Why do journalists from the United States and Europe report in a different way about Climate change? Differences in focus between US and NL Influencing factors Ideology and culture Journalistic role conceptions Sources and lobbying Contributions of professionals

1. Climate change Explaining the differences in reporting 1 Case Study group 3: Annika van Berkel, Mark Boukes, Judith Fennis, Yasemin Smit and Peter Vossen

2. 2

4. Statement

5. Influencing factors

6. Ideology and culture

7. Journalistic role conceptions

8. Sources and lobbying

9. Contributions of professionals

10. Conclusion3

11. Differences in focus 4 (Brossard, Shanahan & McComas, 2004; Dirikx & Gelders, 2008; Rowlands, 2000; Van der Sluijs, Van Est & Riphagen, 2010)

13. Role conception of journalist

14. Use of sources and lobbying to journalists

15. In this presentations we give some examples of the differences of those factor between the US and the Netherlands5

16. Ideology and culture Media ideology influences interpretation of facts, selection of experts and counter-experts Tensions between national media logic and transnational responsibility of climate change Interplay between politics, media and public opinion (e.g. Kyoto protocol) ‘You can put the debate on a scale with climate sceptics on the one end and positivists on the other. If you solely let the critical sceptics speak and these opposed against alarming positivists, there will not be any room left for the big, nuancing space in between where most of the scientists are working’ (Paul Luttikhuis, about the controverce debate on climate change citation on his blog on www.nrc.nl) 6 (Carvalho, 2006, 2007; Olausson, 2009)

18. Visible differences between opinion magazines: Elsevier more skeptical compared to Vrij Nederland(Van der Sluijs et al., 2010)

20. The US did not ratify the Treaty – Fear of damage to the American economy.

21. Scientific uncertainty and the nation’s political system widens the gap

22. Vested interest of petrochemical industries

23. The EU (and with that the Netherlands) has ratified the Treaty in 2002

24. European governments are less reticent than US8 (Archibald, 1999; Ward, 2009)

26. Power struggle among different sectors of society that battle for control

27. Practice of ‘false balance’

28. Consequences: Biased coverage and created political space for the US government9 (Archibald, 1999; Ward, 2009; Boykoff & Boykoff, 2004)

29. Journalist role conceptions Norms of journalists are collectively formed Norms are formed collectively as part of professional training Norms of professional journalism lead to mass media that adversely affects interaction between science, policy and public News production on global warming: many tacit facets and unarticulated assumptions Example: an analysis of US prestige press coverage in 1988/2002. 6% of the articles showed dominant scepticism 10 (Boykoff & Boykoff, 2004, 2007)

30. Journalist role conceptions Differences in use of tone The American press uses a more neutral of tone than European countries The tone in Dutch articles is not similar to the US press 11 (Dirikx & Gelders, 2008; Van der Sluijs et al., 2010)

32. Greenpeace campaigns: indirect media attention

33. Oil companies: try to influence journalists indirectly by green image marketing12 (Gueterbock, 2004)

34. Lobbying Lobbying in politics Oil companies in the US invest in contacts and support of politicians Politicians form a large group in the sources that are used in the press Oil companies can have an indirect influence on coverage Political lobbying is more accepted in the US compared to NL US companies more resisting policies on climate changeEuropean companies are more willing to cooperate Corporate culture reflects attitudes of its home countries inhabitants 13 (Rowlands, 2000; US PIRG Education Fund, 2004)

35. ‘People interpret the climate change debate, based on what they want to see. Anti capitalists demand the end of an unrestrained economic growth, using the ‘climate problem’ as argument, whereas ecologist want the forests to be preserved better.’ Science journalist Marcel Crok in his book ‘De staat van het klimaat’ 14 Lobbying

37. 29% of citations in articles: business and interest groups

38. NL: more use of scientific sources

39. Used sources of 4 Dutch Newspapers (NRC Handelsblad, AD, Telegraaf and de Volkskrant)15 (Brossard et al.,2004; Trumbo, 1996; Van der Sluijs et al., 2010)

40. If we look at the three influencing factors Conclusions Differences in culture between countries has influenced the way the climate debate is framed The culture differences have also influenced the role of journalists, because the norms are formed collectively Lobbying in the US is more accepted and open 16

42. “The fight against climate change is one of the biggest battles in history. To win this fight we all need to do our share: governments, business, NGOs and the public. It must be a collective effort”(Hugo von Meijenfeldt, Dutch Climate Ambassador)17

43. Questions 18