National Newspapers
In the top 50 newspapers, a total of 760 articles mentioned extreme heat, heat waves, record heat, or record temperatures from January 1 to July 8, 2018. One hundred thirty-four of these pieces (17.6 percent) also mentioned climate change or global warming. During the period June 27 to July 8, only 23 of 204 heat-related articles (11.3 percent) mentioned climate, a decline of 36 percent.Ten of the top 50 newspapers made no mention of climate change in the context of extreme heat, heat waves, record heat, or record temperatures from January 1 to July 8 of this year, although all of them published one or more articles on heat-related topics. In the states we examined, there were a combined 1,730 articles on heat in 2018 to date, with 195 (11.3 percent) mentioning climate. During the twelve-day period, there were 673 articles, with just 26 (3.9 percent) mentioning climate, a decline of 66 percent.
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Notably, ten of the top 50 newspapers did not mention climate change at all in the context of heat from January 1 to July 8 of this year—again, our search terms involved extreme heat, heat waves, record heat, and record temperatures—although each paper published one or more articles on heat. Two newspapers, the Detroit Free Press and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, published 15 and 13 heat-related articles, respectively, without mentioning climate change. The Kansas City Star, the Star-Tribune (Minnesota), and the New York Post followed closely behind with 12, 11, and 10 heat related articles, respectively, and no mentions of climate change. By contrast, the Atlanta Journal Constitution had only two articles on heat, but one of them mentioned climate change.
State Newspapers: Mixed Coverage
In the 13 states in which 10 or more localities broke heat records from June 27 to July 8, coverage was mixed but, on the whole, significantly worse than in the top 50 papers. Overall, there were a combined 1,730 articles on heat in 2018 to date, with 195 (11.3 percent) mentioning climate. During the heat wave, there were 673 articles, with 26 (3.9 percent) mentioning climate—a decline of 66 percent. If one considers only articles with more than 200 words, then the numbers are 190 of 1,499 (12.7 percent) for 2018 and 23 of 574 (4.0 percent) during the heat wave, a decline of 68 percent.
Qualitative Analysis: Missed Opportunities
This report found that overt climate denial in the coverage is becoming absent; however, there is still a persistent silence about extreme heat related to climate change even though the climate change denial is no longer present. Propaganda proponents, once they are successful in planting a fixed idea in the collective knowledge, can subside having done its work.
One bright spot in this analysis is that we found virtually no climate denial in connection with heat related reporting this year. There was none at all during the June-July heat event, and only one arguable example the entire year to date: a January 2018 Tucker Carlson segment which was responding to a cold snap, not a heat event. It appears the deniers know better than to take on extreme or record-setting heat, some of the most obvious, and unfortunately now-persistent, weather-related signs of climate change. On the other hand, the degree of silence about climate change in the context of extreme heat is striking, particularly in light of the absence of denial.
Qualitative Analysis: Strong Reporting
Although outlets generally have done a poor job connecting extreme heat to climate change in 2018, and particularly during the June-July heat event, a number of individual reporters have excelled in telling the whole story on heat in multiple ways.
This Public citizen report does a beautiful job of revealing through data how media outlets have failed to inform our citizenry; however, it also notes when the media succeeds and how they are able to inform by;
- Citing Climate Scientists;
- Describing the Relationship Between Climate and Weather Accurately;
- Connecting Global Warming to Local Weather; and
- Bringing It Home.
In general, good climate reporting can relate current weather to climate by considering how the recent temperatures compare to historic averages, while noting that global warming is also altering the averages. It also can discuss potential signals of climate change, including heat waves that:
- are especially severe;
- are longer than usual;
- are earlier or later in the season than usual;
- raise the total number of hotter-than-average days for the year above the long-term average for the year to date;
- involve unusually hot nights; or
- break records.
I urge anyone who is interested in reforming the media outlets’ coverage of climate in order to inform and educate the public at large to read the 22-page report Extreme Silence: How the U.S. Media have failed to Connect climate Change to Extreme Heat in 2018.
The information in reports such as these are important resources to create letters to the editor or news outlets and petitions. The fight to defeat climate change crisis is a local to national strategy. One final quote illustrating the underlying the importance of this is the last line in the report.
A recent op-ed in the Los Angeles Times summarizes both the problem of poor climate coverage in the media and the solution in ten words: The science is clear. Journalists need to start using it.
Blogathon
September 20-27 on DK
September 20 is the launch of an entire week of global climate action. From Friday September 20 to September 27, people of all generations all over the world will be mobilizing.
Here are the dates for the climate strike
https://globalclimatestrike.net/
It has sign ups for strikes all over the world.