EJN and Deakin University Release Report on Journalists’ Understanding of—and Approach to Reporting on—the ‘Global Polycrisis’
People everywhere are experiencing economic crises such as inflation and growing unemployment, health crises from pandemics to hunger, political crises from the rise of authoritarianism to war, and a collapse in traditional trusted information sources, all in the midst of accelerating climate and environmental harms acting as a threat multiplier.
For journalists, “to report the news in the current global moment is to observe a world in crisis,” as EJN’s latest report, “Are Journalists Reporting the Global Polycrisis?” acknowledges in its opening line.
This confluence of crises is increasingly referred to as a global polycrisis, in which crises within multiple global systems—the economy, public health, the media, governance, climatic and oceanic systems—become entangled in ways that increase the severity and intensity of each other more than they would have on their own.
Even so, 68% of the 744 journalists surveyed from 102 countries reported never or rarely using the term “global polycrisis” in their reporting, and they similarly don’t believe their audiences understand the concept, either—only 9% reported media audiences in their country understand the term “very much” or “extremely so”. But there is interest: in interviews, journalists demonstrated “concern and a reasonable level of knowledge on our planet’s intersecting problems.”
This report, which aims to provide insight into these findings, is a companion to EJN and Deakin's landmark study released on June 5, “Covering the Planet: Assessing the State of Climate and Environmental Journalism Globally”. It seeks to understand whether journalists comprehend the intersecting nature of global crises, how they report on those intersections and whether they use the term “global polycrisis” in their coverage.
As these crises continue to accelerate—and new ones appear—journalists will need a robust understanding of the linkages between our global systems in order to provide policymakers and communities with the information they need to make decisions in an era of increasing precarity.
Undertaken with support from the Omega Resilience Awards, the report found wide-ranging perspectives when it came to reporting on this intersectionality:
“Our study reveals an uneven global mediascape when it comes to covering the issues that constitute our contemporary confluence of crises. Broadly, journalists from wealthier countries and the English-speaking world reported in interviews being slightly more familiar with the term ‘polycrisis,’ and the concept it represents, than those in low- and middle-income country locations—precisely the places where people are currently most vulnerable to intersecting existential risks.”
—Are Journalists Reporting the 'Global Polycrisis'?, p.8
The researchers used a multilingual online survey provided in 11 languages. To gain additional insight into the survey findings, the team also conducted an in-depth literature review and interviews with 74 journalists and editors around the world.
Its findings explore when and how journalists cover these crises, the barriers they face in doing so, and why some are ambivalent, while others are adamantly against using the term “global polycrisis.” There is little research in this area: While “polycrisis” has emerged as one term used to describe these interconnected harms, it’s not the only one. The report traces the history and usage of similar phrases, including “multi-level crisis” and “permacrisis.”
Overall, though, the majority of interviewed journalists rejected the term as “jargon,” especially for journalists who do not report in English and who would need to translate the term to use it in their reporting.
“I don't use the exact expression. Why? Because I'm not a scientific researcher. So, I have to translate scientific data to simple narration, to a simple story, where I'm trying to interconnect [it] all together” (journalist, Iraq).
—Are Journalists Reporting the 'Global Polycrisis'?, p.28
However, the study revealed clear commitment to reporting on these cascading harms and a clear intention among journalists to link climate and environmental issues to broader sociopolitical and environmental crises.
Crucially, the same challenges that are affecting media everywhere also affect journalists’ ability to dig deep into these intersections in a way that will be meaningful for their audiences:
“Interviewees cited limited time to research and write stories as well as limited word counts or segment lengths in which to unravel complexity. They also perceived limited audience attention spans, misinformation, and the need for stories that quickly delivered their conclusions, as restraints to reporting global complexity.”
—Are Journalists Reporting the ‘Global Polycrisis'?, p.30
The report’s findings also identified a clear difference in the perception and reporting of this issue between wealthy countries and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In LMICs, journalists reported that some audiences are not familiar with the concept of climate change, let alone with the multiple intersecting crises that affect—and are affected by it. Attempting to introduce this concept before the fundamentals are widely understood, interviewees said, could jeopardize audiences’ understanding of and engagement with these issues.
“Many journalists told us in interviews that they deeply care about and are acutely aware of the multiple, intersecting crises of our current moment,” said the report’s lead author, Dr Gabi Mocatta, from Deakin University. “However, they face many obstacles communicating the concept of ‘polycrisis’ to their audiences. These range from news avoidance or overwhelm by some audience sectors, and paucity of understanding of overarching, global threats in others. Communicating polycrisis is a challenge, but journalists’ interest and newsroom support for doing so is generally quite strong.”
What the report recommends
The recommendations address these challenges and provide steps to increase journalists’ ability to report on the global polycrisis, whether they choose to do so using this particular terminology or not. In particular, the report challenges funding organizations to consider the disparate experiences of those in low- and middle-income countries:
“...It is important to consider the neocolonial implications of donors from high-income countries promoting the use of ‘global polycrisis’. This is especially the case in low-income countries, whose people have less historical —and contemporary—responsibility for precipitating polycrisis, but who, in many cases, are already on the ‘front lines’ of such crises. It would be preferable, in this case, for NGO engagement with journalists in both high- and low-income countries to incorporate recognition and learning about countries’ differential responsibility for precipitating global problems.”
—Are Journalists Reporting the 'Global Polycrisis?', p.35
The report also encourages journalism funders to train journalists on telling place-relevant stories that focus on local perspectives but tackle global issues and to engage newsrooms holistically to break down barriers between beats so that interconnected issues are not reported on in silos.
The report concludes:
“Reporting locally on today’s multiple global problems typically needs to be highly place-conscious and nuanced enough to recognize the causes and responsibilities for crises ... Importantly, this study demonstrates an overall paucity of reporting on polycrisis issues, despite the fact that newsrooms are perceived to be supportive of such reporting. This undoubtedly offers an opening to journalism funders and media support organizations to work with journalists so that they can better inform and engage with their audiences on the existential threats of our times.”
“Although the term ‘polycrisis’ itself may not be popular with journalists because it’s perceived as jargon, this research does indicate that the important concept behind it may be gaining a foothold in the media,” said EJN Executive Director James Fahn. “This concept could become increasingly useful to help spur journalists and information providers to explain the overlapping and intersecting global trends that are buffeting local communities.”
Banner image: The ongoing conflict in Sudan is displacing millions and aggravating the Sudanese population's already high exposure to extreme environmental hazards / Credit: Abd Almohimen Sayed via Getty.