scholarly journals Balance (Climate and Environment Coverage)

10.34778/2o ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Mahl ◽  
Lars Guenther
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
Anthropogenic Global Warming ◽  
The Us ◽  
Prestige Press ◽  
Anthropogenic Contributions

Balance – as a journalistic norm in the domain of climate change reporting – is measured by analyzing both coverage of the debate over anthropogenic contributions to global warming (i.e., the existence of anthropogenic global warming) and coverage of decisions regarding action on global warming (i.e., actions regarding global warming) (Boykoff & Boykoff, 2004). Field of application/theoretical foundation: Balance is a commonly investigated and internationally agreed-upon journalistic norm that ensures that journalists portray different sides of a story in a neutral and objective way (Westerståhl, 1983). In science reporting, more specifically in reporting on climate change, this journalistic norm can lead to biased reporting in that sense that journalistic coverage does not mirror the scientific understanding (i.e., climate change does exist and action is needed) (Boykoff & Boykoff, 2004). References/combination with other methods of data collection: There are experimental studies that test the effects of differentially balanced news stories (e.g., Clarke et al., 2014; Dixon & Clarke, 2012), largely confirming that balanced coverage reduces confidence in a scientific consensus and heightens uncertainty of science, risks, etc. Example studies: Boykoff & Boykoff (2004); Boykoff (2007); Clarke (2008); Clarke et al. (2014); Dixon & Clarke (2012)   Information on Boykoff & Boykoff, 2004 Authors: Maxwell T. Boykoff & Jules M. Boykoff Research question: The prevalence of the norm of balance in reporting on climate change and the degree to what this coverage’s adherence to balance led to biased coverage of both anthropogenic contributions to global warming (i.e., its existence) and resultant action. Object of analysis: A sample (636 articles) of the US prestige-press coverage of global warming, i.e., New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal Time frame of analysis: between 1988 and 2002 Info about variables Variables: Two measures of balance: (a) Coverage of the debate over anthropogenic contributions to global warming (i.e., existence) (b) Coverage of decisions regarding action on global warming (i.e., action) Level of analysis: Newspaper article Variables and values: (a) First measure: Coverage of the debate over anthropogenic contributions to global warming (i.e., existence) Article only presents argument that anthropogenic global warming exists, clearly distinct from natural variations Article presents both sides, but emphasizes that anthropogenic global warming exists, still distinct from natural variation Article presents a balanced account of debates surrounding existence of anthropogenic global warming Article presents both sides, but emphasizes dubious nature of the claim that anthropogenic global warming exists (b) Second measure: Coverage of decisions regarding action on global warming (i.e., action) Dominant coverage of decisions/assertions regarding immediate/mandatory action to deal with global warming Balanced accounts of various decisions regarding action Dominant coverage of decisions/assertions regarding cautious/voluntary approaches to deal with global warming Reliability: Intercoder reliability rate of 93% Codebook: Table 1 in Boykoff & Boykoff (2004, p. 128)   References Boykoff, M. T., & Boykoff, J. M. (2004). Balance as bias: Global warming and the US prestige press. Global Environmental change 14, 125-136. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2003.10.001 Boykoff, M. T. (2007). Flogging a dead norm? Newspaper coverage of anthropogenic climate change in the United States and United Kingdom from 2003 to 2006. Area 39(2), 470-481. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4762.2007.00769.x Clarke, C. E. (2008). A question of balance. The autism-vaccine controversy in the British and American elite press. Science Communication 30(1), 77-107. doi: 10.1177/1075547008320262 Clarke, C. E., Dixon, G. N., Holton, A., Weberling McKeever, B. (2014). Including “evidentiary balance” in news media coverage of vaccine risk. Health Communication 30(5), 461-472. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2013.867006 Dixon, G. N., & Clarke, C. E. (2012). Heightening uncertainty around certain science: Media coverage, false balance, and the autism-vaccine controversy. Science Communication, 35(3) 358-382. doi: 10.1177/1075547012458290 Westerståhl, J. (1983). Objective News Reporting General Premises. Communication Research, 10(3), 403-424. doi: 10.1177/009365083010003007

Public perceptions of who counts as a scientist for controversial science

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 797-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianne Suldovsky ◽  
Asheley Landrum ◽  
Natalie Jomini Stroud
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Us ◽  
Science Media

In an era where expertise is increasingly critiqued, this study draws from the research on expertise and scientist stereotyping to explore who the public considers to be a scientist in the context of media coverage about climate change and genetically modified organisms. Using survey data from the United States, we find that political ideology and science knowledge affect who the US public believes is a scientist in these domains. Our results suggest important differences in the role of science media attention and science media selection in the publics “scientist” labeling. In addition, we replicate previous work and find that compared to other people who work in science, those with PhDs in Biology and Chemistry are most commonly seen as scientists.

