“The planet is overheating,” read a recent headline from Grist, the long-running environment-focused news organization. “Why is the news looking away?” Grist reported a 38% reduction in climate coverage by the media worldwide in 2025 since a high-water mark in 2021, using data from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Additionally, Media Matters for America has found a 35% decrease in climate-related airtime on U.S. broadcast channels CBS, ABC, and NBC since 2024.
For decades, researchers have tracked media attention on climate issues using keywords like “climate change” and “global warming.” This unique longitudinal dataset provides the evidence to support recent reports of diminishing climate journalism.
But tracking keyword volume tells only one part of the story, and fails to demonstrate the real peril facing climate journalism. The bottom line is that climate is a profoundly underreported issue.
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