Majority of climate change news stories focus on uncertainty, RISJ study finds

The uncertainties of climate change science have become a major focus of media coverage on the subject, a recent study by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism finds. James Painter, lead author, said: There is plenty of evidence showing that in many countries the general public finds scientific uncertainty difficult to understand and confuses it with ignorance. The study argues that a more helpful analysis would be of the comparative costs and risks of following different policy options.

This study has been referenced many times recently: in The Huffington Post (4 October) as well as Reuters Alertnet, The Guardian, The Malay Mail, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Brisbane Times, The Age, The Nation and Gulf News (all 18 September).

You can read the study in full by clicking here: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/Publications/Challenges/Climate_Change_in_the_Media.pdf