Environmental Journalism JOU 9742 FIMS UWO Bill Kovarik, PhD

Environmental
Journalism
JOU 9742 FIMS UWO

Bill Kovarik, PhD

What is environmental
journalism?
Why is it important?

Journalism is…
… a profession conveying news, information and
opinion through mass media to various audiences.
… an essential component of democracy,
protected by:
– The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 19,
– Section 2(b) of the Charter of Canada
– First Amendment, Constitution of the US
– European Convention for the Protection of
Human Rights

Environmental Journalism is…
… NEW -- relatively new as a “beat” (1970s) but part of an
ongoing tradition of reporting about conservation, technology
and public health
… ABOUT SCIENCE -- helping public understand
environmental science, along with economic and political
issues about the environment
… INFORMING -- like other forms of journalism, oriented
towards informing the public with accredited facts and a broad
array of analysis and opinion
… IMPROVING -- becoming more professional in recent
years, thanks in part to SEJ, but also
… CHANGING -- undergoing severe cutbacks in US and
Canadian newsrooms …
… NEEDED -- paradoxically, its less available at a time when
it is needed most

Journalism Associations
National or international -- Canadian Association of Journalists, US

Society of Professional Journalists, British Association of Journalists,
InterAmerican Press Assn, etc.

Media or professional specialization -- Radio-TV News Directors, Online
Journalists Association, Society of News Design,

Career development, minority -- National Lesbian and Gay Journalists

Assn, National Assn of Black Journalists, National Assn of Hispanic Journalists

Subject specialization: military, sports, education, criminal justice, religion,
agriculture, science & health care

– Society of Environmental Journalists (US & Canada)
– National Assn of Science Writers (US)
– Canadian Assn of Science Writers (Canada)

EJ associations
• US Natl Assn Science

Writers - 1934
• Canadian Assn Science
Writers - 1971
• Society Environmental
Journalists - 1990
• International Federation
Environmental Journalists
- 1993
• World Federation Science
Journalists - 2002

Environmental Communication
• Academic definition: “EC is the pragmatic
and constitutive vehicle for our understanding
of the environment as well as our
relationships to the natural world; it is the
symbolic medium that we use in constructing
environmental problems and negotiating
society’s different responses to them.”
•

Robert Cox, Environmental Communication and the Public
Sphere, Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2006

Studies of EJs
David Sachsman, Joanne Valenti et al.,
• In 2008, only 36 % newspapers, 10% TV stations selfidentified staffer as an “environmental reporter”
• (Number has declined drastically since then)
• Half spend only 1/3 of time on environmental issues
• Only 26 % cover environment more than 2/3 of the time
• About 24% of Ejs majored in science, compared to 3% of
other journalists / Other attributes - age, gender,
education levels, and job satisfaction levels were the
same

Studies of EJs
• Sachsman, Valenti et al.,
• Men are 2/3 of EJs in 03 survey /
– surprising result / possibly survey error or artifact

• 3/4 of Ejs felt need for more training and education
• Most have some undergrad science training
• Other studies have shown correlation between
accuracy and university level science education

Newsroom cuts impact
• Massive cuts in most newsrooms
2009 Boston Globe laid off entire science and
environment unit, WSJ layoffs, many others -often Ejs & SWs are first to go
• Many publications folding or shifting to digital
– Seattle Post Intelligencer, Rocky Mountain News,
Christian Science Monitor
• Many TV programs cut -- Weather Channel climate
program, CNN science and environment unit

Canadian EJ
• Long tradition of great environmental
writing in Canada – Farley Mowatt (fiction),
Gray Owl (nature); Fifth Estate’s Denial
Machine (CBC); Chris Turner’s Geography

of Hope; Andrew Nikiforuk’s Tar Sands
• Since the economic meltdown, quantity of
EJ greatly reduced and media have
supported paradoxical idea of consumer
spending as improving economy

Needed: More outreach
• Not only will we have to re-invent the
economic model of journalism, but we
will also have “ reinvent the
conversation about journalism, making
it less internal to the profession, and
more interactive with the rest of
society.”
--

