Pub Date : 2022-04-18DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2022.2056222
Matthew S. VanDyke, Brian C. Britt, R. Britt, Courtny L. Franco
ABSTRACT This study investigated what (risk) information related to COVID-19 was most amplified through online discussions in environment-focused communities and how amplification and ripple effects evolved over time. The population of posts and comments (N = 14,156 observations) posted to 135 environment-focused subreddits from Dec. 1, 2019-Aug. 31, 2020 containing key terms related to COVID-19 was downloaded and subjected to computational content analysis via Leximancer to observe conceptual phenomena that emerged in the data and extract themes based on word-like associations. To examine how online discussion evolved over time, stepwise segmented regression was employed to identify revolutionary breakpoints – significant changes in the volume of conversation over time. Analysis revealed five time periods in the dataset, and concept maps were generated to understand prominent themes in each. Omnibus results revealed themes highlighting positive and negative environmental consequences associated with COVID-19. Analysis revealed a more nuanced trajectory of how the frequency and content of conversations evolved over time.
{"title":"How environment-focused communities discuss COVID-19 online: an analysis of social (risk) amplification and ripple effects on Reddit","authors":"Matthew S. VanDyke, Brian C. Britt, R. Britt, Courtny L. Franco","doi":"10.1080/17524032.2022.2056222","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2056222","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study investigated what (risk) information related to COVID-19 was most amplified through online discussions in environment-focused communities and how amplification and ripple effects evolved over time. The population of posts and comments (N = 14,156 observations) posted to 135 environment-focused subreddits from Dec. 1, 2019-Aug. 31, 2020 containing key terms related to COVID-19 was downloaded and subjected to computational content analysis via Leximancer to observe conceptual phenomena that emerged in the data and extract themes based on word-like associations. To examine how online discussion evolved over time, stepwise segmented regression was employed to identify revolutionary breakpoints – significant changes in the volume of conversation over time. Analysis revealed five time periods in the dataset, and concept maps were generated to understand prominent themes in each. Omnibus results revealed themes highlighting positive and negative environmental consequences associated with COVID-19. Analysis revealed a more nuanced trajectory of how the frequency and content of conversations evolved over time.","PeriodicalId":54205,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Communication-A Journal of Nature and Culture","volume":"52 1","pages":"322 - 338"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73857592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-18DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2022.2061027
Haoran Chu
ABSTRACT This study examines the influences of distance cues and individual characteristics, including trait empathy, time orientation, age, and gender, on people’s construal of climate change. A content analysis was utilized to investigate American adults’ mental construal of climate change after exposure to messages illustrating its impacts in close or distant locations and times. Results of an experiment show that far-distance messages led to increased distance perception and more abstract mental construal of the phenomenon. Further, people with lower trait empathy formed more abstract mental construals when climate change was portrayed or perceived as a distant issue. Concrete construal and close distance perception were also positively correlated with support for climate change mitigation policies. This study complements extant literature on the psychological distance of climate change by pinpointing its effects on people’s mental construal of the phenomenon and the moderating effects of individual characteristics such as trait empathy, gender, and age.
