Muted by a Crisis? COVID-19 and the Long-Term Evolution of Climate Change Newspaper Coverage

Jari Lyytimäki, Hanna-Liisa Kangas, Erkki Mervaala and Suvi Vikström
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Jari Lyytimäki: Finnish Environment Institute, Environmental Policy Centre, Latokartanonkaari 11, 00790 Helsinki, Finland
Hanna-Liisa Kangas: Finnish Environment Institute, Sustainable Urbanisation Programme, Latokartanonkaari 11, 00790 Helsinki, Finland
Erkki Mervaala: Finnish Environment Institute, Environmental Policy Centre, Latokartanonkaari 11, 00790 Helsinki, Finland
Suvi Vikström: Finnish Environment Institute, Environmental Policy Centre, Latokartanonkaari 11, 00790 Helsinki, Finland

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-15

Abstract: The reasons for the emergence of environmental issues in public debate have been widely studied, while the reasons for the disappearance of environmental issues from the public agenda are researched to a far lesser extent. This article presents how the newspaper coverage of climate change has evolved in Finland. The study is based on long-term (1990–2020) data from the leading national-level newspaper. The climate coverage has been characterized by an increasing overall trend and remarkable fluctuations in the intensity of debate. The monthly coverage of climate change had four distinctive peak periods. The drops from peak levels are explained by several factors, such as the end of a specific news event or policy process (e.g., international climate policy meetings), lack of weather anomalies (e.g., normal winter weather and snow coverage), silence of key influencers (policy-makers, business elite), and news competition together with reporting fatigue following abundant climate coverage. The first months of the intense phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 showed a deep, but not unprecedented drop in climate coverage from the preceding peak level. The persistence of anthropogenic climate change, gradual mainstreaming of climate concerns across different societal sectors, and recent policy debates around so-called green or sustainable recovery suggest that climate coverage is not likely to be muted in the near future.

Keywords: agenda setting; climate change; COVID-19; environmental communication; news media; press coverage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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