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In this introductory article, we discuss the rise of the “classical” theories of propaganda, starting with an historical exposé of the concept, which traces its roots and trajectory through the field of academic analysis. Propaganda is then discussed in relation to other adjacent concepts such as soft power, public diplomacy, nation branding, fake news, and so on. In a third section, the concept of propaganda is discussed in relation to the present datafied world, marked by various forms of crises – of democracy and of the environment, for example. In the last section, the articles included in this themed issue are presented and related to the preceding historical and conceptual discussion.

Recent years have seen another peak in global media attention to climate change. Driven by increasingly dire news about extreme weather, growing demands of systemic adaption and a new wave political activism, the current situation has increasingly been framed as a climate crisis. This introductory essay maps these recent developments and elaborates the conceptual potentials and limitations of the “crisis” frame. It also briefly reviews the state of the art of media research and situates the contributions of the issue into this landscape.

Survey results from news consumers around the world suggest that specialist or niche websites covering climate change are now one of the most important sources of climate information. However, there is very little detailed scholarship about these sites. We carried out semi-structured interviews with senior representatives of 14 online information sites, based in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries, which prioritize the provision of climate information following journalistic values. Through qualitative analysis of the interviews, we show how the sites carve out their niche authority and distinctive nature by emphasizing (to different degrees) their scientific expertise, relevance for policy communication, and their complementary contribution to the work of mainstream journalism. They offer a multiplicity of specialized content, broadly divided into certain, often discrete, aspects of climate change. The self-declared role perceptions of the interviewees suggest that traditional, professional journalistic values eschewing overt advocacy still predominate, although some of the practices, norms and priorities associated with these values have shifted, particularly in their roles as effective and authoritative mediators of climate science. At the theoretical level, the findings highlight the need to study "the niche" at the intersection of broader dimensions of authority, power and knowledge in changing media ecologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most significant and understudied changes in climate journalism in recent years, and the focus us this study, is the establishment of new niche sites. These sites, which are dedicated exclusively to covering climate-related issues, are now some of the most important sources of climate information. Drawing on interviews with site founders and editors, we explore the experiences and knowledge of these climate journalism innovators to glean their perspective on the state of climate coverage in general and changes to the field, including an emerging interplay between climate journalism and other actors in the broader information environment. Our conversations suggest that in response to changing circumstances—including heightened urgency due to the physical realities of the climate catastrophe and the hybridity of the media environment—journalists are reshaping how climate news is being produced as well as blurring institutional boundaries between journalism, science, and advocacy. In doing so, we argue, they are forging a path toward stronger public interest journalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the Habermasian theory of the "public sphere" to make sense in the 2020s, it must be able to address the modern tendency toward global systemic crises. To examine the relevance of the Habermasian public sphere to today's deeply interconnected digital world, this article provides a selective reading of Habermas' writings on the public sphere, examining how he developed the concept from its conceptual core (1962) through his Legitimation Crisis (LC ; 1973) and The Theory of Communicative Action (TCA ; vol. 1 [1981] 1984, vol. 2 [1981] 1987). Working from the perspective of the "differentiated lifeworld," we show here that the theory's background assumptions about reality (truth), solidarity (justice), personality (authenticity) are now being exposed and destabilized by current crisis tendencies and imaginaries. Here, we examine three exemplary (and interconnected) global disruptions that expose these assumptions: the climate crisis, the intensification of financial inequality in the Global North, and the rapid push toward datafication. Through our examination of whether the public sphere as Habermas conceived of it can exist in today's world, we provide a more expansive form of criticism of the public sphere (which is usually critiqued on the narrow grounds of the rational bias of communicative rationality). Here, we underscore the fundamental importance of addressing the complex system-lifeworld dynamics that are today re-conceptualizing and re-contextualizing the "public sphere" in this era of contemporary global crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]