Presentation at the 5th Massachusetts Sustainable Communities and 4th Sustainable Campuses Conference

1. The Media and
Sustainability
Jeff Inglis
Policy Analyst, Frontier Group
jeff@frontiergroup.org
@FrontierJeff
April 2015

2. Background
— Joined Frontier Group in 2014
— Previous career: journalist and editor
— Investigation, research, analysis
— Using research
— Spark action
— Make change

3. Journalism: Approach
— Documentary
— Descriptive
— Eschews direct advocacy

4. Journalism: Pitfalls
— Sustainability is urgent and immediate
— Passivity and detachment are out of place

5. Journalism: Opportunities
— Highlighting problems
— Dramatic imagery

6. Journalism: Advocacy
— Point of view
— Calls for action

7. Shift to advocacy
— Still collecting information
— Public records
— Government data
— Other sources
— Making recommendations
— Specific
— Direct

8. Advocacy: Three-step approach
— Identify the problem
— Imagine a world where that problem doesn’t exist
— Determine how to get from here to there

9. Advocacy: Identify the problem
— Go general at first
— Define it more exactly
— Use data to describe it
— Dig deeper for detail and stories

10. Advocacy: Envision a better world

11. Advocacy: Plot a way to get there
— Specific goals
— Targeted at different groups
— Members of the public
— Government agencies
— Businesses
— Non-profits
— Others
— Use others’ proposals
— Develop our own models

12. Finding our way to the future
— Use the hive mind
— Connect, communicate, collaborate
— Use journalists as links
— Seek news coverage from elsewhere
— Offer yourself to journalists as a resource
— Share information
— Often
— Generously