{"title":"Construing Climate Change: Psychological Distance, Individual Difference, and Construal Level of Climate Change","authors":"Haoran Chu","doi":"10.1080/17524032.2022.2061027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2061027","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study examines the influences of distance cues and individual characteristics, including trait empathy, time orientation, age, and gender, on people’s construal of climate change. A content analysis was utilized to investigate American adults’ mental construal of climate change after exposure to messages illustrating its impacts in close or distant locations and times. Results of an experiment show that far-distance messages led to increased distance perception and more abstract mental construal of the phenomenon. Further, people with lower trait empathy formed more abstract mental construals when climate change was portrayed or perceived as a distant issue. Concrete construal and close distance perception were also positively correlated with support for climate change mitigation policies. This study complements extant literature on the psychological distance of climate change by pinpointing its effects on people’s mental construal of the phenomenon and the moderating effects of individual characteristics such as trait empathy, gender, and age.","PeriodicalId":54205,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Communication-A Journal of Nature and Culture","volume":"89 1","pages":"883 - 899"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83871282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-10DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2022.2050776
K. Treen, Hywel T. P. Williams, S. O'Neill, Travis G. Coan
ABSTRACT Studies of climate discourse on social media platforms often find evidence of polarization, echo chambers, and misinformation. However, the literature’s overwhelming reliance on Twitter makes it difficult to understand whether these phenomena generalize across other social media platforms. Here we present the first study to examine climate change discourse on Reddit, a popular – yet understudied – locus for climate debate. This contributes to the literature through expansion of the empirical base for the study of online communication about climate change beyond Twitter. Additionally, platform architecture of Reddit differs from many social media platforms in several ways which might impact the quality of the climate debate. We investigate this through topic modeling, community detection, and analysis of sources of information on a large corpus of Reddit data from 2017. Evidence of polarization is found through the topics discussed and sources of information shared. Yet, while some communities are dominated by particular ideological viewpoints, others are more suggestive of deliberative debate. We find little evidence for the presence of polarized echo chambers in the network structure on Reddit. These findings challenge our understanding of social media discourse around climate change and suggest that platform architecture plays a key role in shaping climate debate online.
{"title":"Discussion of Climate Change on Reddit: Polarized Discourse or Deliberative Debate?","authors":"K. Treen, Hywel T. P. Williams, S. O'Neill, Travis G. Coan","doi":"10.1080/17524032.2022.2050776","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2050776","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Studies of climate discourse on social media platforms often find evidence of polarization, echo chambers, and misinformation. However, the literature’s overwhelming reliance on Twitter makes it difficult to understand whether these phenomena generalize across other social media platforms. Here we present the first study to examine climate change discourse on Reddit, a popular – yet understudied – locus for climate debate. This contributes to the literature through expansion of the empirical base for the study of online communication about climate change beyond Twitter. Additionally, platform architecture of Reddit differs from many social media platforms in several ways which might impact the quality of the climate debate. We investigate this through topic modeling, community detection, and analysis of sources of information on a large corpus of Reddit data from 2017. Evidence of polarization is found through the topics discussed and sources of information shared. Yet, while some communities are dominated by particular ideological viewpoints, others are more suggestive of deliberative debate. We find little evidence for the presence of polarized echo chambers in the network structure on Reddit. These findings challenge our understanding of social media discourse around climate change and suggest that platform architecture plays a key role in shaping climate debate online.","PeriodicalId":54205,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Communication-A Journal of Nature and Culture","volume":"1 1","pages":"680 - 698"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86441306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-05DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2022.2048407
Claudio Neumann, Samantha K. Stanley, Z. Leviston, Iain Walker
ABSTRACT Global Warming’s Six Americas sorts populations into profiles with distinct views on climate change, from the Alarmed (most worried), to the Dismissive (rejects the reality of climate change), with Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, and Doubtful between these extremes. We investigated the proportion of Australians in each profile within a 2020 national quota sample (N = 5104). Compared to analyses from 2011 and 2016, a greater proportion of Australians are now Alarmed about climate change, and fewer Disengaged, though differences in segmentation based on political allegiance remain. We also randomly assigned participants to rate either the risk and importance of “climate change” or “global warming”. This experimental wording manipulation made no difference to responses. These findings are useful for understanding how public perception of climate change has changed and may guide targeted approaches to climate change communication.
