Advocacy Journalism Gears up to Promote UN Climate Conference

citylights_night_ThinkstockPhotos-200403745-001

The Columbia Journalism Review reported on July 26th that more than 60 news organizations have signed up to devote “one week of focused coverage” to the international “Climate Action Summit” hosted by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York on September 16-23. Participants include CBS News, major newspapers (Philadelphia Inquirer, Minneapolis Star Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times), specialist publications (Nature, Scientific American, InsideClimate News, Harvard Business Review), blogs (HuffPost, Vox, The Intercept, Slate), public radio programs (Marketplace, Science Friday, The World), popular magazines (Maclean’s of Canada, Newsweek Japan), and Bill McKibben among other “leading individual and institutional voices.”

 The objective, according to CJR, is “to give the climate story the attention and prominence that scientists have long said it demands so that the public and policymakers can make wise choices.” Viewership for climate change programming, such as Leonardo DiCaprio’s Before the Flood, has generally been dismal. Expect another ratings killer.