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WWU’s Derek Moscato Publishes 'Environmental Communication and the Wild'

What do abandoned malls, #vanlifers and marketing campaigns for wilderness have in common? WWU Professor of Journalism Derek Moscato can tell you

Frances Badgett

WWU Communications

WWU Professor of Journalism and editor of "Environmental Communication and the Wild" Derek Moscato.

In “Environmental Communication and the Wild: Image, Industry and Technology,” edited by Derek Moscato and Phillip Duncan, authors from a wide range of academic disciplines explore the ecological spaces that people explore, inhabit, and frame as a background for social media, filmmaking, photography, digital landscapes and marketing.

In addition to his teaching, Moscato is a long-time communications practitioner whose interest in this book stems in great part from his scholarly work in environmental journalism. 

His previous book “Dirt Persuasion: Civic Environmental Persuasion and the Heartland's Pipeline Fight” received the 2023 Choice Outstanding Academic Title and the 2023 Nebraska Best Book Award. More recently, he published “Environmental Strategic Communication: Advocacy, Persuasion, and Public Relations” (Rowman & Littlefield) to help practitioners and students navigate the communication terrain of ecological policy and protection. 

One of the concepts in "Environmental Communication and the Wild" is that of haikyo, or the Japanese art of exploring abandoned spaces.

In “Environmental Communication and the Wild,” Moscato brings together contributors to explore Japanese haikyo, which is the exploration of abandoned spaces; Disneynature, or the strange intersection of nature and Disney parks; #vanlife and the ways in which vanlifers seek out wild spaces to “frame” their lifestyles; the “Wild, Wonderful West Virginia” tourism campaign, selling the outdoors as a destination, but paid for by coal companies; and the marketing campaigns for Yeti and Patagonia, which sell products to be used in the outdoors by filming adventure reels of outdoor adventures, among many other examples. 

In the U.S., the Urbex movement is similar to Japanese haikyo. Urbex explorers seek out radio towers, abandoned malls, and even the Katrina-ravaged Charity Hospital in New Orleans. These abandoned and often chained up or barred locations become their own kind of wilderness.

“The premise is really about contrasting the grounded, physical dimension of our natural world versus environmental space that is mediated and shaped by marketing, film, photography and digital media. For example, we often backdrop our photos with nature, which in turn encourages more usage and engagement with wild space,” Moscato said. “This mediation of nature therefore has real-world impacts, both positive and negative. On the positive side, protection of sensitive ecologies and environmental spaces for public benefit often relies on the power of advocacy through journalism, documentary films, and even social media hashtags.”

What does it mean when the outdoors themselves are a product to be sold, or a backdrop for Instagram photos? Does it cheapen our experience of wild lands and degrade them, or draw attention to the natural beauty of our outdoors and the need to preserve our spaces? In “Environmental Communication and the Wild,” Moscato and the authors’ answer is yes.

To learn more about Journalism at WWU, follow this link.

Frances Badgett covers the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Fine and Performing Arts Communications. Reach out to her with story ideas at badgetf@wwu.edu.