4.4 Prominence of climate science coverage
News editors tend to give more prominence to stories which break news or are closely tied to the ongoing news agenda. In print media, significant stories tend to be published towards the front of publications or specific sections within the publication.
In order to find what prominence editors attached to coverage of climate science, articles were coded according to where they were placed in the publication - on the front page, the first 8 pages or after page 8.
Overall, the Australian news media did not feature stories about climate science prominently during February to April in 2011 and 2012.
There were only 26 front-page articles across all publications referencing climate science during this period. 17, or nearly two-thirds of these, appeared in 2012.
Approximately 70%, or over two-thirds, of articles referring to climate science appeared after page 8 during both periods.
Tabloid newspapers were more likely to place articles after page 8, with all News Corp tabloids carrying more than 80% of their stories after page 8. The Herald Sun, The Courier Mail and The Advertiser had more than 90% of stores after page 8.
| Newspaper | After page 8 (2011) | First 8 pages (2011) | Front page (2011) | 2011 total | After page 8 (2012) | First 8 pages (2012) | Front page (2012) | 2012 total | After page 8 (total) | First 8 pages (total) | Front page (total) | Grand total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Advertiser | 23 (92%) | 2 (8%) | 0 (0%) | 25 (100%) | 23 (92%) | 2 (8%) | 0 (0%) | 25 (100%) | 46 (92%) | 4 (8%) | 0 (0%) | 50 (100%) |
| The Age | 24 (62%) | 14 (36%) | 1 (3%) | 39 (100%) | 14 (44%) | 15 (47%) | 3 (9%) | 32 (100%) | 38 (54%) | 29 (41%) | 4 (6%) | 71 (100%) |
| The Australian | 42 (53%) | 31 (39%) | 6 (8%) | 79 (100%) | 40 (63%) | 17 (27%) | 7 (11%) | 64 (100%) | 82 (57%) | 48 (34%) | 13 (9%) | 143 (100%) |
| The Courier Mail | 25 (89%) | 3 (11%) | 0 (0%) | 28 (100%) | 25 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 25 (100%) | 50 (94%) | 3 (6%) | 0 (0%) | 53 (100%) |
| The Daily Telegraph | 24 (80%) | 5 (17%) | 1 (3%) | 30 (100%) | 32 (91%) | 3 (9%) | 0 (0%) | 35 (100%) | 56 (86%) | 8 (12%) | 1 (2%) | 65 (100%) |
| Herald Sun | 32 (97%) | 1 (3%) | 0 (0%) | 33 (100%) | 16 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 16 (100%) | 48 (98%) | 1 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 49 (100%) |
| The Mercury | 20 (87%) | 3 (13%) | 0 (0%) | 23 (100%) | 10 (77%) | 2 (15%) | 1 (8%) | 13 (100%) | 30 (83%) | 5 (14%) | 1 (3%) | 36 (100%) |
| The Northern Territory News | 8 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 8 (100%) | 9 (82%) | 2 (18%) | 0 (0%) | 11 (100%) | 17 (89%) | 2 (11%) | 0 (0%) | 19 (100%) |
| The Sydney Morning Herald | 23 (45%) | 27 (53%) | 1 (2%) | 51 (100%) | 15 (37%) | 20 (49%) | 6 (15%) | 41 (100%) | 38 (41%) | 47 (51%) | 7 (8%) | 92 (100%) |
| The West Australian | 8 (50%) | 8 (50%) | 0 (0%) | 16 (100%) | 5 (63%) | 3 (38%) | 0 (0%) | 8 (100%) | 13 (54%) | 11 (46%) | 0 (0%) | 24 (100%) |
| Total | 299 (69%) | 94 (28%) | 9 (3%) | 332 (100%) | 189 (70%) | 64 (24%) | 17 (6%) | 270 (100%) | 418 (69%) | 158 (26%) | 26 (4%) | 602 (100%) |
The Australian had 13 front page stories, which was more than any other publication. Three of these articles were later coded as questioning the scientific consensus on climate change.
The Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, NT News, and The West Australian had no front page stories.
The SMH was more likely than any other publication to publish articles prominently. It published 8% of articles (7) on the front page. All of these assumed a consensus position on climate change. 51% of SMH articles were on pages 2 - 8.