The research group consists of journalism and media researchers, as well as PhD. and master's students at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies. We also have members from other units at OsloMet who are interested in the intersection of media, environment, and society.
With a strong connection to journalism education, one of our research goals is to contribute to better journalism on climate and environmental issues, as well as to improve working conditions for journalists covering these topics. An important step in this direction is to build teaching competence in climate and environmental journalism at both the bachelor's and master's levels at OsloMet.
Head of research group
Members
More about the research group
The environment and society are interconnected in many ways, and the media plays a crucial role in creating these connections. The research group is open to anyone interested in these relationships.
Our research environment has extensive experience studying environmental and climate journalism in an international context. The group's former leader, Elisabeth Eide, helped start the MediaClimate network (mediaclimate.net), which has analyzed media coverage of international climate summits, the so-called COPs, for two decades. The network is still active and includes researchers, students, and journalists from around the world.
In the past decade, we have increased our focus on national issues, including studies of green transitions. We have participated in the NFR project "WAGE: Work, Labour, and Greening the Economy" (sv.uio.no) and have established strong ties with Nordic media and journalism researchers, as well as journalists through the Nordic Network for Climate Journalism. Members of this network have examined and compared how climate and environmental issues are integrated into Nordic journalism education.
Ongoing Research Topics
- How to engage the public on climate issues
- Climate journalism, language, and genres
- Connections between the oil industry and climate in the Norwegian debate
- Future generations in a climate and environmental perspective
- The role of trade unions in the climate struggle
- Working conditions for journalists covering climate and environmental issues
- Climate and environmental issues in journalism education
- Climate, environment, and journalistic norms and ethics
Our research primarily focuses on journalism, but we also publish within the broader field of environmental communication. Our members have backgrounds in journalism and media studies, social anthropology, political science, sociology, and the humanities.
Methodologically, we use a combination of classical text-analytical approaches, such as framing analysis and narrative analysis, as well as methods aimed at linguistic and visual symbol systems and other meaning-making activities. We also have expertise in qualitative research interviews and focus group interviews.
Collaboration and Activities
We have a close collaboration with the department's international center, JMIC (Journalism & Media International Center) (uni.oslomet.no), which supports projects in the Global South within climate and environmental journalism.
In August 2025, the research group will organize the KLIMAPRESS conference in collaboration with JMIC and the Department of Journalism (IJ).
