Denial in The Media | Isclimatechangereal

DENIAL IN THE MEDIA:

HOW MASS MEDIA AFFECTS

PERCEPTIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

The media is often the primary source of scientific and environmental information for the layperson.

Mass media has the tools to disseminate information and inform people on climate change.

However, these tools are often misused; politically-biased media has been known to manipulate perceptions and change standpoints in support of climate change denial.

On this page, you will find some answers to:
(1) Which media outlets deny climate change?

(2) What causes media outlets to deny climate change?

(3) What are the consequences of these outlets' denial of climate change?

HOW MASS MEDIA CONTRIBUTES TO CLIMATE CHANGE DENIAL

GATEKEEPING

Some news corporations are owned or heavily influenced by powerful individuals and institutions who are "gatekeepers" to information published on the sites.

Powerful climate change deniers can decide to produce media that furthers their political, social and economical interests, and restrict coverage on alternative viewpoints.
- They can choose to distort climate science to spread climate change denial by having journalists frame information released to be in their interests.

FRAMING

"Frames are interpretive storylines that set a specific train of thought in motion, communicating why an issue might be a problem, who or what might be responsible for it, and what should be done about it."

— Matthew Nisbet, Editor-In-Chief of scientific journal "Environmental Communications"

Framing theory explains that the way a topic is presented, or "framed", influences the way the audience interpret and understand the topic.
- Although some news sites are fair in their skepticism of climate science, others cherry-pick and frame their information in attempts to undermine the credibility of climate science;
  - Riley Dunlap, one of the founders of environmental sociology, explains that this strategy is unfortunately highly effective;
    - The layperson's understanding of human-caused climate change is mostly based on information disseminated by the media
    - Thus, attacking the integrity of climate scientists will shake the public's trust in climate science, and will in turn affect how much they support climate action plans.