environment and climate for months.
Go beyond reporting to explain the news.
The planet is sick and information becomes more and more essential. "The media have a very important, decisive role of training and acceleration in achieving, for example, the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals", he says Maximilian Pontillo, director of Eco-Media. What to do ? What is needed is “a paradigm shift: a sustainability and an ecology of desire, not just of dutye”. Journalists must learn to talk about sustainability not only in terms of renunciations and bans, but also of opportunities to improve the quality of life and build a more comfortable future for people and the planet. There are dedicated courses and associations that take care of training, but – let us add – there is a need for more study, documentation and quality in the narration in the editorial offices. Conversely, the efforts made in the social, political and economic spheres to safeguard the environment are compromised. As readers and information operators we all discount the paradox (highlighted in the Report) that advertising is much more careful than information in spreading positive messages about the environment. It's not a good sign.
