Information coverage of COP28 and the ECODES decalogue in the newspapers El Mundo, El Español and El País

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-433

Keywords:

climate change, ECODES decalogue, disinformation, denialism, risk society, COP28, sustainability, digital newspapers

Abstract

Introduction: This work in the situation of global climate emergency that we are currently experiencing, and its fundamental objective is to know how the three spanish generalist digital newspapers with the largest audience –El Mundo, El Español y El País– have constructed the stories about the 28th Conference of the United Nations on Climate Change (COP28), held at the end of 2023 in Dubai. Methodology: We have a content analysis, qualitative and quantitative, based on observance of the “Decalogue of recommendations for reporting on climate change” –prepared by the Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo (ECODES) and the Research Group Dialectical Mediation of Social Communication– by the three mentioned newspapers. Results: The analysis has allowed us to verify that the information about COP28, published by the media analyzed, only partially observes the recommendations of the ECODES decalogue for reporting on climate change. Conclusions: The importance of the exercise of journalism is evident from the social responsibility that communication professionals have when approaching their work, especially when we talk about emergency situations, like in this case.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

José Luis Martín Sáez, Rey Juan Carlos University

Visiting Professor at the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid, in the Department of Journalism and Corporate Communication, where he teaches subjects related mainly to television and information visualization. Accredited by ANECA as a contracted doctor professor, his main lines of research are information disorders, disinformation and the social responsibility of journalists. Currently, he is part of the High Performance Research Group in Communication and Minors (COMKIDS).

María Eugenia Lozano López, Rey Juan Carlos University

Visiting Professor at the Department of Journalism and Corporate Communication of the Faculty of Communication Sciences at the URJC. PhD in Legal and Social Sciences. She teaches subjects related to television and multimedia journalism. She is co-director of the Master's Degree in Digital Journalism and New Professional Profiles at the URJC. As a researcher, her area of ​​specialization is public media. She is part of the University Research Group on Mediation and Communication (GUIMEDCOM), within the UNESCO Chair of Communication Research at the Rey Juan Carlos University. A journalist with extensive experience in television. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of Radio Televisión Madrid.

Yolanda Ortiz de Guinea Ayala, Rey Juan Carlos University

Interim Professor in the Department of Journalism and Corporate Communication of the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the URJC. Graduate and PhD in Information Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid. Currently, she is a researcher at the UNESCO Chair of Communication Research and of the high-performance research groups COMMRADES and GUIMEDCOM of the URJC, as well as the Teaching Research Group 2023 COMOJO. Currently, she is Academic Secretary of the Department of Journalism and Corporate Communication of the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the URJC.

References

Abellán-López, M. Á. (2021). El cambio climático: negacionismo, escepticismo y desinformación. Tabula rasa, 37, 283-301. https://doi.org/10.25058/20112742.n37.13 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25058/20112742.n37.13

Anderson, A. (2014). Media, Environment and the Network Society. Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314086

Arcila Calderón, C., Freyle Granados, J. y Mercado, M. T. (2015). De la Cumbre de Nairobi (2006) a Copenhague (2009): cobertura del cambio climático en medios digitales en español. Cuadernos.info, 37, 107-119. https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.37.684 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.37.779

Bardin, L. (2002). El análisis de contenido. Akal.

Beck, U. (1992). Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. Sage Publications.

Boykoff, M. T. (2013). Public Enemy No. 1? Understanding Media Representations of Outlier Views on Climate Change. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(6), 796-817. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764213476846 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764213476846

Buchanan, B., Lohn, A., Musser, M. y Sedova, K. (2021). Truth, lies, and automation. How language models could disinformation. Center for Security and Emerging Technology. https://doi.org/10.51593/2021CA003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.51593/2021CA003

Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas. (2023). Barómetro Noviembre 2023.

Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas. ES3427MAR [Archivo PDF]. https://www.cis.es/documents/d/cis/es3427mar-pdf

Erviti-Ilundáin, M. C. (2020). Del “cambio climático” a la “emergencia climática”. Análisis de El País y El Mundo. Revista Prisma Social, 31, 64-81. https://revistaprismasocial.es/article/view/3866

Fernández-Reyes, R., Piñuel-Raigada, J. L. y Vicente-Mariño, M. (2015). La cobertura periodística del cambio climático y del calentamiento global en El País, El Mundo y La Vanguardia. Revista de Comunicación, 70, 122-140. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2015-1038

Fernández, S. P., Fernández, M. M. y Mendoza, P. A. (2021). Aproximación del cambio climático a la sociedad desde los medios de comunicación: elementos formativos en los diarios digitales españoles. Ambiente & Sociedade, 24, e0186.

Heras-Hernández, F., Meira-Cartea, P. Á. y Benayas, J. (2016). Un silencio ensordecedor. El declive del cambio climático como tema comunicativo en España 2008-2012. Redes.com: revista de estudios para el desarrollo social de la Comunicación, 13, 31-56. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=5766585

Kakuchi, S. y Shaw, R. (2022). Análisis de la cobertura mediática del cambio climático. En Handbook on Climate Change and Disasters (pp. 154-160). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800371613.00023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800371613.00023

León, B. (2013). La representación del cambio climático en los medios españoles. En B. León (Ed.), El periodismo ante el cambio climático: Nuevas perspectivas y retos (pp. 11-44). UOC. https://bit.ly/4cBhdJ5

Lewandowsky, S., Ecker, U. K. H. y Cook, J. (2017). Beyond misinformation: Understanding and coping with the “Post-Truth” era. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6(4), 353-369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2017.07.008 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2017.07.008

Martín-Sosa, S. y Jiménez-Gómez, I. (2021). El argumentario ideológico y de baja intensidad en el negacionismo climático. En D. Álvarez Rivas y I. Jiménez Gómez (Eds.), Comunicación del cambio climático (pp. 108-119). Fragua. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/8816

Moser, S. C. (2010). Communicating climate change: history, challenges, process and future directions. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 1(1), 31-53. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.11 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.11

Moser, S. C. y Dilling, L. (2012). Communicating Climate Change: Closing the Science-Action Gap. En The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society (pp. 162-174). https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199566600.003.0011 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199566600.003.0011

Murali, R., Kuwar, A. y Nagendra, H. (2021). ¿Quién es responsable del cambio climático? Desenredando los hilos de las discusiones en los medios de comunicación en India, Nigeria, Australia y Estados Unidos. Climatic Change, 164, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10584-021-03031-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03031-1

Observatorio de la Comunicación del Cambio Climático. (2024). La comunicación de la crisis climática y la transferencia social del conocimiento sobre la acción climática en medios e Internet. El rol mediador de los profesionales de la información. V Informe del Observatorio de La Comunicación Del Cambio Climático. https://bit.ly/45We3Nw

Okoliko, D. A. y de Wit, M. P. (2023). Cambio climático, periodistas y “los comprometidos”: reflexiones desde Sudáfrica, Nigeria y Kenia. Journalism Practice, 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2023.2200744 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2023.2200744

Piñuel-Raigada, J. L. (2016). Discursos mediáticos y representaciones sociales sobre el cambio climático. Redes.com: revista de estudios para el desarrollo social de la Comunicación, 13, 24-30. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=5766574

Salaverría-Aliaga, R. (2021). Veinticinco años de evolución del ecosistema periodístico digital en España. En R. Salaverría y M. P. Martínez-Costa (Coords.), Medios Nativos Digitales en España (pp. 21-31). Comunicación Social Ediciones y Publicaciones. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52495/c1.emcs.7.p92

Teso Alonso, G. y Lozano Ascencio, C. (2022). La comunicación online del cambio climático en España. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 80, 65-87. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2022-1G531 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2022-1531

Published

2024-11-28

How to Cite

Martín Sáez, J. L., Lozano López, M. E., & Ortiz de Guinea Ayala, Y. (2024). Information coverage of COP28 and the ECODES decalogue in the newspapers El Mundo, El Español and El País. European Public & Social Innovation Review, 10, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-433

Issue

Section

Communication