Mass Media and the Social Amplification of Climate Change Risks

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan Mazur
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New York ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Forthcoming Article ◽  
Public Concerns

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science. Please check back later for the full article. Global warming was not on public or media agendas prior to 1998. In summer of that year, during an unusual heat wave, The New York Times and other major U.S. news organizations saliently reported warnings by NASA scientist James Hansen that the earth is warming. This alarm quickly spread to secondary media and to the news media of other nations. According to the “Quantity of Coverage Theory,” public concerns and governmental actions about a problem rise and fall with the extent of media coverage of that problem, a generalization that is applicable here. Over the next few years, global warming became part of a suite of worldwide issues (particularly the ozone hole, biodiversity, and destruction of rain forests) conceptualized as the “endangered earth,” more or less climaxing on Earth Day 1990. Media coverage and public concerns waned after 1990, thereafter following an erratic course until 2006, when they reached unprecedented heights internationally, largely but not entirely associated with former Vice President Al Gore’s promotion of human-caused climate change as “an inconvenient truth.” By this time, the issue had become highly polarized, with denial or discounting of the risk a hallmark of the political right, especially among American Republicans. International media coverage and public concern fell after 2010, but at this writing in 2015, these are again on the rise. The ups and downs of media attention and public concern are unrelated to real changes in the temperature of the atmosphere.

scholarly journals CNN Effect in Yemen War

Jurnal ICMES ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Hilal Kholid Bajri ◽  
Nugrah Nurrohman ◽  
Muhammad Fakhri
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Effect Theory

This article is a study of the involvement of the United States (US) in the Yemeni War thas has already taken place since 2015 by using the 'CNN Effect' theory. The authors analyzed documents and mass media coverage and conducted discourse analysis on US mainstream media news, namely CNN and the New York Times. The result of this research shows that CNN and the New York Times did not report the Yemeni War proportionally so that public opinion ignored this war and did not encourage further action from the US government and United Nations to stop the war. This way of reporting is in line with US’ economic-political interests in Yemen and US support for the Saudi Arabia.

scholarly journals A changing climate of skepticism: The factors shaping climate change coverage in the US press

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 498-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Schmid-Petri ◽  
Silke Adam ◽  
Ivo Schmucki ◽  
Thomas Häussler
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Print Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
The Us ◽  
One Year

Skepticism toward climate change has a long tradition in the United States. We focus on mass media as the conveyors of the image of climate change and ask: Is climate change skepticism still a characteristic of US print media coverage? If so, to what degree and in what form? And which factors might pave the way for skeptics entering mass media debates? We conducted a quantitative content analysis of US print media during one year (1 June 2012 to 31 May 2013). Our results show that the debate has changed: fundamental forms of climate change skepticism (such as denial of anthropogenic causes) have been abandoned in the coverage, being replaced by more subtle forms (such as the goal to avoid binding regulations). We find no evidence for the norm of journalistic balance, nor do our data support the idea that it is the conservative press that boosts skepticism.

US Media Coverage of the Cancún Climate Change Conference

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (02) ◽  
pp. 251-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jules Boykoff
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
The United States ◽  
Business Community ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Media ◽  
One Year

AbstractMuch was at stake at the 2010 United Nations climate change conference in Cancún, Mexico. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was being challenged by the world's two largest greenhouse gas emitters, China and the United States, after these countries reached a tenuous backroom deal one year earlier in Copenhagen. Meanwhile, scientific studies were warning of serious and severe climate change. This article analyzes newspaper articles and television segments from the US media that appeared during the timeframe of the Cancún conference, focusing on two key facets of coverage that continue to be important as negotiations proceed: the economic impacts and opportunities that climate change creates and the role that China plays in negotiations. I also examine which sources were allowed through the news gates and which ones were marginalized. I find that the US media discussed economic opportunities more frequently than economic impacts and that the media treated China in an even-handed way. Established political actors dominated coverage, followed by representatives of nongovernmental organizations and the business community. Meanwhile, grassroots activists and indigenous voices were marginalized.

scholarly journals Accommodating Climate Change Science: James Hansen and the Rhetorical/Political Emergence of Global Warming

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard D. Besel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
The United States ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Public Policy Issue ◽  
History Of

