Upping the ante? The effects of “emergency” and “crisis” framing in climate change news

News organizations increasingly use the terms “climate emergency” and “climate crisis” to convey the urgency of climate change; yet, little is known about how this terminology affects news audiences. This study experimentally examined how using “climate emergency,” “climate crisis,” or “climate chan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Climatic change 2021-11, Vol.169 (1-2), Article 10
Main Authors: Feldman, Lauren, Hart, P. Sol
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric Sciences
Climate
Climate action
Climate change
Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts
Climate effects
Credibility
Crises
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Emergencies
Ideology
News
News media
Public participation
Terminology
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Summary:News organizations increasingly use the terms “climate emergency” and “climate crisis” to convey the urgency of climate change; yet, little is known about how this terminology affects news audiences. This study experimentally examined how using “climate emergency,” “climate crisis,” or “climate change” in Twitter-based news stories influences public engagement with climate change and news perceptions, as well as whether the effects depend on the focus of the news (i.e., on climate impacts, actions, or both impacts and actions) and on participants’ political ideology. Results showed no effect of terminology on climate change engagement; however, “climate emergency” reduced perceived news credibility and newsworthiness compared to “climate change.” Both climate engagement and news perceptions were more consistently affected by the focus of the stories: news about climate impacts increased fear, decreased efficacy beliefs and hope, and reduced news credibility compared to news about climate actions. No interactions with political ideology were found.
ISSN:0165-0009
1573-1480
DOI:10.1007/s10584-021-03219-5