Nicholas Lehman, Columbia University School of

Journalism,

May 2009

Increasing need for public
understanding of science
-----

Vannevar Bush
Jacob Bronowski
Two Cultures CP Snow
Carl Sagan
and
-- several examples

Science & democracy linked

Vannevar
Bush, 1949

The democratic process and the
applications of science … are

intimately intertwined, for
science does not operate in a
vacuum… Discussions on the air
or at the corner store revolve
about these two central
subjects… (which are always) in
the background. They determine
our destiny, and well we know
it.”

“The world today is …
powered by science… To
abdicate an interest in
science is to walk with eyes
open toward slavery.”
“If we are anything we must be a democracy of
the intellect. We must not perish by the distance
between people and power, by which Babylon
and Egypt and Rome failed. And that distance
can only be closed if knowledge sits in the homes

and heads of people with no ambition to control
others, and not in isolated seats of power.”
-- Jacob Bronowski, 1956 and 1973

“Intellectual life … is increasingly
being split into two polar groups …
literary intellectuals and scientists
… (who) can’t talk to each other.”
The gap should be closed “for the
sake of Western society living
precariously rich among the poor,
and for the sake of the poor, who
needn’t be poor if there is
intelligence in the world.”
-- The Two Cultures, C.P. Snow,
1959

(many takes on Snow’s “two cultures” idea)

(many takes on Snow’s “two cultures” idea)

"I have a foreboding of ... a (future) service
and information economy ... when
awesome technological powers are in the
hands of a very few, and no one
representing the public interest can even
grasp the issues; when the people have
lost the ability to set their own agendas or
knowledgeably question those in
authority ...

The dumbing down of America is most evident in
the slow decay of substantive content in the
enormously influential media … "
-- Carl Sagan, The Demon Haunted World, Random House, 1995

What if Sagan could train
an environmental reporter?
-- Represent the public interest
-- ask knowledgeable questions

-- grasp the issues and understand the
range of possibility and opinion
… without getting baffled by
complexity
-- Help set a public interest agenda

Science literacy
• For every five hours of cable news,
less than a minute is devoted to
science
• The number of newspapers with
weekly science sections has shrunken
by two-thirds over the past several
decades.
• 46 percent of Americans deny
evolution and think the Earth is less
than 10,000 years old

Scientific literacy
“Wind power uses more energy that it produces” – Typical comment at a Tazewell VA
public hearing on wind farm siting, May 2009.
“Climate change is a hoax” -- 700,000 hits on Google August 2009
“Sunlight isnt some magical free resource that we can just catch: most of it is already
being used to power the biosphere. Take some away, say by building massive
solar farms, and you have just that much less biosphere trying, and eventually
failing, to support an ever-increasing human population.” -- Blog comment,
August 2009
T or F: "Creationism -- that is, the idea that God created human beings pretty much
in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years”
Definitely true 39%, Probably true 27 %
(66%)
Probably false 15 %, Definitely false 16% (31%)

Ejs need science literacy
CLAIM by the Tennessee Valley Authority (US federal utility)
June 30, 2009 Chattanooga Times - Press

Costs of electricity per megawatt hour
– $25 to $35 coal
– $20 nuclear energy
– $5 to $8 hydro-generation in dams
– $50 to $300 wind and solar energy
Source: TVA Chief Operating Officer Bill McCollum

When questioned, TVA said:
• “The range of costs for renewables reflects the
approximate range of responses TVA received for its
December 2008 request for proposals for renewable
energy… The costs shown for coal, nuclear and
hydro are O&M and where applicable, fuel costs…”
• “When TVA does look at options for generation for
meeting future energy needs, a comparison of the
available choices is done using a levelized cost.”

So …
• So by being uneducated and uncritical, the
newspaper allowed TVA to unethically disadvantage
renewable energy.
• At a time when society needs new energy sources,
and needs good information about costs and
benefits, this is poor practice.

