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Tuesday 17 September 2019

Prospective 'good will' from sponsorship of a sporting event in times of Climate Emergency



Soon to impact on TV screens around the world is the matter of the Rugby World Cup in Japan this weekend, trailers on ITV have informed me. That brings with it huge sports sponsorship deals between rugby nations and multinational brands. That can work for or against global brands, and I sure hope it works against global insurer AIG's plans to underwrite Adani's coal field in the Great Barrier Reef and also sponsor the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Team!

(My initial thought regarding Rugby World Cup 2019 was the matter of how the air miles of the travelling fans might impact on global warming.)

SumOfUs: 'Fighting for people, not profit', write:
In just a few days, the All Blacks will be charging onto the field at the Rugby World Cup proudly wearing the Silver Fern. 

But as thousands of Kiwi Rugby fans put on their black shirts this week, they will also be wearing another, more sinister logo: principal sponsor, AIG.

AIG is not just another boring insurance company. It is doing what 14 other companies have refused to do: insure the Adani Carmichael mine. The most bitterly opposed mine in Australia’s history.
This matter refers me back to Eleanor MacLean's highlighting of how sponsorship of mass media distorts social perspectives, as outlined in the Table of Contents for her 1981 book: Between the Lines: How to detect bias and distortion in the news and everyday life.

Between the Lines
How to Detect Bias and Propaganda in the News and Everyday Life

MacLean, Eleanor
Publisher:  Deveric, Halifax, Canada
Year Published:  1981  
Pages:  296pp   ISBN:  0-9690919-0-7
Library of Congress Number:  P91.M23   Dewey:  302.2'4
Resource Type:  Book
Cx Number:  CX8412

An exploration of medthods of "dec-doing" our daily newspapers and radio/TV news. Examines our predominant sources of information (mass media) and indicates the existence of many alternative sources of informaiton.

Abstract: 

Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. What gave you that idea?
Introduction
Forming opinions
Thinking clearly
The mass media of communication
Further reading
2. Getting the message
Introduction
Determining the overall message
Bias and propaganda techniques
De-coding some messages
News and current events
Mass culture
Impact of propaganda and advertising
Further reading
3. This message was brought to you by . . .
Introduction
1. Where the news comes from
2. Ownership and control
3. How do present trends affect the media's message?
4. Where does government fit in?
5. The global village
6. Isn't there any good news
Further reading
4. Propaganda, bias and point of view
Introduction
The first casualty
The Bloody Road to Zimbabwe
Textual analysis of The Bloody Road to Zimbabwe
The other side of the story
Further reading
5. "Underdevelopment": Case studies
Introduction
Case Study #1: Brazil
Case Study #2: The Atlantic Provinces
Conclusions: Where is the "Third World"?
Further reading
6. Do not adjust . . .
Communication and modern world problems
1. The analysis
Postscript: the experience
2. Resources
Subscriptions/ newsletters
Information centres/ sources
Of interest to educators
Appendices
For Chapter 1:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
For Chapter 3:
Atlantic Canada media ownership
Maclean-Hunter
Thomson newspaper chain
Southam
Torstar
A missing section on the elite
For Chapter 4:
Last of the few
Notes
List of tables
Index

Source: https://www.connexions.org/CxLibrary/CX8412.htm

A question from all this might be, "Will ITV News attempt to play down the issue of how controversial the All Blacks shirt sponsorship deal is?"

Another question might be, have mainstream media news channels reported sufficiently about the global implications of Adani Carmichael's climate criminal activities regarding global warming prospects? If not, perhaps a key influence has been the desire not to upset potential advertising revenues for commercial mass media?

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