Click for the full interactive graphic
The above infographic, from Journalism.org, depicts the site’s 2009 weekly news summaries compiled from over 55 television, print, internet and radio news sources. The bigger the story, the bigger the block.
See climate change anywhere? Or even general environmental issues? On both accounts, no. (Although depending on your science, the California fires come close).
For those of us who spend many of our days knee-deep in data, literature and news related to environmental issues, it’s easy to neglect the disconnect between how much an idea matters and how much public attention that idea actually captures. Andy Revkin, at the New York Times suggests that the fault is ours, as we have an inflated notion of what media coverage can accomplish:
“Media coverage of incremental, yet important, issues remains vital, to my mind; it’s just not sufficient”
Perhaps it’s sufficient to rely on news media outlets for timely, hard-hitting Tiger and Madoff broadcasting. Regarding foreign policy matters – especially as they relate to climate change – look further.
