Awareness-raising reporting is possible

In the past, the American media has prioritized economic issues over those of climate protection - which has failed to raise public awareness of the problem. At present, it is mainly US research institutes that are dealing with the issue of sustainability. Various studies have also shown that it is primarily business representatives and politicians who influence the media discourse on sustainability.

In Europe, on the other hand, scientists are the primary news source shaping the climate debate. Media in Germany would reflect the scientific consensus among climate researchers, whereas in the USA this has increasingly been called into question.

1. Reporting on sustainable topics, such as the environment, nature conservation, etc., became more significant over time.
2. Scientific sources and climate experts are the most important source of news in German-speaking countries. Political actors can gain in importance.
3. Tabloids address environmental issues differently than quality media, both in terms of content and imagery. Large-format newspapers would deal with sustainable topics in a more differentiated way and more often than small-format newspapers.
4. In the case of complex topics, the media focus on short-term, dramatic events and pay attention to personal references.

Results regarding the American press in a study by Boykoff/Boykoff (2007) also showed that dramatization and personalization would influence the type and frequency of reporting.

It can be assumed that German-speaking journalists would follow such patterns in comparatively similar circumstances - similar tendencies in reporting would therefore be quite realistic.

Irrespective of the fact that the media play an important role in the sustainable dissemination of information, the press is under no obligation to provide comprehensive reporting. Economic processes are increasingly taking precedence over journalistic demands - as a result, newspapers today are primarily distinguished by their target group orientation.

Sustainability issues also appear to be a social problem. This means that politics as a problem solver is also in the public eye. And it is only through media communication of political problem-solving processes that the population is able to follow and participate in them.

According to Bennett's information bias, personalized and dramatically staged media reports should not be seen solely as a problem of the inaccessibility of sustainability reporting. They would even be suitable as an introductory tool. However, the implementation, i.e. when personalized, dramatized information covers up essential news, would be negligent and leave recipients in uncertainty and incomprehension. The result would be fragmentation, described as compressed, dramatized and personalized content.

All in all, it can be said that, according to Bennett, the media do little to inform citizens sufficiently or motivate them to act independently. The media often attach too much importance to crises, scandals and human dramas. As a result, recipients are given an anxious, politically limited picture of events, with little serious analysis. Critical political thinking and action is therefore only possible to a limited extent.

Based on Bennett's theory, seven points would be essential for improved reporting, also in terms of democratic and political inclusion:

1. Increased and more diverse voices and viewpoints.
2. More background information that makes the processes of organizations/institutions easier to understand and comprehend.
3. Historical processes must be increasingly embedded in order to crystallize political contexts and thus make them easier to understand.
4. Increased comments from experts, independent analyses in combination with politicians' statements. This enables recipients to better recognize and evaluate issue frames.
5. Motivating citizens to participate in political processes - through positive examples from the population.
6. References to further literature or websites; encouragement to participate in discussions, for example via e-mail.
7. More independent thematic focuses of the various news organizations ensure more news diversity

About the author Sylvia Gerstl
I was born in Vienna in 1988 and started studying journalism and communication science at the University of Vienna after graduating from high school in 2006. I am currently working on my diploma thesis on sustainability communication. During my studies, I worked as a freelancer for LIVE - the star magazine of the Kronen Zeitung.