The media should cover youth like Boyan Slat, not Greta Thunberg
Boyan Slat is a young adult who came up with a very useful invention for the environment. Yet the media would rather give Greta Thunberg a platform.
Loading the front page…
Boyan Slat is a young adult who came up with a very useful invention for the environment. Yet the media would rather give Greta Thunberg a platform.
There is something peculiar about the amount, or should I say, endless coverage of Greta Thunberg’s crusade to save the planet and the total disinterest the media has in similar stories of activists who propose actual solutions. While I can admire Greta’s tenacious spirit and devotion to what is certainly a noble cause. It seems as though the media’s divise nature these days and the general public’s proclivity for doom and gloom news stories has left other activists high and dry.
What’s worse still is that it appears as though young environmental activists who are proposing tangible and viable solutions are overlooked. Who wants a solution to a catastrophic problem? Sure it’s good for the world and the preservation of the human race, but does it get clicks. If it bleeds it leads, isn’t that the old maxim of journalism?
If you want to go viral nowadays in a positive sense, you better be a cat, or a K-Pop star with funny dance moves. Otherwise keep it grim, we might have been wrong about Y2K but this time it’s all over for real.
Our media make us dumb. pic.twitter.com/h5zUqCb941
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton)
Case and point.
Boyan Slat created and ocean cleanup system at the age of 16, the same age Greta Thunberg is now. Sure, he got some press, but far less for actually being a child prodigy. Thunberg seems like her heart is in the right place and all, but unless she came up with an actual invention or new, improved climate model why should the world listen to what she has to say?
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
