From late 2018, a series of UN reports and academic studies detailing the crisis facing our climate and natural environment have added weight to our knowledge about where we are and where we are likely headed. The projections are alarming and serve to demonstrate convincingly that it is indeed a crisis that is in progress, and that major changes are required in terms of how we live and function to prevent catastrophic consequences to life on Earth. This state of affairs brings major challenges to how the news media presents this kind of information. With a tendency to focus on the here and now, and to follow the lead of the policymakers and corporations at home, the news media is not well placed to adequately cover this slow burning crisis of global proportions. As a result, coverage of climate change has tended to be wholly inadequate as a tool to help the public understand and respond to it. This presentation explores and assesses the news media’s coverage of the climate crisis, with a particular focus on the Japanese media, and will also examine a new international initiative to improve how the media covers this vital issue – Covering Climate Now.
