There are rumors every year, especially in recent years, environmental protection is no exception, and it involves all aspects.
How do environmental rumors come about, why is there such a market, and how to curb their spread? The reporter interviewed experts from all sides.
The definition of rumor
"There is no corresponding factual basis, but statements fabricated and spread through certain channels are all rumors." Kuang, a professor at the School of Journalism of Renmin University of China, said that the most fundamental feature of rumors is that they are not in line with the facts. In traditional society, rumors spread from person to person through word of mouth. After entering the internet era, rumors have achieved a leap in communication efficiency with the help of the network platform, which is fast and far away, which is not available in all previous communication methods.
"Environmental issues are complex and changeable, involving multiple disciplines, and have certain professionalism and knowledge." Ma Jun, director of the Center for Public Environmental Research, said that once an emergency closely related to public life occurs, there will be all kinds of speculations, many of which are specious and spread like wildfire. Some rumors have limited influence, but some rumors will cause social panic and affect the normal order of society. Some rumors are directional, such as rumors related to smog, which will also affect environmental governance, and the harm cannot be underestimated.
Tang Jie, an associate professor at the School of Public Administration of China Renmin University, believes that rumors may bring harm at two levels: First, they infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of individuals, groups or organizations; Second, it affects the normal operation of the economic and social order.
"The average sulfur content of coal is 1.4%, and the sulfur content of imported high-sulfur petroleum coke is as high as 5.5%-7%. Burning petroleum coke releases 300,000-500,000 tons of sulfur into the atmosphere every year, and there is no smog. " Not long ago, an article entitled "The Truth of Smog-Imported High Sulfur Petroleum Coke" was widely spread on the Internet. The article is aimed at petroleum coke, as if petroleum coke is the chief culprit of smog.
Subsequently, the situation reversed, and the relevant person in charge of the Energy Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission said that coal was dominant in China's energy structure. Petroleum coke, as a by-product of petroleum, has a low output and limited use in China. It is neither accurate nor realistic to judge petroleum coke as the chief culprit of smog. That article is a complete rumor.
There are many rumors about environmental protection. Last year's "Sixth Five-Year Plan" Environment Day, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau released the top ten environmental rumors for the first time, involving smog, water pollution, solid waste and electromagnetic radiation. After seeing the rumors and doubts of authority, it is estimated that many people have an epiphany. These rumors are rampant and hurt the public's nerves.
"environmental rumors are flying all over the sky, indicating the public's strong concern about environmental issues. This strong concern is combined with the professionalism of the environmental protection field itself, and the psychological' social waterfall' effect is revealed. " Tang Jie said that once someone believes this rumor, more and more people will believe it, forming a powerful waterfall trend.
Another feature of environmental rumors is that they are spread many times. For example, "nuclear fog pollution" was an old rumor several years ago, but it began to spread again when severe smog appeared in autumn and winter from 2065438+05 to 2065438+06. This shows that the public's anxiety at the time of the pollution incident is a "fertile ground" for the spread of rumors.
Fear of being victimized, but lack of common sense, makes rumors flood.
The more important the event is, the less clear the facts are, and the faster and wider the rumors spread.
Mark Twain, a famous American writer, once said, "When the truth is still putting on its shoes, rumors have spread halfway around the world." How did the rumor come into being and why did it spread so fast?
"Rumors may be deliberately fabricated by someone, or they may stem from information being partially forgotten, wrongly remembered, misread, or mixed with subjective information in the process of communication. People who deliberately fabricate rumors may have motives such as economic interests, political intentions, retaliation against others, and may also have psychological factors such as personal display. " Tang Jie said that rumors need certain conditions to spread widely, influence public opinion and have a significant social impact.
Kuang told reporters that there is a rumor spreading formula: rumor = importance × fuzziness × public critical ability. The spread speed of rumors is closely related to the importance of events, the fuzziness of facts and the critical ability of rumor audiences. The more important an event is, the less clear the facts are, and the faster and wider the rumor spreads, the greater its harm will be.
