Issue: Organizational Development

Lack of racial and ethnic representation among journalists may relate to the common misperception that White Americans are the most concerned about climate change. Although news reporting on climate change plays a crucial role in shaping public understanding of the issue, little is known about racial/ethnic representation in climate change reporting. In a survey of over 1,000 professional journalists, this resource finds that White journalists were much more likely than Black, Hispanic, or multiracial journalists to have reported on at least one local climate change story in the past year. This lack of representation may contribute to the common misperception that concern about climate change is the domain of affluent Whites, when, in fact, people of color are actually more vulnerable to, and more concerned about, the impacts of climate change than their White counterparts. This resource also reports journalist perceptions of, and interest in, climate change reporting by race/ethnicity.