TV News and the State of Nature

By Michael Collins, Teravana

Media content is everywhere: online, documentaries, and newspapers. But TV still has the broadest reach and the most influence over the general population in the United States. Today, climate change is a topic of discussion, sometimes not taken as seriously as others. Research shows that viewers pay attention even though the environment is covered only a small percentage of the time. 

For whatever reason, TV producers don’t respect us as intelligent, independent thinkers. Many environmental stories concern broad-sweeping problems far from our day-to-day or futuristic climate benchmarks or global summits. I am more inclined to connect with a story about a two-thousand-square-mile forested watershed in the Catskills that was protected and restored to provide clean drinking water for New York City. 

How television delivers climate news allows us to not deal with it right now. It also opens the door for claims that theories talked about by environmentalists are unproven or that certain news channels are politically motivated. Climate change becomes an argument. We can easily use our side of the discussion to prove party allegiance without knowing enough about how a rapidly changing environment affects our families, health, or backyard. 

The following is some research from an article by Craig T. Robertson titled How people access and think about climate change news.

Politics

• There is less overall interest in climate change news in markets with polarizing politics.
• Less polarizing countries like Greece and Portugal want journalists who advocate for change.
  
  

Age

• Younger people are likelier to want the news outlets to take a clear position in favor of climate change action. 
• Those over 55 favor news outlets taking an impartial position.

Impacts 

• Audiences in less polarised countries can more clearly see the negative effects of extreme weather.
• Audiences feel more inclined to support journalists taking a stand in places where the direct impacts of climate change are acutely felt.