{"title":"The Six Australias: Concern About Climate Change (and Global Warming) is Rising","authors":"Claudio Neumann, Samantha K. Stanley, Z. Leviston, Iain Walker","doi":"10.1080/17524032.2022.2048407","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2048407","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Global Warming’s Six Americas sorts populations into profiles with distinct views on climate change, from the Alarmed (most worried), to the Dismissive (rejects the reality of climate change), with Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, and Doubtful between these extremes. We investigated the proportion of Australians in each profile within a 2020 national quota sample (N = 5104). Compared to analyses from 2011 and 2016, a greater proportion of Australians are now Alarmed about climate change, and fewer Disengaged, though differences in segmentation based on political allegiance remain. We also randomly assigned participants to rate either the risk and importance of “climate change” or “global warming”. This experimental wording manipulation made no difference to responses. These findings are useful for understanding how public perception of climate change has changed and may guide targeted approaches to climate change communication.","PeriodicalId":54205,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Communication-A Journal of Nature and Culture","volume":"10 1","pages":"433 - 444"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86224129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-04DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2022.2051576
S. Ho, Agnes S. F. Chuah, Elizabeth L. Q. Koh, Liying Ong, Vivien Q. Y. Kwan
Abstract Expanding upon the Influence of Presumed Media Influence (IPMI) model, our study investigates prior beliefs as precursors to the IPMI model in predicting individuals’ willingness to pay more for plant-based meat. Our survey of 1,008 adult Singaporeans revealed that attention to benefit media messages on plant-based meat was positively associated with presumed others’ attention. This subsequently predicted attitudes and perceived social norms of paying more for the product which, except for descriptive norms, in turn predicted individuals’ willingness to pay more. More importantly, we found that prior beliefs – namely environmental and health consciousness – were predictive of attention to media messages on plant-based meat, indicating selective exposure to media messages. Theoretically, our findings highlight the importance of pre-existing beliefs on the IPMI model. Practically, recommendations for key stakeholders on how to enhance individuals’ willingness to pay more for the product were discussed.
{"title":"Understanding Public Willingness to Pay More for Plant-based Meat: Environmental and Health Consciousness as Precursors to the Influence of Presumed Media Influence Model","authors":"S. Ho, Agnes S. F. Chuah, Elizabeth L. Q. Koh, Liying Ong, Vivien Q. Y. Kwan","doi":"10.1080/17524032.2022.2051576","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2051576","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Expanding upon the Influence of Presumed Media Influence (IPMI) model, our study investigates prior beliefs as precursors to the IPMI model in predicting individuals’ willingness to pay more for plant-based meat. Our survey of 1,008 adult Singaporeans revealed that attention to benefit media messages on plant-based meat was positively associated with presumed others’ attention. This subsequently predicted attitudes and perceived social norms of paying more for the product which, except for descriptive norms, in turn predicted individuals’ willingness to pay more. More importantly, we found that prior beliefs – namely environmental and health consciousness – were predictive of attention to media messages on plant-based meat, indicating selective exposure to media messages. Theoretically, our findings highlight the importance of pre-existing beliefs on the IPMI model. Practically, recommendations for key stakeholders on how to enhance individuals’ willingness to pay more for the product were discussed.","PeriodicalId":54205,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Communication-A Journal of Nature and Culture","volume":"69 1","pages":"520 - 534"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89077760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-03DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2022.2055601
Ville Kumpu
ABSTRACT This article examines the conceptualization of public engagement in research on climate communication. The review focuses on how public engagement is defined and how its relation to societal change and communication is thematized. In the majority of the reviewed work the term public engagement is used without being explicitly defined. Public engagement, communication, and societal change are approached predominantly from a psychological perspective that emphasizes personal engagement with climate change. The processes that connect what people personally think, feel, and do about climate change to the societal change required adequately to address the issue are rarely elaborated. Communication is predominantly approached as a pragmatic tool that can be used to address climate change rather than an object of theorization. The review concludes with a discussion of sociologically oriented research on climate communication.
