The J Word 4.5: Covering Climate Change Contestations

This episode is the second of two focused on how journalists balance reporting on climate change’s synergistic effects – the related and consequential results of a changing climate. Our conversation surrounds a double special issue of Journalism Practice co-edited with Juliet Pinto from the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University in the U.S. Juliet is also co-editor of the book Climate Change, Media & Culture: Critical Issues in Global Environmental Communication, as well as News Media Coverage of Environmental Challenges in Latin America & The Caribbean: Mediating Demand, Degradation, and Development.

Guests include Dimitrinka Atanasova (recorded separately), a Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University in the U.K., who authored, “How constructive news outlets reported the synergistic effects of climate change and COVID-19 through metaphors.” Lawrence Brannon, a Lecturer in Media and Journalism at University Academy 92 in the U.K., shares his co-authored piece that examines the potentials of communicating against misinformation through interactivity and gamification in interactive documentaries. And, Mimi Perreault is an Assistant Professor at East Tennessee State University in the U.S. who talks through her findings of her co-authored article that examines metajournalistic discourse in the complexities of covering COVID-19 and the climate crisis.

This special issue and podcast episode is a result of a 2020 Lancaster University Data Science Institute Workshop titled UK Underwater. You can learn more about that workshop at ukunderwater.com.

Text and Resources Featured in this Episode:

Gutsche, Jr., R. E. & Pinto, J. (2022). Covering synergistic effects of climate change: Global challenges for journalism . Journalism Practice.

Pinto, J., Gutsche, Jr., R. E., Prado, P. (Eds.). (2019). Climate change, media & culture: Critical issues in global environmental communication.

Takahashi, B., Pinto, J., Vigón, M., & Chávez, M. (2018). News media coverage of environmental challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Perreault, G., Perreault, M. F., & Maares, P. (2021). Metajournalistic Discourse as a Stabilizer within the Journalistic Field: Journalistic Practice in the Covid-19 Pandemic. Journalism Practice, 1-19.

Atanasova, D. (2021). How constructive news outlets reported the synergistic effects of climate change and COVID-19 through metaphors. Journalism Practice, 1-20.

Brannon, L., Gold, L., Magee, J., & Walton, G. (2021). The Potential of Interactivity and Gamification Within Immersive Journalism & Interactive Documentary (I-Docs) to Explore Climate Change Literacy and Inoculate Against Misinformation. Journalism Practice, 1-31.

Produced and hosted by Robert (Ted) Gutsche, Jr.

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