Cross-Country Analysis of the Association between Media Coverage and Exposure to Climate News with Awareness, Risk Perceptions, and Protest Participation Intention in 110 Countries

ABSTRACT

Few studies analyze international media coverage of climate change, and few still explore media's role in public opinion about climate change from a comparative perspective. Using data from the 2022 Yale Meta survey of 108,946 Facebook monthly active users from 110 countries and territories, the current research finds that perceived awareness is associated with perceived personal and future risks but not protest participation intention. Only perceived personal harm was associated with protest intention. People in countries most exposed to climate-related impacts were more likely to show heightened perceptions of harm to self and future generations. An analysis of a subset of countries (n = 52) where media coverage data was externally available for 2015–2022 indicates that media coverage is positively associated with self-reported exposure to climate change and perceived awareness about the issue. However, media coverage is not related to perceived personal or future risks and is negatively associated with protest participation intent across countries. Despite low media coverage of climate change, citizens in poor and developing countries see climate change as a greater risk and are more willing to participate in protests compared to citizens in developed countries. Findings help clarify theoretical and practical implications for climate change communication research.

KEYWORDS:

• International public opinion
• media coverage
• risk perceptions
• climate change
• Global South

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).