Aiming for Social or Political Robustness? Media Strategies Among Climate Scientists

Abstract

This study examines climate scientists’ views on media science communication and their strategies for dealing with journalists and climate deniers. Drawing on scholarly calls for openness and public engagement, particularly the concept of “socially robust knowledge,” this article discusses how climate scientists weigh concerns of control, openness, and transparency when considering how to best communicate with the public through the mass media. The author argues that “socially robust knowledge” neglects the challenges of “medialization” of climate science and proposes that the climate scientists’ strategy can better be described as attempts to achieve “politically robust” communication.