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Television news coverage of climate policy is limited and polarized in the US, study finds

Phys · · 681 words · By University

A study by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder analyzed television news transcripts from seven major networks to determine how climate change policy is covered. The findings indicate that while aggregate coverage of climate policy aligns with public support, individual networks exhibit high levels of polarization.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-television-news-coverage-climate-policy.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

9 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

info Single Source 8
help Insufficient Evidence 1
info
“Two-thirds of Americans want action on climate change”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided search results mention broad support and specific survey shifts, but none explicitly confirm that 'two-thirds' (66%) of Americans want action on climate change as a general statistic.
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web search NEUTRAL — Overall, the poll found broad, bipartisan support for climate change policy and little patience for deniers: Among those unfavorable to the president, 56 percent still supported him taking action on c…
https://thinkprogress.org/climate-poll-three-quarters-of-you…
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web search NEUTRAL — The results are stunning. On 66 of the 72 issue propositions in the survey, the participants shifted significantly over the course of the deliberation toward wanting to do more to combat climate chang…
https://cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu/news/together-our-planet-amer…
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web search NEUTRAL — Climate Change in the American Mind (CCAM).Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/news-events/new-survey…
info
“A new study led by researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder reveals that most television news segments about climate change don't cover policy.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results for CIRES and University of Colorado Boulder do not mention a study regarding television news segments and climate policy coverage.
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web search NEUTRAL — University of Colorado Boulder. CU Boulder Today. Home. News Headlines.But for Colorado, these climate patterns may not have a direct impact. It’s unclear whether the state will see relief from the dr…
https://www.colorado.edu/today/2026/05/14/super-el-nino-comi…
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web search NEUTRAL — "But not necessarily explicitly climate change." Rosenthal said the most commonly used terms in the study were "vegan," "vegetarian," "insulation" and "solar." "The term 'climate change' itself repres…
https://www.npr.org/2023/07/07/1186044585/reality-tv-climate…
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web search NEUTRAL — The overwhelming majority of scientists take no view on the question of whether climate change is man-made, for it is beyond our present knowledge to answer. Only 0.3% of science papers state humans a…
https://expose-news.com/2023/01/23/few-scientists-say-climat…
info
“The work, published this week in the journal Environmental Research Communications”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results provided for this claim are generic advertisements for study tools (Study.com, StudyX) and contain no mention of the journal 'Environmental Research Communications' or the specific study.
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web search NEUTRAL — Take online courses on Study.com that are fun and engaging. Pass exams to earn real college credit. Research schools and degrees to further your education.
https://study.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — Master any subject with Studley AI. Trusted by more than 2,000,000 top students. Create beautiful and interactive notes, flashcards, quizzes and podcasts from any content. Study smarter, not harder.
https://www.studley.ai/
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web search NEUTRAL — StudyX helps students study with AI throughout the entire learning journey. Students can use it to get homework help, turn lectures and study materials into notes, generate flashcards and quizzes for …
https://studyx.ai/
info
“Landgren and her colleagues focused on 7 major television news networks—ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, NBC, and PBS”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results provided are generic study tool advertisements and do not mention Landgren or the analysis of the listed television networks.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Take online courses on Study.com that are fun and engaging. Pass exams to earn real college credit. Research schools and degrees to further your education.
https://study.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Master any subject with Studley AI. Trusted by more than 2,000,000 top students. Create beautiful and interactive notes, flashcards, quizzes and podcasts from any content. Study smarter, not harder.
https://www.studley.ai/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — StudyX helps students study with AI throughout the entire learning journey. Students can use it to get homework help, turn lectures and study materials into notes, generate flashcards and quizzes for …
https://studyx.ai/
info
“identified news transcripts from April 2020 to April 2021 that contained the words "climate change" or "global warming."”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results provide general definitions of global warming and climate change but do not mention the specific study's methodology or the date range (April 2020 to April 2021).
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web search NEUTRAL — The present global warming is mostly because of people burning things, such as gasoline for cars and natural gas to keep houses warm. But the heat from the burning itself only makes the world a tiny b…
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
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web search NEUTRAL — If global temperatures rise by 3°C above pre-industrial levels, the results would be catastrophic. It’s an entirely plausible scenario, and this film shows y...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uynhvHZUOOo
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web search NEUTRAL — Climate change is one of the major challenges of our time. From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impac…
https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/climate-change
info
“two-thirds of television news coverage of climate change didn't mention climate policy at all.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results provided are dictionary definitions of the word 'two' and do not contain any information regarding television news coverage of climate policy.
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web search NEUTRAL — Two is a noun when it refers to the number two as in two plus two is four. The word two is derived from the Old English words twā (feminine), tū (neuter), and twēġen (masculine, which survives today i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2
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web search NEUTRAL — The meaning of TWO is being one more than one in number. How to use two in a sentence.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/two
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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · From Middle English two, twa, from Old English twā, feminine and neuter of twēġen (whence twain), from Proto-West Germanic *twai-, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwó…
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/two
info
“Among the segments that either supported or opposed climate policy, 71% expressed support.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results mention general support for climate funds or political commentary but do not provide the specific 71% statistic regarding TV news segments.
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web search NEUTRAL — Megyn Kelly is joined by Charlie Kirk, founder of “Turning Point USA,” to discuss some Israel supporters demanding their 100% support for Israel at all times...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2qn0mvSCig
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web search NEUTRAL — Dozens of governments have expressed support for the fund and are engaged in talks to learn more about it, Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said, including China and the United Arab Emirates.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/germany-pr…
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web search NEUTRAL — Mission accomplished: After Germany ruined its industry, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has retracted its key doomsday predictions. For years, “RCP8.5” was the central apocalyptic horro…
https://notrickszone.com/2026/05/12/german-expert-no-climate…
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“CNN presented mostly supportive or neutral views of climate policy, while Fox mostly covered opposing views.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While one result mentions CNN's climate coverage being 'among the worst' in a different context, there is no evidence provided that compares CNN's supportive/neutral views against Fox's opposing views for the specific study mentioned.
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web search NEUTRAL — CNN's coverage was among the worst: in 111 segments, only four mentioned climate change.Now that CNN's Candy Crowley has been selected to moderate a presidential debate in October, will CNN press the …
https://www.mediamatters.org/cnn/study-shows-bill-nye-was-ri…
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web search NEUTRAL — Politics at CNN has news, opinion and analysis of American and global politics Find news and video about elections, the White House, the U.N and much more.
https://www.cnn.com/politics
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web search NEUTRAL — Latest Climate crisis news, comment and analysis from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice.Climate crisis. A man in glasses wearing an army hat and red-and-white shirt. Cotton Capital: ongo…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-crisis
help
“television news coverage of climate policy cannot explain the discrepancy between public support and people's perceptions of support in the U.S.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was gathered for this claim.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.