James Thornton: Are Climate Change Reporters an Endangered Species?
Another potential reason ties in with the whole idea of 'news' itself: 'Nothing new to say' is a normal response in journalism to one-time events that have been overexposed. But global warming is hardly that. It is an unfolding story rich in detail, drama and impending tragedy. To say we've already done the story is like saying we've already done sex.
One might respond that we all hard-wired to be interested in sex. But people are also hard-wired to be interested in the weather. We wouldn't have survived otherwise, and the proliferation of weather reporting and weather channels testifies there is no end to people's interest. Climate is weather stretched out in time. Just as people are interested in how sex plays out in relationships, they will be interested in how the weather plays out in climate change.
Or am I imagining this because I happen to care?
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