Why the Media Matters in a Warming World: A Guide for Policy Makers in the Global System

According to this 2011 Climate Change Media Partnership policy brief, the fight against climate change could be won or lost on the pages of newspapers, on TV and radio broadcasts, and on the internet and mobile phones. This is because people need good information to make effective decisions at the household or global level, and most people get their information about climate change from the media. Journalists can warn of extreme climatic events, explain complex policies, highlight coping strategies that work on the ground, act as watchdogs that protect the public interest, and promote the necessary actions from consumers, businesses, and governments to build green economies.

This policy brief argues that media can empower people to effect positive change, inform vulnerable communities of impacts and how they can adapt to them, and promote mitigation activities that limit the amount of warming the earth experiences.  High-quality media coverage of climate change can deliver better informed publics, better informed policymakers, and more effective policymaking.

Better media coverage can also raise global awareness of the challenges that developing nations face and promote a sustainable outcome to the intergovernmental climate change negotiations. In Indonesia, for instance, media coverage of proposals to limit climate change by reducing carbon emissions from deforestation has, according to the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), engaged all levels of society and helped to move the policy debate forward.

However,  in many developing countries, journalists struggle to report effectively on climate change due to a lack of training, unsupportive editors, and weak outreach from domestic policymakers.