This study investigates how daylight duration, as an embodied environmental factor, shapes emotional expression in news. Drawing on the affective epistemology of journalism, three sequential studies using large-scale, multi-source data identify heterogeneous daylight effects while excluding confounders. In regions with high annual daylight variance, longer daylight suppresses emotional expression; in low-variance regions, it amplifies. We explain this divergence through collective expectations: in high-variance regions, journalists’ perceptions align with stable seasonal rhythms, fostering emotional stability, whereas in low-variance regions, daylight deviations trigger arousal and emotional instability. Building on these findings, we propose that physical environmental factors should be conceptualized as one of the enabling conditions that interact with institutional and social structures in news production. By integrating environmental physiology with news production, the study extends theoretical and methodological boundaries of journalism research.
BergerJKimYDMeyerR (2021) What makes content engaging? How emotional dynamics shape success. Journal of Consumer Research48(2): 235–250. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucab010
2.
BoydRLBlackburnKGPennebakerJW (2020) The narrative arc: revealing core narrative structures through text analysis. Science Advances6(32): eaba2196. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba2196
3.
ChenQ (2024) Impact of sentiment tendency of media coverage on corporate green total factor productivity: the moderating role of environmental uncertainty. Finance Research Letters65: 105637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2024.105637
4.
CortésKDuchinRSosyuraD (2016) Clouded judgment: the role of sentiment in credit origination. Journal of Financial Economics121(2): 392–413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2016.05.001
5.
DavidsonJMilliganC (2004) Embodying emotion sensing space: introducing emotional geographies. Social & Cultural Geography5(4): 523–532. https://doi.org/10.1080/1464936042000317677
6.
de LangeMABirnieKRichmondRC, et al. (2025) Acute effects of daylight saving time clock changes on mental and physical health in England: population based retrospective cohort study. BMJ391: e085962. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2025-085962
7.
DenissenJJAButalidLPenkeL, et al. (2008) The effects of weather on daily mood: a multilevel approach. Emotion8(5): 662–667. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013497
8.
ForgasJPGoldenbergLUnkelbachC (2009) Can bad weather improve your memory? An unobtrusive field study of natural mood effects on real-life memory. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology45(1): 254–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2008.08.014
9.
ForsytheWCRykielEJStahlRS, et al. (1995) A model comparison for daylength as a function of latitude and day of year. Ecological Modelling80(1): 87–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3800(94)00034-F
10.
FriborgOBjorvatnBAmponsahB, et al. (2012) Associations between seasonal variations in day length (photoperiod), sleep timing, sleep quality and mood: a comparison between Ghana (5°) and Norway (69°). Journal of Sleep Research21(2): 176–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2011.00982.x
11.
GolderSAMacyMW (2011) Diurnal and seasonal mood vary with work, sleep, and daylength across diverse cultures. Science333(6051): 1878–1881. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1202775
12.
GuMGuoHZhuangJ, et al. (2022) Social media user behavior and emotions during crisis events. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health19(9): 5197. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095197
13.
HanitzschTVosTP (2017) Journalistic roles and the struggle over institutional identity: the discursive constitution of journalism. Communication Theory27(2): 115–135. https://doi.org/10.1111/comt.12112
HouYLMuHZDongGT, et al. (2014) Influences of urban temperature on the electricity consumption of Shanghai. Advances in Climate Change Research5(2): 74–80. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1248.2014.074
16.
JensenKB (2021) A Handbook of Media and Communication Research. 3rd ed. Routledge.
17.
JiangSXLiangYHMeiRY, et al. (2025) Returning to work: older adults’ labor force participation and health status. China & World Economy33(6): 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.70001
KellerMCFredricksonBLYbarraO, et al. (2005) A warm heart and a clear head. The contingent effects of weather on mood and cognition. Psychological Science16(9): 724–731. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01602.x
20.
KimSCasementMD (2024) Promoting adolescent sleep and circadian function: a narrative review on the importance of daylight access in schools. Chronobiology International41(5): 725–737. https://doi.org/10.1080/07420528.2024.2341156
21.
KlimstraTAFrijnsTKeijsersL, et al. (2011) Come rain or come shine: individual differences in how weather affects mood. Emotion11(6): 1495–1499. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024649
22.
KotišováJ (2025) Journalism and embodied knowledge: conceptualizing affective epistemology and epistemic affordances of emotions and affect across news beats. Journalism Studies1–18. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2025.2495726
23.
KotišováJvan der VeldenL (2025) The affective epistemology of digital journalism: emotions as knowledge among on-the-ground and OSINT media practitioners covering the russo-ukrainian war. Digital Journalism13(3): 378–397. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2023.2273531
24.
