Book Review: Poles Apart: The International Reporting of Climate Scepticism, by James Painter
In: Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Jg. 90 (2013-11-18), S. 800-802
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Poles Apart: The International Reporting of Climate Scepticism. James Painter. Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at University of Oxford, 2011. 136 pp. $9.33 pbk. ISBN: 978-1-907384-07-3.Reviewed by: Rafis Abazov and Aiguliya Izbassarova, Al Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan DOI: 10.1177/1077699013506335James Painter's book reports original research commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism that offers a comprehensive overview of the media cover- age of climate change denial, focusing on the United Kingdom and five other countries (Brazil, China, France, India, and the United States). This report was prepared in the context of global debates about climate change and the future of the Kyoto Protocol, and in preparation for the UN-led global summit RIO+20 in Rio De Janeiro in mid- 2012. It is an interesting and even contrarian contribution to the body of media studies, analyzing not only international mainstream views on climate change, but also the arguments of those who disagree with the mainstream authors and public views and who have developed their own views on the climate change agenda. The author assesses very different groups and individuals from various political, social, and cul- tural backgrounds whom he collectively calls "climate skeptics" (the term covers a wide range of views from "denialists" and "contrarians" to "outliers," p. 18).James Painter is the head of the Journalism Fellowship Programme at Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University. He has a wealth of field experience working at BBC World Service in various capacities, including the post of head of the Spanish American Service and performing research on climate change for the United Nations Development Program, Oxfam and Oxford Analytica. He has authored several books on the international media coverage of climate change, and in this report, he continues the series of comprehensive studies on the topic, aiming to "track any increase in the amount of space given to sceptical voices . . . and to map significant differences both between countries and within the print media of the same country" (p. 1).The issues of climate change and media coverage of the topic at national and inter- national levels have been studied quite intensively in recent years.1-5 However, the voices and arguments of those who are skeptical of-if not outright hostile to-the global efforts and activities on climate change have not been well studied nor always well understood.The author spends seven chapters evaluating the nature of climate skepticism in the media and presenting a series of case studies. Three of Painter's chapters deal with the political, economic, and ideological nature of climate skepticism, including the evi- dence and data used by scientists around the world and the ways various groups inter- pret the data, as well as the role of the media in "aiding the process of denial of human-caused global warming amongst politicians and the public" (p. …
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Book Review: Poles Apart: The International Reporting of Climate Scepticism, by James Painter
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Abazov, Rafis ; Izbassarova, Aiguliya |
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Zeitschrift: | Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Jg. 90 (2013-11-18), S. 800-802 |
Veröffentlichung: | SAGE Publications, 2013 |
Medientyp: | unknown |
ISSN: | 2161-430X (print) ; 1077-6990 (print) |
DOI: | 10.1177/1077699013506335 |
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