PURPOSE
to-the-heart questions : “ Why aren ’ t people paying more attention ? There is enough evidence we are destroying the planet . Why aren ’ t people out in the streets ? How do we motivate the public to demand action ?”
A silence followed and I didn ’ t produce much of an answer , but the question struck a chord with me for two reasons : First , because I was talking to ‘ Mr . Standing Ovation .’ David Suzuki is an inspiring speaker , one of the world ’ s great environmental educators , and here he was asking my advice and expressing frustration at not being able to motivate people . That was very humbling .
Second , since hanging out my public relations shingle in 1984 I have dealt with all kinds of prickly , front page , public relations controversies and crisis situations — food poisonings , labor disputes , market crashes , animal cruelty charges , bodies disappearing from funeral homes , Taser deaths , multimillion dollar bank fraud , exploding sawmills , election and sex scandals — and I ’ m seen as a guru in my field . But this was a communication dilemma of a different class , and the question baffled me . I remember muttering something about the state of politics but the truth was I had no idea .
Over the next few years , I became interested in the role that misinformation and pseudoscience play in this change resistance problem , and the ways in which manufactured doubt and controversy can be used to stall the growth of public concern and block public policy solutions .
In 2006 I co-founded DeSmogBlog to help dispel the public relations fog that swirls around climate science , to raise awareness and help people become savvy about spin . It has gained millions of
I wondered , how have we come to a time when facts don ’ t matter and how can we begin the journey back to where they do ?
Over the next few years , I became interested in the role that misinformation and pseudoscience play in this change resistance problem , and the ways in which manufactured doubt and controversy can be used to stall the growth of public concern and block public policy solutions .
readers and was named as one of the best blogs of 2011 by Time magazine . In 2009 I wrote Climate Cover-Up with Richard Littlemore , to take a deeper look at science propaganda and the widespread echo chamber of media and think tanks that magnify it . The book became a Canadian bestseller , was translated into Mandarin and reprinted in Spanish , yet I was shocked that people were not more outraged by all the evidence of deception .
So , several years ago I set out to write another book that wood take a deeper look at the history and techniques of propaganda , but as I began doing interviews it became painfully clear that misinformation campaigns and propaganda are only part of the problem . I was pointed in the direction of one of the most urgent and unexamined human relations problems of our time : pollution in the public square , that literal and figurative place where we assemble to talk freely and debate honestly , where we seek truth without recrimination , whether on a street corner , in a blog , campus hall , political meeting or community square .
I wondered , how have we come to a time when facts don ’ t matter and how can we begin the journey back to where they do ? This is not a book about creating campaigns to change people ’ s behavior as consumers or voters and it isn ’ t about persuading people to become environmentalists . It is about something much more fundamental . It ’ s about the
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