Eco Friendly Media

As the industry works towards a greener environment, Suzy Bashford looks at the action media owners are taking to reduce their carbon footprint

Media is such a broad church today that it's no surprise there's a raft of different approaches to tackling the issue of sustainability.

The Guardian newspaper sees its role as one of a moral voice, influencing the public through its editorial. In contrast, new media companies such as Google do not have an editorial voice. Consequently, Google is aligning itself with technological projects working towards a greener environment.

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB has a different business model again, and so has different opportunities to engage its customer in a green dialogue.For the broadcaster, face-to-face contact is proving a key part of the communications mix.

Media companies now realise that they shouldn't even broach the subject of sustainability without getting their own houses in order. Emap Communications, recently acquired by Bauer, is a good example of a company that saw its recent move into new offices as an opportunity to herald a new era of attitude and behaviour.

Whichever sector media players operate in, they agree that corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies can no longer get away with being "tokenistic". Consumers are becoming increasingly interested in their own environmental impact on the world, and they expect their media to inform, educate and engage them in the debate.

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