Curating Climate (In)Action: Strategic News-Sharing in Canadian Civil Society

Abstract

Background: Canadian civil society organizations engage in strategic news-sharing to shape engagement with climate change, generating audience subsidies for news outlets. Analysis: This study analyzes the actors involved in such news sharing on Facebook and the engagement they generate for news genres, outlets, and authors. It maps the networks through which those favouring stronger climate action and those delaying such action subsidize different venues for climate journalism. Conclusions and Implications: Anti-climate action actor subsidies are con­centrated and amplify a small number of ideologically conservative voices and media outlets. Pro-climate action actor subsidies are smaller, widely dispersed and overlap with engagement generated by large news organizations.