Welcome to The Signal, hosted by Fergus Bell and Tom Trewinnard. In this episode, Fergus talks to journalist Simon Ingram to consider what journalism is doing right and wrong when covering the climate crisis. "Sell hell and you are a party pooper - sell joy and you're tone deaf." This self-contained paradox captures the entire editorial problem that journalists are facing.

As Simon says, "Climate journalism has traditionally relied on nobility of the audience, but it's folly to presume that people care about the greater good." So what techniques are there to pull people in and keep them invested? "It's not about saving the planet," Simon says. "It's about saving the human." Journalists need to reframe climate messaging away from supposed ideas of altruism toward the clearer goals of self-interest.

We can see how "words are moving quicker than the pictures" when headlines that describe crisis-level heat waves are paired with simple stock images of people eating ice cream and enjoying paddling pools. Journalism needs to inspire readers to live differently - to make them want to embrace change.

If you want to understand how the news is being created and distributed, how AI is — and can be — used in newsrooms, insights from media leaders and practical thinking on the future of journalism, as well as honest conversations about what's working and what isn't, then subscribe and follow to stay close to The Signal.

Fergus and Tom will be here every week. Find The Signal on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and wherever you get your podcasts.

Produced by Rob Fitzpatrick

Edited by James Bullock

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.