Professional Documents
Culture Documents
viewpoint
H
ow the mass media cover scientific or anthropogenic climate change—and its control over the public sphere, legacies of
subjects matters in many ways, coverage in the USA and UK as an impor- colonialism, low literacy rates and techno-
whether scientists like it or not. tant example of how science, politics and logical limitations (Starr, 2004). However,
Stem cells, genetically modified organ- the media intersect and interact. More increasing literacy and the invention of
isms, cloning, the environmental or health specifically, we explore how external influ- mass-circulation print presses tremendously
implications of chemicals or climate ences and internal factors shape and define expanded their reach and influence in both
change: whatever the subject, media cov- media coverage of climate science. the USA and the UK, when newspapers, at
erage has helped to shape public percep- least in urban centres, became available for
R
tion and, through it, affected how science esearch into anthropogenic a few pennies. Their wider reach,
is translated into policy, most notably in effects on climate change coupled with advertising
regard to the environment, new technolo- can be traced back revenue, also meant that
gies and risks (Weingart et al, 2000). as far as the eighteenth newspapers became more
Conversely, political, economic and other century, when economically attractive,
interests have long tried to influence media researchers investi- which resulted in a develop-
coverage of particular topics to affect the gated the relationship ment from small papers to large
public’s understanding and perception, between deforesta- news businesses. Indeed, the late nine-
and scientists are now becoming more tion and precipitation teenth and early twentieth centuries saw
aware of the power of the media. (Rajan, 2006; Grove, the rise of the first media conglomerates,
Consequently, the intersection of mass 2003), the link exemplified by US newspaper magnates
media, science and policy is a particularly between variations in Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph
dynamic arena of communication, in brightness of the sun or Hearst. As a consequence of these
which all sides have high stakes. sunspots and temperature developments, the media became
The integral role played by the media is changes on Earth, and how increasingly powerful social, politi-
not surprising, as it is still the main source specific gases in the atmos- cal, economic and cultural institu-
of information and opinion for millions of phere influence the tempera- tions that were entrenched in society
readers and viewers—and voters—through ture on Earth (Weart, 2003). (McChesney, 1999; Doyle 2002).
newspapers, magazines, television, radio By the late nineteenth century, The two spheres of cli-
and the internet. As people gain most of researchers began to look more mate science and mass
their political, economic or other news specifically into the role of media finally came
from the media, so they do with scientific humans in climate change. In together in the early 1950s. In
stories. Various studies have shown that the 1896, the Swedish chemist the UK, the Saturday Evening
public gathers much of its knowledge about Svante Arrhenius speculated Post published a story entitled
science from the mass media (Wilson, whether and how carbon diox- ‘Is the World Getting Warmer?’,
1995), with television and daily newspa- ide emissions could lead to which explored links between
pers being the primary sources of informa- increases in atmospheric temper- atmospheric temperature change,
tion (Project for Excellence in Journalism, ature and a ‘greenhouse effect’ agricultural shifts and rising sea
2006; NSF, 2004). Given their wide reach, (Fleming, 1998). levels (Abarbanel & McClusky,
it is therefore important to investigate the At this time, the media— 1950). Media coverage of human
media’s coverage of scientific topics and mainly newspapers—were at the contributions to climate change
how it influences both science and policy. early stages of rapid and large peaked again in 1957, which was
In this viewpoint, we survey the media’s changes. Their reach was declared the ‘International
portrayal of climate science and man-made still limited by various Geophysical Year’ by the
climate change—dubbed ‘global warming’, constraints, such as state International Council of
2,000
United Kingdom UK as in the USA.
1,750 The Guardian (and The Observer), It is therefore instructive to consider two
The Independent (and The Sunday Independent), external factors that might influence media
The Times (and The Sunday Times)
1,500 coverage of this topic: frontier/expansion-
ary mindsets and scepticism/contrarianism.
1,250 Although a greater appreciation of the
environment has evolved in the past 50
United States
1,000 Los Angeles Times, years in both the USA and the UK, histori-
The New York Times, cally entrenched cultural preoccupations
750 The Wall Street Journal, with free markets and economic growth—
The Washington Post
along with the concomitant politics of
500 interest groups—has also caused an atti-
tude of denial that has strengthened scepti-
250 cism of scientific claims about environ-
mental decline and, more specifically,
anthropogenic climate change.
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sides have high stakes iven the potentially enormous entrenched technological optimism, has
political, social and economic significantly influenced the wider policy
implications of climate change and climate. Furthermore, the interests of
The three spheres of media, science and the strategies to slow or mitigate its poten- carbon-based industries in both countries
policy finally intersected prominently in tial effects, it comes as no surprise that have exerted asymmetrical power over
1988 (Fig 1) when several factors con- many individuals and organizations have public policy. However, the extent to
tributed to a rise in media coverage both in tried to influence media coverage of the which these factors have gained influence
the USA and the UK (Boykoff & Boykoff, topic. It is interesting, for example, that the differs. Its long history, the power of tradi-
2004; Carvalho, 2005). Among them was US media coverage has been more critical tional cultural institutions and a more
UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s of the opinion of the majority of scientists, constrained physical geography arguably
emphatic statement to the Royal Society of namely that anthropogenic release of car- have shaped public perception in the UK
London that it was possible that with cli- bon dioxide and other greenhouse gases towards preservation of the environment.
