Mainstreaming climate change issues through mainstream media is not that easy

Climate change is a real threat to the existence of humanity. However, attention to this issue is not widely discussed in mainstream media coverage, in this case major online media outlets. A survey conducted by the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) and Unitrend shows that, in the period from November 2022 to May 2023, only around 1 percent of news coverage addressed environmental issues and the climate crisis (Kompas.com, 2023).

This survey mapped news from a number of online media outlets in Indonesia by grouping issues into politics, economics, entertainment, and environment. The pattern of low news coverage for climate change issues also occurs globally. Climate issues lose out to political and entertainment issues.

This finding certainly raises questions, why can an issue as critical, even life-threatening, as this receive so little attention from the media? To answer this question, it seems necessary to understand how newsrooms produce news in the digital era.

As the algorithmic regime has come to dominate the flow of information, journalists still prioritize issues important to the public interest. However, a demand has emerged to also pay attention to issues developing on social media. If left unattended to conversations trending on the internet, media outlets risk being abandoned by their readers.

Covering and confirming issues developing on social media is, on one hand, indeed important for media to remain relevant in public conversation. Avoiding coverage focused on news circulating on the internet carries the risk that media will be abandoned by its readers. Moreover, that approach also runs counter to journalistic principles aimed at correcting rumors of unclear origin.

This contemporary demand is what often leaves mainstream media short on resources and time to confirm issues that surface due to social media platform algorithms. Other important issues that are not massively pushed by algorithms, such as environmental problems and climate change, do not regularly receive attention, often only surfacing during certain moments.

From a business standpoint, platform algorithms like Google’s determine the reach of content produced by journalists. To put it briefly, content that does not comply with search engine optimization rules or does not address issues that many people are searching for should not expect to be widely read. Herein lies the challenge: when online media sell their readability levels as a business model, spending time on issues that are not currently capturing public attention due to algorithms becomes a counterproductive act.

This condition is also what causes the ability of mainstream media to determine the narrative that becomes public conversation to diminish. The role of platform algorithms emerges as a factor that also determines the narrative followed by media outlets seeking reach.

This situation is what sometimes causes crucial issues like climate change and environmental destruction to be pushed aside by lighter issues that are more clickbait-friendly.

This condition also raises the question of who actually benefits. Platforms like Google certainly generate revenue from the traffic that emerges. But is there also a role played by the extractive industry as an advertiser, such that there is reluctance from newsrooms to consistently cover environmental issues?

Beyond the algorithm problem, public interest that does not form consistently is also a problem. Algorithms are essentially a mirror of reader preferences. Meanwhile, those preferences themselves are shaped by the old pattern of news coverage that neglects environmental issues. From here, a vicious cycle can be seen that is difficult to break.

Nevertheless, awareness to keep amplifying the global climate crisis and environmental problems in general still exists. A number of mainstream media outlets in Indonesia continue to regularly and periodically cover these issues. For example, Kompas.com, which consistently voices sustainability issues through its Lestari channel.

There is also media like Mongabay, which focuses solely on environmental issues. However, Mongabay is fairly unique, this outlet is not business-oriented, and therefore does not need to bow to the algorithmic regime.

Looking at Mongabay as a mirror, it becomes clear that when a newsroom is given the freedom to determine which issues need to be raised without having to consider the business side, crucial matters are what emerge.