After the incident, it will take some time to find out the truth, but the public is eager to know the situation at the first time. In the period when government departments and traditional media are speechless, the network will become a hotbed of rumors and an accelerator of communication. There is only one truth, but rumors can be translated into multiple versions to spread. "In terms of smog, there are different opinions on how smog is produced. Not only many people don't understand, but also professionals have no conclusion. Because it is too professional and vague, most people don't understand it. Under this circumstance, it is normal for rumors of smog to fly all over the sky. " Yan said.
20 1 1 In March, a major earthquake occurred on the east coast of Japan, and a nuclear accident occurred at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. No one expected that this nuclear accident would trigger a panic buying storm in China. "Iodine in salt can prevent nuclear radiation; Affected by nuclear radiation in Japan, there will be a shortage of domestic salt production. " Affected by these two news, some areas began to snap up salt crazily. In many places, salt was robbed in one day, and merchants took the opportunity to raise prices. The market order is chaotic. Relevant departments organize the supply of goods in many ways to ensure the supply of salt. Afterwards, two pieces of news were also confirmed as rumors.
"Many people realize that radiation will bring environmental problems, but they don't know enough about under what circumstances health hazards will occur, and it is easy to believe rumors." Zhu, director of the Environmental Damage Appraisal and Evaluation Center of the Chinese Society of Environmental Sciences, said.
The results of the ninth survey of China citizens' scientific quality released by China Association for Science and Technology show that in 20 15 years, the proportion of Chinese citizens with scientific quality is only 6.2%. The survey results released by the Chinese Society of Environmental Sciences not long ago also show that residents' environmental and health literacy level is low, and less than 9 residents per 100 have the basic concepts, knowledge and skills of environment and health. "The public is aware of the harm of pollution with the existing level of knowledge, but the understanding of relevant knowledge and common sense is far from enough, leading to rumors." Zhu said to:
Rumors stop at openness and wisdom.
We should kill rumors with the truth at the first time. The public must carefully identify it and not blindly forward it.
"It is necessary to scientifically define the difference between rumors and rumors and academic discussions. Some remarks are rumors, some are rumors, and some are normal academic discussions. Some people with professional backgrounds have put forward their own academic opinions. " Ma Jun said that when it comes to issues of great concern and controversy, all parties concerned should take responsibility, help the public understand scientifically, and don't let the public misunderstand.
Kuang Wenbo believes that not all rumors are malicious, and most people just don't know the real situation. "Once the authoritative release can't keep up, rumors will fly all over the sky. We should kill rumors with the truth at the first time. Rumors stop at publicity, and openness and transparency are the fundamental policies to deal with rumors. In the case that the truth of the incident is clear, relevant government departments should announce the truth in mainstream media and new media platforms as soon as possible to stifle rumors. "
Ma Jun told reporters that timely disclosure of information held by the government itself can curb many rumors. Therefore, it is also the work that the environmental protection department is doing to make a good plan, seize the key time nodes and come up with an authoritative voice.
Tang Jie suggested that we can integrate the construction of rumor-dispelling information platform, rely on the grass-roots governance system, and establish a rumor-dispelling mechanism with classified governance and effective response. For the problems that need to be clarified urgently, we should not just publish a notice in official website or the mainstream media, but make use of various social new media channels to spread rumors. At the same time, strengthen communication with social organizations, give full play to the professional advantages of social organizations, and participate in the work of dispelling rumors.
"Improving the credibility of relevant government departments and improving the public's critical ability will also help curb the spread of rumors." Kuang suggested that government departments should make use of this law to summarize and publish the similarities and differences of rumors and the methods to identify rumors in time, so as to enhance the public's ability to identify them. Rumors often show the characteristics of vague source, overall inaccuracy, fabricated details, exaggerated facts, out of context and so on. When the public encounters such information, they must carefully identify and verify it, and do not follow the trend or blindly forward it.
Ma Jun suggested that to do a good job in environmental protection science popularization, education departments and schools should incorporate relevant knowledge into education content, and social organizations should carry out relevant activities to popularize knowledge. "Environmental science should not be high, and it should be accepted by the public."