Climate coverage across cultures: 9 types of media narratives at COP21
Before dealing with environmental news reporting academically, I was involved in the environmental movement personally, since back in the 90s. I was, for instance, at the World Social Forum which took place during the now sadly famous G8 summit in Genoa in July 2001. I was volunteering as a translator and spent several days actively participating. […]
Paris Climate Summit – Media Summary – 6.12.15 Brazilian Media Coverage
In Brazil, the political turmoil is overshadowing the media coverage of the COP21. This weekend, Venezuela had general elections which received major attention from Brazilian outlets. Nevertheless, all the main newspapers had a special section on their websites dedicated to the conference – they are updated daily with articles written by correspondents, international news agencies […]
Why there needs to be more public debate on climate change
Everybody’s eyes are on Paris at the moment. For one week the climate summit has already filled many headlines, columns and articles in the media world. It is a typical pattern. In fact, media researchers know that the conferences are rare times for climate change to get public attention. Paris is probably a new dimension – […]
Degrees and vulnerability – A personal account of climate activists at COP21
Monday morning the climate summit started with scores of state leaders arriving in their black cars, delegates and press mostly in hybrid shuttle buses. But Espace Générations Climat – the forum for all the non-accredited NGOs and activists, remained closed. They were not allowed to open until Tuesday, evidently for security reasons. The amount one has to pay […]
Security measures and civil action: an analysis of media coverage at #COP21
The day after the Paris attacks, a state of emergency was declared in France. As a result, civil liberties were restrained and exceptional police powers were dedicated to regulating the movement and residence of the public. The state of emergency was promulgated by the French Assembly for a period of three months beginning on November […]
Degrees and vulnerability – personal account of the start of the summit
Monday morning the climate summit started with scores of state leaders arriving in their black cars, delegates and press mostly in electric shuttle buses. But Espace Générations Climat – the forum for all the non-accredited NGOs and activists, remained closed. They were not allowed to open until Tuesday, evidently for security reasons. The only demonstrators the delegates would see […]
Do the mainstream media tell the full story? A critical account of coverage at COP21
Do you need a ticket to COP21 in order to get the full story of what goes on? A week ago in Bilbao Spain, this provocative question was posed by Dr. Unai Pascual to a discussion group at the Basque Center for Climate Change. Unai’s question is an open one I’ve pondered in the lead up to the Paris […]
How data journalism is impacting the climate change debate
Climate conferences serve multiple purposes. Besides being important political events, they are also global media spectacles which push the topic of climate change to the top of political, scientific and public agendas. Scientific data is always at the heart of the way climate change is discussed. Whether it be weather records, measurement of greenhouse gasses in […]
Was the “failure” of the Copenhagen climate summit key to expected “success” in Paris?
Recently, a journalist asked me in passing – which was the best COP so far, which the worst? Honestly, I have not been a good observer of these meetings. All I know there were many and the next is #21. There was Copenhagen, sometimes labelled Hopenhagen by enthusiasts. It was COP15 and the year was […]
Paris Climate Summit – Media Summary – 30.11.2015 – New Zealand publications
Today we briefly survey media coverage of the Paris summit from the two largest online news sites from this author’s homeland, New Zealand.