Climate models ignored by media

To see how climate models were discussed in the media, a group of researchers from George Mason University analyzed stories in four of the largest US newspapers, as well as some other outlets frequented by the politically attuned. What they found fits in with the all-too-familiar state of science communication in the media—it’s not great.

The researchers first looked at articles published between 1998 and 2010 that mentioned climate change in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today. The quantity of coverage peaked in 2007, when the fourth IPCC report was released and public acceptance of climate science hit the high water mark. Yet even in 2007, climate models rarely got a mention. Over 4,000 articles (including opinion pieces) about climate change were published that year, but only 100 made reference to climate models. And that fraction continually declined through the period studied.

It’s not necessarily surprising that so few articles dig into the nuts and bolts of the science, but a couple interesting nuggets jump out. The New York Times accounted for nearly half of all stories that brought up models—likely a testament to its still-thriving science section. (About a quarter of those stories were written by journalist-slash-blogger Andrew Revkin.) And The Wall Street Journal—where many prominent climate contrarians have published opinion letters over the years—was the only paper in which the majority of climate model mentions occurred in the opinion section.

The researchers argue that this paucity of detailed coverage signifies a real problem with the reporting on climate change—it lacks sufficient explanation. Readers are too often left with a superficial understanding of the science, making it seem less authoritative.

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http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/05/climate-models-ignored-by-media-except-for-their-critics/