The effects of a warming Earth are worsening. Climate disinformation is rampant. Wars around the world are pitting petrostates against one another. So why are much of the world’s media backsliding when it comes to the coverage of climate change?
Covering Climate Now was formed in 2019 in response to the climate silence that then prevailed in much of the press, especially in the US. Over the years that followed, hundreds of newsrooms joined our effort, and press coverage of the story began to reflect the scale of the crisis. Newsrooms beefed up their climate reporting teams; they confronted misinformation that sought to play down the problem; they thought creatively about how to find the climate connection on every beat. Finally, newsrooms were giving the story the attention it deserved.
That all changed in the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election. Even though the stakes of that election were clear — everyone knew what Donald Trump would do to climate policy if he returned to power — climate never made it near the top of the list of journalistic priorities during the campaign. A September 2024 debate between Trump and Kamala Harris was typical: Climate change got only one question from the moderators, near the end of the debate. Trump used the moment to reiterate that he sees global warming as a hoax (an unequivocal falsehood, science has proven), and Harris reminded voters of her previous support for gas fracking.
The storyline was set. Just over a year into Trump’s second term, it is now clear that many newsrooms see the climate story as a slog, and are scaling back. In the US, The Washington Post gutted its climate team as part of its ongoing series of layoffs, and CBS, NBC, and ABC cut back on their coverage.
There are important exceptions to the trend: The Guardian, The New York Times, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and CNN continue to cover the climate story, maintaining and, in some cases, expanding their reporting teams.
More common, unfortunately, is the experience that Chase Cain, NBC’s former national climate reporter, recounted in an interview last week with the climate newsletter, HEATED. Cain, who recently left NBC, said he was ground down by having to constantly remind his bosses of the importance of the story. “I was just kind of exhausted by the sales, by the constant trying to explain and remind, like, hey, this is important. Please run this story,” Cain said. Cain joined Tracy Wholf, HEATED’s producer and a veteran of climate coverage at ABC and CBS, who also has been forced to strike out on her own. According to Media Matters, an industry watchdog group, coverage of climate on the three big broadcast networks fell by 35% last year, compared to 2024.
Let’s look at the facts: Carbon dioxide levels are higher than they’ve been in 2 million years, even as many newsrooms are backsliding on climate coverage. Here is our sense of why that has happened:
- A firehose of other news has pushed climate off the agenda. Many of the stories fighting climate for attention are urgent and compelling, from war to immigration crackdowns to rising authoritarianism. Almost every newsroom is trying to do more with fewer people. But this struggle also reflects a failure to understand how urgent, and far-reaching, the climate story is. As long as it’s seen as peripheral, it will always fall off the agenda.
- Politics took precedence over science. Climate change and its solutions have long been contentious politically, but the science explaining the problem has never been more clear. Newsrooms, nevertheless, have allowed Trump to scare them off of more ambitious coverage. Knowing that the president, and his online army, will go after outlets that cover the climate story aggressively has been enough to convince some newsrooms they don’t need the hassle. Meanwhile, a consolidation of media into the hands of fewer billionaires (many of whom crave Trump’s blessing for their expanding empires) has created newsroom cultures where climate coverage is a risk.
- Newsrooms fell out of step with their audience. As the number of journalists in the world has declined in the face of a business-model collapse, reporters have increasingly lost track of who cares about the climate story and why. Many still see the climate audience as a fringe and alternative minority. Peer-reviewed science shows that view to be false.
- Newsrooms grew bored of the story. This, to us, is the hardest to understand. We see this story as one of the richest, most pressing on Earth. Yet we increasingly hear reporters tell us their newsroom bosses see the story as stale, played out, predictable. The dramatic effects of climate change are here, daily, for us all to see and chronicle. Our problem is a lack of journalistic imagination.
Our 89 Percent Project, launched last year, highlights the fact that a majority of the world’s people are worried about the climate crisis and want their leaders to address it. Let’s stop treating climate coverage as an afterthought or a luxury. CCNow will continue to help newsrooms through training, webinars, and one-on-one counseling. Our awards will continue to spotlight climate journalism at its best. Perhaps more than anything, all of us as journalists need to reinforce the idea that telling the climate story needn’t be a downer.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be talking about in-person events aimed at reframing the journalistic narrative around climate change — from one of despair and obligation to possibility and excitement. If you want to talk about what you can do to reinforce your own coverage, reach out to us, at editors@coveringclimatenow.org. What journalism needs now is a renewed commitment to the story of our lives.
From Us
RSVP: Popularity of global climate action. Join us next Tuesday, March 17, at 12pm US Eastern Time (16h UTC), for a discussion about The Climate Majority Project’s latest survey results, on how to avoid the “spiral of silence” that leads people who care about climate change to not talk about it, for fear they’re alone. Learn more and RSVP.
Free training for Canadian journalists! The Climate Newsroom, CCNow’s free online training program designed to help journalists cover climate on every beat, is launching an iteration just for journalists based in Canada. Learn more and apply by this Friday, March 13.
