ABSTRACT
Environmental communication refers to any type of communication about the environment and/or socially and politically defined concerns about the environment. Research on environmental communication has predominantly focused on public and mediated forms of communication, particularly the role of mass broadcast and print media in public definition and debate about the environment. Since its emergence in the 1960s, public mediated communication about the environment has – despite significant variations in prominence over time – become firmly established as a key feature of public and political communication. Environmental communication research has provided key insights into the multiple factors (including news values, journalistic practices, source communication strategies, policy, and public concerns) which impact on the social construction and representation of the environment. Developments in the media and communications landscape offer new opportunities and challenges for communication about the environment and the dynamics of public communication, public opinion, policy and political decision-making with regard to the environment.
