Media coverage of climate change in Russia: Governmental bias and climate silence

Abstract

This paper explores which actors and factors influence media coverage of climate change in Russia. It does this by analysing the coverage of three events by five Russian national newspapers (Komsomol'skaya pravda, Rossiyskaya gazeta, Izvestiya, Kommersant and Sovetskaya Rossiya). The three events are the Kyoto Conference in 1997, the Copenhagen Conference in 2009 and the Russian heat-wave of 2010. This paper concludes that regardless of the ownership structure of the newspapers or their dependence on advertising, there is little difference in quantity and quality of overall coverage on climate change. With most newspapers relying on Russian officials as information sources, almost none criticise or question Russian climate policy. Furthermore, the article concludes that, in Russia, the omission of climate change issues from discussion in national newspapers becomes a greater problem than biased coverage, as the lack of commentary decidedly prevents these issues from entering the public debate.

Source Influence on Journalistic Decisions and News Coverage of Climate Change

“…For example, a comparative study of climate change coverage in Chinese newspapers during the period 1998-2010 suggests that there was particularly heavy reliance on official sources compared with Norway and Ghana (Midttum et al, 2015). Russian news media coverage of climate change also appears to be particularly reliant upon official sources (Poberezhskaya, 2015).…”

Međuutjecaj klimatskih promjena i turističke djelatnosti – narativni pregled

“…39 Prema tome, dio skepticizma o klimatskim promjenama može se protumačiti kao mehanizam poricanja ispitanika da se nose s unutarnjim neskladom na individualnoj razini između zahtjeva za uključivanje u klimatske promjene i stvarnog osobnog ponašanja. 22 Važno je međutim jasno naglasiti da znanstvena zajednica hitno mora povećati svoje napore u demantiranju lažnih tvrdnji, otkrivanju shema kojima se služe osporavatelji i razvijanju djelotvornih i učinkovitih strategija za suzbijanje poricanja znanosti na svim razinama.…”

Ilmastodiskurssi Venäjän arktisella alueella

“…Sitä voidaan myös käyttää biologisena aseena, ja se edellyttää sotilaallisen tason dekontaminaatiokeinoja. Tämä tutkimus keskittyy analysoimaan suhteellisen pientä joukkoa väittämiä, joissa -toisin kuin valtaosassa Venäjän mediaa -yhdistettiin pernarutto mediakentässä muutenkin marginaalisessa asemassa olevaan ilmastonmuutokseen (Yagodin 2017;Poberezhskaya 2015). Tutkimuksen empiirinen aineisto koostuu alueellisen ja paikallisen median uutisista, jotka ovat ilmestyneet kahden kuukauden sisällä siitä, kun ensimmäisistä pernaruttotapauksista raportoitiin heinäkuun 2016 lopussa.…”