Greta Thunberg's giant success

Greta Thunberg’s trademark blonde plaits, unwavering gaze and determined voice have been imprinted in the minds of social media users all over the world. Thunberg is the face of a global youth movement, where children and teenagers alike unite to strike against climate change in cities all over the world. Since her (now world renowned) school strike against climate change in August 2018, Thunberg has given a TEDTalk, met Barack Obama, travelled across the Atlantic Ocean to attend climate conferences in New York and been named TIME Magazine’s person of the year. Unafraid to speak the truth, Thunberg’s voice has surprising gravitas for someone so young, and echoes her unwavering belief in the inaction of world leaders in the face of climate change.

Thunberg’s story is a well-publicised one, and it is in this fact that media scepticism lurks. Her rise to fame seemingly came out of nowhere; the lone schoolgirl protesting outside the Swedish government buildings suddenly went viral on social media, and her renown skyrocketed from there. A couple of weeks ago, I came across an article that questioned the credibility of Thunberg’s character as a climate change activist. The article suggested that there is a public relations giant behind Thunberg’s fame, who propelled her to her current position through a series of strategic moves on social media. With a bit of digging, I found more of this kind of material, thanks to Google. It turns out that there has been considerable debate about Thunberg’s agency in her movement against climate change. Malena Ernman, her mother, allegedly conspired with public relations guru and businessman Ingmar Rentzhog in order to ensure that Thunberg’s first protest would be made famous. The social media fires were quickly put out by Thunberg, who said that the first strike was entirely her own idea. Rentzhog, on the other hand, later admitted that he had had a tip off, although he initially maintained that his path past parliament that day was pure coincidence.

Clearly even Thunberg’s seemingly pure-hearted intentions could not escape the pressures of the media industry. To me, this is yet another example of societal sheep at their best. Thunberg has been unreservedly celebrated and idolized around the world, and I was one of the flock, sharing her posts as enthusiastically as the next person. Stumbling upon this information woke me up to the reality that not everything is as it seems, and warned me to check my facts before I, too, jump on the bandwagon.

However, I really believe that while there might be a carefully orchestrated public relations movement lurking behind her rounded Swedish accent, Thunberg has still achieved something great. Her dogged perseverance has succeeded in putting climate change at the top of everyone’s agenda, from global leaders to the average adolescent. Whatever the intent behind Thunberg’s actions, she and her legions of young followers could very well provide the kick that the world needs to start fighting for the environment.