Balance as bias: global warming and the US prestige press

2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell T Boykoff ◽  
Jules M Boykoff
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
The Us ◽  
Prestige Press

scholarly journals Balance (Climate and Environment Coverage)

10.34778/2o ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Mahl ◽  
Lars Guenther
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
Anthropogenic Global Warming ◽  
The Us ◽  
Prestige Press ◽  
Anthropogenic Contributions

Balance – as a journalistic norm in the domain of climate change reporting – is measured by analyzing both coverage of the debate over anthropogenic contributions to global warming (i.e., the existence of anthropogenic global warming) and coverage of decisions regarding action on global warming (i.e., actions regarding global warming) (Boykoff & Boykoff, 2004). Field of application/theoretical foundation: Balance is a commonly investigated and internationally agreed-upon journalistic norm that ensures that journalists portray different sides of a story in a neutral and objective way (Westerståhl, 1983). In science reporting, more specifically in reporting on climate change, this journalistic norm can lead to biased reporting in that sense that journalistic coverage does not mirror the scientific understanding (i.e., climate change does exist and action is needed) (Boykoff & Boykoff, 2004). References/combination with other methods of data collection: There are experimental studies that test the effects of differentially balanced news stories (e.g., Clarke et al., 2014; Dixon & Clarke, 2012), largely confirming that balanced coverage reduces confidence in a scientific consensus and heightens uncertainty of science, risks, etc. Example studies: Boykoff & Boykoff (2004); Boykoff (2007); Clarke (2008); Clarke et al. (2014); Dixon & Clarke (2012)   Information on Boykoff & Boykoff, 2004 Authors: Maxwell T. Boykoff & Jules M. Boykoff Research question: The prevalence of the norm of balance in reporting on climate change and the degree to what this coverage’s adherence to balance led to biased coverage of both anthropogenic contributions to global warming (i.e., its existence) and resultant action. Object of analysis: A sample (636 articles) of the US prestige-press coverage of global warming, i.e., New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal Time frame of analysis: between 1988 and 2002 Info about variables Variables: Two measures of balance: (a) Coverage of the debate over anthropogenic contributions to global warming (i.e., existence) (b) Coverage of decisions regarding action on global warming (i.e., action) Level of analysis: Newspaper article Variables and values: (a) First measure: Coverage of the debate over anthropogenic contributions to global warming (i.e., existence) Article only presents argument that anthropogenic global warming exists, clearly distinct from natural variations Article presents both sides, but emphasizes that anthropogenic global warming exists, still distinct from natural variation Article presents a balanced account of debates surrounding existence of anthropogenic global warming Article presents both sides, but emphasizes dubious nature of the claim that anthropogenic global warming exists (b) Second measure: Coverage of decisions regarding action on global warming (i.e., action) Dominant coverage of decisions/assertions regarding immediate/mandatory action to deal with global warming Balanced accounts of various decisions regarding action Dominant coverage of decisions/assertions regarding cautious/voluntary approaches to deal with global warming Reliability: Intercoder reliability rate of 93% Codebook: Table 1 in Boykoff & Boykoff (2004, p. 128)   References Boykoff, M. T., & Boykoff, J. M. (2004). Balance as bias: Global warming and the US prestige press. Global Environmental change 14, 125-136. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2003.10.001 Boykoff, M. T. (2007). Flogging a dead norm? Newspaper coverage of anthropogenic climate change in the United States and United Kingdom from 2003 to 2006. Area 39(2), 470-481. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4762.2007.00769.x Clarke, C. E. (2008). A question of balance. The autism-vaccine controversy in the British and American elite press. Science Communication 30(1), 77-107. doi: 10.1177/1075547008320262 Clarke, C. E., Dixon, G. N., Holton, A., Weberling McKeever, B. (2014). Including “evidentiary balance” in news media coverage of vaccine risk. Health Communication 30(5), 461-472. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2013.867006 Dixon, G. N., & Clarke, C. E. (2012). Heightening uncertainty around certain science: Media coverage, false balance, and the autism-vaccine controversy. Science Communication, 35(3) 358-382. doi: 10.1177/1075547012458290 Westerståhl, J. (1983). Objective News Reporting General Premises. Communication Research, 10(3), 403-424. doi: 10.1177/009365083010003007

scholarly journals A Photographic Record of the Upper Headwater Tributaries, Basins and Riparia of the Snake River

