In November 2024, Re.Climate hosted a webinar to share the findings of our 2024 media analysis report. The webinar featured co-authors Chris Hatch and Re.Climate’s Resource and Training Director Dr. Ghadah Alrasheed, and our Strategic Services Director Jennifer Mayville.
This year, part of our analysis focused on the coverage of climate solutions. A research team led by Dr. Ghadah Alrasheed reviewed more than 16,000 national media stories from January to March and June to August 2024, sourced from top Canadian national media like the Globe and Mail, CBC, Toronto Star and the National Post. In addition, the team did a deep dive on over 100 news articles, reviewing them for solutions framing, significant themes and common messengers.
During the webinar, panellists discussed the importance of national media outlets and their influence on public opinion, what solutions were favoured or ignored, and how climate communicators can help journalists better report about climate change.
Why mainstream media still matters
Panellists acknowledged that newsrooms are struggling. It’s not that journalists don’t want to cover climate change; they are stretched thin and lack the time to think about how to add nuance and context to the climate story.
“The media sector in Canada has shifted dramatically, especially in the last few years,” said Jennifer Mayville, former journalist and Re.Climate’s Strategic Services Director.
“I’m sure many of you have seen stories in the media about layoffs in newsrooms, or even newsrooms closing. It means that newsrooms have less capacity, and as well, fewer specialized reporters.”
It goes to show that context isn’t just important when it comes to climate change. To improve how climate change is covered, we also need to understand the context of newsrooms doing the reporting.
While it’s easy to assume that focusing on these outlets misses the bigger picture, Chris Hatch, author of Canada’s top climate newsletter Zero Carbon and former editor of National Observer, pointed out that mainstream media continues to shape the narratives that influence Canadian opinion.
“It’s the stuff that lands on the desks of decision-makers every morning, and it is also the basis of a lot of what gets shared around and talked about on other platforms,” said Hatch.
But it’s not just decision-makers who pay attention to mainstream media. According to the Pollara 2024 Trust in Media poll, trust in mainstream media is still relatively high. In fact, 67 per cent of respondents described CBC as a trustworthy media organization. It was the second most trusted news source after the Weather Network at 71 per cent.
The other outlets included in the media analysis report were all in the top ten of the most trusted news sources in Canada.
This trust translates into what’s shared on social media.
“Legacy media play a huge role in amplifying stories that are shared on social media and legitimizing and validating these stories,” said Dr. Ghadah Alrasheed.
While Meta’s decision to ban Canadian news has impacted engagement with Canadian news on Facebook, Canadians continue to rely on news-specialty channels like CBC and the Globe and Mail, for information, which also finds its way to other platforms such as Youtube. In fact, according to a May 2024 Media Technology Monitor Report, the ban has made more Canadians go to the websites and apps of traditional Canadian outlets.
Covering climate change in trying times
Climate change was big news in 2024.
“The kind of surprising news is that, in general, coverage is going up,” said Chris Hatch.
“Climate change gets mentioned more often by the national media, 30 per cent more frequently over the last two years than before.”
Yet, while climate change is embedded in the media conversation, it often lacks context.
“You don’t hear that burning fossil fuels causes climate change. You don’t hear that once the carbon is emitted, it’s up there forever…we don’t hear how we’re about the 11th largest emitter in the world and that we’re one of the even bigger emitters in terms of historical emissions,” said Hatch.
“You don’t hear how far along we are towards hitting the temperature targets that we said we would hit, and you don’t hear how far along we were in terms of making the cuts we had promised to make.”
And even though climate change coverage is increasing, it is actually becoming less of a priority in the media compared to other hot-button issues like housing, inflation, immigration or healthcare.
How the media covers climate solutions
Given the influence mainstream news outlets still have on the public conversation in Canada, it is especially important that they report on climate solutions.
“It’s not only about guiding us to what should be done,” said Dr. Ghadah Alrasheed.
“It’s also a conversation that offers hope, and we really need hope. When we talk about climate change, it reminds us that progress is possible.”
The vast majority of climate solutions the media covered in 2024 were technological. Think EVs, renewable energy, and some more dubious contenders like hydrogen and carbon capture technology.
“While these are important, they’re just one part of a much bigger picture,”said Alrasheed
“What we didn’t see much coverage of was climate policies, nature-based solutions, or how people, everyday citizens, engage around climate action. These are vital pieces of the puzzle we didn’t see get covered.”
The problem of context persists. How is hydrogen energy made? Does carbon capture technology actually work? And why are we doing all of this in the first place?
“There’s a lot of hesitancy around highlighting the importance of moving away from fossil fuels,” said Alrasheed.
More abstract terms are often used in stories, like energy transition or net zero, terms that don’t really tell the reader what we’re transitioning away from, or why.
“It’s that sense of meaning. I think that’s what’s really lacking, and that’s what’s really not helping public literacy around the causes of climate change and what it would take to stop it,” said Chris Hatch.
Canada’s media landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still demand journalists do their best when it comes to covering climate change. Read Re.Climate’s full media analysis for an in-depth look at the how and why of climate solutions coverage.
Stay tuned for Part 2, when Re.Climate’s Director of Strategic Services Jennifer Mayville will provide concrete suggestions for what communicators can do to improve climate coverage.
Watch the Recording
Download the Report
Our Panellists
Dr. Ghadah Alrasheed | Resource and Training Director | Re.Climate
Ghadah supports research, knowledge mobilization, and the development of resources, evidence-based tools, and training programs for Re.Climate’s network of 750 organizations and 2,000 climate influencers. With a PhD in Communication and a wealth of experience spanning the academic, federal, and NGO sectors, she brings a unique understanding of effective research and knowledge mobilization practices in climate communication.
Chris Hatch | Communications Consultant | Re.Climate
Chris currently works as a strategic consultant on energy and climate change. He is the former Executive Editor for National Observer and was previously Executive Director of Rainforest Action Network. Chris has a background in campaigns and strategic communications on clean energy, climate change, human rights and environmental issues and has worked with NGOs, First Nations, foundations, governments and corporations.
Jennifer Mayville | Strategic Services Director | Re.Climate
Jennifer is a senior communications leader and strategist, who brings a wealth of experience in marketing, communications, and media relations to Re.Climate. During her career, she has worked in the humanitarian, environmental, and social services sectors and is passionate about creating communications strategies that help to motivate change.
