The Influence Of Mass Media On Climate Change

Thank you Dimitri, Ben, Viktoriia, and Vladimir for your thoughtful take on whether or not the media should have a responsibility to cover climate change related issues and if they adequately raise awareness and concern among the population. Your points of unquantifiable predictions, using an alternative organization for reporting purposes, and educating the people in power not the masses are very valid arguments for reporting climate change differently. However as a team we still feel that mass media has the most power to convince the public that change is necessary; since it is an extensive issue that affects all, they can reach the largest audience, and that in democratic states the masses can persuade their leaders to commit to change. …show more content…
In order to appeal to the public, journalists tend to favor coverage of human-interest stories and exaggerate consequences for emotional appeal. While it is true that the media has reported inaccurate predictions concerning climate change, that does not mean that future consequences should be dismissed. Given the factors that go into predicting the future of climate change, it is no surprise that the UN Commission’s current forecasts are different from its predictions ten years ago. Influences such as how much the levels of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere increase, how the climate reacts to these levels, and natural impacts of the climate are essentially difficult for scientists to predict. While the natural changes do occur to the environment, humans play a role in changes, too. Rather than focusing on abstract predictions, the media’s main concern should be informing the public of ways to improve the quality of life we have now and how to respect the environment we undoubtedly depend