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 107-113
Author(s):  
Susan Green ◽  
Dr. Michael Krop
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Snake River ◽  
Glacier Bay ◽  
Tundra Vegetation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Arctic Coast ◽  
Vantage Points ◽  
Bear Management

Photographic surveys have been used since the early 1940’s to document coastlines, fuel supplies and river courses. The US Navy, post world war II, flew over the Arctic coast to document possible locations for oil extraction. These very same photos are now being utilized to compare changes in tundra vegetation at the same locations today. John Muirs’ photos of Glacier Bay are a startling testament to the melted glaciers no longer visible from the same vantage point in present times. Taking photographs to monitor change may not tell the entire story behind a change in landscape. However, photos taken over a number of years from the same vantage points, can help monitor landscape changes due to habitat fragmentation, global warming, forest fire, cattle grazing and other land management issues. Photo monitoring is inexpensive, simple and can portray change to many different groups. Of course, photos taken to reveal change must start with documenting current or normal conditions. This is sometimes called baseline monitoring. The park ranger in Glacier National Park did not realize when he took his picture of the Grinnell glacier in 1911 that his photo would become an alarming baseline photo for evidence of global warming. The purpose of this project was to document the Snake River headwater basin and its riparian zones as a document in time for future reference. The original documentation included 48 images of two main headwater areas; the Shoshone and Lewis Lake areas and the Fox Park-Two Ocean Bear Management Areas near the Yellowstone Park border. Since the Shoshone-Lewis lakes are easily assessable and photo space here is limited, I have chosen to only use photos from the more remote areas.

US backsliding will drag on global climate progress

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Federal Support ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Climate Action

Subject The Paris Agreement and US withdrawal. Significance President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change on June 1, prompting criticism from around the world. While current pledges are unlikely to change and the agreement will not see flight or withdrawal by other countries, US withdrawal imperils the ability of the agreement’s structure to accelerate climate action to a scale necessary to meet its objective of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees centigrade by 2100. Impacts The US private sector and sub-national polities will increase their climate action, though the loss of federal support will still be felt. A future US administration could re-enter the agreement, but substantial momentum will be lost diplomatically in the intervening years. Calls for greater adaptation -- rather than mitigation -- funds from climate-vulnerable states will grow more strident.

AMLO plans for Central American migrants look naive

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Central America ◽  
Central American ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Regional Migration ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
Mexico Border ◽  
President Elect

Subject Regional migration issues. Significance Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) on October 3 said US President Donald Trump “looks favourably” on his plans to stem northward migration by promoting economic development in Central America. The remarks followed a call between the leaders that Trump described as “great”, with the US president adding that “we will work well together”. Whether such goodwill will last is doubtful, particularly regarding the issue of migration, on which the leaders have thus far taken diametrically opposed stances. Impacts Increased migration from Nicaragua and Venezuela could test stability in Costa Rica and Panama. Global warming will hit Central America hard, with droughts and flooding affecting food security, fuelling migration. Toughened security on the US-Mexico border will make people smuggling highly profitable for crime cartels.

Climate Change Criminology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob White
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Corporate Crime ◽  
Global Capitalism ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Concise Overview ◽  
The Us ◽  
Paris Climate Agreement

This book asks what can be learned from the problem-solving focus of crime prevention to help face the challenges of climate change in this call to arms for criminology and criminologists. Industries such as energy, food, and tourism and the systematic destruction of the environment through global capitalism are scrutinized for their contribution to global warming. Ideas of ‘state–corporate crime’ and ‘ecocide’ are introduced and explored in this concise overview of criminological writings on climate change. This sound and robust application of theoretical concepts to this ‘new’ area also includes commentary on topical issues such as the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate agreement.

scholarly journals Vinay Lal, The Fury of COVID-19: The Politics, Histories, and Unrequited Love of the Coronavirus, New Dehli: Pan Macmillan Publishing, 2020.

