Media, in its many forms, is an important arena for the construction of concepts and meanings in the environmental field. It can be seen as both reflecting and shaping public opinion and understanding of environmental problems, or for that matter - the environment itself. It thus becomes a significant data source for various investigations within the environmental field.
The Factuality of Truth: An Alternative Look at Popular Environmental Documentary Film Narratives
Although this is often not the case, many people still believe in the factuality of documentary films and their ability to convey an objective view of the world. This research explores the narratives of two most prominent environmental documentary films, namely Albert Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" and Home, directed by the French photographer, journalist and environmentalist Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The analysis in particular discusses consequences of different ways of constructing environmental problems in relation to sociopolitical realities and shows how the effects of differing rhetorical contexts and purposes in the two analyzed films suggest that these will have a severe impact on the outcomes of communication. But as the conclusions will show, the two analyzed films are also reflecting the growing divide in the environmental discourse- one between environmentalism calling for sweeping social transformations and neoliberal environmentalism seeking to solve the problems within current political and social systems.
Action Researcher: Milos Milicevic
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