Slides from a research talk I gave at the DePaul University College of Communication faculty meeting on February 15, 2019. The question that drives my research is: How to tell more compelling climate change stories. My research includes social media and traditional media.

1. Jill Hopke
(@jillhopke)
HOW TO TELL MORE
COMPELLING CLIMATE
CHANGE STORIES
College of Communication
DePaul University
February 15, 2019

2. ¡ Hopke, J. E., & Hestres, L. E. (2018). Visualizing the Paris
climate talks on Twitter: Media and climate stakeholder visual
social media during COP21. Social Media+ Society, 4(3), pp.
1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118782687
¡ McEwan, B., Carpenter, C. J., & Hopke, J. E. (2018). Mediated
skewed diffusion of issues information: A theory. Social
Media+ Society, 4(3), pp. 1-14.
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2056305118800319
@jillhopke 2
RECENT PUBLICATIONS

3. 3
PUBLIC
WRITING
AND
OUTREACH

4. COP21
Nov. 30 to
Dec. 12,
2015
4@jillhopke
VISUAL SOCIAL MEDIA
DURING COP21
195 nations
agree to
limit global
greenhouse
gas
emissions
with
voluntary
targets
under Paris
Agreement.

5. Dominant
image types:
1) Negotiators
in suits
2) Activists in
polar bear
suits
5
WHAT’S
THE
PROBLEM
WITH
CLIMATE
VISUALS?
Source: Corner, A. (2017, Dec. 4). COP-out: Why are so many media outlets failing to tell the climate story? Climate Outreach.
Available at: https://climateoutreach.org/cop-out-why-are-so-many-media-outlets-failing-to-tell-the-climate-story/

6. @jillhopke 6
CLIMATE VISUALS DURING COP21 ON
TWITTER
Conference of Parties (COPs) draw spikes in media
attention to climate change. Most past research has
focused on print coverage.
• How do climate stakeholders frame
climate change in visual tweets
during the COP21 summit?

7. @jillhopke 7
12 MEDIA AND CLIMATE CATEGORIES
Guardian Movement organizations
Left-leaning news Individual activists
U.S. publications Multinational Institutions and
Scientific Organizations
Climate Publishers Network (CPN) Multinational Representatives /
Scientific Experts
Other UK publications Fossil Fuel Industry / Trade
Associations
Individual journalists Other Environmental Organizations

8. @jillhopke 8
CLIMATE FRAMES CODING FRAMEWORK
Nation-state contributions-
International Treaty
Nuclear
Procedural - International Treaty Personal Behavioral Change
Outcomes - International Treaty Transparency (Climate Risk and
Financial)
Non-treaty International Climate Science/Research
Clean Energy and Efficiency No Solution
Fossil Fuel-based Solutions Not Applicable

9. Procedural
– Treaty
9
U.S.
NEWS

10. Nation-state
contribution
– Treaty
10
FOSSIL
FUEL
INDUSTRY

11. Outcomes
– Treaty
11
MULTI-
NATIONAL
ORGS

12. Climate
Justice
12
THE
GUARDIAN

13. Major
Takeaway
13@jillhopke
"CLIMATE CHANGE COMMUNICATORS USING
SOCIAL MEDIA APPS AND PLATFORMS FOR
SOCIAL GOOD NEED TO MOVE BEYOND IMAGERY
OF PROTESTS AND THE LOGISTICAL MATTERS OF
INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS…
TELL VISUAL STORIES OF HOW PEOPLE AROUND
THE WORLD ARE IMPACTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE,
AS WELL AS PROVIDE CONCRETE ACTIONS
INDIVIDUALS CAN TAKE.”
JILL HOPKE AND LUIS HESTRES (2018)

14. ¡ People turn to media for
information about extreme weather
¡ To what extent do 37 media outlets
in six countries (Canada, China,
France, India, United States, and
the United Kingdom) mention
climate change in relation to heat
waves and wildfires?
¡ Growing field of “climate
attribution”
Cross-
national
study of
climate
change
mentions
in media
coverage of
heat waves
and
wildfires
@jillhopke 14
CURRENT
PROJECT
#1

15. ¡The role of positive (e.g.
pride, hope) and negative
(e.g. fear, anger) emotions in
tweet diffusion
¡Post disagreement in climate
change quote retweet posts
(function to add a comment
to another user’s tweet)
Collaborating
with
researchers
Jeff Hemsley
and Jiyoung
Lee from
Syracuse
University.
@jillhopke 15
CURRENT
PROJECT
#2

16. ¡Developed a new course in climate
climate journalism/communication
(JOUR 311 and CMNS 363)
¡First offered in winter 2018
¡Now part of the Liberal Studies Program,
SCBI learning domain
@jillhopke 16
RESEARCH INFORMS MY TEACHING

17. QUESTIONS?
THANK YOU!
DR. JILL HOPKE
JHOPKE@DEPAUL.EDU