Uncovering the neglected narratives: Arab journalists’ perspectives on the interplay of climate change,conflict,and media representations

Abstract

The narratives about migration due to environmental crises are often obscured in mainstream Arab media coverage, which tends to focus mainly on the geopolitical drivers of migration. This article fills this research lacuna by shedding much-needed light on the intersections between media, conflict, and climate change seen from the perspectives of Arab science journalists. This study focuses on a sample of Arab journalists (N = 17) who are specialized in reporting science news, including environmental and climate change. The analysis is anchored in the Hierarchy of Influences (HOI) model in journalism, and the findings highlight different levels of influences at the macro level (lack of data and reluctance of local sources to speak to the media), at the level of news organizations (de-prioritization of this type of news) and at the micro level of the individual journalists, especially in conflict-stricken countries, who may overemphasize the political context over the environmental one.