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This paper discusses the relationship between morality and engagement focused on the narratives about climate change. The goal of our research is to understand whether moral grounds identified in individuals and in narratives can influence youth's engagement in environmental debate and news consumption on climate change. Recognizing that people's perceptions of climate change are related to several factors, such as ideas, cultures, and values, we sought to understand whether there is a "green morality" or a prevalence of more responsive moral attributes in individuals when they are exposed to thinking about the environment. We use the Moral Foundations Theory to analyze comments on the environmental news on Twitter and a questionnaire adapted to the environment on moral grounds. The data were collected from Brazil and Portugal between 2021 and 2022. The overall results showed a high incidence of responses with Care/Harm and Fairness/Cheating, and an average incidence of responses related to Loyalty/Betrayal and Authority/Subversion. The results indicate that youngsters show a more prominent moral to care and environmental harm, as well as justice and responsibility, which may influence their interest in the consumption of environmental news and future engagement. In addition, there are factors, such as political issues, that can influence moral values and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local journalism has suffered major transformations as traditional business models collapse and habits of news consumption change. A lack of funding and successive economic crises have brought about, on a global scale, the shutdown of many news outlets in smaller territories. These areas are becoming "news deserts", a phenomenon that has been mapped in Brazil and Portugal. Territories without news could see an uptick in social problems such as disinformation, populism, and democratic crises, especially because of voting abstention. Background: This paper aims to analyze the relationship between news deserts and democracy, focusing on how news deserts correlate with voting abstention rates in Brazil and Portugal. Methods: A literature review was carried out including data from news deserts in both countries. The abstention rates in this analysis concern national elections held in 2022. A correlation analysis using binary logistic regression was deployed comparing municipalities with the highest and the lowest abstention rates. Results: In both countries, it was not possible to assess whether there was a correlation between abstention rates and the existence of news deserts. Conclusions: While the absence of media outlets is not correlated with the mobilization of citizens to vote, other variables may be affecting voters' abstention behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]