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Andrea Austria / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

National TV news nearly ignore announcement confirming 2023 as the hottest year on record

Special Programs Climate & Energy

Written by Evlondo Cooper

Published

A new Media Matters study has found that corporate broadcast and major cable news networks dedicated almost zero coverage to the recent finding from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European Union's climate agency, that 2023 is officially the hottest year on record. Climate scientists predict that 2024 is likely to be even hotter. Although major newspapers such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post covered the story as it broke, the lack of national TV news coverage highlights the ongoing issue of TV news outlets often failing to prioritize key climate stories.

After 2023 saw record-breaking billion-dollar extreme weather events, Copernicus’ finding gave national TV news programs yet another opportunity to discuss how global warming is driving extreme weather, which they declined to take. Despite the crowded news cycle, such pressing climate revelations provide crucial information that needs to be shared with the public. As Media Matters wrote about the scant coverage of the dire Fifth National Climate Assessment in November, “Recognizing the sheer number of important stories dominating the current news cycle, the scant coverage of the climate report still emerges as a crucial oversight and it highlights the challenge of ensuring thorough and informed public dialogue on climate issues amidst a landscape of competing news priorities.”

From January 9, 2024, when the Copernicus Climate Change Service announced 2023 as the hottest year on record, through January 10, 2024:

  • Corporate broadcast outlets and major cable news networks aired only 11 minutes of combined coverage across 5 segments about Copernicus’ finding that 2023 is the hottest year on record.
  • Major cable news networks — CNN and MSNBC — aired 10 minutes of coverage across 4 segments. CNN led with 7 minutes of coverage across 3 segments, followed by MSNBC with 3 minutes across 1 segment. Fox News did not cover Copernicus’ finding. (Notably, CNN moderator Jake Tapper used 2023 being the hottest year on record to frame a climate question to the candidates during the January 10 Republican Party presidential debate, although this instance is not included in our findings.)
  • ABC was the only corporate broadcast network to cover 2023 being designated the hottest year on record, airing approximately 30 seconds across 1 segment. Neither CBS nor NBC covered the finding.

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  • As the climate crisis accelerates, national TV news outlets can ill afford business-as-usual climate coverage

  • The one notable segment about 2023 being announced as the hottest year on record aired during the January 9 episode of CNN This Morning. Featuring CNN’s climate correspondent Bill Weir, the segment was informative, urgent, and incisive. Weir discussed the potential breach of the 1.5-degree Celsius warming threshold agreed upon in the 2015 Paris climate accord and the record-breaking global temperature increases, linking these occurrences to material impacts including billion-dollar disasters and shifting weather patterns. He also touched on potential solutions to mitigate these consequences and emphasized the need for ongoing scientific vigilance and informed public discourse in response to these unprecedented climate developments.

  • From the January 9, 2024, episode of CNN This Morning

  • Unfortunately, this notable segment aside, national TV news programs continued their troubling approach to reporting on significant climate moments. The predictions that 2024 will be even hotter than 2023 highlight concerns about the sporadic and insufficient coverage of essential climate stories in broadcast and cable news. This situation necessitates a more comprehensive and consistent approach to reporting. Substantive and sustained coverage is vital in order to raise public awareness, influence policy, and effectively communicate the urgency of the escalating climate crisis.

  • Methodology

  • Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream video database for all original programming on CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC, as well as all original episodes of ABC’s Good Morning America and World News Tonight, CBS’ Mornings and Evening News, and NBC’s Today and Nightly News for any of the terms “2023,” “year,” “climate,” “temperature,” “heat,” “weather,” or “Copernicus Climate Change Service” within close proximity of any of the terms “extreme,” “record,” or “history” or any variations of any of the terms “hot,” “high,” or “warm” from January 9, 2024, when the Copernicus Climate Change Service announced 2023 as the hottest year on record, through January 10, 2024.

    We timed segments, which we defined as instances when 2023 being the hottest year on record was the stated topic of discussion or when we found significant discussion of 2023 being the hottest year on record. We defined significant discussion as instances when two or more speakers in a multitopic segment discussed 2023 being the hottest year on record with one another.

    We did not include passing mentions, which we defined as instances when a single speaker mentioned 2023 being the hottest year on record without another speaker engaging with the comment, or teasers, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host promoted a segment about 2023 being the hottest year on record scheduled to air later in the broadcast.

    We rounded all times to the nearest minute.