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As misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories increase online, so does journalism coverage of these topics. This reporting is challenging, and journalists fill gaps in their expertise by utilizing external resources, including academic researchers. This paper discusses how journalists work with researchers to report on online misinformation. Through an ethnographic study of thirty collaborations, including participant-observation and interviews with journalists and researchers, we identify five types of collaborations and describe what motivates journalists to reach out to researchers — from a lack of access to data to support for understanding misinformation context. We highlight challenges within these collaborations, including misalignment in professional work practices, ethical guidelines, and reward structures. We end with a call to action for CHI researchers to attend to this intersection, develop ethical guidelines around supporting journalists with data at speed, and offer practical approaches for researchers filling a “data mediator” role between social media and journalists.
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This content will become publicly available on April 23, 2026
Equipping Audiences Without Silver Bullets: Goals and Challenges of Climate Solutions Journalism
Solutions journalism is intended to support responses to complex threats. However, it is unclear what it means for reporting to inspire or empower audiences within specific contexts such as climate change. Moreover, climate change can pose unique communication challenges to practitioners due to high levels of complexity and uncertainty. This study uses in-depth interviews with 25 environmental journalists to investigate goals and challenges of climate solutions journalism. Overall, interviewees aimed for solutions coverage to improve audiences’ understanding of the problem of climate change while inspiring hope that expansive change could be achieved and that individual action has a meaningful role to play. In terms of encouraging action, journalists sought to support audience agency and offer pathways for involvement in climate solutions. However, the complexity of climate solutions presented challenges identifying and evaluating high-impact solutions. This difficulty was magnified by industry weaknesses and a lack of access to trustworthy resources. Theoretically, climate solutions coverage appears to take an active role supporting solutions, but journalists place high priority on equipping audiences to think critically about responses to climate change. Meanwhile, there are plentiful opportunities for universities, research organizations, and academic publications to help alleviate barriers to quality climate solutions coverage.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2314800
- PAR ID:
- 10615479
- Publisher / Repository:
- Taylor & Francis
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journalism Practice
- ISSN:
- 1751-2786
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 20
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- climate change journalism solutions journalism thematic analysis qualitative research interviews climate action environmental communication
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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