Skip to main content

Attention, Access and the Global Space of Interpretation: Media Dynamics of the IPCC AR5 Launch Year

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Media and Global Climate Knowledge

Abstract

The publication of the IPCC AR5 reports in 2013 and 2014 offers a unique case study for capturing the role of journalism in global communication. As the IPCC’s years of work were condensed first into the full reports (WGs) and then the Summaries for Policymakers (SPMs), enormous amounts of information and scientific insight were put into action at the moment of publication. This moment initiated a partially routinized and partially unexpected process that mobilized a transnational infrastructure of communication. Identifying some of the key features of this structure and understanding its dynamics is the core target of this study. In this chapter, we provide a first view of what happened at the global level as the findings of scientists and the shared interpretations of the IPCC’s scientific-political actors were compressed through the needle hole of publicity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Barkemeyer, R., Dessai, S., Monge-Sanz, B., Gabriella Renzi, B., & Napolitano, G. (2015). Linguistic analysis of IPCC summaries for policymakers and associated coverage. Nature Climate Change, 6, 311–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser, N. (2014). Transnationalizing the public sphere: On the legitimacy and efficiency of public opinion in a post-Westphalian world. In K. Nash (Ed.), Transnationalizing the public sphere (pp. 8–42). Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulme, M. (2009a). Mediated messages about climate change: Reporting the IPCC fourth assessment in the UK print media. In T. Boyce & J. Lewis (Eds.), Climate change and the media (pp. 117–128). London: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC. (2013). Stocker, T. F., Qin, D., Plattner, G.-K., Tignor, M., Allen, S. K., Boschung, J., Nauels, A., Xia, Y., Bex, V., & Midgley, P. M. (Eds.), Climate change 2013: The physical science basis. Summary for policymakers. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC. (2014, March 31). IPCC report: A changing climate creates pervasive risks but opportunities exist for effective responses. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC. Retrieved from http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/ar5/pr_wg2/140330_pr_wgII_spm_en.pdf

  • O’Neill, S. J., Kurz, T., Williams, H. T., Wiersma, B., & Boykoff, M. (2015). Dominant frames in legacy and social media coverage of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. Nature Climate Change, 5, 380–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Painter, J. (2013). Climate change in the media: Reporting risk and uncertainty. Oxford, UK: I.B. Tauris and Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Painter, J. (2014). Disaster averted? Television coverage of the 2013/14 IPCC’s climate change reports. Oxford, UK: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

    Google Scholar 

  • Painter, J. (2015b). The effectiveness of the IPCC communication: A survey of (mainly) UK-based users. Advance paper submitted to the IPCC Expert Meeting on Communication. IPCC, Oslo, Norway. Retrieved from http://www.ipcc.ch/meeting_documentation/meeting_documentation_ipcc_workshops_and_expert_meetings.shtml

  • Schudson, M. (2003). The sociology of news. New York: Norton & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokona, Y., Edenhofer, O., Pichs-Madruga, R., Eickemeier, P., & Minx, J. (2016). Communicating the science of climate change mitigation: AR5 experiences from Working Group III. Advance paper submitted to the IPCC Expert Meeting on Communication. IPCC, Oslo, Norway. Retrieved from http://www.ipcc.ch/meeting_documentation/meeting_documentation_ipcc_workshops_and_expert_meetings.shtml

  • Warner, M. (2002). Publics and counterpublics. New York: Zone Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittington, E. (2016). Translating IPCC AR5 to business audiences. Advance paper submitted to the IPCC Expert Meeting on Communication. IPCC, Oslo, Norway. Retrieved from http://www.ipcc.ch/meeting_documentation/meeting_documentation_ipcc_workshops_and_expert_meetings.shtml

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kunelius, R., Yagodin, D. (2017). Attention, Access and the Global Space of Interpretation: Media Dynamics of the IPCC AR5 Launch Year. In: Kunelius, R., Eide, E., Tegelberg, M., Yagodin, D. (eds) Media and Global Climate Knowledge. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52321-1_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics