Whether European nations acted more quickly than the United States on climate change because of better press coverage will be up for discussion at an International Environmental Journalism Summit sponsored by the Center for Environmental Journalism Nov. 12-15 at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The summit will bring together European and American journalists to discuss how they cover environmental issues, and how journalism influences public perceptions on key issues such as climate change.
"Here in the United States, journalists have been taken to task for what some call 'false balance' in coverage of issues like climate change -- presenting a more balanced view of opposing viewpoints on an issue than is supported by the evidence," said Tom Yulsman, co-director of the CU-Boulder Center for Environmental Journalism.
Panelists will address the question of whether European nations act more quickly and decisively on climate change because journalistic coverage in Europe suffered less from false balance than media coverage in the United States.
Other topics include whether European journalists are freer to have more of a point of view in their work than in the United States, and what impacts the differences in coverage have on public perception and policy.
Public panels begin at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13, in the Aspen Room of the University Memorial Center.
Morning panelists include David Baron, a national environmental radio reporter who has worked for NPR and PRI's "The World;" Leslie Dodson, a freelance television correspondent and former producer for CNBC, Reuters and CNN; Todd Hartman, an environmental reporter at the Rocky Mountain News; and Susan Moran, a freelance writer for The Economist, The New York Times, 5280 magazine and Newsweek. The current Ted Scripps Fellows in Environmental Journalism will all join the panel.
Nine European journalists on the 2 p.m. panel include Susanna Baltscheffsky, environmental writer for Svenska Dagbladet in Stockholm, Sweden; Johan Bergendorff, reporter and producer at Swedish National Radio; Juliette Jowit, environment editor for The Observer in London; and Evita Neefs, foreign editor at the Belgium daily newspaper, De Standaard and a Transatlantic Media Network Visiting Fellow.
The summit is co-sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., in association with the British Consulate General in Denver.
For more information visit the CU-Boulder Center for Environmental Journalism Web site at /.