{"title":"What is Public Engagement and How Does it Help to Address Climate Change? A Review of Climate Communication Research","authors":"Ville Kumpu","doi":"10.1080/17524032.2022.2055601","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2055601","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article examines the conceptualization of public engagement in research on climate communication. The review focuses on how public engagement is defined and how its relation to societal change and communication is thematized. In the majority of the reviewed work the term public engagement is used without being explicitly defined. Public engagement, communication, and societal change are approached predominantly from a psychological perspective that emphasizes personal engagement with climate change. The processes that connect what people personally think, feel, and do about climate change to the societal change required adequately to address the issue are rarely elaborated. Communication is predominantly approached as a pragmatic tool that can be used to address climate change rather than an object of theorization. The review concludes with a discussion of sociologically oriented research on climate communication.","PeriodicalId":54205,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Communication-A Journal of Nature and Culture","volume":"8 1","pages":"304 - 316"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75205288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-03DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2022.2083207
Chris Skurka, Rainer Romero-Canyas, H. H. Joo, J. Niederdeppe
ABSTRACT The contemporary high-choice media landscape offers users considerable latitude to select media content. When it comes to media messaging about science issues like climate change, it is unclear whether audiences gravitate toward different kinds of emotionally evocative messages and what psychosocial factors underlie those preferences. Here, we presented young adults (N = 1,493) with three climate change videos to choose from (“funny,” “scary,” “informational”) and found more participants selected funny content than scary or informational. Contradicting hypotheses derived from mood management theory, negative mood was associated with selecting the scary video. Conservatives preferred the funny and scary video to the informational video, but gender identity was the strongest predictor of selective exposure with women preferring funny and scary videos to informational.
{"title":"Choose Your Own Emotion: Predictors of Selective Exposure to Emotion-Inducing Climate Messages","authors":"Chris Skurka, Rainer Romero-Canyas, H. H. Joo, J. Niederdeppe","doi":"10.1080/17524032.2022.2083207","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2083207","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The contemporary high-choice media landscape offers users considerable latitude to select media content. When it comes to media messaging about science issues like climate change, it is unclear whether audiences gravitate toward different kinds of emotionally evocative messages and what psychosocial factors underlie those preferences. Here, we presented young adults (N = 1,493) with three climate change videos to choose from (“funny,” “scary,” “informational”) and found more participants selected funny content than scary or informational. Contradicting hypotheses derived from mood management theory, negative mood was associated with selecting the scary video. Conservatives preferred the funny and scary video to the informational video, but gender identity was the strongest predictor of selective exposure with women preferring funny and scary videos to informational.","PeriodicalId":54205,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Communication-A Journal of Nature and Culture","volume":"16 1","pages":"424 - 431"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85473389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-01DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2022.2051575
S. Kley, Katharina Kleinen-von Königslöw, Alicia Dunker
ABSTRACT Traditionally, dietary choices are formed through socialization, social norms and the social environment, while news media seemed to have little impact on people’s diets. This article explores whether today’s news media consumption and in particular consuming and sharing information about food on social media are associated with following a vegetarian or vegan diet. The data come from a tailor-made survey carried out in Hamburg, Germany, in 2018 (N = 1,214). Making use of probit regression with multiple equations, we analyse the associations between vegetarianism and individual news consumption, having vegetarians in the social environment, and communicating about food, controlling for individual and family characteristics. We find that both regular news consumption via social media and having vegetarian friends or family members is associated with pursuing a vegetarian diet. Moreover, news consumption via social media comes with increased communication about food, suggesting high relevance of social media for pursuing a vegetarian diet.
{"title":"Media Diets of Vegetarians. How News Consumption, Social Media Use and Communicating with One’s Social Environment are Associated with a Vegetarian Diet","authors":"S. Kley, Katharina Kleinen-von Königslöw, Alicia Dunker","doi":"10.1080/17524032.2022.2051575","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2051575","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Traditionally, dietary choices are formed through socialization, social norms and the social environment, while news media seemed to have little impact on people’s diets. This article explores whether today’s news media consumption and in particular consuming and sharing information about food on social media are associated with following a vegetarian or vegan diet. The data come from a tailor-made survey carried out in Hamburg, Germany, in 2018 (N = 1,214). Making use of probit regression with multiple equations, we analyse the associations between vegetarianism and individual news consumption, having vegetarians in the social environment, and communicating about food, controlling for individual and family characteristics. We find that both regular news consumption via social media and having vegetarian friends or family members is associated with pursuing a vegetarian diet. Moreover, news consumption via social media comes with increased communication about food, suggesting high relevance of social media for pursuing a vegetarian diet.","PeriodicalId":54205,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Communication-A Journal of Nature and Culture","volume":"83 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80398978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-28DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2022.2051577
S. Ho, Wen-Dee Tan, Agnes S. F. Chuah, Pearlyn Y. Y. Chua, Keith X. L. Lau, Joshua Z. A. Chan
ABSTRACT Alternative aquafeed is currently being researched as a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to bolster aquaculture production, which plays an integral role in supplying global seafood demand. Guided by the cognitive miser model, this study aims to examine factors predicting public support for funding the development of alternative aquafeed and public preference for labeling fish fed with alternative aquafeed. This study found that heuristics were more influential than knowledge in shaping the dependent variables. This study also investigated how heuristics serve as perceptual filters, interacting with knowledge when influencing public support for funding and preference for labeling. This indicates that dependent on their predispositions and available heuristic cues, individuals might interpret the same information differently. Most importantly, the findings suggest that labels may serve varying roles and can be an effective way for actors in the food industry to communicate to the public.
