Specialized Journalism in the face of Climate Obstructionism. The case of Maldito Clima

Abstract

The research focuses on the contribution of the journalistic project entitled Maldito Clima to fight against misinformation and on the development of new communication strategies to combat climate obstructionism from environmental journalism. The aim is to review the specialised journalist’s role when facing the main climate crisis disinformation narratives. Through a combination of quantitative (social networking analysis) and qualitative methodologies (personal interviews), the aim was to analyse the verification patterns and structures, the types and procedures of misinformation in order to identify the common narratives and actors involved in the spread of fake news about climate change. The growing concern of citizens on this issue, together with a high level of scepticism, require an update of journalistic practice in the coverage of environmental issues. The state-of-the-art review, the fieldwork and the observation of dissemination and fact-checking processes carried out in the first semester of life of the new project of the Maldita. es Foundation enabled us to draw a series of conclusions to develop a decalogue of good journalistic practices to face climate inaction and obstructionism.