Journalistic Role Performance in Climate Change Reporting

Journalists, when curating news, typically rely on enacting certain “voices” and frame content according to established norms.

Using Claudia Mellado’s Journalistic Role Performance methodology — which has divided all journalistic roles into the following categories: the watchdog, citizen-watchdog, the loyal-facilitator, the interventionist-disseminator, the service, the infotainment and the civic roles — evaluate common journalistic roles and perceived role enactments among journalists reporting on climate change in the news.

Based on the trends and findings from a content analysis performed on Canadian news, establish which roles are common, and find ways to refine the methodology. How could journalists improve the way they present climate news to audiences? What do the trends tell us about audience reception to certain role enactments? How might the use of certain technology change audience engagement and reception? How can we innovate to present climate news so it is more engaging and informative?

Faculty Supervisor:

Amélie Daoust-Boisvert

Student:

Partner:

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

Concordia University

Program: