http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2008/08/13/news0704.htm
Using media to communicate environmental risks Dr. Sakhawat Ali Khan There are environmental risks almost everywhere in this planet. Obviously, many of these risks have grown out of our natural surroundings, but there are quite a good number of them, which are man-made. Sometimes, ignorance of people has also helped sustain such risks, thus worsening the situation. Presently the environmental risks are gradually increasing to an extent where they are becoming a threat to the existence of the entire human race. Environmental risks, more or less, are now touching every sphere of our life. At a quick glance, more glaringly manifested environmental risks that could be easily identified in our country are: water pollution, misuse of agro-chemicals, unhygienic human habits, lack of sanitation facilities, effect of Farakka Barrage, recurring cyclones and floods, silting of river beds, large scale deforestation, etc. Moreover, there are other areas where environment hazards are present in different degrees. Those areas are: effect of shrimp cultivation, increase of salinity in the coastal belt, water logging in different areas, effects of wrongly built embankments, afforestation with exotic varieties instead of local variant of trees, downward trend of underground water level, threat of mangrove forest, industrial waste disposal in rivers, unhygienic situation in tanneries, noise pollution, presence of arsenic in underground water, growth of unplanned bus stations in the urban areas, emission of smoke from mechanised vehicles, brick-fields, mills and factories; presence of large number of unhealthy derelict ponds, continued presence of Rohingya refugees in our land, etc. Moreover, there are quite a good number of environmental risks that mainly concern the international arena. Those risks are threatening the whole world including Bangladesh. Broadly speaking, they are: the greenhouse effect, nuclear proliferation and radiation, threat from toxic wastes, over-population in different parts of the world, moral and cultural degradation, spread of communalism 'illiteracy, threat of regional and global war, spread of AIDS, undernourishment due to poverty and ignorance, destruction of birds and cattle head without arrangements for substitution, fundamentalism, social and political terrorism, unemployment, etc. On top of these, new hazardous environmental situations are increasingly cropping up almost routinely in both national and international fields. Human beings find out their way to survival by fighting against or overpowering the hazards of nature. Nature is again sometimes utilised by them for the same purpose. In spite of many environmental risks, mankind has no way out but to go forward in the direction of building a safer world. While trying to get rid of the causes of environmental risks, we should also try hard to make the people conscious about such risks. For achieving that, mass media should be used among other means. Throughout the world the development messages are being increasingly disseminated by media. Trying to make people conscious about environmental risks by using the media as a part of that process. The capacity to carry messages by the mass media depends largely on the spread and influence of such media in a given situation. If the media loses credibility, the message, in the real sense of the term, will not 'reach' the people. These messages, in other words, will go over their head. For example, if a message on immediate environmental risks is not properly encoded for that reason if most of the intended receivers fail to decode it, the impact of the message is unlikely to achieve its objectives. Apparently the message may physically go up to its intended receivers, but it will seldom touch their minds. When a message is encoded, the next step for the communicators is to choose an appropriate channel. In doing so, one has to take into consideration the nature, trends and educational standards of the prospective receivers. For example, compared to other media, Radio is more listened to by farmers and therefore it is likely to carry the relevant messages for them more effectively. On the other hand, a message intended for the policy makers of the country is more likely to reach them if disseminated through newspapers, magazines or journals. Electronic media in our country being completely under government control, do not generally accept such messages from nongovernmental sources for dissemination. Such messages are considered to be embarrassing for the authorities and therefore avoided. For instance, if chemical fertilisers stored in a government warehouse got contaminated and mistakenly distributed among the farmers, it will surely cause serious damage to their crop. In this case, the government electronic media will seldom carry the news. More likely, those media will get specific instructions from the relevant government quarters to kill such items. Environment is now a very complicated and specialised field. To prepare a suitable message, which will be understandable to the target people, there should be cooperation and coordination among the communication workers and the relevant experts. If the subject is considered to be too complex, the communication workers should have discussion with the experts to make themselves knowledgeable enough so that they can express the matter in their own words. When the experts themselves are to appear in electronic media directly, the media people should help them by all possible means in making their contention lucid and understandable to the target people. On the other hand, experts, while writing for the print media could seek advice from the journalists about the art of presentation so that their efforts in reporting the hazards of the environment may attract majority readers. One of the techniques of successful presentation is 'Featurisation' of the topics. Readers, listeners and viewers are much more attracted towards a featurised write-up compared to an informative and serious academic article. To featurise such serious contentions the write-up should start with a startling introduction (or intro, as the journalists call it). The information contained in the discussion should be presented in such an order that in the next phase of the write-up the writer gains the confidence of the receivers of the audience. An atmosphere should be created where the receivers should feel that a very important, necessary and topical subject has been introduced in the discussion and entering into it will not be a sheer waste of time. This task is not very easy, particularly when the subject introduced is completely new or the topic already has some different connotations to the audience. People naturally will believe an expert more than the generalists. If the experts themselves take initiative to communicate with people through the media, their chances of success are brighter than