Media, Environment and the Network Society

Media, Environment and the Network Society provides a timely and far-reaching analysis of the shifting role of the media in covering some of the most important global environmental challenges we face today. Anderson examines the influential theory of 'network society' and discusses its significance for understanding the nature of contemporary environmental activism and the media politics of the environment. She argues that the success of an environmental campaign cannot be judged by media visibility alone. Among the key questions the book seeks to address are: What factors trigger particular environmental stories to make their way into the headlines while others are ignored? How do issue attention cycles operate? And how do some actors seek to keep issues off the agenda? The chapters focus specifically on climate change, the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and emerging technologies such as synthetic biology and nanotechnology.

Alison G. Anderson is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Culture, Community and Society at the University of Plymouth, UK. She is Editor of Environmental Communication. Her previous books include Media, Culture and the Environment (1997) and Nanotechnology, Risk and Communication (2009) with Alan Petersen, Clare Wilkinson and Stuart Allan.