mate change, “we have unwittingly begun into the atmosphere is causing a rise in Conversely, an emphasis on economic
M
ore specific to the issue of climate supported by experimental or observational guage when describing their research, and
change, the interface of climate data. Indeed, it is good practice in science to to discuss implications of their research in
science, media and policy has demand more and better verisimilitude; terms of probabilities. For journalists and
become an increasingly politicized arena however, when it comes to environmental or policy-makers, this is difficult to translate
since the late 1980s. Many factors fuelled public health, demanding ‘sound science’ into the crisp, unequivocal commentary
an atmosphere of contention in both coun- often clashes with the ethics of inaction that is often valued in communications and
tries, which was characterized by the emer- (Shrader-Frechette, 1993). Even when there decision-making. Malcolm Hughes, a cli-
gence in the early 1990s of a group of is sufficient consensus over data and mod- mate scientist at the University of Arizona,
‘climate contrarians’, who were often funded els, scepticism is induced either by manu- USA, commented in an interview: “On one
by carbon-based industries (Boykoff & Boykoff, facturing opposing facts or by conflating hand, the users of scientific information …
2004; Gelbspan, 1998). This group—also facts with values. Consequently, journalists nurture this happy illusion of hard scientific
dubbed ‘climate sceptics’ or the ‘carbon are often faced with a scenario that has facts and take that too far … on the other
club’—have gained significant discursive seemingly contrary—and in some cases, hand, we scientists in most cases will
traction through the media and, as a contradictory—facts, and vastly varying emphasize the condition clauses in any
result, have affected public understanding analytical frameworks. sentence because if you are close to the
of the issue. issue, you are aware of the scientific uncer-
A
These dissenters have been more promi- gainst this background, journalists tainties in any statement that you make.
nent in the USA in part because many come make decisions in the context of Now that is a pretty bad combination if you
from US universities or think-tanks. They more mundane pressures, such as put those two together! Because all the cul-
have also earned privileged access to vari- constraints on time until deadlines or ture of the university and scientific societies
ous influential US policy-makers who deal available space within a predominantly is to hedge everything … we are a little too
with climate change, perhaps owing in part corporate-controlled media environment unwilling to say [crisp and clear] things as
to a confluence of interests and objectives. (Bagdikian, 2004). Norms, values and we see [them].”
F
urthermore, journalistic norms them- creates opportunities for policy-makers to articles that raise questions about climate
selves have affected the content of defray responsibility and delay action. science and the number of radio talk show
news stories on climate change, some- Furthermore, critics of the mainstream appearances by scientists questioning the
times to the impediment of improved com- scientific view—that human action causes prevailing views”.
munication between climate science and a change in global climate—have tried to In discussing the influence of the mass
policy (Boykoff & Boykoff, 2007). These use balanced reporting and other journal- media, W. Lance Bennett stated, “Few
norms, such as ‘objectivity’, ‘neutrality’, istic norms to influence media coverage, things are as much a part of our lives as the
‘impartiality’ and ‘balance’, have emerged in particular in the USA. In the summer news … [it] has become a sort of instant his-
as standards of professional journalism in of 2006, a memo leaked from the torical record of the pace, progress, prob-
the twentieth century; the great American Intermountain Rural Electric Association lems, and the hopes of society” (Bennett,
writer and journalist Walter Lippman in par- (Sedalia, CO, USA), an electricity distribu- 2002). The story of climate science and its
ticular pushed for the development and use tion cooperative that owns coal-burning coverage by the media is no exception:
of such standards and norms (Carey, 1989). power plants, revealed that the group had journalism and public concerns have
funded a long-time sceptic of anthro- shaped decisions in climate science and
pogenic climate change (Sandell & policy, just as climate science and policy
…if the process of media framing Blakemore, 2006). Although the funding is have shaped media reporting and public
[…] confuses rather than not illegal, it has raised ethical questions understanding. It is therefore instructive to
clarifies scientific understanding, as the message behind the donation flies analyse the intersecting and diverging fac-
it creates opportunities for in the face of scientific understanding. tors that influence media coverage of cli-
policy-makers to defray Other carbon-based industry groups have mate science in the USA and the UK to
staged media campaigns: the Competitive understand better the terms and conditions
responsibility and delay action Enterprise Institute, a Washington, DC- through which policy is negotiated and
based public policy organization—”dedi- action is taken. Such considerations can
cated to advancing the principles of free provide insights into many other important
Among these practices, the norm of ‘bal- enterprise and limited government”, topics, such as genetically modified organ-
anced reporting’ has had a rather detrimen- according to their website—assembled a isms, the safety of vaccines or the ethics of
tal effect on the media coverage of climate set of commercials in 2006 that targeted stem-cell research. Central to each of these
science and other scientific topics in the 13 key cities in the USA, asserting that car- debates is the understanding and analysis of
USA (Boykoff & Boykoff, 2004). Balance bon dioxide is not a pollutant. Their slogan how the facts and values intertwine. Equally
has been deemed a crucial tool for neutral was ‘We Call It Life’ (CEI, 2006). important is the question of how to weigh
or objective reporting, by providing “both future potential risks and costs against tangi-
sides in any significant dispute with roughly ble economic benefits for the present—
… journalism and public concerns
equal attention” (Entman, 1993). However, something that is at the very heart of both
media researchers have asserted that bal- have shaped decisions in climate the social science and policy communities.
ance is often “a surrogate for validity science and policy, just as climate
checks”, because “the typical journalist, science and policy have shaped REFERENCES
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