For decades, the scientific community has been issuing urgent warnings about the consequences of man-made climate change – and yet many media outlets are acting strangely passive in the face of this crisis. How can this be? In *Media in the Climate Crisis*, 28 renowned authors explain why climate change also poses a challenge for journalism and suggest ways out of this communication dilemma.
Let’s imagine the world is coming to an end – and nobody is talking about it. What sounds dramatic is, in essence, what is happening with climate change. On the one hand, scientists have been warning of a climate catastrophe for decades; on the other, politicians are finding it difficult to take action against global warming. And the media? They only report on it in passing or in a highly event-driven way, according to the initiative KLIMA° vor acht e.V. – for example, when yet another global climate conference is taking place or there’s a disaster right on our doorstep.
Climate protection concerns us all – and that calls for comprehensive reporting. For the book *Media in the Climate Crisis* (publication date 5 May 2022), KLIMA° brought together 28 authors – including Mojib Latif, Maren Urner, Michael E. Mann, Özden Terli, Tanja Busse and many more, who provide compelling evidence of why the media are in the midst of their own climate crisis. They highlight how this journalistic challenge can be overcome and present solutions, ideas and experiences on how media professionals can respond more effectively to the crisis.
KLIMA° vor acht e.V. (ed.): ‘The Media in the Climate Crisis’, 272 pages, paperback, ISBN: 978–3‑96238–385‑5, print edition €19 / €19.60 (AT), e‑book €14.99 / €15.99 (AT).
The Editor
The KLIMA° vor acht initiative was founded in the summer of 2020 to promote climate coverage in the German media. The organisation is calling for a daily, accessible and scientifically sound short-form programme broadcast at prime time that reports on the climate crisis. For more information, visit klimavoracht.de.
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