Why reframing doom news reporting could be key to tackling climate crisis

The replacement of environmental reports loaded with Doom with hoping stories focused on solutions could be essential to combat the climate crisis, according to award -winning research from Charles Darwin University (CDU).

CDU speaker in linguistics (Faculty of Arts and Society) Dr. Awni Etaywe and Master of Media and Journalism (Faculty of Arts and Society), Dr. Jennifer Pinkerton identified a style of declaration that inspires action by supervising environmental challenges through care, shared values ​​and possibilities.

Researchers call this “positive environmental journalism” (PEJ).

The study shows that when environmental stories emphasize the possibility on disaster, it can strengthen public engagement with climate and biodiversity problems, encouraging readers to consider themselves as part of the solution.

Dr. ETAYWE said that PEJ offers a constructive alternative to the traditional alarmist framing often observed in the consumer environmental journalism.

“If people are constantly informed that the situation is hopeless, they disengage,” said Dr Étaywe.

“When we focus on solutions, shared values ​​and tangible actions, we open the door to the change in lasting behavior.”

The research analyzed 30 digital press articles from points of sale, notably ABC News Online, Guardian Australia and News.com.au.

He found the most attractive stories used by language which built eco -cultural ties (a feeling of belonging that links identity and action with the natural world) rather than counting on fear.

Dr. Etaywe said the results demonstrate the need for deliberate narrative change in the way the media tackles the climate and environmental reports.

“Pej promotes hope, moral obligation and pro-environmental action,” he said.

“It is a question of strengthening solidarity, not fear, faced with our environmental crisis.”

Dr. Pinkerton said PEJ can also help readers get better with environmental journalism and feel allowed to act in the name of nature.

“The public reacts when they feel respected, informed and part of the story. Pej invites them to conversation as active participants, not to passives.”

The article, “Building Bonds and Reader Commitment thanks to a positive environmental journalism in Australia”, received the Top Paper paper prize at the Biennial Conference of Communication and Environment of the International Environmental Communication Association (COCE 2025).

Dr. Etaywe said recognition was both humiliating and assertive, the study offering practical tools for journalists from around the world.

“This is a roadmap to crop the climate and reports on biodiversity, on the displacement of the story of the despair to empowerment,” he said.

“If we want the public to act, we have to tell stories that show that change is possible.”