Climate change and biodiversity on German television

How prominent are climate change and biodiversity in German television programming? And how do viewers experience TV programming in terms of the presence and portrayal of climate change and biodiversity?

The joint research project aims to develop a comprehensive, empirically based understanding of the role and significance of television in climate communciation, particularly with regard to the perception of reporting as "constructive" in the sense of solution-oriented journalism. Other focal points include the portayal and impact of extreme weather events and the topic of diversity/gender. The study (field phase: content analyisis from September 1st to October 31st, 2022, 7p.m./day) uses semi-automated survey and evaluation methods to examine reporting on 20 German television stations (covered stations/groups are from the RTL Group: RTL Television, RTLZWEI, SUPER RTL, VOX, ntv; from the Seven.One Entertainment Group: SAT.1, ProSieben, kabel eins, from the ZDF broadcasting group: ZDF, 3sat, KiKA, ZDFinfo, zdf_neo; from the ARD broadcasting group: Das Erste, BR Fernsehen Süd, WDR Köln, SWR Fernsehen BW, rbb Berlin, NDR FD HH, MDR Sachsen). The content analysis is supplemented by qualitative and quantitative empirical methods to capture the perceptions and perspectives of different audiences (group discussions with n=42; Wave 1: end of Oct. 2022; wave 2: June 20235). Based on this, an empirical basis for decision-making will be developed for the further development of constructive journalism for climate and sustainability reporting on German television.

Initial results available at: https://malisastiftung.org/klimabiodivimtv/

Duration: 09/2023 - 04/2024

Project management: Prof. Dr. Imke Hoppe, Prof. Dr. Irene Neverla (FU Berlin and University of Hamburg)

Project staff: Dr. Uwe Kühhirt, Dr. Christian Weigel (Fraunhofer IDMT)

Technical data collection Funded by: MaLisa Foundation; ARD, ZDF, Pro7, RTL