permaculture

[Pacific Edge Permaculture + Media <pacedge@magna.com.au>]

> From: Loren Davidson <lorenstwin@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Reaction to BBert
> 
> --- Pacific Edge Permaculture + Media <pacedge@magna.com.au> wrote:
> 
>> That is understandable. My observation of North Americans (this is simply 
>> an
>> observation, a generalisation - not a criticism) is that they react to
>> stressful events of this magnitude with public displays of emotion (as do
>> some other cultures) and by applying pressure on their government to take
>> immediate, rather than delayed and considered, action.
>> 
> Personally, I blame American commercial television, which promotes simple,
> quick solutions to all of life's problems...
> 
> Not only that, but since all of our media is corporate-owned, there is a
> dearth of stories that would reflect badly on those same corporations, and a
> corresponding lack of depth in our investigative reporting.
> 
I guess we're lucky then to have two government-owned national television
networks - the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Special
Broadcasting Service (SBS).

Both of these organisations are government-funded but operate independently
in an editorial sense, including reporting critically on government at all
levels. The journalists, editors and producers guard that editorial
independence. While the SBS accepts sponsorships, showing ads for a limited
number of sponsors, the ABC does not broadcast advertising. Both networks
broadcast a number of current affair programs on their television and radio
networks (Am and FM) and the ABC operates an AM band 'news radio' - 24-hour
news, current affairs, news analysis, science and other topics. The ABC is
akin to Britain's BBC. Both networks also offer an online news service.

> ObPc: This is probably why Pc and even organic farming is such a hard sell 
> in
> many places, because it doesn't result in immediate gratification.  And 
> since
> it's hard for big companies to make a profit on it...coverage of Pc gets
> discouraged.
> 
Fortunately, organic farming and gardening and biodynamic farming receive
some coverage on the ABC's rural and gardening programs. Gardening
Australia, a nationally broadcast Friday evening television program on ABC
TV, is hosted by Peter Cundall, a longtime member of the Tasmanian Organic
Farming and Gardening Society. He promotes organics on the show.

> I'm not sure what to do about this, or how to create "invisible structures" 
> of
> mass communication to help...but that's part of how I see the
> problem/opportunity.
> 
I think you have to create your own media systems, of which this email
network is a part. That can fulfil a networking and news function to keep
people in touch, to discuss issues, to pass on news and to stop people
feeling so isolated. There are a number of Australians on this list, and we
created, at the start of this year, a regional Australia/ New Zealand/ South
Pacific listserv called permaculture-oceania.

Another role for a permaculture media is education - expanding our
collective knowledge base by people writing about what they finds works and
what doesn't, raising theoretical possibilities for people to explore and
documenting personal experience and life stories so that they inspire
others.

The form of media would depend on costs, time availability and so on.

Thanks for your interesting response. Oh, yes, almost forgot... your comment
on what you say are deficiencies in US investigative reporting... yet, when
I did my media studies/ journalism degree some time ago, we studied US
investigative reporting, especially  the 'new journalism' of the 1970s, what
today might be called literary journalism or creative nonfiction. I still
think there is some good American investigative reporting and writing in
general. 

Thanks for responding to my posting.

...Russ Grayson