Best of Rochester 2012: Media

1. For the folks who listed fracking as the most ignored local news story for 2012, please follow @innovationtrail or visit http://www.innovationtrail.org for ongoing coverage, and background dating back to 2010.

2. It is an outrage that the New York State Fracking issue has not been thoroughly investigated in our Rochester local media. Some might say that Fracking (slang for hydraulic fracturing) is so controversial that our local media is afraid to upset their subscribers and potential ad consumers. But what’s the point of being a news agency if you don’t investigate controversial issues? Some would say if you are ‘pro’ Fracking or ‘anti’ Fracking you cannot be objective on Fracking. I say that is the wrong heuristic because the focus of our attention should be on the health of our environment, not on the health of a particular industry. Our media needs to change their notion of ‘objectivity’ when it comes to environmental issues, especially as Climate Change becomes the lens from which we should view all environmental issues. We are supposed to be informed about important issues by our media, not blinded by them.

Comments are closed.