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Climate Matters in the Newsroom

Explore how journalists perceive and report on climate change. This study examines obstacles, interests, and perspectives among journalism professionals, providing valuable insights for newsrooms.

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Climate Matters in the Newsroom

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  1. Climate Matters in the Newsroom Josh MurphyCenter for Climate Change Communication (4C)George Mason University

  2. Overview

  3. “We develop and apply social science insights to help society make informed decisions that will stabilize the Earth’s life-sustaining climate, and prevent further harm from climate change.” Our Mission(4C)

  4. Climate Change in the American Mind (2008-Present) • Climate Matters: TV Weathercasters as Climate Educators (2009-Present) • Climate and Health (2014-Present) Our Programs(1/2)

  5. RepublicEn (2012-Present) • National Park Service Partnership (2012-Present) • Climate & Resilience for the Mid-Atlantic Our Programs(2/2)

  6. Do Millennials See Climate Change as More Than Just a Meme? (2018) • Politics & Global Warming (2018) • Society of Environmental Journalists Member Survey (2018) • National Association of Black Journalists Member Survey (2018) • National Association of Hispanic Journalists Member Survey (2018) • Radio Television Digital News Association Member Survey (2018) • Climate Change in the American Mind (2018) • March for Science: A Survey of Participants and Followers (2017) Our Latest Reporter

  7. Climate Matters in the Newsroom

  8. Climate Matters is a climate reporting resource program that helps meteorologists report on climate impacts and solutions in ways that are local, immediate, and personal — grounded in the latest science. • Climate Matters in the Newsroom is an extension of Climate Matters, and helps journalists on every beat to tell timely, science-based, local climate change stories.  • Data was collected through in-depth interviews and a survey in partnership with multiple professional journalism societies • Findings include member’s (a) views about the role of journalist's impacts on society; (b) understanding of climate change, (c) perspectives on and experience with climate change reporting; (d) obstacles to reporting on climate change; and (e) practices of presenting opposite viewpoints in climate change stories. Climate Matters in the Newsroom

  9. The Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) n=617 • The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) n=620 • The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) n=515 • The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) n=235 Climate Matters in the Newsroom Participant Partners (n=1,987)

  10. Managers – have a heavy influence on the overall culture of the workplace and the sort of direction that an organization goes. They handle the broader business affairs of a news outlet such as hiring, promotions, and funding allocation. • News Directors – tend to involve themselves closely with the daily operations of an organization. They are usually in charge of the staff who work in the production, delivery, and distribution of the news. • General Reporters – the anchors, writers, journalists, broadcasters, podcasters, and bloggers that deliver media content consumed by the public. • Beat Reporters – specialized reporters who have developed in-depth knowledge and reporting skills about specific topics, issues, or occurrences. • Producers – create the programming of various news media by selecting the stories that will be covered, providing assignments to journalists, and/or making the final edits to content before it is released. • Freelancers– journalists who utilize the internet and other digital media platforms to be able to operate as professionals without the need for large corporate backing. Position within the media

  11. Over a third of journalists in the sample have worked with a climate story in the last year. • Nearly 4 out of 10 survey participants reported on or supervised a local climate story within the 12 months prior to participating in the study • Nearly all journalists in the sample are interested in covering climate change issues. • 9 out of 10 survey participants say they are at least slightly interested in reporting on local climate impact stories and solutions, with 4 out of 10 saying that they are very interested. • Lack of training in climate science is a major issue for journalists • 8 out of 10 survey participants identified lack of training in climate science as an important obstacle to reporting on climate change. More than half identified lak of time for field reporting, lack of time/space in their news outlet, and lack of role models for climate change reporting as obstacles. Key Findings: Interest and Obstacles (1/4)

  12. Few journalists in the sample expect negative reactions to covering climate stories. • Only 1 out of 10 survey participants receive or expected to receive mostly or entirely negative responses from their audience when covering or supervising local climate change stories. • Many journalists believe that covering climate change would be a smart career move. • Nearly 6 out of 10 survey participants think that reporting on climate change will be beneficial to their career. • Journalists think that reporting on climate change is good for society. • More than 9 out of 10 survey participants think that reporting on climate change will be beneficial to society, with more than 7 out of 10 saying it would be very beneficial. Key Findings: Audience and Society (2/4)

  13. Most journalists in the sample believe that global warming is happening. • Over 90% of survey participants think that global warming is happening – more than 8 out of 10 say they are sure or extremely sure. • Most journalists in the sample believe that global warming will be harmful. • Nearly 9 out of 10 survey participants feel that they will be personally harmed by global warming, with 8 out of 10 feeling that they will be harmed a moderate amount or a great deal Key Findings: Belief in Global Warming (3/4)

  14. Journalistic norms v. Personal Beliefs. • Despite most participants being convinced that human-caused climate change is occurring and harmful, many still said that reporting “two sides” of a climate story was helpful for one or more reasons • Journalists in the sample report several reasons behind the false balance issue. • 6 out of 10 say that reporting both sides (1) will enable them to acknowledge that different viewpoints exist; (2) will avoid the appearance of bias; (3) is “essential” to objective, balanced journalism; and (4) will help maintain their credibility • Not sure how “settled” the science is. • Nearly half of journalists of journalists in the sample feel that presenting two sides of a climate change story is important be “the science of climate change is still being debated” Key Findings: False Balance (4/4)

  15. Further explore the barriers that journalists face while attempting to cover climate change stories • Dynamically-linked barriers • Differing barrier-perception based on a journalist’s “position” within the news media Current Research: Barriers to Climate Journalism

  16. “What are the biggest barriers to climate change reporting by those who choose to cover it?”

  17. Lack of Access – (1) lack of access to trusted scientific information, (2) reporting resources, (3) experts, (4) training, (5) local sources, and/or (6) industry role models for reporting climate change are all obstacles to reporting climate change • Lack of Support – lack of support can mean either (1) a hostile audience or lack of support from the audience in response to climate change stories, or (2) lack of general manager or ownership support when attempting to cover climate change stories • Lack of Time – lack of time can mean either (1) not having enough time to do field reporting on climate change, or (2) not having enough time/space in the newscast to fit in a report about climate change Dynamically-Linked Barriers

  18. Differences in Barrier Perception by Position

  19. Determining the specific needs of different types of journalists who wish to cover climate change (television v. print, freelance v. network, management v. non-management, etc.) • Figuring out ways of reducing (and eventually eliminating) false balance reporting on climate issues • Facilitating easier access to climate reporting tools for journalists who have very limited time • Determining if solutions to the barriers that journalists face change depending on the journalist’s position in the media (Dynamically-linked solutions?) Future Directions

  20. Thank you

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