We live in a world of information. Was just wondering if there has been any study done on the role of media in sustainability reporting? Are they facilitating the dissemination of such information or causing more confusion (an overload of different opinions/ perspectives from a range of stakeholders)
Here's an example 'how does trade media influence green building practice?' by Gluch & Stenberg. Not an entirely positive picture... I am sure there are more articles on the subject.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09613210500491613#preview
I wrote a piece on news media reporting on climate change a while back and I came across some interesting papers which may be useful
Carvalho, A., 2007. Ideological cultures and media discourses on scientific knowledge: re-reading news on climate change. Public Understanding of Science, Volume 16, pp. 223-243.
Liu, X., Vedlitz, A. & Alston, L., 2008. Regional news portrayals of global warming and climate change. Environmental Science and Policy, Volume II, pp. 379-393.
You are definitely working on something very interesting that can be tackled from different angles as I noted; perspectives of the news editors and proprietors, influence of the news source, audience opinion, individual and public bias, scepticism, credibility and objectivity etc... I am sure you would have a wonderful time choosing your desired theme.
I must say that most research either focuses on the content of the news or the perception of the news by the audience.
Media response is often emotive just like the readers that they support and write for, very little of it is based on detailed knowledge and understanding of long-term impact. Written by journalists that are seeking consolidation of writing careers, sustainability being more popular, hence it attracts a lot of gibberish. The reporting often refers to the quotes by ill informed celebrities that are also self-promoting. The only serious reading should be considered to be produced by peer reviewed articles, regretfully those are the ones that general public do not have access to and cannot be deemed as media. Yes there are open source journals, but some still do not consider these as valued.
You might find this paper helpful as it links reporting to media:
Stephan, M. (2002), "Environmental Information Disclosure Programs: They Work But Why?", Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 83 No. 1, pp. 190-205.
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