- This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 1 month ago by
.
-
“….With climate change, there is some evidence of this. Again and again, surveys show that Americans broadly care about the issue, but few talk about it openly. This is apparent in the findings of the Yale report…
…When asked how often they hear about climate change in the news media, fewer than half of Americans said once a month or more. On this measure, public perceptions are roughly in line with reality. News coverage of climate change is sorely lacking. Last year, broadcast news gave climate change less airtime than Deflategate….
….This is perhaps the most significant factor. The fear of isolation and reprisal is immediate and personal. People look to friends and family to judge which opinions are safe to share. Not many Americans hear their peers talking about global warming, and few are likely to bring it up in conversation — a fact that hasn’t changed much over the past several years….
….“Our sense is that most Americans don’t raise the issue in conversation because they want to avoid heated or drawn out conversations with people who may hold more extreme views than they do — one way or the other,” said Ed Maibach, professor of communications at George Mason University and lead author of the report….”
….Compare climate to gun violence, a problem that regularly consumes the news in the wake of mass shootings. These are moments, explained Karpf, “that seize our collective consciousness.” With climate, such flash points routinely go unrecognized. Reporters fail to connect heat waves, droughts and severe storms to global warming, despite a wealth of evidence…
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
