Public relations is the practice of managing the spread of information between an individual or organization and the public. This is why many theorist such as Weaver et al refers to PR as the information management machinery. Greenberg approaches, "...PR as a mode of communication that is part of a conflict over political and economic power, but also as part of a wider struggle around the production and use of social meaning whose outcomes are more contingent" (Greenberg, J., (2011), p. 68). He begins his argument by touching on Habermas's theory of the public sphere which is an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems. Years ago, this discussion began in salons, coffee shops and pubs and it was innocent of political and economic influence and power. However, now this form of discussion has lead to influence political action.
Greenberg touches on The David Suzuki Foundation (DSF) in order to explain how NGO is increasing its influence and PR industry connections to influence the global warming debate. They use tactics such as television and radio advertisements that promote both individual and government action to combat climate change. For advocacy groups, he uses the Friends of Science as an example. The PR tactics they use to spread information include the production of numerous material and information packages for the media and public. This includes a website, 23 minute video called Climate Catastrophe Cancelled, radio ads, climate change migration inittiatives and an annual public outreach luncheon in Calgary. They also mention organizations such as Greenpeace USA and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, however, their efforts in adapting PR strategies and tactics are minimal. Therefore, Greenberg's article discusses the importance of PR strategies and statics in getting the public attention. He mentions that advocacy groups have been successful in bringing the environment more and more into the media because of the adaptation of these strategies and tactics.
For my show and tell example:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2014/sep/23/leonardo-dicaprio-un-climate-change-summit-speech-video
Similar to Leonardo, President Mohammed Nasheed of the the Maldives in 2009 attended the the UN summit on climate change to discuss action needed towards climate change. However, the summit ultimately failed to create any concrete commitments to resolving the issue. Now in 2015, Leonardo DiCaprio's is back at the UN summit for climate change to discuss the need to action towards climate change yet again. He mentions how little changes such as changing your light bulb will no longer make a difference. If our ecosystem collapses, the economy will die. Ultimately this will lead to the downfall of everything on earth.
Second example:
Obama makes a similar statement about climate change by saying that we need to protect the only planet we have. Therefore, he has put a plan in place to address climate change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPtK9tm1kp4
http://www.weather.com/news/weather/video/president-obama-addresses-climate-change-in-the-state-of-the-union-address
http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/highlights-of-obamas-plan-to-cut-carbon/263/
These two videos relate back to Lakeoff's article from last week where he mentioned that small changes are okay and do make a difference but political action is only way to create a meaning and strong change for these environmental issues. As been in these two videos, climate change is finally front of mind for many as politicians and celebrities are now ensuring that climate change isn't being neglected. PR strategies and tactics are finally being employed for spreading information about political action towards climate change. Therefore, it seems that soon there will be no mention of who's winning the climate change battle, but rather, an idea of coming together to resolve the problem will be implemented.
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