scholarly journals Confidence in Local, National, and International Scientists on Climate Change

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 272
Author(s):  
Aaron C. Sparks ◽  
Heather Hodges ◽  
Sarah Oliver ◽  
Eric R. A. N. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
News Media ◽  
Internet Survey ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Scientific Report ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Change Beliefs

In many public policy areas, such as climate change, news media reports about scientific research play an important role. In presenting their research, scientists are providing guidance to the public regarding public policy choices. How do people decide which scientists and scientific claims to believe? This is a question we address by drawing on the psychology of persuasion. We propose the hypothesis that people are more likely to believe local scientists than national or international scientists. We test this hypothesis with an experiment embedded in a national Internet survey. Our experiment yielded null findings, showing that people do not discount or ignore research findings on climate change if they come from Europe instead of Washington-based scientists or a leading university in a respondent’s home state. This reinforces evidence that climate change beliefs are relatively stable, based on party affiliation, and not malleable based on the source of the scientific report.

scholarly journals Comparing the effects of climate change labelling on reactions of the Taiwanese public

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-San Hung ◽  
Mucahid Mustafa Bayrak
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
General Public ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Climate Change Risk ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Behavioural Intentions ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
Change Beliefs ◽  
Climate Crisis

AbstractScientists and the media are increasingly using the terms ‘climate emergency’ or ‘climate crisis’ to urge timely responses from the public and private sectors to combat the irreversible consequences of climate change. However, whether the latest trend in climate change labelling can result in stronger climate change risk perceptions in the public is unclear. Here we used survey data collected from 1,892 individuals across Taiwan in 2019 to compare the public’s reaction to a series of questions regarding climate change beliefs, communication, and behavioural intentions under two labels: ‘climate change’ and ‘climate crisis.’ The respondents had very similar responses to the questions using the two labels. However, we observed labelling effects for specific subgroups, with some questions using the climate crisis label actually leading to backlash effects compared with the response when using the climate change label. Our results suggest that even though the two labels provoke similar reactions from the general public, on a subgroup level, some backlash effects may become apparent. For this reason, the label ‘climate crisis’ should be strategically chosen.

Vigorous Physical Activity and All-Cause Mortality: A Story That Got Lost in Translation

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ding Ding ◽  
Klaus Gebel ◽  
Becky Freeman ◽  
Adrian E. Bauman
Keyword(s):  
Vigorous Physical Activity ◽  
Media Reporting ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Related Research ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Lost In Translation ◽  
Published Research

Media reporting of published research findings can increase the profile and reach of new scientific findings. Dissemination is an important part of research, and media reporting can catalyze this process. In many areas, including health-related research, policymakers often rely on the media for information and guidance. Furthermore, media reports can influence the scientific community and clinicians.1·2 However, despite the potential beneficial role as a bridge between scientists and the public, misleading information can cause controversy, confusion, and even harm.3

scholarly journals Rights and Representation: Media Narratives about Disabled People and Their Service Animals in Canadian Print News

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-76
Author(s):  
Lana Kerzner ◽  
Chelsea Temple Jones ◽  
Beth Haller ◽  
Arthur Blaser
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Animal Rights ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
The Many ◽  
Media Narratives

Canadian news coverage is reflecting and shaping an evolution of thought about how we must publicly account for animals’ roles in the disability rights movement. Through a textual analysis of 26 news media articles published between 2012 and 2017, this research demonstrates that the media play a key role in reporting on discrimination, yet media narratives about service animals and their owners too often fail to capture the complexity of policies and laws that govern their lives. In Canada, there is widespread public confusion about the rights of disabled people and their service animals. This incertitude is relevant to both disability and animal oppression. This research identifies nine frames within the media narratives, as well as evaluating perspectives from critical animal studies in the news articles. These frames, which emerge in the media reports, in their descriptions of human and (less often) animal rights, illustrate public confusion surrounding these rights. The confusion is inevitable given the many laws in Canada that govern service animals. Thus, to give context to the news coverage, this article also surveys the legal protections for disabled people who use service animals in Canada, and suggests that until the news media understand the legalities surrounding service animals, they will not be well equipped to fulfil their role of informing the public. This is a lost opportunity in light of the media’s potential role as a pivotal tool to educate the public about disability and animal rights.

