Planet Earth Heats Up as Media Issue

Never let it be said that San Diego media can’t spot a trend.

Sparked by the 20th anniversary of Earth Day next month, 1990 has been dubbed the Year of the Environment, and everyone from rock stars and actors to corporations and the Cable News Network is focusing on environmental issues.

Locally, radio and television stations are tripping over each other to portray themselves as environmentally sensitive, the station doing the most to help its audience became more environmentally aware. In sharp contrast to past years, they are actually competing with each other to promote environmental projects.

“It’s been incredible,” said Shelita Weinfield, special programs director for the group I Love a Clean San Diego County. “In the last three to six months, all the radio stations, television stations and newspapers have become excited about covering the things we’re doing.”

The “new twist,” she added, is a willingness on the part of the media to actually participate in events, to lend time, talent and resources beyond simply running public service announcements.

“We know (the environment) is a hot issue, and we know a lot of people are concerned about it,” said Nina Loffredo, promotions director for KKYY-FM (Y95), which has spent the last year building much of its public identity around environmentally related events. “It is the hot issue of the ‘90s.”

From KPBS announcing it will use both sides of a page in press releases to conserve paper (in addition to scheduling a range of environment-oriented programming) to long-term educational projects, San Diego media are getting involved in almost every level of efforts to conserve and protect the environment.

“When we go to talk to folks at radio and television stations and the newspapers, we often find that people are personally concerned, and they’re able to use their position to support their beliefs,” said Diane Takvorian, executive director of the Environmental Health Coalition.

In many ways, the media are simply responding to the public’s intensified interest in environmental issues, heightened by recent disasters such as the oil spills off Alaska and California. People throughout the world are discussing the immediate dangers posed by problems with the ozone layer, the rain forests, the greenhouse effect and other environmental issues, which don’t seem as abstract as they did 10 years ago.

“There is no question that viewers, when asked what they want to know more about, they say the environment,” said Neil Derrough, general manager of KNSD-TV (Channel 39), which recently added a reporter specifically assigned to cover environmental issues.

Radio station Y95 began its environmental campaign last April, when an on-air request for towels to help clean otters covered with oil from the Exxon Valdez prompted a massive response.

“We were buried in them,” said Y95 General Manager Carolyn Howe. “People said, ‘We didn’t know what to do, and you gave us something we could do.’ ”

The station formed “Project Earth” to work on environmental projects. Daily segments give listeners helpful tips. The station also works with I Love a Clean San Diego County on its adopt-a-beach program.

Last summer, when the Exxon Valdez came to San Diego for repairs, Y95 organized a protest that attracted more than 2,000 people to Fiesta Island at 6 a.m. on a weekday.

In general, the media have found response to environment-related events overwhelmingly positive.

A phone line focusing on the environment established by XTRA-FM (91X) nine months ago recently drew more than 4,000 calls in a week. Part of the “X Line”--which offers callers a menu of concert, club and job information, surf reports and other informational recordings--the environment line offers callers information on recycling, beach cleanups and local environmentally oriented activities.

Focusing on the environment, station General Manager Mike Glickenhaus said, is a natural link among the station, its young, rock ‘n’ roll audience and the politically active bands that come to town.

“Many of the bands we’ve been involved with have taken a leadership role” on the environment, Glickenhaus said.

Rival rock station KGB-FM (101.5) is also working on environmental causes.

“Rock ‘n’ roll has already proven its ability to inspire and lead,” said KGB promotions director Scott Chatfield. “Now’s the time to put it to work again.”

In addition to collecting and mailing thousands of “Rescue the Future” post cards to local politicians and other related activities, KGB is the radio sponsor for the “EarthFair,” which will be staged in Balboa Park on April 22 in conjunction with the local celebration of Earth Day. Takvorian said several radio stations are vying for the opportunity to sponsor EarthFair.

“The consensus among environmental scientists is that we’ve got 10 years to change the direction of mankind’s relationship with the Earth before our present course becomes irreversible,” Chatfield said.

In general, the immediacy of the problems--a new-found sense that the dangers have reached a critical point--has helped spark the media to do a better job of reporting the issues. The Times, the San Diego Union and the San Diego Tribune each have reporters specifically assigned to cover the environment.

“It’s easier when we call (the media), the interest is greater,” said Takvorian of the Environmental Health Coalition. “There is more of a sense of the press being interested and then doing follow-ups, more in-depth pieces.”

Television, with its constant need for visuals, has always had a tougher time covering broader environmental issues, such as the greenhouse effect and acid rain.

Environment stories “just don’t yield daily photo opportunities tailored to the eye-blinking attention span of the media,” Mark Hertsgaard wrote in a recent issue of Rolling Stone magazine. “How do you take a picture of the Earth getting hotter?”

Channel 39’s Derrough said he had wanted to add an environmental reporter for several months but couldn’t find the right reporter.

“The environment is one of the issues people love to say they like, but when you put it on the air, it comes across dull,” Derrough said. “It’s difficult to make it good TV.”

Channel 39 reporter Michael Settonni will be aided by a producer and cameraman, dubbed the “E Team.”

“Hopefully they will pick issues that won’t lull people to sleep, although sometimes you have to bite the bullet and do the best job you can,” Derrough said.

KGTV (Channel 10) news director Paul Sands said he also is planning to add a reporter specifically assigned to the environment.

“It’s a win-win situation,” said Weinfield of I Love a Clean San Diego County. “If you take on any other issue, you can get in trouble. If you take on the environment who can say you’re a bad guy?”

Of course, cynics may accuse the stations of simply joining a trend.

“There is no question that it is a politically favorable project now,” said Bob Bolinger, general manager of KKLQ (Q106). “Some may say we’re jumping on the bandwagon, but, if we’re helping, I say, so what?”

Weinfield agrees that the result is more important than the motive.

“I’m hoping it’s not just a flash in the pan kind of thing.”

Times Staff Writer Amy Wallace contributed to this article.