| News coverage in Western democracies, particularly coverage of complex or controversial issues, generally conforms to the journalistic norm of "objective" reporting. When asked to define objectivity, journalists often use words such as "impartial" and "balanced" to indicate that a news story has reported the various viewpoints of an issue "fairly". However, "objectivity" and its many sub-terms may hold different meanings for reporters in different countries.; Objectivity and balance are especially relevant to news coverage of global warming. Despite a majority of scientists believing the global warming theory to be correct, many journalists have felt compelled to seek out opposing points of view. The result often has been confusion among the public.; This study investigated differences in journalistic objectivity by the British and U.S. elite, non-tabloid printed press, the cultural factors that influence these differences, and the effects of these differences on news content. Drawing from Schudson, Carey, Tuchman, and others, it explored the relationship in both the U.K. and U.S. between culture, media routines, and environmental news coverage.; A three-part method that combined interviews with British and U.S. journalists, a qualitative "deep reading" of news stories, and a quantitative measure of balance, produced findings that support the theory that "culture," in its national/geopolitical sense, influences global warming coverage. Analyses indicated, among other things, that U.S. newspapers use source quotes more frequently than British quality newspapers, include the opposing or "skeptics" view of global warming more than the British, and use a more neutral and less literary writing style. The study found that British reporters tend to view global warming as a science story with political overtones, while U.S. reporters tend to view it as a political story with scientific overtones, and that British and U.S. reporters interpret balance differently. The investigation also indicated newspapers in both cultures tilt their coverage toward the "pro" side of the global warming debate ("pro" indicating agreement with the UN Intergovernmental Panel's assertion that human activity influences global warming), and their approaches to balance showed little change over time. |
