Television as a Primary Source of News on Climate Change

According to a Reuters Institute report, television is the most engaging medium for the public when discussing climate change. This medium was chosen by 35% of respondents.

This is because television offers moving images to the audience. According to Schäfer and Schlichting (2014), moving images are capable of influencing human emotions. For example, seeing a melting glacier or a collection of plastic polluting the ocean can have a greater impact than simply reading a news article.

After television, 15% of the global population updates their information on climate change from well-known media organizations. 13% of people worldwide follow such news from specialized outlets that focus solely on climate change. Meanwhile, 9% of respondents follow climate change news from social media and blogs.

The Reuters Institute report is based on an online survey conducted jointly with YouGov in January-February 2020. The survey was conducted in 40 countries, each with 1,000-4,000 respondents.