Jurnalismul de mediu, de la social la ecologic

Abstract

Environmental journalism is a media field that, for several decades, has been looking for followers in the professional guild, but also in the public space. Carrying out journalistic investigations on ecological topics requires extensive knowledge from several fields of natural sciences: biology, genetics, and ecology, but also from the fields of social and human sciences. Not every journalist in the digital age, where on-the-go documentation becomes a model, dares to link his/her activity to environmental investigations, which, in addition to requiring permanent field trips, require deep knowledge in a trans-disciplinary spectrum and permanent communication with experts from various fields of science. These considerations explain the small number of journalists practicing media investigations on ecological topics. In the guild hierarchy, they are in prestigious places, this ensuring the recognition and trust not only of the general public, but also of scientists. Environmental investigative journalism and sociological research share more than just the “investigation” term. In what follows we will see that the methods and procedures applied in sociological research can also be used in ecological media investigations.