Printers are educated in the Belief that when Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick; and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter. Dr. Benjamin Franklin Editor, The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1729–1748
I really look with commiseration over the great body of my fellow citizens, who, reading newspapers, live and die in the belief that they have known something of what has been passing in the world in their time. Thomas Jefferson, 1807 Third President of the United States, 1801-9
Abstract
Following brief reviews of (a) the decisive role of the media in American politics and (b) earlier studies of media partiality and superficiality, this paper examines media coverage of the greenhouse effect. It does so by comparing two pictures. The first picture emerges from reading all 100 greenhouse-related articles published over a five-month period (May–September 1997) inThe Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, andThe Washington Post. The second picture emerges from themainstream scientific literature. This comparison shows that media coverage of environmental issues suffers from both shallowness and pro-corporate bias. The biospheric implications of these two flaws are touched upon.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Asimov, I. & Pohl, F. (1991).Our angry earth. New York: Doherty.
Bagdikian, B. H. (1987).The media monopoly, (2nd ed.), Boston: Beacon.
Bell, A. (1994). Media (mis)communication on the sceince of climate change.Public Understanding of Science, 3, 259–275.
Boccardi, L. D. (1997). In a presentation given in a December 1997 conference, (“Can Journalism Be Impartial?”). Cited in Iver Peterson's Media ColumnNew York Times, 29 Dec.
Bozell, L. B. & Baker, B. H. (Eds) (1990).And that's the way it is(n't) Alexandria, VA: Media Research Center.
Broecker, W. S. (1994). Is earth climate posed to jump again.Geotimes, 39 (11), 16–18.
Diamond, J. (1992).The Third Chimpanzee, New York. HarperCollins.
Franklin, B. Cited in: Rosenfeld, R. N. (1997).American aurora New York: San Martin, p. xiii.
Jefferson, T. cited in: Schmuhl, R. (1992).Stagecraft (2nd edition). Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, p. 69. Leggett, J. (1992). Global warming: the worst case.Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 48 (June), 28–33.
Lichter, S. R. & Rothman S. (1984). The media and national defense. In Pfaltzgraff R. L., Jr. & Ráanan, U. (Eds.),National security policy (pp. 265–282). Hamden, Conn.: Archon.
Lovins, A. & Lovins, L. H. (1991). Least-cost climatic stabilization.Annual Review of Energy and the Environment, 16, 433–531.
Meadows, D. H. (1991). Changing the world through the informationsphere. In C. L. LaMay & E. E. Dennis (Eds.).Media and the environment (pp. 67–79). Washington, DC: Island Press.
Miller, G. T., Jr. (1998).Living in the environment. New York: Wadsworth.
Mooney, H. A. (1998). Personal communication.
Nissani, M. (1992).Lives in the balance. Carson City: Dowser.
Nissani, M. (1996). The greenhouse effects: an interdisciplinary perspective.Population and Environment: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 17, 459–489.
Nissani, M. (1997a). Ten cheers for interdisciplinarity.Social Science Journal,34, 201–216.
Nissani, M. (1997b). The greenhouse effect In T. Goldfarb (Ed.).Taking sides: Clashing views on controversial environmental issues (pp. 320–328). Guilford, CT: Dushkin (7th edition).
Nassani, M. (1997c). Brass-tacks ecology,The trumpeter, 14 (#3), 143–148.
Parenti, M. (1996).Dirty truths. San Francisco: City Lights Books.
Seldes, G. (1953).Tell the truth and run. New York: Greenberg.
Sinclair, U. (1919).The brass check. New York: Published by the author.
Streitmatter, R. (1997).Mightier than the sword. Boulder: Westview.
Trumbo, C. (1996). Constructing climate change: claims and frames in US news coverage of an environmental issue.Public Understanding of Science 5, 269–283.
United States Department of Energy. (1997).Scenarios of U.S. carbon reductions: Potential impacts of energy-efficiency and low-carbon technologies by 2010 and beyond. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
United States National Academy of Sciences (1992).Policy implications of greenhouse warming. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Weiner, J. (1986).Planet earth. Toronto: Bantam Books.
Wilkins, L. (1993). Between facts and values: print media coverage of the greenhouse effect, 1987–1990.Public Understanding of Science, 2, 71–82.
Woodwell, G. M. (1995). Biotic feedbacks from the warming of the earth In G. M. Woodwell & F. T. Mackenzie (Eds.).Biotic feedbacks in the global climatic system (pp. 3–21). New York: Oxford University Press.
York, H. F. (1970).Race to oblivion. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nissani, M. Media coverage of the greenhouse effect. Popul Environ 21, 27–43 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02436119
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02436119