Who Speaks for the Climate?

The public rely upon media representations to help interpret and make sense of the many complexities relating to climate science and governance. Media representations of climate issues - from news to entertainment - are powerful and important links between people's everyday realities and experiences, and the ways in which they are discussed by scientists, policymakers and public actors. A dynamic mix of influences - from internal workings of mass media such as journalistic norms, to external political, economic, cultural and social factors - shape what becomes a climate 'story'. Providing a bridge between academic considerations and real world developments, this book helps students, academic researchers and interested members of the public make sense of media reporting on climate change as it explores 'who speaks for climate' and what effects this may have on the spectrum of possible responses to contemporary climate challenges.

ISBN	052113305X	Pages	240
ISBN13	9780521133050 (What's this?)	Weight (grammes)	390
Publisher	Cambridge University Press	Published in	Cambridge
Imprint	Cambridge University Press	Height (mm)	228
Format	Paperback	Width (mm)	152
Publication date	22 Sep 2011	Spine width (mm)	16
DEWEY	363.73874	Academic level	Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Professional / Scholarly
DEWEY edition	DC22

1. The world stage: cultural politics and climate change; 2. Roots and culture: exploring media coverage of climate change through history; 3. Fight semantic drift: confronting issue conflation; 4. Placing climate complexity in context; 5. Climate stories: how journalistic norms shape media content; 6. Signals and noise: covering human contributions to climate change; 7. Carbonundrums: media consumption in the public sphere; 8. A light in the attic? Ongoing media representations of climate change.

'People's understandings of climate change are shaped more by the media and their cacophony of voices than they are by the systematic enquiries and endeavours of climate scientists. Boykoff's Who Speaks for the Climate? arrives just at the right time to offer you the authoritative guide to how climate change is made, affirmed and denied in print, broadcast, internet or new social media.' Mike Hulme, Professor of Climate Change, University of East Anglia 'Maxwell T. Boykoff's penetrating research into how the media cover, and too often poorly cover, what many consider to be 'the story of the century' reveals new insights into this ever-changing, and ever-concerning, field of social endeavor. You'll go through more than a few yellow highlighters marking key points and passages. And over time you'll find this among your most seriously dog-eared resources on media, climate change, the clash of journalism and science cultures ... and the way out of it all.' Bud Ward, Editor, The Yale Forum on Climate Change and The Media 'Built on a decade of diligent and constructive research at the climate science/media/society join, Boykoff's book makes a major contribution to some critical questions. With a generous tone and inviting style the reader gains a body of key insights on this vital topic. But this is more than clear analysis: it also serves as a guide to action.' Joe Smith, Senior Lecturer in Environment, The Open University 'Some day, when we will write the obituary for this period of human history, society's response to climate change, we will need to account for the role of the media in it. This book - pulling together in one place Boykoff's path-breaking work on this subject - answers how the mass media have spoken about climate, and who speaks through them, shaping the cultural politics of discourse on one of the most challenging environmental crises humanity has ever faced. So, who speaks for media reporting on climate, and does so from a deeply informed, critical perspective? Maxwell T. Boykoff.' Susanne C. Moser, Research Fellow, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University 'Max Boykoff is the leading researcher and critical voice on the media and climate change. His work is accessible, reaching politicians and journalists as well as academics, and this book provides a benchmark in the increasingly urgent and significant field of environmental communication on issues of climate and global change.' Diana Liverman, Professor of Geography and Development and Co-Director of the Institute of the Environment, University of Arizona '... [a] thought-provoking study ...' The Scotsman 'This is a fast and easily digestible read that will amply reward page turners.' Nature Climate Change 'An intriguing look at media portrayals of the climate change debate.' The Scotsman

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Making Sense of Media Reporting on Climate Change