GAGGED: BAG BANS--TOP 25 CENSORED STORIES OF 2011
By Stiv Wilson on January 03, 2012
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(Me, Gagged By A Plastic Bag)
I just received a a google alert about plastic bags and was interested to learn that one of the top 25 censored stories by the media in 2011 is about bag ban stories being suppressed. No surprise here, really--- day after day we battle misinformation spread by the industry and the media about plastic pollution, bags bans, and the efficacy of recycling. Industry is big, mean and private, and they have the money to spend on PR to get the media's attention-- what's disheartening is that the media so often just repeats what they say, without looking into the veracity of the claim made. Did you know, for example, that over 25% of the world has now taken action to stop plastic bag pollution in less than six years? It's interesting that this story is so controversial, but when you're dealing with an industry that makes a lot of money selling pollution, surprise, surprise. And they insult our intelligence by making claims, citing sources that when one actually looks at the source itself, you often find the opposite of the claim. Remember the whole reusable bag bacteria issue where industry claimed that reusable bags were dangerous? Well, if you read the report itself, you find that bacteria is present, but not the types that are dangerous to human health. And another-- a recent Hilex Poly blog post claimed that recycling trends for plastic bags are going up. When you actually click through to the EPA report Hilex cites, you find that plastic bag recycling is actually going down, not up. It's unbelievable.
It's no surprise to see the media perpetuating the misinformation. Who has time to read a 50+ page EPA report to see if the data stated is actually supported? As a journalist turned activist, it amazes me that so many journalists just don't track down primary sources anymore and even more, that their editors don't require them too.
This is how it happens: Press Release comes in off of PR News Service---Associated Press Person takes Press Release and rewrites it in the form of a news story---- puts story out on AP wire---story gets aggregated all over the place----people think it's true because the same information exists on the sites of multiple news agencies. VOILA! That's the propaganda machine at work, even though the actual source of the propaganda is a cut and paste from an industry press release. Such was the case with this story on GreenBiz.com which took twenty hours of primary source research to dismantle in the rebuttal piece I wrote for Greenbiz, here (which, incidentally, is a really good primer for talking points around the issue). My experience here illustrates the problem well. I know the founder of GreenBiz, a guy named Peter May, who I once did a webinar on digital media with ages ago. Pete's a really good guy, who developed a really good news site that I typically trust. But when, as Bono says in the song, Sunday, Bloody Sunday, "When fact is fiction and TV, reality," what's a citizen to do? Hell, what's the owner of media company to do?
The answer resides with me. The answer resides with you. The only solution to this problem requires that citizen and stakeholder participation in the information delivery process goes way the heck up. If you're not outraged, you're not reading the facts about plastic from primary sources. So read. Get Educated. Host a community forum. Back up your facts. Speak out. WE THE PEOPLE, the movement to stop plastic pollution, are the only vehicle to solution, which means, if YOU and I don't stand up, make the truth heard, who the heck will?
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Tags
Plastic Pollution Ban The Bag The North Pacific Gyre Marine Debris Bag Bans Bag The Ban Hilex Poly
3 Comments 
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Venice activist
Feb 26, 2012 7:37 AM
1 I am opposed to anyone telling me what to do with the innocuous details of my life... Those who don't recycle don't reuse plastic bags We Pay For ultimately in consumer priced goods...
I don't want to pay more separately because of every PC dominator who want to over-supra-regulate our personal lives...
There Must Be individual Individual Responsibility and thus blame people and not Parent them as on TV sitcoms.
I want to have us monitor ourselves on These issues...and regulate thieves frauds banks hedgefundeceivers and them all, not skimpy plastic bags that are mis-trashed or reused.
2. NPR played a revealing Pgrm re PR releases substituting for high % of pretend news stories... Should be replayed again... Last line was researchers were not interviewed... But asked to "Plse fax us a press release.." indicating that same game was still replayed for their cheap convenience..ugh
Good writing and urgings to do own critical thinking
Thanks
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Laurie G
Jan 21, 2012 7:17 AM
There are many socially conscious web savvy people out there - we now have the time, ability and resources to override fake web result by doing the same as the corporate media giants. Us, the 99% now have in our hands the knowledge to be as good or better at this game of web results. Search engine optimization SEO can be done relatively easily . Let's learn from ourselves. The OCCUPY movement. Wikileaks, Anonymous. Not hacking just playing the game only better, faster, quicker and stronger.
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Catherine
Jan 10, 2012 5:01 AM
Couldn't have said that all better myself. With a booming "Green" media Industry here in South Africa the Plastics Federation is finding more and more space to spend it's marketing budget. And "Green" Magazines and websites and events are being funded. The public is buying into it. And everyone is happy. But it's all rubbish! Keep writting or shouting back. it makes a difference.
