Tuesday 2nd August: Newspapers downplay climate change to boost sales

August 02, 2022

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The co-founder of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network, former Conde Nast exec Wolfgang Blau, has said the long-term implications of climate change pose a bigger challenge to journalism than the advent of the internet.

Speaking to Press Gazette he said editors are deliberately downplaying the threat of climate change. He believes people at news organisations are aware of the size of the threat we face from climate change, but are making short term, opportunistic decisions based on what they think will sell best.

For Blau, fixing the problem will require as big a shift as that sparked by the arrival of the Internet. “Most newsrooms have not understood yet that just like with digitisation, where culture desks, travel desks, science desks, all of them had to increase their digital literacy as quickly as possible, that we’re facing the same with basic climate literacy.”

The New York Times is reporting that Vice Media, which is looking for a buyer after its SPAC plans imploded, is in talks with Greece's Antenna Group. The sale is only rumoured at this point but the two organisations have worked together since 2014. If it goes ahead, I bet the price isn't $5.7 billion.

This is a really nice, short and practical look at how to use personalisation. Examples from USA Today, Daily Telegraph, Le Figaro and the BBC. And if you want more, head over to INMA's Product Initiative blog where Jodie Hopperton has been looking at personalisation for a while.

Two crypto stories in two days? Today it's Time magazine teaming up with the city of Miami to offer 5,000 Ethereum NFTs designed by 56 local artists. Time is leading the strategy, developing the creative and launching the initiative. Here's hoping the market recovers by the time they launch.

Podcast throwback:

I'm about to embark on this year's 'Lessons' interviews and that's as good a reason as any to share again this interview with The Atlantic's Vann Newkirk on the making of the award-winning 'Floodlines' podcast. Listen to Vann and then listen to the series. It is truly brilliant.

Since launching our appeal for help a few weeks ago, we’ve had a huge number of really helpful suggestions and offers to collaborate. In case you missed our follow-up post, here's our plan for the rest of the year (and, hopefully, beyond!)