Despite the plethora of evidence that suggests the cause of climate change is very likely man-made, E360 Digest noted only a small majority of the public, around fifty-eight percent, believes this to be true. On the other hand,  The Guardian reported that 97% of scientists attribute climate change to anthropogenic, man-made, forces. If the majority of scientific consensus is that climate change is due to anthropogenic forces, then why does a significantly small majority of the public believe the consensus is true? The reason a percentage of the public still denies that climate change is man-made can be attributed to fake news and disinformation in today’s media ecosystem.

Our current media ecosystem fosters a participatory culture in which all members of society are encouraged to participate. While this ecosystem can be beneficial in representing diverse perspectives, a problem arises in this participatory culture when scientific findings are falsified or rejected, causing disinformation to spread in the media ecosystem. On the topic of climate change, there is far too much data and evidence to refute the effects of greenhouse gases and fossil fuels, but with disinformation tactics climate change deniers have swayed public opinion on the issue. Climate change deniers make use of social platforms like Twitter and Facebook to deceive the public about the true causes and effects of climate change. The media system is an extremely powerful weapon for climate change deniers, even for President Donald Trump.

President Trump has refuted the scientific findings of climate change for years and has continued to refute new scientific findings. According to BBC, The Fourth National Climate Assessment found that climate change will cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars and will damage the health of American citizens. Despite the fact that these were the findings of his own administration, President Trump was quoted saying he does not believe the report. President Trump’s abundance of media coverage denying climate change has a direct influence on public opinion of climate change. According to Claire Wardle, “The ecosystem is now so polluted, we have to take responsibility for independently checking what we see online.” Specifically, Wardle’s insight reminds us that we can not blindly accept a “scientific journal” or even the President’s opinions on issues as important as climate change. We must be informed citizens that conduct our own research to truly understand the effects of anthropogenic climate change.

The reality of the situation is climate change is affecting our planet now and human activity is changing the natural fluctuations in temperature. Climate change is a time sensitive issue, which is why I decided to focus my DIY #3 remix on the disinformation tactics that have misinformed the public. In addition, I made sure to provide the real scientific consensus about the effects of anthropogenic global warming in my remix video. Globally, people need to be aware of the causes and effects of anthropogenic climate change so that we can take action to clean up the mess we have made.

Works Cited: Remix

CNN Photographs of Climate Change

Ted Talk Climate Change

97% of Scientists video

MSNBC Footage

CBSN Climate Report Coverage

The Guardian footage of Trump Refuting Report

National Geographic Causes and Effects of Climate Change

Sexual assault is a prevalent issue that has plagued society for far too long. Many people are directly affected by sexual assault whether they are children, teenagers or grown adults. As a college student, I focused my research on sexual assault on college campuses. Sexual assault on college campuses is a topic that needs more attention from the media, universities, and law enforcement to implement change.

I selected data points about how many women and men are sexually assaulted in college because men are often neglected from the narrative of sexual assault. A majority of the time, men are not mentioned as victims of sexual assault in media due to stereotypes and preconceived notions. The Fair Guidelines to Evaluating Bias claim media should, “Educate journalists about misconceptions involved in stereotypes, and about how stereotypes characterize individuals unfairly.” These stereotypes result in perspectives, like male victims, to be unrepresented. While a larger percentage of women in college are sexually assaulted compared to men, that doesn’t mean men should be removed from the conversation. I selected the graphics of men and women to highlight the difference in the percentage of men and women sexually assaulted.

In addition, I included the statistic from the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence that 8 out of 10 victims know the perpetrator. It makes you realize that victims likely see their assaulters, which heightens trauma. Victims deal with this trauma in different ways but I highlighted the 81% of women and 35% of men that report impacts such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  

One of the biggest issues in regards to sexual assault is the percentage of victims who do not report the abuse. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, “More than 90% of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report the assault.” The percentage of victims on college campuses that do not report the assault is much larger than assault that is reported to police. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center claims that in general 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to police compared to the 90% of victims on college campuses that don’t report. I found this statistic to be shocking, which is why I selected a graphic representation of 90% to make sure it stood out to the consumer the same way the statistic stood out to me. Our society has encouraged rape culture and victim blaming, and as a result, 90% of victims on college campuses do not report the assault. In turn, no justice is served and the perpetrators continue to assault others, contributing to an endless cycle of injustice. The injustice of sexual assault must come to an end, which is why I used the color blue as the background for my infographic because it is the color that represents sexual assault awareness. We need to raise more awareness for sexual assault on college campuses and remind everyone that the victim is never at fault.