Between Consensus and Denial: Climate Journalists as Interpretive Community

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Michael Brüggemann - , University of Zurich (Author)
  • Sven Engesser - , University of Zurich (Author)

Abstract

This study focuses on climate journalists as key mediators between science and the public sphere. It surveys journalists from five countries and five types of leading news outlets. Despite their different contexts, journalists form an interpretive community sharing the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change and agreeing on how to handle climate change skeptics. This consensus is particularly strong among a core of prolific writers while climate change skepticism persists among a periphery of occasional writers. The journalists’ attitudes toward climate change are connected to their usage of sources, indicating that interpretive communities include journalists and scientists.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)399-427
Number of pages29
JournalScience Communication
Volume36
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2014
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

Research priority areas of TU Dresden

Sustainable Development Goals

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • climate change, climate change skepticism, environmental journalism, interpretive community, science journalism