Discursive strategies for climate change reporting: a case study of The Mercury News

Abstract

This paper examines how journalists use discursive strategies when covering the complex issue of climate change in The Mercury News, a large regional U.S.A. newspaper in California, a state deeply impacted by this problem. Quantitative content analysis of published texts and semi-structured interviews of journalists uncovered common use of formative discursive elements and the principles of constructive journalism, consistent with the journalists’ expressed priorities to help educate readers and make climate change interesting, relevant, and easily readable. The demands for speedy reporting in the digital environment and cuts to newsroom staff affect the use of discursive strategies for climate change coverage and limits opportunities for journalists to specialize. Journalists noted the challenge of conveying topics that are abstract, technical, and embedded with uncertainty to readers who demand definitive and instantaneous information. Such challenges are accentuated by poor connections between academic experts on climate change and the public and the press.