American Mass Media and Sustainable Development

Abstract

TheAmericanmassmediaoverwhelminglypromoteaconsumerculture,whilepayingscantattentiontotheeffects this culture has on the environment. American film and television, especially, is reaching more and more people worldwide, thus promoting wasteful overconsumption on a global scale by encouraging people to abandon traditional, sustainable lifestyles and to aspire to an unsustainable consumerist lifestyle. Hollywood has produced many highly successful movies addressing major social issues, including environmental issues such as chemical pollution, nuclear radiation, and global warming, yet it fails to tie these concerns to the consumerist behavior that is at the root of these problems. Although it may be too much to expect the American mass media to actively promote sustainable development, it is surely irresponsible to promoteconsumerismasifithadnoadverseenvironmentalconsequences.Ofcourse,ultimatepowerrestswiththeconsumer, without whom there would be no audience to make movies for; but the decision about which movies to make, and where to release them, is in the hands of production companies. They have responsibilities not only to present generations but also to future ones.