Dear Colleagues,

Manuscripts are being solicited for an upcoming Special Issue of the journal Journalism and Media that will focus on media coverage of climate change. Increasingly more instances of weather and climate extremes are reported to impact human society, societal infrastructure, and the natural environment. The coverage of climate issues in the media has led to an increase in public attention to these issues. As an arena for public debate, the media shapes public knowledge and awareness of the situation, at times merely reporting ecological and climate events; however, the media also often links cyclones, wildfires, tornados, tropical storms, and the melting of the permafrost to humans’ activities and (lack) of care for a sustainable future. As stakeholders try to engage the public on climate change, it is important to understand how climate change is communicated to the public through the media. It is also important to understand the role that the media plays in communicating information about climatic change and on how communicators with concerns in this sphere try to involve the public in solving these problems. From the attention given to recurrent celebrations to climate action campaigns, such as Earth Day or World Water Day, to covering the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow or science-based reports and education campaigns, the media undertakes a variety of roles in drawing attention to the importance of environmental issues in contemporary life. This Special Issue aims at going beyond making inventories of news stories on climate change and invites media researchers and analysts to focus on the roles and responsibilities of communicators against one of the most threatening challenges of our century: global climate change (GCC), which is, supposedly, not only causing extreme weather events but also causing large-scale disasters, including the likelihood of (future) pandemics. Alongside understanding the rise of environmental journalism, we invite researchers to revisit important questions, such as:

What role does the media play in influencing societal action to address climate change?
Does the media succeed in promoting convincing narratives on climate change?
What are (legitimate) sources in environmental reporting?
What are the most effective ways of communicating climate issues?
Additional relevant topics will also be considered.

Prof. Dr. Vasile Gherheș
Dr. Mariana Cernicova-Buca
Guest Editors