{"title":"Feed for Thought: Factors Predicting Public Support for Funding and Labeling Preferences of Alternative Aquafeed","authors":"S. Ho, Wen-Dee Tan, Agnes S. F. Chuah, Pearlyn Y. Y. Chua, Keith X. L. Lau, Joshua Z. A. Chan","doi":"10.1080/17524032.2022.2051577","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2051577","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Alternative aquafeed is currently being researched as a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to bolster aquaculture production, which plays an integral role in supplying global seafood demand. Guided by the cognitive miser model, this study aims to examine factors predicting public support for funding the development of alternative aquafeed and public preference for labeling fish fed with alternative aquafeed. This study found that heuristics were more influential than knowledge in shaping the dependent variables. This study also investigated how heuristics serve as perceptual filters, interacting with knowledge when influencing public support for funding and preference for labeling. This indicates that dependent on their predispositions and available heuristic cues, individuals might interpret the same information differently. Most importantly, the findings suggest that labels may serve varying roles and can be an effective way for actors in the food industry to communicate to the public.","PeriodicalId":54205,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Communication-A Journal of Nature and Culture","volume":"75 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83374591","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-03-10DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2022.2048043
Sonia Parratt-Fernández, María-Ángeles Chaparro-Domínguez, G. Gilbert
ABSTRACT This paper examines how journalists use discursive strategies when covering the complex issue of climate change in The Mercury News, a large regional U.S.A. newspaper in California, a state deeply impacted by this problem. Quantitative content analysis of published texts and semi-structured interviews of journalists uncovered common use of formative discursive elements and the principles of constructive journalism, consistent with the journalists’ expressed priorities to help educate readers and make climate change interesting, relevant, and easily readable. The demands for speedy reporting in the digital environment and cuts to newsroom staff affect the use of discursive strategies for climate change coverage and limits opportunities for journalists to specialize. Journalists noted the challenge of conveying topics that are abstract, technical, and embedded with uncertainty to readers who demand definitive and instantaneous information. Such challenges are accentuated by poor connections between academic experts on climate change and the public and the press.
{"title":"Discursive Strategies for Climate Change Reporting: A Case Study of The Mercury News","authors":"Sonia Parratt-Fernández, María-Ángeles Chaparro-Domínguez, G. Gilbert","doi":"10.1080/17524032.2022.2048043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2048043","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper examines how journalists use discursive strategies when covering the complex issue of climate change in The Mercury News, a large regional U.S.A. newspaper in California, a state deeply impacted by this problem. Quantitative content analysis of published texts and semi-structured interviews of journalists uncovered common use of formative discursive elements and the principles of constructive journalism, consistent with the journalists’ expressed priorities to help educate readers and make climate change interesting, relevant, and easily readable. The demands for speedy reporting in the digital environment and cuts to newsroom staff affect the use of discursive strategies for climate change coverage and limits opportunities for journalists to specialize. Journalists noted the challenge of conveying topics that are abstract, technical, and embedded with uncertainty to readers who demand definitive and instantaneous information. Such challenges are accentuated by poor connections between academic experts on climate change and the public and the press.","PeriodicalId":54205,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Communication-A Journal of Nature and Culture","volume":"29 1","pages":"505 - 519"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2022-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80407009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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