Students' Understanding of Climate Change: Insights for Scientists and Educators

1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (10) ◽  
pp. 2232-2240 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. V. Rajeev Gowda ◽  
Jeffrey C. Fox ◽  
Robin D. Magelky
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
High School Students ◽  
News Media ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Public ◽  
Educational Role ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
High Level

Teachers and meteorologists are among the most respected purveyors of scientific information to the public. As such, they can play an influential role in educating the public about basic atmosphere-related phenomena. To better fulfill this educational role, it is necessary to (i) identify and (ii) correct people's major misconceptions about climatic and atmospheric issues, including global climate change. This paper reports the results of a survey of high school students' knowledge and attitudes about climate change. The authors use open-ended survey questions to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the range of “mistakes” that are made. The results show misconceptions including inflated estimates of temperature change, confusion between ozone depletion and global warming, the perception of warmer weather and a belief that all environmentally harmful acts cause climate change. Also discussed is the origin of these mistakes from the perspective of current social scientific literature. It is suggested that these misconceptions arise from low levels of information, reliance on the televised news media, use of judgmental heuristics, confusion between weather and climate, and “fuzzy environmentalism,” wherein students perceive disparate environmental harms as significantly interrelated. The study also reveals that students have a very high level of trust in scientists and teachers. This suggests a role for scientists and educators through which they help correct misconceptions about climate change and ensure that people adopt effective environmentally protective measures.

scholarly journals Risk perceptions and public debates on climate change: a conceptualisation based on the theory of a functionally-differentiated society

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (49) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Markus Rhomberg
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Climate Change Risks ◽  
Media Systems ◽  
Definition Of

Mass media and its mechanisms of production and selection play a crucial role in the definition of climate change risks. Different form of logic in the political, scientific and media systems are vital aspects in the public debate on this issue. A theoretical analysis of these aspects needs a framework in terms of social theory: Luhmann’s concept of a functionally-differentiated society and the mechanisms of structural couplings could help to understand the relations and interplay of these systems in the climate-debate. Based on this framework and various empirical studies, this paper suggests: different logics lead to different climate-definitions in science, politics and mass media. Climate change became interesting, but not until it was located in the political decision-making process. Climate issues become publicly interesting, when they are clear, contentious and can be linked to Elite-Persons. In contrast to scientific communication, news media make great efforts to be clear and definite in their communications.

scholarly journals Et tabt årti? Dansk klimadækning siden COP15

Politik ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikkel Fugl Eskjær
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Sharp Drop ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Climate Crisis

Danish media coverage of climate change peaked in 2009 when Denmark hosted COP15. Like most other countries Denmark experienced a sharp drop in climate change reporting following the failure of COP15. It is only within recent years that Danish climate change agenda is showing signs of regaining some of its former strength. What can we learn from ten years of climate change reporting in Danish media? How is the climate crisis communicated in the public sphere? How much attention is payed to the climate change agenda and who gets to speak about the climate? The present investigation looks at ten years of Danish climate change reporting across different news media and media platforms, focusing on the development of the media’s climate change agenda and the sources that dominates climate change reporting.

Imagining a “post-carbon” future? Climate change as represented by media and film industries

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-62
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Molek-Kozakowska ◽  
Stankomir Nicieja
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
News Media ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
The Media ◽  
Potential Failure ◽  
Media Narratives ◽  
Fictional Representations

This study explores current trends in representing and communicating climate change by media industries. It reviews the current literature on mainstream media narratives of climate change focusing on their naturalization of progress and their techno-optimism (e.g., as regards geoengineering). It provides insight on how the media industry’s commercial agenda is linked to the types of disseminated messages and dominant imaginaries. It compares respective codes inherent in news media and film/fictional representations of climate change on representative examples. It traces the evolution of disaster/dystopian genres that involve climate issues. It discusses the implications from such a comparative analysis in terms of the potential failure to mobilize the public – to first imagine the alternatives and then to act collectively for the sake of the “post-carbon” future.

scholarly journals How Do Online News Genres Take Up Knowledge Claims From a Scientific Research Article on Climate Change?

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Bray
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
News Media ◽  
Online News ◽  
News Report ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
One Year ◽  
Knowledge Claims

The Internet has helped to change who writes about science in the news, how news is written, and how it is taken up by different audiences. However, few studies have examined how these changes have impacted the uptake of scientific claims in online news writing. This case study explores how online news genres take up knowledge claims from a research article on climate change over a period of one year and shows how shifting boundaries between rhetorical communities affect genre uptake. The study results show that online news writers predominantly use the news report genre to cover research findings for 48 hours, after which they predominantly use the news editorial genre to engage these findings. Analysis suggests that the news report genre uses the press release and the article abstract as intermediary genres, but the news editorial uses only the abstract. I argue that the switch between genres repositions the scientist, the journalist, and the public epistemologically, a reorientation that favors uptake in news media outlets supporting action to mitigate climate change and its effects.

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