10. The Media : what responsibilities facing transitions?

Do you have to show swimmers to illustrate a heat wave? According to a study conducted in four European countries, illustrating heat waves with carefree images would minimize the reality of the climate crisis. The media have a fundamental role to play in deploying climate adaptation strategies and communicating the risks associated with extreme events.

In September, French-speaking journalists adopted a charter "For a journalism that meets the ecological emergency", which contains thirteen commitments to improve the treatment of all subjects related to climate, life and social justice. They start from the observation that "the poor media treatment of climate and biodiversity issues is seriously damaging to democratic debate".

The media must make a revolution and transform itself to better cover the ecological and social transitions in all their gravity but also in their solutions. They have done so by having to learn the language of epidemiologists to cover the Covid-19 pandemic. Training of journalists, reorganization of the editorial staff, increase in the number of dedicated journalists, systematic search for new angles to cover topics, but also editorial and civilizational choices...: so many avenues to explore and commitments to make.

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