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PlanetEarthandglobalcommunication...|15
IntheRenaissanceepoch,manyancientworkswererepublished,but
alsomanynewbooksaboutnatureappeared,includingthatofLeonhart
Fuchs,UlissesAldrovandi,PierreBelonorKonradGessner.Johannes
Gutenberg’sinventionofmechanicalprintingmadeitpossibletoproduce
periodicalsthatbegantoappearinEuropeinthe17thcentury.Duringthe
Enlightenmentandthe19thcentury,alotofbooksandpressarticlesabout
variousaspectsofnaturewerepublished,andsomescientistsdealingwith
naturalphenomenabecamefamous,likeCarlLinnaeus,Alexandervon
HumboldtorCharlesDarwin,tonameonlyafewofthemostimportant.
Manynewspaperspromotedscientifictheoriesandideasaboutnature,
agricultureortheenvironment.Nevertheless,asLibbyLester(2010)states:
uTereislittleagreementonwhen‘theenvironment’began.Itcouldhave
been1962whenRachelCarsonpublishedSilentSpringwithitscompel-
lingopeningfableconnectinghumanactivity,scienceandnature”(Lester,
2010,p.17).WilliamCronon(2008)explains:
uItmaybeanoversimplificationtosaythatthemodernenvironmental
movementbeganwithRachelCarson’sSilentSpring,butitishardtoover-
statethatbook’simpact.Priortoitspublicationin1962,variousenviron-
mentalconcernswerebecomingmoreprominentintheyearsfollowing
WorldWarII.(ł)ButSilentSpringwasalightningrodlikenoother.
GainingvisibilityfirstasaseriesofarticlesintheNewYorkerandthenas
abest-sellingbook,itcatapulteditsauthor(ł)intoapoliticalfirestorm.
Carson’sindictmentofDDTandotherinsecticidesbroughtheatedrebuttals
fromchemicalcompaniesthatmanufacturedtheseproducts,fromgovern-
mentagenciesthatpromotedtheiruse,andfromscientistswhobelieved
thattheirbenefitsfaroutweighedtheirharms”(Cronon,2008,p.ix).
Althoughdińerentmediareportedenvironmentalissuesbeforeand
aferRachelCarson’sbook,itwasduringtheEarthSummitinRiode
Janeiroin1992whenenvironmentaljournalismwasborn(Parratt,2006,
p.17).Temedianotonlypresentedtheideaofsustainabledevelopment
towideraudiences,butalsobegantotreatseriouslyvariousenvironmental
issues.Ofcourse,manyarticlesonthissubjectappearedearlier,andin
1991(hence,beforetheEarthSummit),aradioprogramentitledLivingon
EarththatfocusedonenvironmentalproblemsdebutedontheAmerican
NationalPublicRadio,thankstothepersonalinterestsofthefounderof
thisprogram,SteveCurwood.Itshouldbementionedalsothatthefounder
ofthefirsttwenty-four-hoursTVnetwork,CNN,TedTurnerwasinter-
estedintheseproblemstoo,sosomeenvironmentalnewsanddocumen-
taryshows,suchasNetworkEarth,EarthMattersorlaterNext@CNN,was