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. iv-xi
Author(s):  
Syed sami Raza
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Uk

This book is composed of a set of disparate essays that are grounded in history, political economy, and philosophy. These essays focus on a range of topics addressing different dynamics of the coronavirus pandemic. They include history of pandemics, governmental discourse on health and practical strategies, the role of WHO, neo-liberal economic order and consumerism, social order and human attitudes, nationalism and immigration, and global warming and climate change. Shedding light on these various dynamics, Lal exposes the high claims made by the powerful states like the US, the UK, and European states about their superior political systems, health care programs, and welfare services.

Atmosphere-based US emission estimates of SF6 for 2007 - 2018

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Hu ◽  
Stephen Montzka ◽  
Ed Dlugokencky ◽  
Phil DeCola ◽  
Debrah Ottinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Global Warming Potential ◽  
Sulfur Hexafluoride ◽  
Atmospheric Transport ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Reference Network ◽  
Atmospheric Lifetime ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Epa

<p>Sulfur hexafluoride (SF<sub>6</sub>) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) that is primarily emitted from electrical circuit breakers and heavy-duty gas-insulated switchgears in electric transmission and distribution equipment, magnesium production and processing, and electronics production. It has a 100-year global warming potential of 23500 and an atmospheric lifetime of 850 (580 - 1400) years. Because of its extremely large global warming potential and long atmospheric lifetime, its emissions, while currently small, have an outsized influence on changing climate over the long term.  However, current US emissions of SF<sub>6</sub> are uncertain. The US SF<sub>6</sub> consumption that was used to estimate SF<sub>6</sub> emissions in the US EPA national GHG reporting to the UNFCCC has an uncertainty of 30 – 60%, depending on whether to use the US SF<sub>6</sub> supplier reports or user reports. With different inventory methodologies, the national emissions estimates of SF<sub>6</sub> from the EDGAR and US EPA’s GHG inventories differ by more than a factor of 4. Here, we will present the first detailed U.S. national and regional emissions of SF<sub>6</sub> that were derived from an inverse analysis of an extensive flask-air sampling network from the US NOAA’s Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network and high-resolution atmospheric transport simulations for 2007 - 2018. We will discuss our atmosphere-based top-down emission estimates in comparison with the existing bottom-up emission inventories, our derived seasonal variation of SF<sub>6</sub> emissions, and associated implications regarding each industry’s contribution to emissions and optimal emissions mitigation strategies. Because atmospheric SF<sub>6</sub> measurements are also used to assess atmospheric transport errors assuming no biases in SF<sub>6</sub> emissions reported by the EDGAR inventory, our analysis also has important implications on limitations in such applications.</p>

Climate Change, Apocalypse, and the Future of Salvation

Futures ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 225-242
Author(s):  
John R. Hall ◽  
Zeke Baker
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
The Us ◽  
Exploratory Survey ◽  
The Future ◽  
Climate Crisis

In this chapter, an exploratory survey focuses on ‘popular theologies’ in relation to institutional religious formations in the US in order to bring to light affinities and disjunctures between alternative ways that global salvation can be (or fail to be) envisioned and engaged in relation to climate futures. Given climate change, the future of salvation is not simply a matter for individual souls, as religion often has it. The spectre of global warming poses salvation challenges of potentially apocalyptic proportions for the biosphere and peoples of the planet Earth. Religion in its discourses and practices brings issues of salvation into especially sharp resolution. It is also the ambivalent ur-source of the apocalyptic, which, along with other religious theologies and practices, can be mapped in relation to their distinctive social temporalities. Focusing on alternative temporalities—especially apocalyptic orientations towards the Millennium—lays bare the cultural antinomies of climate crisis.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document