By Nigel Morris
Between personal bias, the media and vested interests it’s no wonder much of our population is confused about what to believe when it comes to solar and climate change.
My father is no rocket scientist, but he is a well-educated man and has the wisdom of age (sorry mate). He also has an outstanding ability to take a philosophical view on the world; to try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and form the most balanced view he can on important issues.
We spoke at length recently after two documentaries to discuss what they meant for Australia. The first was Dick Smith’s “Ten Bucks a Litre” and the second was the ABC’s “Corridors of Power” which told the story of the Manning Alliance’s successful battle against unwarranted investment in power transmission lines.
Our discussion focused on how hard it is to unravel and define “the real truth” on so many issues and how these two documentaries gave such great examples of how we all have to be careful to have faith in what we are told by people and organisations we are supposed to trust ; but to add an equal dose of skepticism to what we hear, to take a stand on the big issues.
It also highlighted the complex issue of perpetual growth and how so much of our world is geared towards it. Our entire energy system is geared on growth in consumption and the regulatory environment plays into its hands perfectly. The finance world relies on perpetually more borrowing to grow and our own businesses need growth to avoid being left behind in competitive markets.
Personally, I thought Dick Smith tried to offer a balanced view, although my personal bias meant I disagreed with him on some issues and I think he was out of touch on what solar’s contribution can be. But the biggest disappointment was his (acknowledged) personal bias towards nuclear energy. It wrecked what could have otherwise been a pretty fair view.
The Corridors of Power highlighted a different issue. The documentary charted the successful challenge to Transgrid’s insistence that new transmission lines running through the Manning Valley were “essential”. It demonstrated how a well-connected and influential grassroots group can unravel the truth and even win. In this case proving that the transmission lines and indeed the whole justification put forward by State owned Transgrid was misleading and staggeringly biased by the fact that they are motivated by building more assets.
This all reminded me how as solar advocates we have a responsibility to do our damnedest to not fall into the trap of letting personal bias and passion skew our perspectives and arguments. Solar has a fantastic and massively under-exploited contribution to make and as we move towards parity in ever more places, we can let the results do the talking.
But we do have to remain vigilant and highly conscious of what’s going on around us.
As if to prove the point today, Prime Minster Kevin Rudd has come out on the attack, accusing Tony Abbott of being too close to Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation. Murdoch’s newspapers have made their position clear on who they support with headlines like “Kick this Mob Out” which as Rudd points out is their democratic right, but beneath it Fox Corp’s financial need to continue selling newsprint rather than supporting online content through the NBN reeks of bias.
News Corps response was“Any suggestion that the editorial position of our newspapers is based upon the commercial interests of Foxtel demonstrates a complete ignorance of both our business and of Foxtel”. Wow, their media person must have missed the expose on how Murdoch has a long track record of helping to install politicians in the UK who served their commercial interests better and, must have been in a coma while the recent trials of their staff were taking place over alleged bribes and telephone taps.
Even more amusing, now we have statistical evidence that “Watching Fox makes you distrust climate science”. Grist reported today on numerous, detailed research studies that show the impact of bias on viewers, depending on the bias of those involved in presenting.The graphs below summarise the findings from one of the studies.
What does it all mean? Well here’s my two cents worth.
If we are ever going to evolve as a society, we have to battle for less bias in the media. Go ahead, make money and argue for commercial interests but don’t confuse profit with news.
Secondly, I hate to say it, be we probably need to trust less. Governments and their corporations are far from impeccable (just ask ICAC about Government and profiteering on coal leases in NSW). We need to challenge the status quo and comprehend the vested interests.
And thirdly, we need to step up to the plate and try our damnedest to acknowledge our own bias, our own interest and not stretch the truth when it comes to our favourite issue of solar. We do have to play the game if we want success, but we can do it on merits.
The truth is, change is coming whether the paper and coal barons like it or not and if we just stick to relentlessly clarifying the facts and letting the results speak for themselves, we have a very bright future.
http://theenergycollective.com/solarbusiness/258836/seeking-balanced-views-solar-and-climate-change
Between personal bias, the media and vested interests it’s no wonder much of our population is confused about what to believe when it comes to solar and climate change.
