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1.2 ความเป็
นมากั
บวั
ตถุ
ประสงค์
ของการวิ
จั
ย (ภาษาอั
งกฤษ)
1.2.1 Background
Prior to the horrific 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami incident that resulted in the
evacuation of millions of people living near the two Japan nuclear reactors, the Fukushima I
and II, the public were seemingly convinced by the nuclear industry’s claim that nuclear power
was the new safe and clean alternative energy. Greenpeace and other environmental
organizations were deemed as stubborn for their refusal to support nuclear power. If it wasn’t
for the nuclear scare in Japan after the Tsunami, several nuclear power plants would have still
be on their way to completing construction. The researcher believed that the problem for
Greenpeace related to the way the organization communicated. There are more than a dozen
reasons why nuclear power is dangerous, but the message from Greenpeace was convoluted,
unfocused and antagonistic. They handed out lengthy and wordy article, along with dozens of
books detailing scientific research and statistics that confused, rather than informed. The
nuclear industry’s message was clearer: nuclear energy has 0% greenhouse gas omission and is
the perfect alternative to fossil fuel. The subject of nuclear is complex, but the nuclear industry
is at the advantage due to its willingness to use simple misleading arguments that are concise
and simplified. The researcher considered that a non-profit nongovernmental organization like
Greenpeace needed a new tool to help themmore effectively communicate to the public.
There were several debates over whose policy caused the 2008 worldwide financial crisis. The
two political parties in the United States each blamed another, which resulted in the public
becoming even less informed. Amedia designer named Jonathan Jarvis posted on YouTube, an
online video streaming site, his motion infographic (2009) that described in rich detail how the
financial crisis happened in an attractive and entertaining way. This was the first time that
motion infographics could reach wide range of audience with the purpose of helping the public
to develop better understanding of a crisis. Therewas no funding for Mr. Jarvis’s research. It was
actually his graduate thesis project, so it was not attached to any organizations. Even though
viewing the movie is free, distributing the movie is also free. Non-profit organizations seem to
have noticed. More and more motion infographics were constructed in order to help explain
various complex issues. The researcher hypothesized that if motion infographics can help
communicate to the public something as complex as financial crisis, this communication tool
should be able to communicate for other complex problems, including that of nuclear that
Greenpeace South East Asia is currently battling.
