AUCKLAND (Pacific Media Centre): People are not receiving available information about expected risks and remedies as climate change escalates, a recent Pacific Media Centre seminar was told.
"They get most of their information about science from the media. So inadequate reporting of risks and remedies becomes a matter of journalistic ethics," said climate change communication specialist Dr Jan Sinclair.
A doctoral thesis by Dr Sinclair, a former science correspondent, showed that the news media have framed climate change as political but not physical, global therefore not local - and a problem for “others” but not for “us”.
A failure by media to warn populations of likely dangers applied both to Pacific journalists, and journalists from developed countries such as in New Zealand.
Two videos have been compiled from the public seminar on 11 March 2015, which was introduced by PMC director Professor David Robie and featured two main speakers.
Dr Jan Sinclair (Massey University) began reporting on climate change in 1987. Her PhD investigated why journalists ignored scientific warnings in favour of political controversies.
Doctoral candidate and Kiribati Independent editor Taberannang Korauaba (AUT University) recently conducted field work in Micronesia. He discussed climate change issues and the media from a Pacific cultural perspective.
Part 1 (41min): Professor David Robie's introduction, the trailer for the documentary There Once Was An Island: Te Henua e Noho, and Dr Jan Sinclair's presentation.
Part 2: (1hr 21min): Brian Taki's "Climate Change" music video, Kiribati Independent and PMC researcher Taberannang Korauaba's presentation, the seminar "what to do" recommendations and public discussion.
Dr Sinclair's climate change media doctoral thesis
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence.
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