CC: Climate Change or Comedy Central? 21 years of science communication on American TV

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-01-19 07:59

New Zealand; International

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The Daily Show has run on late-night American TV since 2000, consistently providing political commentary to an audience that may not otherwise engage with the news. A recent study has examined the way climate change content was communicated through 2021, noting a substantial rise in recent years as audiences engaged more with the topic. The study also noted that the show tended to communicate climate change content in one of two ways: either indirectly, by citing it as the cause of some sort of suffering or directly, as a topic of discussion. Interestingly, when speaking directly about climate change, the show tended to almost always frame the discussion in “politically-charged frames”. Oh, and Al Gore was the most frequent climate-related guest, with five appearances.