mainstream media is COVERING CLIMATE NOW
Reliable media coverage during this time of COVID-19 is an essential service to those of us affected by the virus; i.e., all of us. At The 51 Percent Project, we are looking for valuable lessons to learn from the vast majority of people, influential leaders among them, who are making decisions based on the facts. The vast majority of people are guided by the experts. How do we get this expert guidance? Where do we get these facts? Much of it comes via the outstanding reporting of our most excellent news sources.
Certain parallels between COVID-19 and Climate Change are clear: both are global emergencies, both require unprecedented measures in response, both are unavoidable, both require a massive adjustment in our lives —and in our hearts and minds. The new climate reporting coalition Covering Climate Now collaboration launched long-planned Earth Day 50 coverage this week. How will that coverage go, as many newsrooms focus 24/7 on the pandemic? We expect the most thoughtful, enduring reporting on climate change — this week and beyond —will incorporate some mention of our public health emergency. We’ll be looking for the content that manages to mention both, which mentions not only these vast problems but also their solutions, and which audiences share and act upon.
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Posted pre-coronavirus:
If you watch, listen to, or read the news; if you follow digital media and social channels for reliable content; chances are you have noticed a pronounced increase in coverage related to climate change. Major broadcast networks lag in reporting the climate story. According to Media Matters the 68% increase in 2019 coverage accounts for a mere 0.7% of network and cable news overall. This is changing: both CBSNews and the PBS NewsHour have established climate change as a beat.
Covering Climate Now (CCNow) is a major-media coalition to radically improve coverage of climate change. Along with many additional major media running the gamut from digital-only, radio, print, broadcast, the CCNow network doubles down on accurate, compelling coverage and — in a highly unusual move for a famously scoop-exclusive profession — often shares content among partners. CCNow officially launched a week of collaborative coverage during the week September 15, leading into the UN General Assembly’s Climate Summit. A second week is scheduled for April 22, at the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
Boston University was the first major university to sign on as a CCNow participating institution, aligning with the University’s bold Climate Action Plan and exploding reputation as a major research university with much emphasis on climate change. The 51 Percent Project at BU’s Institute for Sustainable Energy is providing a hub for this platform, on campus and off. Please scroll down for more on BU activity related to CCNow and other established news organizations.
Ed Hawkins’s “Warming Stripes,” Sept. 21, 2019 cover. Get yours: https://showyourstripes.info
Launched in January: “We want Bloomberg Green to be the indispensable guide to anyone who wants to understand this great transition—investors, politicians, chief executives and scientists to be sure, but also clever readers everywhere.”
Climate activist Greta Thunberg photographed on the shore in Lisbon, Portugal December 4, 2019 Photograph by Evgenia Arbugaeva for TIME
Climate change affects every beat in the newsroom. Health is a huge story.
One of many pieces covering finance giant BlackRock CEO’s bombshell letter to investors. Larry Fink’s announcement that climate change has now put us “on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance,” marks a watershed moment in climate history.
Boston University
At BU, we are using this mainstream media push as the framework for multiple classes and student work across media platforms of film, public relations, advertising, and journalism.
The College of Communication Research Center is mounting a substantive data research analysis to ascertain what works and what does not. What keywords prove popular? Are doom and hope both strong approaches, or does one outweigh the other? Does successful coverage always include actionable solutions? Do certain headlines or images stand out as especially engaging and shareable?
The Boston Globe introduced its multimedia climate reporting focused on Cape Cod in October, with comment from Globe editor Brian McGrory and Sarah Finnie Robinson, and panels featuring Robinson and ISE colleague Cutler Cleveland. Robinson’s Public Relations, Advertising, and Film students from the College of Communication covered the event and created digital content for their @AlarmedMajority social-media campaign.