others. Of course, the media people can effectively step into the scene as interviewers. Before doing that, it is imperative that they empathise with the readers, listeners or viewers. They should do the required homework to know more about the interviewee and the receivers. They should try to be knowledgeable about the subject. Depending on the receiving skill and aptitude of the audience, the interviewer should structure his/her questions. Environmental hazards are in most cases 'silent' emergencies. These hazards are not always very manifest or visible, but if not contained in time, they may damage the land and society almost beyond repair. Therefore, the inherent dangers of the environmental risks should be made clear to the media audience by repeatedly giving exposure to these 'silent' problems. The public in our country is rather of forgetful type, and unless reinforced periodically, the urgency in our country is rather of forgetful. type, and unless reinforced periodically, the urgency of the problems will get neutralised in the public mind due to overexposure of entertainment materials in the ever-expanding mass media. In disseminating and giving treatment to environmental risks in the mass media there should be a priority list which should be followed strictly as far as possible. This prioritisation, of courses may change depending on the environmental situation. When a cyclone hits a country, resulting, in colossal damage to life and property, the environmental situation changes almost instantly. The media prioritisation, so far as the environmental risks are concerned, will need obvious changes and the priority list should be adjusted accordingly. The media exposure on environmental risks, in order to be effective, should be absolutely simple and understandable to the audience at large. Once the receivers get the good results of such publicity in their personal or corporate life, they will get more and more attracted to such exposures in future. This will create an everincreasing cycle; having a snowballing effect on the society Radio and TV are gradually spreading in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Because the price of a one-band radio is now within the buying capacity of average farmers, radio has reached most of the homes. This is a very encouraging situation for the mass media workers of the country. But, unfortunately, the total potential of this powerful mass medium has not been adequately utilised by the authorities. Politically the government-controlled electronic media in our country have very little credibility. But in social matters the listeners/ viewers still have some faith in them. Television's and particularly Radio's message is widely accepted in case of weather, flood, drought or even in case of family planning, immunisation, vaccination, etc. For example, if there is an epidemic of diarrhoea in the country it should be the proper time to strongly reinforce the message about water pollution in the media and make the suffering people convinced about the need of using uncontaminated water. They should also be told that the epidemic is partially their creation, because they were not using sanitary latrines. During the epidemic period newspapers should print slogans and articles every day on the necessity of using uncontaminated water and electronic media should devote more time to the subject. These are supposed to have enlightening effect on the audience and may have a lasting value too. A feedback of the exposure will be extremely helpful in planning future programmes on similar subjects. In mass media the role of posters, leaflets, neon-signs, billboards, hoardings, etc. cannot be over emphasised. They very often have lasting effects on the audience. Neon-signs, billboards, hoardings, etc. can be decoded even by the illiterate masses. As nowadays electricity is available in many rural areas, coloured neon-signs on environmental risks can be displayed, if possible with a little animation in rural areas will attract the illiterate people. Colourful as they are, people will love to see them and it is very likely that messages that they will get from those signs will be discussed and remembered. They may even act to rectify their hazardous habits, thus sometimes helping in minimising the environmental risks. Because of their obvious novelty to most of the rural population, the effects of the signs may be more lasting on them compared to their effects on the urban residents. Other prospectives which may possibly be useful in disseminating environmental risks are the traditional ones. Jatra, Jari, Sari, Gambhira, Kabi gan, Kabir larai, etc. are still very popular with the village people. Cultural roots of majority people of the cities are still in villages and these people have moved to cities for livelihood or for other reasons. These people also feel closer to the traditional media. Keeping the melody intact, if the messages regarding environmental risks could be inserted into the programmes of such media, the effect could be almost magical. In addition to those media, feature films, particularly popular with the working class of the country, should also be intelligently exploited to carry and disseminate necessary messages about environment. It is a good sign in our society that middle class viewers of the feature films are recently returning to the cinema halls. If the present trend continues, the cinema's strength as carriers of development messages including the environmental ones are expected to increase significantly. International electronic media sometimes proved to be very helpful to Bangladeshis facing natural disasters. We expect that in future the international electronic media, having enough men, money, materials and logistic support, should attempt to prepare special programmes for some particular areas in their vernacular languages. Programmes about environmental risks, for example, should be made in Bangla for the Bangla speaking areas. As they have the most modern technical facilities to beam any message anywhere in the world, programmes prepared by them in a particular language can be broadcast or telecast only to a particular area in a given time. This will increase the chances of success for such programmes. Last but not the least, all these communications about environmental risks should be followed by proper feedback, otherwise the communicators will remain in the dark about the successes or failures of their endeavours. The reactions of the readers, listeners and viewers must be taken into serious account while constructing new messages about both the old and new situations regarding environment. Communication amongst the environment activists working in different parts of the world is also very important. Through media and through all other available channels, there should be exchange of information, data, and experience between them so that all of them together could strive well to make the world a better and safer place to live in.
