The advocacy organization website I chose to investigate was Greenpeace USA
Link: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/
Greenpeace is a nonprofit group that advocates for environmental protection and conservation in peaceful ways. Their website is organized in a way that makes it extremely easy to navigate the different aspects of the advocacy group. Right at the top left corner under the logo there is a large table with links that read, “What We’re Doing,” “How it Works,” and “Get Involved.” In the first of those three straightforward headings, you can quickly see that Greenpeace is “saving the Arctic, fighting global warming, living toxic-free, defending democracy, protecting forests, protecting our oceans, and promoting sustainable food.” Then, you are lead to links to understand how Greenpeace helps, and what you can do to get involved. They also establish ethos by putting graphics on the front page of the website showing they are supported by 30 million people worldwide, operate in 55 countries, and have not accepted a single dollar in donations from corporations.
In order to establish exigence and provide relevance to our general lives, they use moving photographs and statistics about how people around the world are suffering at the hands of government and corporate leaders who are refusing to work towards an environmentally sustainable, peaceful future. For example, under the tab about food sustainability, Greenpeace introduces the subject by saying, “Food is life. Food is happiness. Food is love” in order to make their fight important in our own lives (assuming we value life, happiness, and love). They then go on to explain that the significant industrial control over agriculture and food supply is not only harming the environment (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock sector), but also make our food source, our life source, unsustainable. Another example is when they explain that threats to the Arctic from climate change and oil drilling could affect four million people living in the area, especially indigenous groups that are dependent on the environment to sustain their cultures and lives. Greenpeace pulls on the general societal fear of oil spills (especially prominent after Deepwater Horizon) to provoke a gut reaction against a potential oil spill devastating the pristine, natural landscapes that people depend on for their livelihoods. The website explains this “would amount to nothing less than a humanitarian crisis.” Overall, the audience for this advocacy group is people who care about the environment and helping other humans, even if that means curtailing powerful corporations and preventing the access of more natural (nonrenewable) resources.
In each of the pages for their “fights,” Greenpeace appeals to people’s emotions and logic by providing statistics, images, and stories about why we must fight for their causes. Once that need is established, they make it extremely easy for people to get involved and act. Greenpeace provides multiple paths for people to make a difference. Under the “Get Involved” heading, there are subheadings that will lead people to information about job openings, internship and volunteering opportunities, membership in Greenpeace, and even simply donating money or downloading some flyers to spread awareness and information. At the end of each of the pages where they detail the reasons why we should fight, they immediately put in additional links to learn more and get involved. They have another page on their website detailing their “victories” to prove to their audience that when we do act and when people do help, the organization can promote real, positive change. People post stories about their time at the Standing Rock protests and how Greenpeace donations helped provide thousands of pounds of supplies to protesters, and about how the largest ocean sanctuary in the world was established just off of Antarctica. In this way, they can show what positive things will happen if the viewer aligns with Greenpeace. On the other hand, they also emphasize throughout their website what might happen if we do not take action, as I mentioned above.
Greenpeace’s website is riveting to explore and look at. They have vibrant, moving pictures and dynamic displays to capture the eye, and then continue on to explain the need for action, how to take action, and what change we can see when we do take action in concise, organized, easy to follow steps. Overall, I think it makes for a very well-made, effective advocacy website.
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