Climate Change Is an Intangible News Topic
A Qualitative Analysis of Audience Perceptions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7153232 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Solveig Kristine Bortne Høegh-Krohn (University of Bergen), Håvard Haarstad (0000-0002-2791-9282, University of Bergen), Brita Ytre-Arne (0000-0003-4452-6007, University of Bergen, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 819-832 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-19 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1752-4032 • E-ISSN: 1752-4040 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17524032.2025.2458220 |
| OpenAlex | W4407111351 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 33 |
In this article we examine how news audiences perceive the issue of climate change, arguing that it appears intangible compared to other major news topics people routinely encounter in everyday media use. Our study contributes to existing research on climate journalism by prioritizing an audience perspective, combining scholarship on temporalities in climate journalism with environmental social science perspectives on climate as a difficult issue to grasp. We analyze qualitative in-depth interviews conducted in Norway, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, energy shortages and rising costs of living, asking how people relate to climate change as compared to other societal crises covered in the news. Our findings highlight three ways in which climate change appears intangible to audiences: the topic is less integrated into everyday news media habits, appears less clearly demarcated, and lacks spatiotemporal grounding. As an implication of these findings, we underline intangibility as a relevant explanation for noted problems in climate journalism, and discuss how to engage audiences on an important issue that is ill suited to key formats and conventions of news
Climate change · Perception · Political science · Qualitative analysis · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Media Studies and Communication · Psychology · Geology
Climate Change Temporalities
Engaging Citizens for Climate Change—Challenges for Journalism
Naturkrisen – en global krise for lokal natur
Framing Global Warming
“We're the Ones to Blame”
Who Speaks for the Climate
Green Political Thought
Living in Denial
Global governance by goal-setting
Communicating climate change
Climate journalism in a changing media ecosystem
Narratives in climate change discourse
Storying Climatically Changed Worlds — Potentials and Pitfalls of Future Journalism
What is ‘Good’ Climate Journalism? Public Perceptions of Climate Journalism in Denmark
Focusing on “A Day in the Life”
Doomscrolling, Monitoring and Avoiding
Tuning Out the News. A Cross-Media Perspective on News Avoidance Practices of Young News Users in Flanders During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Climate Change Journalism in Norway—Working with Frequency Around the “Green Shift”
Constructing Authoritative Answers to a Latent Crisis? Strategies of Puzzling, Powering and Framing in Dutch Climate Adaptation Practices Compared
Beyond false balance
New approaches to understanding the role of the news media in the formation of public attitudes and behaviours on climate change
Ritual check-in, shocked immersion, regained stability
Geographical work at the boundaries of climate change
Dilemmas in a general theory of planning
Fear Won't Do It
Apocalypse Now! Fear and Doomsday Pleasures
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |