On the Overlap of Systemic Events : Covid-19, Climate, and Journalism

Covid-19 represents a systemic event?a state of emergency?that disrupts the routines of societies from the level of individuals to institutions, nations, and global interaction. Revealing the vulnerability of the intensively interconnected world suggests a juxtaposition with another systemic crisis: the climate emergency. Drawing on some key literature on the different aspects of ?events??as heightened political semiosis (Wagner-Pacifi), as (possible) transformation of social and symbolic structures (Sewell), and as moments where new horizons are opened (Arendt)?this essay suggests three intersecting themes where reactions to Covid-19 help to sharpen the crucial questions of future journalism: the role of ?knowledge? and expertise, the power of national framing, and the challenge of covering the new imperatives and possibilities of everyday life.Peer reviewe

The difference between “alarmist” and “alarming”: Interview with Maxwell Boykoff

Non peer reviewe

Media and the Climate Crisis

Peer reviewe

Voices of a generation the communicative power of youth activism

Drawing from interviews with 31 young leading climate activists from 23 countries across the world this article aims to capture the contribution of the recent youth climate movement to communicating climate science and politics. We show that from the point of view of the youth activists, the movement powerfully connects personal and local experiences and emotions with climate science. This has enabled the activists to construct an authentic, generational and temporal identity that has helped them to carve out an autonomous position and voice with considerable moral authority among existing climate policy actors. Claiming to represent the future generation, we conclude that activists have offered an important added value to climate science as new ambassadors for scientific consensus and climate mitigation. The youth movement and the added value it brings communicating climate science is an example of the dynamics of the formation of "relational publics" and emphasizes the need to understand better the networked communication landscape where climate politics is debated.Peer reviewe