Sun Talking Heads' Dreadful Climate Coverage; More Than Mere Mention In Less Than 6% Of Episodes

Last edited Sat Jan 19, 2019, 12:41 PM - Edit history (2)

Less than 6 percent of episodes of the five major Sunday morning news shows in 2018 featured any substantial mentions or discussions of climate change, according to a Media Matters analysis. And the number of times the shows addressed climate change was down from the previous year: They ran 13 percent fewer climate-focused segments in 2018 than they did in 2017, continuing the shows’ multi-year trend of neglecting climate change.

The Sunday shows also continued their trend of failing to adequately represent minorities, women, scientists, and environmental journalists in discussions about climate change.

Media Matters analyzed climate change coverage and guest appearances on the five major Sunday morning shows: ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, CBS’ Face the Nation, CNN’s State of the Union, Fox News Sunday, and NBC’s Meet the Press.

The Sunday shows help set the media and political agenda for the week, but it's not only politicians, pundits, and other media figures who take their cues from them -- members of the public do too. The four broadcast Sunday shows attracted a combined audience of nearly 11 million viewers in the last quarter of 2018. Because of their wide viewership and political prestige, Sunday news shows play a crucial role in determining which issues and voices are included in the national dialogue.

Key findings:

Less than 6 percent of episodes of the major Sunday shows in 2018 featured significant discussion of climate change.

Sunday shows ran fewer segments that included substantial mentions of climate change in 2018 (27 segments) than they did in 2017 (31 segments) -- a 13 percent decrease.

Only 18 percent of guests featured during climate-focused segments in 2018 were people of color -- six out of 34 guests total.

Only 35 percent of guests featured in climate-focused discussions in 2018 were women.

Two scientists were included in climate-related segments in 2018, after scientists had been excluded from all of the Sunday shows' climate discussions for almost three years.

EDIT

https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/01/17/Sunday-show-coverage-of-climate-change-in-2018-was-a-disaster/222539