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90% of press releases were pro-climate action, only 10% were anti-climate action. That’s makes it less newsworthy if an org is pro climate action. Let’s also t
by topkai22 6y ago
90% of press releases were pro-climate action, only 10% were anti-climate action. That’s makes it less newsworthy if an org is pro climate action.
Let’s also talk about scale in the study- it looked at 1,794 press releases. Only 10% of those were anti climate action, and only 14% of those were cited, so we are talking about 25 press releases over 20 years, as opposed to 113 pro-climate press releases. That means that 81% of covered PRs are pro climate action instead of 90% of press releases- readers would still get the impression that an overwhelming majority of orgs are pro climate action.
I have other quibbles here (climate consensus has changed over the last 35 years), but I definitely didn’t come away agreeing that there is something fundamentally wrong with journalistic standards as the article and abstract imply.
- vkou 6y agoMurders are rare and newsworthy, but while they get news coverage, it's rare for a killer to get favourable news coverage. It's not rare for liar-liar-pants-on-fire level of climate denialism to get favourable news coverage.
- reaperducer 6y ago90% of press releases were pro-climate action, only 10% were anti-climate action. That’s makes it less newsworthy if an org is pro climate action. "When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_bites_dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_bites_dog
- DangitBobby 6y agoWhat do you mean, climate consensus has changed?
- topkai22 6y agoTo be clear, I'm talking about views and understanding in broader society, not the scientific community. 35 years is a long time- roughly half the humans in the US weren't alive 35 years ago. It'd be surprising if nothing had changed. (edit: although maybe things have not changed as much as my lived experience tells me: https://news.gallup.com/poll/1615/environment.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/1615/environment.aspx)