Talking about a Revolution: Climate Change and the Media

This International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) Briefing paper on climate change and the media is based on published studies of how the media report on climate change in different countries and on the problems that persist in the way it is reported.


The document emphasises the complexity of climate change reporting, and recognises that, amidst criticisms of the media coverage, there has been improvement and that this improvement could increase with training for media outlets. It finds that the "catastrophic narrative" (reporting that depends on scenarios of potential imminent disaster for audience interest) is disempowering, and can be traced to scientists, politicians and non-governmental organisations, but that it is declining in favour of more balanced reporting. Ensuring relevance to audiences, including ways to address climate change that bring benefits, is a challenge, along with raising the profile of adaptation and the perspectives of the economically poor.


A survey of studies on climate change reporting shows that, though "climate change’s media profile has never been higher, the news may not be reaching all people equally, and is particularly missing in economically poorer communities of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Senior editors and reporters often do not have science backgrounds to report on highly politicised climate issues. The briefing suggests that the media's need to appear unbiased has led to imbalances and public confusion, ignoring presentation of the scientific consensus, sometimes due to corporate vested interests. The use of 'the catastrophe frame' results in narratives that are “confusing, contradictory and chaotic, with the likely result that the public feels disempowered and uncompelled to act”.


The article discusses the increasing importance in of internet-based sources and the power of bloggers, who both create rumour that is not evidence-based and dispel rumour by revealing its origins, leaving the public vulnerable to information picked up and spread by media outlets that may be both unfounded and controversial. The briefing states that media messages can have the effect of behaviour change "for some people some of the time," but the media gives the public mixed messages on climate change and includes advertising that might contravene climate change messages. However, growing demand for "green" (environmentally safer) products and environmental news may result in changes in media content.

Suggested alternatives to the discourse on catastrophe are: 1) "focus more on the solutions to climate change and ways to adapt to its effects, and less on the frightening statistics – to move from denial and despair to action" and 2) "connect in audiences’ minds the emissions in one place and impacts in another, and to share the voices and concerns of the [economically] poorest, most vulnerable people who have contributed least to the problem but will suffer most from its impacts." The briefing predicts that "[t]he media and those it relies on for information will play an increasing role in whether or not a revolution happens and how it plays out if it does.... For journalists, the main issue is to grasp the complex nature of climate change as it continues to gather new dimensions. Training and access to experts will be key, especially for under-resourced reporters in the poorest countries. With a little time and training, non-scientific journalists can cover climate change well."