ArgumentDr. James Hansen's 1988 testimony before the U.S. Senate was an important turning point in the history of global climate change. However, no studies have explained why Hansen's scientific communication in this deliberative setting was more successful than his testimonies of 1986 and 1987. This article turns to Hansen as an important case study in the rhetoric of accommodated science, illustrating how Hansen successfully accommodated his rhetoric to his non-scientist audience given his historical conditions and rhetorical constraints. This article (1) provides a richer explanation for the rhetorical/political emergence of global warming as an important public policy issue in the United States during the late 1980s and (2) contributes to scholarly understanding of the rhetoric of accommodated science in deliberative settings, an often overlooked area of science communication research.

scholarly journals NATO in The Very Cold War: Why the US Needs Nato in the Arctic

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-37
Author(s):  
Sharon Sebastian Effendy ◽  
Bernadeth Franchika ◽  
Vanessa Anthea Kusuma
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Cold War ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Security Dilemma ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Hegemonic Stability

Global warming and climate change resulting in the melting of sea ice within the Arctic have subsequently opened the possibility to explore and exploit the region. Previously seen as simply a region full of ice, the Arctic is believed to possess abundant natural resources, with an estimated 13% of undiscovered oil, 30% of natural gas resources in the world, as well as the opening of a new sea route which will be able to serve as a shortcut for countries to exchange goods - attracting states to pay closer attention to the region, be it militarily, politically, or economically, the United States being one of them. The increase in presence and power among Arctic and non-Arctic countries, especially Russia and China, has inarguably created a state of security dilemma among all parties involved, which is why if the US would like to seek a larger presence within the region, it becomes important for the country to involve NATO as one of its key partners, despite issues concerning the country and the organization. For the purpose of this paper, the aforementioned argument will further be supported using concepts of security dilemma, hegemonic stability theory, and the balance of threat.

Rethinking U.S. National Security after Covid19

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda J. Bilmes
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
National Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
Emerging Diseases ◽  
Defense Spending ◽  
Federal Spending ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Military

AbstractThe United States has traditionally defined national security in the context of military threats and addressed them through military spending. This article considers whether the United States will rethink this mindset following the disruption of the Covid19 pandemic, during which a non-military actor has inflicted widespread harm. The author argues that the US will not redefine national security explicitly due to the importance of the military in the US economy and the bipartisan trend toward growing the military budget since 2001. However, the pandemic has opened the floodgates with respect to federal spending. This shift will enable the next administration to allocate greater resources to non-military threats such as climate change and emerging diseases, even as it continues to increase defense spending to address traditionally defined military threats such as hypersonics and cyberterrorism.

scholarly journals Meteorological modes of variability for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air quality in the United States: implications for PM2.5 sensitivity to climate change

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 3131-3145 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. K. Tai ◽  
L. J. Mickley ◽  
D. J. Jacob ◽  
E. M. Leibensperger ◽  
L. Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chemical Transport Model ◽  
Modes Of Variability ◽  
The Us ◽  
Cyclone Frequency

Abstract. We applied a multiple linear regression model to understand the relationships of PM2.5 with meteorological variables in the contiguous US and from there to infer the sensitivity of PM2.5 to climate change. We used 2004–2008 PM2.5 observations from ~1000 sites (~200 sites for PM2.5 components) and compared to results from the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model (CTM). All data were deseasonalized to focus on synoptic-scale correlations. We find strong positive correlations of PM2.5 components with temperature in most of the US, except for nitrate in the Southeast where the correlation is negative. Relative humidity (RH) is generally positively correlated with sulfate and nitrate but negatively correlated with organic carbon. GEOS-Chem results indicate that most of the correlations of PM2.5 with temperature and RH do not arise from direct dependence but from covariation with synoptic transport. We applied principal component analysis and regression to identify the dominant meteorological modes controlling PM2.5 variability, and show that 20–40% of the observed PM2.5 day-to-day variability can be explained by a single dominant meteorological mode: cold frontal passages in the eastern US and maritime inflow in the West. These and other synoptic transport modes drive most of the overall correlations of PM2.5 with temperature and RH except in the Southeast. We show that interannual variability of PM2.5 in the US Midwest is strongly correlated with cyclone frequency as diagnosed from a spectral-autoregressive analysis of the dominant meteorological mode. An ensemble of five realizations of 1996–2050 climate change with the GISS general circulation model (GCM) using the same climate forcings shows inconsistent trends in cyclone frequency over the Midwest (including in sign), with a likely decrease in cyclone frequency implying an increase in PM2.5. Our results demonstrate the need for multiple GCM realizations (because of climate chaos) when diagnosing the effect of climate change on PM2.5, and suggest that analysis of meteorological modes of variability provides a computationally more affordable approach for this purpose than coupled GCM-CTM studies.

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