Working group conveners: PhD Researcher Nelli Jäntti-Tuominen, University of Tampere & PhD Researcher Aino Kangaspuro Haaparanta, University of Tampere

For decades, both journalism research and professional practice have treated journalism as an objective, rational, and largely immaterial field (Anderson 2014; Tuchman 1972). Yet, journalism’s roots are deeply entangled with the material realities of research extraction and consumption (Miller 2015; Maxwell and Miller 2017), the ideology of continuous economic growth (Chakravartty and Schiller, 2010), and the influence of powerful and typically white elite sources (Carlson 2009).

This working group aims to provide a reflective space to discuss the current and future needs of journalism in the context of climate change and biodiversity loss. Journalism has historically succeeded in serving as a public sphere for social change. That said, the diverse and simultaneous crises require a critical examination of how journalism aligns with planetary boundaries. We explore this question in terms of journalistic content, journalistic practices, and the environmental impact of media organizations.

Embracing diversity in research designs and methods, the working group welcomes research on topics including, but not limited to:

• the material and ecological dimensions of journalism production, presentation and consumption
• the challenges of ecologically and environmentally responsible journalism amid big tech platforms
• AI-driven changes in journalism
• the definers of environmental issues and the role of advocacy groups and activism within journalistic content
• new requirements for journalism education in the face of the environmental challenges
• the role of audiences in shaping both environmental journalism and the ecological sustainability of journalism
• climate obstruction and global environmental backlash in journalism

The working group welcomes empirical, methodological and theoretical presentations, and roundtable proposals in English or Finnish. Roundtable proposals should include max. three short presentations, and a facilitator. Presentations allow participants to share research findings, while roundtables encourage interactive discussions, critical reflection, and diverse perspectives.

References:
Anderson, Alison. 2014. News organisation(s) and the production of environmental news. In The Routledge Handbook of Environment and Communication, ed. Anders Hansen and Robert Cox, 2nd ed., 195–207. Routledge, 2023.

Carlson, Matt. 2009. Dueling, Dancing, or Dominating? Journalists and Their Sources. Sociology Compass 3 (4): 526–542. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00219.x.

Chakravartty, Paula, and Dan Schiller. 2010. Neoliberal Newspeak and Digital Capitalism in Crisis. International Journal of Communication 4: 670–692.

Maxwell, Richard, and Toby Miller. 2017. “Making Journalism Sustainable/Sustaining the Environmental Costs of Journalism”. In What is Sustainable Journalism? Integrating the Environmental, Social, and Economic Challenges of Journalism, ed. Peter Berglez, Ulrika Olausson ja Mart Ots, 19–37. New York: Peter Lang.

Miller, Toby. 2015. ”Unsustainable Journalism.” Digital Journalism 3 (5): 653–663. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2015.1026683.

Tuchman, Gaye. 1972. Objectivity as Strategic Ritual: An Examination of Newsmen’s Notions of Objectivity. American Journal of Sociology, 77 (4): 660-679. https://doi.org/10.1086/225193.