기후 위기 보도에 대한 언론인의 평가와 전망: 과학적 전문성을 넘어 기후 정의를 향한 저널리즘의 출발

초록

This study aimed to examine the specific forms of self-perception regarding journalists’ roles in climate crisis reporting, as well as their perceptions of future prospects and new normative standards, based on Korean journalists’ evaluations of their own news organizations’ climate coverage. The research was conducted through in-depth interviews with 15 Korean journalists whose primary beat is the climate crisis. The findings are as follows. First, the journalists no longer treat the climate crisis as a secondary issue, and they highly evaluated the concurrent execution of organizational responses and individual efforts. Second, nevertheless, they commonly pointed out that their organizations’ reporting tends to be highly asymmetrical concerning the cross-cutting aspects of the climate crisis phenomenon. Furthermore, reflecting the evolving reality of climate journalism, the interviewees recognized that climate crisis coverage is the primary domain demonstrating the potential for a new “quality journalism”—one that further strengthens regionality and integrates it with a global perspective. In conclusion, this study highlights the necessity for heightened social and policy attention to methods for enhancing the professionalism of journalists’ reporting capabilities to realize this “quality journalism,” particularly in the context of their role perception and professional judgment in climate crisis reporting.

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