Effective Climate Communication

“Effective Climate Communication provides a fresh perspective on communicating climate change in a climate of public disengagement and anxiety. Using these realities as starting points, Denisova explores key issues around greenwashing, news narratives, and the need for de-colonising practices. By asking 'what slows down citizen action,' Denisova’s thoroughly researched and clearly written text calls for persistence, care and creativity. Combining compassion and practicality, the lessons in Effective Climate Communication will be useful for researchers, policy-makers, activists and storytellers in their fights for climate justice.” - Anna Feigenbaum, Professor in Digital Storytelling, Bournemouth University, UK This book explores the challenges of communicating climate change in the media through an interdisciplinary lens. First, it delves into the outdated news values of journalism and proposes the news principles appropriate for the age of climate change. Second, it bridges the disciplines of social psychology, sociology, political and cultural studies, and media studies to identify the storytelling that empowers the audience. It provides an analysis of the concepts of social proof, self-efficacy, conditional cooperation, pluralistic ignorance, social identity, values-beliefs-norms theory, in relation to media framing and narratives. Apocalyptic storytelling, and a hero’s narrative are challenged. The books proposes the types of communication on climate that help to mitigate the readers’ anxiety and enhance their sense of empowerment. Anastasia Denisova is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism at the Communication and Media Research Institute, University of Westminster, UK. She specialises in viral cultures, internet memes, and climate change communication. Author of Internet Memes and Society (2019) and writer of policy brief Fashion Media and Sustainability (2021). She has published widely in top academic journals, including Social Media+Society; Media, Culture and Society; Journalism etc. Dr Denisova is a Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy and a Board member of Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture.