How certain is ‘certain’?: exploring how the English-language media reported the use of calibrated language in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report
This article presents findings from an analysis of English-language media reports following the publication of the fifth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report in September 2013. Focusing on the way they reported the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s use of ‘calibrated...
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| Format: | Article |
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SAGE
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33180/ |
| _version_ | 1848794576932831232 |
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| author | Collins, Luke C. Nerlich, Brigitte |
| author_facet | Collins, Luke C. Nerlich, Brigitte |
| author_sort | Collins, Luke C. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This article presents findings from an analysis of English-language media reports following the publication of the fifth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report in September 2013. Focusing on the way they reported the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s use of ‘calibrated’ language, we find that of 1906 articles relating to the issuing of the report only 272 articles (14.27%) convey the use of a deliberate and systematic verbal scale. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s carefully calibrated language was rarely discussed or explicated, but in some instances scientists, political actors or journalists would attempt to contextualise or elaborate on the reported findings by using analogies to other scientific principles or examples of taking action despite uncertainty. We consider those analogies in terms of their efficacy in communicating (un)certainty. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:18:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-33180 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:18:24Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | SAGE |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-331802020-05-04T17:07:06Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33180/ How certain is ‘certain’?: exploring how the English-language media reported the use of calibrated language in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report Collins, Luke C. Nerlich, Brigitte This article presents findings from an analysis of English-language media reports following the publication of the fifth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report in September 2013. Focusing on the way they reported the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s use of ‘calibrated’ language, we find that of 1906 articles relating to the issuing of the report only 272 articles (14.27%) convey the use of a deliberate and systematic verbal scale. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s carefully calibrated language was rarely discussed or explicated, but in some instances scientists, political actors or journalists would attempt to contextualise or elaborate on the reported findings by using analogies to other scientific principles or examples of taking action despite uncertainty. We consider those analogies in terms of their efficacy in communicating (un)certainty. SAGE 2015-04-03 Article PeerReviewed Collins, Luke C. and Nerlich, Brigitte (2015) How certain is ‘certain’?: exploring how the English-language media reported the use of calibrated language in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report. Public Understanding of Science, 25 (6). pp. 656-673. ISSN 1361-6609 calibrated language climate change mass media metaphor uncertainty http://pus.sagepub.com/content/25/6/656 doi:10.1177/0963662515579626 doi:10.1177/0963662515579626 |
| spellingShingle | calibrated language climate change mass media metaphor uncertainty Collins, Luke C. Nerlich, Brigitte How certain is ‘certain’?: exploring how the English-language media reported the use of calibrated language in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report |
| title | How certain is ‘certain’?: exploring how the English-language media reported the use of calibrated language in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report |
| title_full | How certain is ‘certain’?: exploring how the English-language media reported the use of calibrated language in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report |
| title_fullStr | How certain is ‘certain’?: exploring how the English-language media reported the use of calibrated language in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report |
| title_full_unstemmed | How certain is ‘certain’?: exploring how the English-language media reported the use of calibrated language in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report |
| title_short | How certain is ‘certain’?: exploring how the English-language media reported the use of calibrated language in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report |
| title_sort | how certain is ‘certain’?: exploring how the english-language media reported the use of calibrated language in the intergovernmental panel on climate change’s fifth assessment report |
| topic | calibrated language climate change mass media metaphor uncertainty |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33180/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33180/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33180/ |