A study of Italian media showed that journalists are not doing enough to inform citizens about the climate crisis.
Despite increased coverage of climate-related extreme weather events, "attention on the causes decreased from 22.4% in 2022 to 15% in 2023," The Fix reported. In early 2024, more than half of newspaper articles did not explicitly mention the crisis in coverage of such topics, and only 2% of TV reports covered climate issues. Environmental organization Greenpeace Italy and media research institute Osservatorio di Pavia looked at TV programs, newscasts, and newspapers.
The outlet said increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events caused by the rising global temperature were treated as isolated occurrences. Reporters don't "consider these events together and name causes and responsibilities," said environmental journalist Anna Toniolo. This "miseducation of citizens" comes from "an overproduction of news," or clickbait, and a lack of analysis.
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Definitely 💯 Generally, scientists have learned that human-caused pollution from the burning of dirty fuels such as coal and natural gas is driving the warming of Earth and causing human health, wildlife, and environmental problems. In Italy, heavy rainfall and floods have wreaked havoc. High temperatures and drought have also created issues.
"This is a very serious problem: As journalists, we have a big responsibility to make the public understand where the scientific debate stands, and the scientific debate today says that the vast majority of climate scientists agree that we are experiencing a climate crisis," Toniolo told The Fix. "Instead, on Italian talk shows you often see two guests, one who says that the climate crisis exists and one who denies it: this is a distortion of reality because the scientific community is not split down the middle on this issue."
She said experts, including climatologists, scientists, and representatives from environmental groups, do not get enough airtime or column inches. Instead, politicians, company executives, and business leaders are tapped for interviews.
Media also rely on funding from polluting corporations, including those in the oil and gas industry and vehicle manufacturers. In 2022, The Fix reported, there were 795 advertisements in major Italian newspapers by polluting companies. In 2023, that number jumped to 1,229.
"Other than advertisements, polluting companies also feature as partners or sponsors of events, awards or training opportunities, and they usually choose to invest in the so-called 'green marketing strategies,' a way to present themselves as sustainable brands and that Toniolo defined as 'a classic example of greenwashing,'" The Fix stated.
Greenwashing is the act of misleading consumers or lying about environmentally friendly practices.
The solution, Anna Parretta of environmental organization Legambiente said, is to lean into the science and produce rigorously vetted information about how decarbonizing the economy and conserving the environment can head off threats to people, businesses, and nature — for the benefit of Calabria, Italy, and the world.
"[There is] still a lack of news and thoughts on how to limit and mitigate the causes … [and] adapt to the effects of the climate crisis that administrations at all levels and citizens should implement," she said.
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