Locally Sourced. The latest edition of our biweekly newsletter for local journalists explores severe storms, including how warming temperatures are fueling billion-dollar storms, sample stories to inspire your work, and reporting tips from Climate Central’s Shel Winkley. Check out the Locally Sourced archive and sign up to get the newsletter every other Tuesday.
Pitch contest at Perugia. At this year’s International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy, CCNow and Clean Energy Wire are hosting an event about what it takes to freelance climate stories. During a live pitch clinic, we’ll workshop pitches that have been submitted in advance. The strongest will be considered for publication by The Guardian. We’re only accepting 100 pitches, so apply now!
SEJ bound? Join CCNow and Solutions Journalism Network for a mini-workshop on Wednesday, April 15. On the schedule, navigate to “Workshop 3 — Mapping The Future of Climate Journalism,” from 1–4pm US Central Time for more details. CCNow will also host a happy hour on Friday, April 17, from 5:45–8pm, at Vintage Bar, one block from the conference venue. Join us!
WATCH: The Iran War and the Climate Emergency. Watch a recording of last week’s CCNow Press Briefing about the US-Israel attacks on Iran and how war fuels climate change — and vice versa.
WATCH: AI + climate change. CCNow’s recent webinar series tackles AI’s impacts on communities, water supplies, and the ethical considerations when weighing whether or not, and how, to use AI to support your journalism.
- “AI Data Centers & Their Climate and Community Impact”
- “AI’s Unquenchable Thirst for Water”
- “Is There Ethical AI Use in Climate Journalism?”
Noteworthy Stories
Climate change’s cost. Achieving net zero by 2050 will cost less than a fossil fuel price shock — like in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — according to UK’s Climate Change Committee, which advises governments on climate policy. By Attracta Mooney and Jim Pickard for the Financial Times…
Iran war. The US-Israel attacks on Iran have killed more than 1,000 people and sent energy markets scrambling. In an explainer, the Carbon Brief team tackles the war’s impact on energy supplies and gas and oil prices, as well as what the war could mean for the world’s renewable energy transition.
‘Black rain.’ Over the weekend, Israel attacked Iranian oil facilities, sending pollutants into the air above Tehran. In the days since, a storm blew in and precipitation mixed with high concentration of pollutants to cause acid and toxic rain. The ecological and human health risks are staggering. By Julia Jacobo for ABC News…
Widespread extreme heat. A new study finds that nearly one in three people around the world is impacted by climate change–fueled extreme heat, which is reducing the time people can spend outdoors safely. The elderly, children, people with disabilities, and those who can’t afford safe cooling are disproportionately impacted by extreme temperatures. By Jonathan Watts for The Guardian…
Targeting activists. Since Donald Trump’s return to office, people identifying themselves as FBI agents have been calling and showing up at the houses of environmental activists in New York and in the Boston area, a sign the administration may be broadening its crackdown on perceived political opposition. By Nicholas Kusnetz for Inside Climate News…
Resources & Events
Monthly Briefing. Register for the fourth installment of Climate Central’s Monthly Briefing webinar series, on Thursday, March 19, at 12pm US Eastern Time (16h UTC), for the latest global and US climate trends and statistics. Learn more and RSVP.
Decline in coverage. New analysis from Media Matters finds that coverage of climate change on ABC, CBS, and NBC dropped 35% from 2024 to 2025, accounting for a total of only eight hours and 25 minutes across all three major TV news networks.
Visualizing the climate story. The nonprofit Climate Visuals has published a new resource, drawing on expertise from photo editors, to help journalists photo and select imagery for stories about climate litigation.
Quote of the Week
“Just because [climate change is] not being talked about in the media doesn’t mean that it suddenly disappeared or it’s been wiped out of [the American people’s] memory banks.”
– Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
Jobs, Etc.
Jobs. Science News is hiring a Features Editor (hybrid; Washington, D.C.). Nature is hiring a Reporter (hybrid; Washington, D.C., or New York, N.Y.). Bloomberg is hiring a Business of Government Reporter (Arlington, Va.). The Maine Monitor is hiring an Environment Reporter (remote, but based in Maine). ABC (Australia) is hiring a Climate Reporter (an Australian capital city). Mongabay is hiring for two positions: Production Editor, Global and Contributing Editor, Asia Pacific (remote). Dialogue Earth is hiring a Mexico and Central America Regional Editor (Mexico, preferred; otherwise, Central America).
Fellowships. NYU Stern School of Business is accepting applications for its Climate Economics Journalism Fellowship; apply by April 20. Sentient is recruiting a Student Editorial Fellow; apply by May 29 (remote).
Internships. Scientific American is hiring a news intern (New York, N.Y.). Planet Detroit is hiring a Detroit Community Engagement Journalism Intern (Detroit, Mich.).
Workshop. The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) is accepting applications for its Climate-Agricultural Reporting Training for journalists based in Nigeria; apply by March 16.
Grant. The Pulitzer Center is accepting applications for its Impact Seed Fund to support educational and engagement initiatives in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.