Former Head of the BBC Newsroom and Controller of BBC World Service Mary Hockaday argues that extreme weather is giving journalists clear opportunities to explain the climate story, while new audience research suggests the public wants that context. by Mary Hockaday (Former Head of the BBC Newsroom and World Service controller) News crews have been […]
Why The Frequency of Climate News Coverage Matters
When climate issues are covered clearly and consistently in the news, it helps spark real public conversations – and real climate action.
That’s why we’ve started tracking how often climate change is mentioned in flagship news broadcasts from the UK’s Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs).
With expert input from the University of Exeter’s newly formed Centre for Climate Communications and Data Science (C3DS), we’ve built an interactive tracker that shows how often the climate crisis is covered by the UK’s most watched and listened to TV and radio news programmes.
We compare this to other issues the British public says matter most, using data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.
What we track
Right now, we’re monitoring coverage across the BBC (TV and radio), Sky News, ITV News, Channel 4 News, and Channel 5 News.
We tracked how frequently those newsrooms covered the climate crisis between October 2023 and March 2025.
The ONS survey average over that period suggested that 58% of adults see climate change as one of the country’s most pressing issues. Yet, as our data shows, climate change was mentioned in only about a third of PSB news programmes.
We also track how climate coverage compares to other big issues like crime, immigration, or international conflict. Explore the data here and see what’s getting the most attention.
Our Tracking
We combine smart technology with human analysis to reveal how often, and how effectively, key issues like climate change are covered in the news.
Using expert-chosen keywords and public opinion data, we track trends across major UK broadcasters. Then we go deeper, reviewing stories ourselves for context and impact.
See how it works here.
Related Insights
Newsrooms needn’t fear climate is ‘boring’. Audiences don’t think so
Half the UK public want news reports to explain climate link to extreme weather
As heatwaves, wildfires and drought dominate summer headlines, new Climate News Tracker research finds half the UK public want news organisations to explain the climate link when scientific evidence supports it, while a further 20% want climate change central to every extreme-weather story.
The UK’s drought became a bigger news story once it was declared, but not a better-explained one
Coverage surged after drought was officially declared, but online and social video audiences received far less explanation of its causes and long-term solutions.
Register here to be the first to receive insights from Climate News Tracker.