Sachs Criticizes Press in J-School Speech

Professor and Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs played on an academic buzzword in a lecture at the Columbia School of Journalism, saying that the pursuit of sustainable development must be a “complex interdisciplinary” process.

Sachs’s discussion at the journalism school, which filled a lecture hall on Monday afternoon, was just one stop on his quest to visit every school at the University. He has been talking to students and faculty about their respective disciplines’ roles in sustainable development, which he defined as “the challenge of a global society achieving its economic wants, desires and needs, and at the same time doing that compatibly with the physical environment.”

He pointed out that meeting this challenge will require an interdisciplinary effort that would engage scientists, engineers, economists, businesspeople, and, more pertinently, the media.

Sachs put a special emphasis on the role of the media, saying that public education and public awareness were key components of the progress of sustainable development. He said that the push for development would not come directly from policy makers but rather from informed constituents pressuring their governments to take constructive action.

Sachs criticized some press organizations for failing to portray development issues accurately. In particular, he singled out the Wall Street Journal, calling its editorial pages “aggressively ignorant” and charging them with “spreading mass misinformation around the world,” especially surrounding the issue of climate change.

Holly Fletcher, a student at the journalism school who attended the event, shared some of Sachs’s disappointment with the press. “It is typical of news organizations to run stories they can get easily,” she said. “It didn’t surprise me that he has this opinion.”

Other audience members were more skeptical of Sachs’s views. Stephen Isaacs, a professor at the journalism school, said that Sachs’s opinion of the press was naive. He added that Sachs is mistaken in his belief that he can use the media to advance his cause. “Skepticism, suspicion is what we [journalists] are about. We have to oppose him ... He’s probably right about everything, but he may be wrong.”

In spite of their differing thoughts on the role of the press, Isaacs praised Sachs, saying, “I consider him the premier economist in the world.”

Fletcher echoed those positive sentiments. “Jeffrey Sachs is very influential,” she said. “He is renowned for his ideas and opinions ... You don’t often get to see him speak for free.”

During his lecture, Sachs also tried to draw attention to the struggle of the three billion people worldwide who are currently living in poverty, saying that the support for sustainable development should take precedent over the “global war on terror” begun by the Bush administration.

“Roughly half the planet rightly call the material struggle of life their central challenge,” Sachs said. “Sending troops to quell the unrest of hungry people is not very cost effective. ... It’s doomed to failure.” He also proposed a simple explanation for many of this decade’s terrorist attacks. “That’s not Islamic extremism, that’s just hunger.”