Climate change; explaining the differences in reporting

Climate change
Explaining the differences in reporting
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Case Study group 3:
Annika van Berkel, Mark Boukes, Judith Fennis,
Yasemin Smit and Peter Vossen

Content
Differences in focus between US and NL
Statement
Influencing factors
Ideology and culture
Journalistic role conceptions
Sources and lobbying
Contributions of professionals
Conclusion
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Differences in focus
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(Brossard, Shanahan & McComas, 2004; Dirikx & Gelders, 2008; Rowlands, 2000; Van der Sluijs, Van Est & Riphagen, 2010)

Statement
Reporting on climate change is different between countries.
Causes of these differences are based on the following three influencing factors:
Ideology and culture of media institutions
Role conception of journalist
Use of sources and lobbying to journalists
In this presentations we give some examples of the differences of those factor between the US and the Netherlands
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Media ideology influences interpretation of facts, selection of experts and counter-experts
Tensions between national media logic and transnational responsibility of climate change
Interplay between politics, media and public opinion (e.g. Kyoto protocol)
‘You can put the debate on a scale with climate sceptics on the one end and positivists on the other. If you solely let the critical sceptics speak and these opposed against alarming positivists, there will not be any room left for the big, nuancing space in between where most of the scientists are working’ (Paul Luttikhuis, about the controverce debate on climate change citation on his blog on www.nrc.nl)
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(Carvalho, 2006, 2007; Olausson, 2009)

Media institutions
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No real difference between Dutch newspapers
Visible differences between opinion magazines: Elsevier more skeptical compared to Vrij Nederland
(Van der Sluijs et al., 2010)

Countries
Kyoto protocol: established in 1997 as a supplement on the Climate Treaty. Regulates the reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases.
The US did not ratify the Treaty – Fear of damage to the American economy.
Scientific uncertainty and the nation’s political system widens the gap
Vested interest of petrochemical industries
The EU (and with that the Netherlands) has ratified the Treaty in 2002
European governments are less reticent than US
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(Archibald, 1999; Ward, 2009)

Journalist role conceptions
Journalists biased in their reporting
Lack of confidence in scientific information is influential
Power struggle among different sectors of society that battle for control
Practice of ‘false balance’
Consequences: Biased coverage and created political space for the US government
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(Archibald, 1999; Ward, 2009; Boykoff & Boykoff, 2004)

Norms of journalists are collectively formed
Norms are formed collectively as part of professional training
Norms of professional journalism lead to mass media that adversely affects interaction between science, policy and public
News production on global warming: many tacit facets and unarticulated assumptions
Example: an analysis of US prestige press coverage in 1988/2002.
6% of the articles showed dominant scepticism
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(Boykoff & Boykoff, 2004, 2007)

Differences in use of tone
The American press uses a more neutral of tone than European countries
The tone in Dutch articles is not similar to the US press
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(Dirikx & Gelders, 2008; Van der Sluijs et al., 2010)

Lobbying
Lobbying to journalists
No evidence for active lobbyism of neither companies nor non-governmental environment organization
Greenpeace campaigns: indirect media attention
Oil companies: try to influence journalists indirectly by green image marketing
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(Gueterbock, 2004)

Lobbying
Lobbying in politics
Oil companies in the US invest in contacts and support of politicians
Politicians form a large group in the sources that are used in the press
Oil companies can have an indirect influence on coverage
Political lobbying is more accepted in the US compared to NL
US companies more resisting policies on climate changeEuropean companies are more willing to cooperate
Corporate culture reflects attitudes of its home countries inhabitants
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(Rowlands, 2000; US PIRG Education Fund, 2004)

‘People interpret the climate change debate, based on what they want to see. Anti capitalists demand the end of an unrestrained economic growth, using the ‘climate problem’ as argument, whereas ecologist want the forests to be preserved better.’
Science journalist Marcel Crok in his book ‘De staat van het klimaat’
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Lobbying

The use of sources
US: politicians and special interest groups most cited
29% of citations in articles: business and interest groups
NL: more use of scientific sources
Used sources of 4 Dutch Newspapers (NRC Handelsblad, AD, Telegraaf and de Volkskrant)
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(Brossard et al.,2004; Trumbo, 1996; Van der Sluijs et al., 2010)

If we look at the three influencing factors
Conclusions
Differences in culture between countries has influenced the way the climate debate is framed
The culture differences have also influenced the role of journalists, because the norms are formed collectively
Lobbying in the US is more accepted and open
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Reporting on climate change is different between the US and NL, but the common goal is the same:
“Nations have shown they can work together under a common roof, to reach consensus on a common cause. They have shown that consensus in a transparent and inclusive process can create opportunity for all” (Christine Figueres, UN secretary for environmental issues)
“The fight against climate change is one of the biggest battles in history. To win this fight we all need to do our share: governments, business, NGOs and the public. It must be a collective effort”(Hugo von Meijenfeldt, Dutch Climate Ambassador)
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Questions
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Climate change; explaining the differences in reporting

by Mark Boukes (University of Amsterdam) on Mar 10, 2011

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