Media Meets Climate: The Global Challenge for Journalism

Abstract

There is no way of not meeting climate change. It reframes our public debates, from shifting global power relations to political participation and individual lifestyle choices. It begs questions about our basic formulas for economics, science and democracy. It is a key theme in thinking about identities and the human condition, making us ask not only “who are we,” but also who the “we” in that question is. Climate change forces states, societies and people to look critically at the political, cultural and material ingredients of our world. For media and journalism, climate change brings up new challenges of coverage. But it also sheds light on the assumptions and distinctions – about facts, representation, and participation – that media and journalism are built on. By meeting climate change, globalizing journalism also meets itself.Media Meets Climate looks at these crucial 21st century questions through studying global coverage of the United Nations climate change summits. Building on global research from the MediaClimate Network the book offers transnational analyses of how climate change is mediated.Media Meets Climate looks into the broad structures of global climate coverage. Who or what dominates global news flows? How is the future imagined? It tackles crucial professional issues facing climate journalists. What is the role of journalistic advocacy? How is science represented? Are social media redefining journalism-source relations? It asks questions about the media’s role in global representation and misrepresentation of climate change and actors. How is climate change visualized? What role is played by gender? How are activists framed in the media? How are indigenous people covered?