Hi everyone: This newsletter is back after a (hopefully!) short hiatus. My goal is to get it out roughly every other week but sometimes teaching and other responsibilities get in the way.
Lately, Iāve been crunching for a research presentation at the upcoming annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) thatās being held virtually this year, as are many, many such events.
Iām sharing some research on, fittingly, climate journalism newsletters and news media coverage of the February Texas power outages on a panel about news coverage of climate attribution. I recently joined a recording session with scholars across four time zones and three continents, which was pretty fun. More on my research in a future newsletter edition.
Given that news cycles are event-driven and episodic, Earth Day brings an abundance of environmental-themed news coverageāand along with that public relations spin. For the challenges this presents for climate journalists who cover the beat day in and out, head over to Emily Atkinās HEATED newsletter, for a post aptly entitled āMy Earth Day Inbox: Environmental reporters hate this holiday. Let me show you why.ā
So, for this weekās newsletter, Iāve curated a very non-exhaustive list of climate news coverage Iāve enjoyed reading, and am following, this week.
(1) The Climate Leaders Summit Day One Coverage
On Thursday, Earth Day, the Biden administration kicked-off the Leaders Summit on Climate, hosted virtually from the White House. You can watch day two of the event, streaming Friday here, starting at 8 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
For recaps and updates:
The New York Times live blog from the event, as well as analysis of the Biden administrationās new greenhouse gas emissions reduction target, āThe U.S. Has a New Climate Goal. How Does It Stack Up Globally?.ā
The UK-based Carbon Brief has an updated in-depth country profile of the United States on climate.
The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, in partnership with Facebook Data for Good, has new research out showing broad public support for the Paris Agreement in 30 countries and territories. Findings include:
āWe also find that many respondents want their own governments to do more to address climate change, ranging from 89% in Colombia to 41% in Saudi Arabia, while relatively few say their government should do less. In the United States, 65% of respondents say the U.S. government should do more, while only 22% say it should do less.ā
(2) Covering Climate Nowās āClimate Emergency Weekā
Covering Climate Now, a collaboration of more than 460 news organizations with the goal of improving climate change reporting, ran a coordinated week of climate coverage, āClimate Emergency Week,ā that wrapped-up Thursday.
Coverage kicked-off April 12 with the goal of ārunning human-centered stories focused on how people and places experience the climate emergency and we all can survive it.ā
On Earth Day, Covering Climate Now issued a much-needed call to action for news organizations to reinvest in climate journalism:
āFor journalists, today is an opportunity for recommitment to the climate story. After so many years when the media as a whole took a pass on the climate story, today virtually all of the biggest names in news clearly understand the importance of what Covering Climate Now calls the defining story of our time. News organizations are hiring climate teams, launching important new projects, and beginning to tell climate stories with real energy and enthusiasm. Gauging by coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic, thereās still room for growth if journalists mean to treat climate change as an emergency.ā
For a recap of āClimate Emergency Weekā coverage, check out the hashtag #ClimateEmergencyWeek or visit here for a curated selection.
(3) The New York Times presents āA Climate Change Guide for Kidsā
In my absolute favorite piece of recent climate reporting, Julia Rosen has a guide for kids on climate change out in the New York Times, with beautiful illustrations from Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, āBad Future, Better Future.ā
Check it out with the kids in your life, or the kids at heart. This one Iām bookmarking to come back to when my toddler is a little older.
Thereās a study guide to go along with the Rosenās story, including questions to prompt learning.
(4) Google Earth shows climate change
Using millions of satellite images from 1984 to 2020, Google Earth released a new āTimelapseā feature that enables users to see the effects of climate change. To explore the interactive data visualizations, visit Google Earth.
(5) Climate activists can be tone-deaf too (depending on your point of view)
In a story making the rounds on Twitter, among other places, activists with the group Extinction Rebellion DC following through on a plan to dump āheaps of cow shitā near the White House Thursday.
Washington, D.C. city workers had to clean-up the mess activists left behind, though they had planned to return to do it themselves. According to reporting in the Washingtonian: āTwitter users on both sides of the aisle were not amused.ā
As reported in the Washingtonian, the goal was to demand the Biden administration āacts in line with the science by declaring a climate and ecological emergency under the National Emergencies Act.ā
Needless to say, the protest got attention. Radical flank effect anyone?
A blast from the pastā¦
And, lastly for your reading enjoyment, hereās the New York Times above-the-fold front page coverage of the first Earth Day in 1970. For more on the history of Earth Day visit here.
A New York Times article from April 23, 1970, under the headline āActivity Ranges From Oratory to Legislation,ā started like this:
āEarth Day, the first mass consideration of the globe's environmental problems, preempted the attention and energies of millions of Americans, young and old, across the country yesterday.
Congress stood in recess be cause scores of its members were participating in Earth Day programs.
The, activities ranged from huge demonstrations to the passage of environmental legislation.
Rallies involving up to 25,000 persons took place in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and other big cities. The National Education Association estimated that 10 million public school children participated in āteach inā programs.ā
Todayās Congress, take note.
Thanks for reading. š
Climate change is a story for every day and every beat, not just on Earth Day.
Thatās all for this week. Stay safe and healthy.