Scholarship in EJ & SciComm
Sources Channels Audiences
• Quantitative analysis (eg Opinion polling,
Content analysis, Co-orientation)
• Qualitative analysis (Frame analysis, focus
groups)
• Also: risk communication, critical theory,
environmental history

Basic issues for EJ
• What is the function / role news media in forming
science and environmental policy? (libertarian, social
responsibility, “propaganda model,” etc).

• How do journalists translate science for public?
– Problem areas include complexity, uncertainty,
conflicting claims, political dimensions

• What is role of ideology & advocacy in EJ?
– When do emergency conditions supercede
professional commitments (eg war reporting)?

Basic issues for EJ
•

Professionals have long
been concerned with
“issue fatigue”

• In other words, how do we
avoid THIS?

•

(with apologies to R.Crumb)

Content analysis:
David Weintraub, USC MA thesis, 2007

2007 survey 432 articles on climate using 9
dimensions of risk established (Slovic) and frame analysis
(Gamson) found:
-- Risk: n/a (45%), severe (35%), future (33%), immediate
(21%), catastrophic (15%) and nonhuman life (14%).
-- Frames: political (44%), consequences (22%), and
scientific (10%).
-- Sources: government (38%), scientist (27%) non
profit NGO (13%).

Audience analysis:
Erin Marlowe, MA, U. of Missouri, 2005 thesis

• Seeing Red in Green News-- political
ideology and partisanship are factors in
credibility assessments and perceived bias in
environmental news. …
Articles written using moderate sources and
suggestions of compromise were rated as
lower in bias and higher in credibility than
articles using confrontational language and
sources with intense viewpoints. (more…)

Audience analysis (cont):
Erin Marlowe, MA, University of Missouri, 2005 thesis

• Study supports “hostile media” phenomenon,
-- highly partisan individuals judge media to
be biased against their side and favorable to
their opponents…
• Journalists can ensure wider acceptance of a
message by writing moderately and including
suggestions of solutions to environmental
problems.

Translating science
Problem: Climate change issue: “objectivity”
led to false balance, elevation of non-scientific
ideas about climate (Max Boykoff)
•
•
•
•
•

Cronje – ‘Just the facts’ framing backfires
Russill -- Borrow from health rhetoric
Moyers -- Borrow from religious rhetoric
Dunwoody – Use weight of evidence
Meyers -- Use precision journalism

Framing strategies
• “Science is dynamic … A "just the facts" strategy can
and often does backfire, ultimately fueling public
alienation from science. When scientists inform the public
of "facts" … the public is justifiably confused. Studies
suggest that the public tends to regard normal scientific
refinement and self-correction as equivocation or
incompetence Instead of sweeping uncertainty under
the rug, science communicators should help the public
understand the logical and systematic procedures by
which scientists confront it.” -- Ruth Cronje, Nature, March 18, 2008

Framing strategies
British and American sources now seek to structure public
understanding of climate change by issuing “tipping point”
forewarnings of danger with increasing frequency. This
emerging trend announces a shift in the way we are likely
to perceive and respond to climate change dangers. This
paper reviews key statements to suggest a significant
dimension of this trend is its enrollment of
epidemiological terminology to communicate urgent and
uncertain threats.
•

Chris Russill (U. Minn) Tipping Point forewarnings

Env Comm 2:2 2008

Framing strategies / risk comm

1988
Exposition

2006
2008
Consequences Solutions

Framing climate change as Noah’s flood
How to reach fundamentalist Christians who doubt evolution? How
would I get them to hear me?
I might interview a scientist who is also a person of faith and ask
how he or she might frame the subject in a way to catch the
attention of other believers.
I might interview a minister who would couch the work of today’s
climate and biodiversity scientists in a biblical metaphor: the story
of Noah and the flood, for example.
The parallels of this parable are wonderful to behold. Both scientists
and Noah possess knowledge of a potentially impending global
catastrophe. They try to spread the word, to warn the world, but
are laughed at, ridiculed. You can almost hear some philistine
telling old Noah he is nothing but a “gloom and doom
environmentalist” …
-- Bill Moyers at SEJ 2005