My father is no rocket scientist, but he is a well-educated man and has the wisdom of age (sorry mate). He also has an outstanding ability to take a philosophical view on the world; to try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and form the most balanced view he can on important issues.
We spoke at length recently after two documentaries to discuss what they meant for Australia. The first was Dick Smith’s “Ten Bucks a Litre” and the second was the ABC’s “Corridors of Power” which told the story of the Manning Alliance’s successful battle against unwarranted investment in power transmission lines.
Our discussion focused on how hard it is to unravel and define “the real truth” on so many issues and how these two documentaries gave such great examples of how we all have to be careful to have faith in what we are told by people and organisations we are supposed to trust ; but to add an equal dose of skepticism to what we hear, to take a stand on the big issues.
It also highlighted the complex issue of perpetual growth and how so much of our world is geared towards it. Our entire energy system is geared on growth in consumption and the regulatory environment plays into its hands perfectly. The finance world relies on perpetually more borrowing to grow and our own businesses need growth to avoid being left behind in competitive markets.
Personally, I thought Dick Smith tried to offer a balanced view, although my personal bias meant I disagreed with him on some issues and I think he was out of touch on what solar’s contribution can be. But the biggest disappointment was his (acknowledged) personal bias towards nuclear energy. It wrecked what could have otherwise been a pretty fair view.
The Corridors of Power highlighted a different issue. The documentary charted the successful challenge to Transgrid’s insistence that new transmission lines running through the Manning Valley were “essential”. It demonstrated how a well-connected and influential grassroots group can unravel the truth and even win. In this case proving that the transmission lines and indeed the whole justification put forward by State owned Transgrid was misleading and staggeringly biased by the fact that they are motivated by building more assets.
This all reminded me how as solar advocates we have a responsibility to do our damnedest to not fall into the trap of letting personal bias and passion skew our perspectives and arguments. Solar has a fantastic and massively under-exploited contribution to make and as we move towards parity in ever more places, we can let the results do the talking.
But we do have to remain vigilant and highly conscious of what’s going on around us.
As if to prove the point today, Prime Minster Kevin Rudd has come out on the attack, accusing Tony Abbott of being too close to Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation. Murdoch’s newspapers have made their position clear on who they support with headlines like “Kick this Mob Out” which as Rudd points out is their democratic right, but beneath it Fox Corp’s financial need to continue selling newsprint rather than supporting online content through the NBN reeks of bias.
News Corps response was“Any suggestion that the editorial position of our newspapers is based upon the commercial interests of Foxtel demonstrates a complete ignorance of both our business and of Foxtel”. Wow, their media person must have missed the expose on how Murdoch has a long track record of helping to install politicians in the UK who served their commercial interests better and, must have been in a coma while the recent trials of their staff were taking place over alleged bribes and telephone taps.
Even more amusing, now we have statistical evidence that “Watching Fox makes you distrust climate science”. Grist reported today on numerous, detailed research studies that show the impact of bias on viewers, depending on the bias of those involved in presenting.The graphs below summarise the findings from one of the studies.
What does it all mean? Well here’s my two cents worth.
If we are ever going to evolve as a society, we have to battle for less bias in the media. Go ahead, make money and argue for commercial interests but don’t confuse profit with news.
Secondly, I hate to say it, be we probably need to trust less. Governments and their corporations are far from impeccable (just ask ICAC about Government and profiteering on coal leases in NSW). We need to challenge the status quo and comprehend the vested interests.
And thirdly, we need to step up to the plate and try our damnedest to acknowledge our own bias, our own interest and not stretch the truth when it comes to our favourite issue of solar. We do have to play the game if we want success, but we can do it on merits.
The truth is, change is coming whether the paper and coal barons like it or not and if we just stick to relentlessly clarifying the facts and letting the results speak for themselves, we have a very bright future.
http://theenergycollective.com/solarbusiness/258836/seeking-balanced-views-solar-and-climate-change
No comments:
Post a Comment