It's time to tackle misinformation
A new resource that shares facts about life on our planet in a new, transparent and credible way
We need a gear change in environment and nature reporting
Over the four decades of my life, I have seen an ocean of misinformation spread to drown out the truth about global warming, renewable energies, sustainability, food infrastructure and biodiversity. While things have slowly got better, fact and truth continue to be hit with a barrage of false information. In fact, in recent years, most mainstream publications and now especially with social media, we’ve seen a worrying upsurge in misinformation on these important topics. I’d like to play a part in addressing this with YourEarth.info.
1. Why YourEarth.info, why now?
Rises in human caused global warming and biodiversity destruction continue at an alarming pace. We have to act now, we have to act together, and we have to turn the tide. To do this, we need politicians to act on our behalf around the world. But for politicians to act, we need ordinary people like you and me to vote for the right politicians and steer them to the right policies.
This means the public must be informed and believe what they are being told. To ensure this happens we absolutely must ensure the public trust the sources of information they are reading and also that the information is presented in a way that is understandable. YourEarth.info is aimed at you and me, the ordinary person who wants to read the truth from trusted specialists and sources of information in order to make the right decisions.
2. A community working toward fact, trust and simplicity
I would like other people to join me in making this happen.
For specialists such as climate scientists and ecologists, this is a platform to help promote your work and your voice. Your informed voice should be heard in every mainstream publication every day, but that is not happening. We look at almost every mainstream news outlet and rather than concentrate on informed opinions, we hear from people with an agenda or propaganda. This is much worse on social media.
With YourEarth.info I would like to set an example for a new way of reporting to the general public based on credibility and trust.
For everyone else, people like me, this is a place to learn about environment, nature, equality and food production in a super simple, easy to understand way. With content created around the informed voices of trusted specialists mentioned above.
3. What to expect by joining YourEarth.info
YourEath.info has just started, it’s run by one person, me, in my spare time. My aim is to publish at least one article (sent as a free newsletter to subscribers) every 1-2 months in the first year. In the second year I will reassess this frequency and decide if we need to increase that or if it seems to be working.
4. Get involved - your voice matters!
This is the beginning of a new non-profit publication about environment, nature, food and equality. At its heart, YourEarth.info will start with the big questions such as “How do we know climate change is real and caused by humans?”, “Can renewable energy power the whole world?”, “Are there risks to global food security?”
But I want to hear from you. What questions are on your mind that need answering? Please ask them below and we’ll add them to a list to consider. Are there any trusted resources or organisations we should know about? Are there specialists you think would help make YourEarth.info stronger by having their opinions in our articles?
5. Who am I?
My name is Jack Wallington, I am a writer and gardener with an interest in biodiversity, nature, environment and the food we eat and equal access to it. I’ve written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, many other publications and published a few books. I am not a scientist but I have been researching and reading about these topics all of my life and I am a content producer and editor. I am fairly informed, but I want to learn more myself. My role as editor and content producer will be to help simplify the content we publish to make it understandable, short and easy to read. Long term I imagine YourEarth.info could be managed by a group of trusted people rather than only me, I’m just here to get things started.
