Mediating nature
The global discourses of ecological crisis and utopia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22693534 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Derek Moscato (0000-0002-1881-2651, Western Washington University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | E4-E7 |
| Publication date | 2018-04-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-9916 • E-ISSN: 1460-2466 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/joc/jqy010 |
| OpenAlex | W2800456274 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 1 |
When the British television program Planet Earth II was released to the delight of armchair ecologists over a year ago, it provided another compelling milestone for environmental media. Here was a documentary series about the earth’s ecological conditions, pristine wilderness areas, and dynamic biodiversity playing to mainstream audiences and competing with live sporting events and streaming fantasy dramatizations for critical and mainstream attention. Even as environmentalists debated its merits as green entertainment, there was no doubt about the production values and immersive visuals that made it “must-see” television—with some pundits in the popular press imploring their readers to upgrade their television sets for the ultimate in big-screen, high-definition viewing. In this sense, Planet Earth II was more than just a winning bet for the BBC; it has emerged a seminal moment for global media. Yet even as this high-end of nature programming on cable television thrives, so does a scrappy array of reality shows depicting narratives of natural resources extraction, wilderness survival, and environmental activism. There are so many reality programs about Alaska’s frontier that the Alaska Dispatch News claims its own columnist dedicated to the genre; while another daily has described some of the distortions about the state, along with real-world headaches created by producers and show characters associated with the programs, as a “disrespect for the Last Frontier” (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 2016, para. 6).
Advertising · Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Ecological crisis · Entertainment · Environmental ethics · Fantasy · Frontier · Literature · Mainstream · Media studies · Narrative · Political science · Sociology · Utopia · Wilderness · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Ecology · History · Law
| Highly cited | No |
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