Media of Mass Destruction : how fake news is killing Italy's olive trees
Name
1015183046-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
1.83 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
a0538ba6ff2a807d0d900c4844117490
Author(s)
Guglielmi, Giorgia
Advisor(s)
Alan Paige Lightman.
Alternative Title
How fake news is killing Italy's olive trees
Date Issued
2017
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
In 2013, the plant pathogen Xylellafastidiosa was found in Salento, Italy's most southeastern region, famous for its centuries-old olive trees. Spread by insects, the bacterium is decimating those trees and compromising the production of olive oil, which accounts for a considerable part of the national output. Since there are no means to cure sick plants, the authorities ordered emergency measures to contain the disease, which included removing infected trees and using pesticides against insect vectors. In Salento, these measures aroused intense public opposition. Following a vilifying media campaign and under public pressure, an Italian court halted the containment measures and accused the scientists who detected Xylella as having caused the problem in the first place. The absence of a plan to contain the epidemic, the criminal charges against the scientists, and the public resistance due to inaccurate information may fuel the spread of the disease to the rest of Italy and eventually to the entire Mediterranean basin, with catastrophic economic consequences.
Description
Thesis: S.M. in Science Writing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 21-28).
Subjects
Comparative Media Studies.
Graduate Program in Science Writing.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Graduate Program in Science Writing
Terms of Use
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