KulbagaTASpencerLG (2022) Outrage epistemology: affective excess as a way of knowing in feminist scholarship. Women’s Studies in Communication45(2): 273–291. https://doi.org/10.1080/07491409.2021.1926032
25.
LeeJJGinoFStaatsBR (2014) Rainmakers: why bad weather means good productivity. The Journal of Applied Psychology99(3): 504–513. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035559
LingjærdeOFørelandAREngvikH (2001) Personality structure in patients with winter depression, assessed in a depression-free state according to the five-factor model of personality. Journal of Affective Disorders62(3): 165–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0327(99)00183-4
28.
LiuJLiuWYanC, et al. (2023) Study on the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of Chinese public’s cognition and attitude to “Double Reduction” policy based on big data. Big Data Research34: 100411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bdr.2023.100411
29.
Merleau-PontyM (2002) Phenomenology of Perception (C. Smith, Trans.). Routledge.
30.
MilesCM (2025) “It’s chaos”: affective spaces of journalism in istanbul. Journal of Communication75(1): 42–50. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqae035
31.
MohammadiKGoudarziN (2018a) Association of direct normal irradiance with El niño southern oscillation and its consequence on concentrated solar power production in the US southwest. Applied Energy212: 1126–1137. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.12.102
32.
MohammadiKGoudarziN (2018b) Study of inter-correlations of solar radiation, wind speed and precipitation under the influence of el niño southern oscillation (ENSO) in California. Renewable Energy120: 190–200. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2017.12.069
33.
MontesquieuCde. (1989) The Spirit of the Laws. Trans. CohlerAMMillerBCStoneHS (eds). Cambridge University Press.
34.
NingBTangXLiangS, et al. (2025) Climate shock and corporate financial asset allocation: evidence from abnormal precipitation. The Journal of World Economy48(2): 196–229. https://doi.org/10.19985/j.cnki.cassjwe.2025.02.004
PanttiM (2010) The value of emotion: an examination of television journalists’ notions on emotionality. European Journal of Communication25(2): 168–181. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323110363653
39.
RadcliffeDWallaceR (2021) Life at local newspapers in a turbulent era: findings from a survey of more than 300 newsroom employees in the United States. Columbia Journalism Review, Tow Center Report, OCTOBER 7. Available at SSRN:https://ssrn.com/abstract=4000866
RosenthalNESackDAGillinJC, et al. (1984) Seasonal affective disorder. A description of the syndrome and preliminary findings with light therapy. Archives of General Psychiatry41(1): 72–80. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1984.01790120076010
42.
SantosoAEnglandMHCaiW (2012) Impact of indo-pacific feedback interactions on ENSO dynamics diagnosed using ensemble climate simulations. Journal of Climate25(21): 7743–7763. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00287.1
43.
StockingerEGallottiRHausladenCI (2024) Early morning hour and evening usage habits increase misinformation-spread. Scientific Reports14(1): 20233. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-69447-8
44.
SunMRDingYWuF (2025) Digital convergence journalism: “local Resonance” in local news media. Journal of Southwest Minzu University (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition)46(1): 127–135.
45.
TanakaSKoizumiH (2024) Springing forward and falling back on health: the effects of daylight saving time on acute myocardial infarction. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization228: 106791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2024.106791
Urrutia-MoldesA (2025) Light behind bars: how light impacts mental health in prisons. International Journal of Prison Health21(3): 347–362. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPH-11-2024-0074
WalkerWHWaltonJCDeVriesAC, et al. (2020) Circadian rhythm disruption and mental health. Translational Psychiatry10(1): 28. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-0694-0
51.
WongTC (2018) The change of journalistic field and paradigm: the case of Hong Kong newspaper industry after the handover. Doctoral thesis, HongKong Baptist University.
52.
XuLLinHPanY, et al. (2008) Constructing the affective lexicon ontology. Journal of the China Society for Scientific and Technical Information27(2): 180–185.
53.
YanYBissellK (2018) The sky is falling: predictors of news coverage of natural disasters worldwide. Communication Research45(6): 862–886. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650215573861
54.
YangACHuangNEPengCK, et al. (2010) Do seasons have an influence on the incidence of depression? The use of an internet search engine query data as a proxy of human affect. PloS One5(10): e13728. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013728
55.
ZhongBZhouY (2012) “Under the weather”: the weather effects on U.S. newspaper coverage of the 2008 Beijing olympics. Mass Communication and Society15(4): 559-577. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2012.677091
