the role of media in reporting key environmental issues in different societies

The role of (private and public) media in reporting key environmental issues in different societies.
Hai Tran – 43759645
Sue Hao -

April 2nd, 2015

Outline
Introduction

◦ Climate Change
◦ Human Activities & Climate Change
◦ Media & Climate Change
Chapter

6: News Media &
Environmental Journalism
Case studies
◦ US
◦ China: “Under the dome” documentary
Discussion

Climate Change
What

is it?

Change in the statistical properties of the climate system when considered over long periods of time, regardless of cause
Refer specifically to climate change caused by human activity, as opposed to changes in climate that may have resulted as part of Earth's natural processes. In this sense, especially in the context of environmental policy, the term climate change has become synonymous with anthropogenic
(Pielke 2004) global warming.

Climate Change
•Effects
Climate change is already affecting the physical surface of the earth, the environment that provides our life support, our food supply, economy and society. These changes will accelerate over the next few decades

Climate Change
Human

Activities?

Anthropogenic factors are human activities which affect the climate. The scientific consensus on climate change is "that climate is changing and that these changes are in large part caused by human activities, and it "is largely irreversible." (United States National Research Council)

Climate Change & Media
Balanced?

One-sided?

Inclusive?

News Media &
Environmental Journalism
Growth and Nature of
Environmental News
1960s---news stories and visual images of environmental concerns began to appear the photo of the Earth from astronauts on
Apollo 8 in 1968 & TV film of an oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969 the next decades, the environmental news expand and wane
(Cox, R. 2013 Environmental Communication and the

Characteristics of environmental News
“a

handful of news organizations”(Wyss,
2008,p.ix)
Formidable force –Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
in 1990, creation of the Society of Environmental
Journalists(SEJ)
1910s, 1400 journalists identified as environmental reporters in the U.S. 7,500 in other countries(Wyss, 2008,p.ix)
Release of reports by Scientific or governmental bodies, and environmental stories must compete with news of war, unemployment, terrorism and other breaking news.

Rise and Fall of
Environmental
News grew in coverage
The Tyndall Report

the of controversial tracked a low
174
policies the Bush minutes in 1996 forofthe trend administration-the
6
major
TV news reports relaxing rules5.5 forattacks on and 195 minutes inofTerrorist drinking World Trade
1998(Hall, arsenic
2001) in the
4 water
Center and the year of the Exxon
Pentagon on 2.9
Valdez
oil spill in
Alaska.
2.5
Sep.11, 2001
Global
3 warming:
The Tyndall Report
2
Al Gore’s documentary film reported environmental stories in 774 An Inconvenient Truth(2006) – warning of the dangers of minutes(Hall,2001) climate change &
1980s
1989 global
1990
2001
2001-2004
2006 2010-2020
United Nation’s
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change report in early 2007

and reached an early peak after
Earth Day
5

1970s

Journalistic Norms &
Constraints
Newsworthiness

Media frames

Objectivity &
Balance

Newsworthiness
Ability

of a news story to attract readers or viewers.

Newsworthiness
Environmental

news coverage

feature stories:
Event-centred
Strong visual elements
24-hour daily cycle

Newsworthiness
Challenges

for environmental

stories
◦ Lack visual quality
◦ Involve slower, more diffuse, and drawn-out process
 Make environmental news both accurate & newsworthy

Media frames
Central

organising themes... That connect different elements of a news story into a coherent whole to suggest what is at issue
(Rodriguez 2003 cited in ...)
Headlines
Quotes
Leads
Visual representations
Narrative structure

Objectivity & Balance
Norms

that journalists commit to for almost a century
Provide information that is accurate and without reporter bias Where there is controversy, to balance news stories with statements from all sides
When reporter lacks expertise & time Is balance really
“balanced?”
“Some

scientists believe [...] that humanity’s production of carbon dioxide is leading to a potentially dangerous overheating of the planet.
But skeptics contend there is no evidence the warning exceeds the climate’s natural variations.”
(Abramson 1992 cited in...)

“Balancing” in US newspapers in reporting of global warming actually led to “biased coverage”.
(Boykoff & Boycoff 2004)

Case studies
Balance as bias:
Global warming and the US prestige press
(Boykoff & Boykoff 2004)

US prestige-press coverage of global warming from 1988 to 2002 has contributed to a significant divergence of popular discourse from scientific discourse. Balance as bias

US prestige-press coverage of existence of anthropogenic contribution to global warming 1988–2002

Balance as bias
Adherence

to the norm of balanced reporting leads to informationally biased coverage of global warming.
This bias, hidden behind the veil of journalistic balance, creates both discursive and real political space for the US government to shirk responsibility and delay action regarding global warming.

Florida banned state workers from using term 'climate change' http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/08/florida-bannedterms-climate-change-global-warming

Florida employee 'punished for using phrase climate change' Governor Rick Scott has ardently denied that there is an unwritten ban on using the terms climate change and global warming. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/19/florida-employee-forced-on- Other news

Case Studies
 In

1984, China Environment News was launched in Beijing and only national newspapers were specializing in environmental reporting.
 From 1990s, environmental issues are covered by local newspaper.
 In China, the vast majority of media is state-run and critical articles are subject to scrutiny and censorship.  Coverage of global warming through 2006 was characterized largely by translated scientific reports or science news reports from the west, often without comment
 There is almost no articles made the link between
Chinese carbon emissions and the growing

The situation in China
After

2 February 2007, the release of the
IPCC Working Group I report, China is willing to allow its state-controlled media to report and interpret.
In recent years, the government has started to deregulate the media sector, especially in less sensitive areas.
China’s environmental media are presented with a very good opportunity, and it is likely that more resources will be allocated to environmental reporting.

Is it really free to report?
https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKxnQxyOXfI
‘under the dome’
documentary on China’s Pollution in
Beijing
Jing Chai, was journalist of Beijing Media. her baby has tumor with her born
a few days later, the documentary has been blocked in China Media

Conclusion about China
Therefore,

although the place of media in developing countries like China is increasing, the media can not be totally free to report what they want to say.

Discussion
a. Journalistic norms vs Truth?
b. How do you think about government-controlled media?
What's the situation like in your own country?

Reference list
Cox

R. 2013 Environmental communication and the public sphere 3 rd edition, London, pp144-149
Sandy T. 2007 Coverage of Climate
Change in Chinese Media, Human
Development Report Office OCCASIONAL
PAPER
Sun Y. 2002. Environment Reporting in
China, Nieman Reports, Vol. 56 No.
4,pp82-84