Sharon Dunwoody
Weight of evidence
Objectivity and balance are … normative
behaviors (which) do not survive haphazardly
within occupations…
If a reporter cannot determine what’s true, what is
she to do? The “objectivity norm” responds that, if
you cannot tell what’s true, then at least capture
truth claims accurately…

Dunwoody -- weight of evidence
… Another strategy that would permit journalists
to retain their emphasis on objectivity and balance
but still share with their audiences a sense of
where “truth” might lie, at least at that moment. I
call this strategy “weight-of-evidence” reporting. It
calls on journalists not to determine what’s true
but, instead, to find out where the bulk of evidence
and expert thought lies on the truth continuum and
then communicate that to audiences. …

Phil Myers
Precision Journalism
Meyers suggests we are developing a new concept
of objectivity and journalistic method. We follow
events, observe the patterns, and formulate
theories about patterns and structure, test theory
objectively in way that can either be verified or
falsified

Meyers -- precision journalism
Most professional journalists follow an
objective scientific standard of replicability.
They inform their investigations with
theories about the underlying causes of
events. They develop operational tests of
those theories. And they document the
steps in executing their tests with a paper
trail that any other investigator could find
and follow and come out with the same
results.

Levels of reporting
(Mencher, Myers)
1. Event -- objective reporting
2. Pattern -- beat coverage, interpretative
reporting
3. Structure – investigative reporting,
attention to solutions, precision journalism

Advocacy

Advocacy vs objectivity
• Socially responsible journalism involves value
judgments and inherent commitments that are
evident in how issues are framed.
• Examples:
– Police reporting - individuals are innocent until proven
guilty, but pattern or system rarely questioned
– Sports and business reporting often entails boosterism
– “Civil rights” versus “race war” frame in US during 1950s
and 60s

Advocacy v Objectivity
“Environmental journalists are expected to be
advocates for changes to improve the quality
of the planet.” – WWF on EJ
– What do we lose by giving up objectivity? What do
we gain?
– Does the “objectivity” model get in the way of the
truth?
– Does EJ itself need more advocacy?
• Practical concern given foundation funding trends

Levels of Advocacy
• Level 1 -- Event / Issue advocacy -- How do
we report debate about risk from a specific
activity or pollution source?
• Level 2 -- Pattern / Agenda advocacy -Should environmental issues be placed
higher on the policy agenda? Which ones?
• Level 3 -- Structural advocacy -- Do we
mitigate or adapt to the consequences of
lifestyles and social structures? How?

Ex: Reporting environmental violence
• “Ecotage” or “monkeywrenching.” (Edward Abbey)
• T. Wagner found 155 news stories 1984 to 2006.
• Shift in framing “ecotage” as “ecoterrorism” starting in 2001, but
before 9/11.
• Increasingly the discourse of fear has been used to indicate the
seriousness of ecoterrorism.
• Volume of stories increased while number of reported incidences
declined
–

Travis Wagner Environmental Comm 2:1 2008

• Notes: Stories tended to justify 20+ year sentences
• Recent ecotage in Petrolia seen as “vandalism” by London FP while in the US
it might be seen as “ecoterrorism” – Why?

Spectrum of professional
approaches
• Positivistic / traditional journalism
– Just the facts – let the chips fall where they may

• Social responsibility theory /
– Facts plus conscious framing, interpretation, weight of
evidence, precision reporting

• Social construction of reality / post - modernist
perspective
– Facts as can best be determined, point of view clearly
stated

• Propaganda model
– Fight dominant paradigm with strong point of view

In conclusion…
• Environmental journalism is important, it was
maturing, but it is getting lost in the economic
crisis (losing both coverage and jobs)
• The urgency of the climate crisis is a
challenge to our ideas about neutrality
• Public interest, seeking truth without fear or
favor – in various ways – is the bottom line of
good journalism
• EJ needs to adapt to new economic models
of the media

The End