Growing Deviations Between Elite and Non-Elite Media Coverage of Climate Change: The American Story

Abstract

Abstract Empirical research aimed at understanding public awareness and opinion on climate change has focused heavily on media coverage. Nearly all prior media studies focus on the United States and on a small number of elite news sources, including the national newspapers of record. Here we take advantage of a database (MediaCloud) that covers a much larger array of print and word media: 168 million articles about all subjects, derived from 9000 unique U.S. news sources. Coverage of climate change from these “heartland” sources—dominated by state and local news outlets far from the headquarters of national newspapers of record—has risen 144% from 2011 until 2022. Elite news coverage, however, has risen at twice that pace (299%). Both news sources show spikes in coverage related to similar events (e.g. negotiation of the Paris Accords or President Trump’s withdrawal from Paris); both see a decline in coverage when other events become more prominent (e.g., the first COVID-19 cases). Heartland news sources pay close attention to events such as the discussion of climate change by Pope Francis and to right-wing media campaigns; elite news sources are more focused on climate conferences and extreme weather. Over time, the propensity to cover climate change has diverged. In 2011 there were 104 days when the heartland news sources had more coverage of climate change than elite news outlets such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. By 2022 there were only 11 such days. That year, elite news outlets produced roughly three times the coverage of climate change as heartland news outlets, most of which cover state and local matters.