Greening the media sphere – insights from French newsrooms

In France, climate change is everywhere … but the news. In fact, a study of climate media coverage by French NGO Reporters d’Espoirs highlights the underrepresentation of climate issues in mainstream media, despite significant progress during the 2010-2019 period.

A shift occurred in September 2022, when more than 500 journalists and newsrooms co-signed the Charter for upgraded journalistic practices to tackle the ecological emergency. Supported by the scientific community, the document sets out the media’s commitment to address the intricacies of the climate challenge in a relevant and educational manner. 

This charter is definitely a step forward. However, producing climate content has to be reciprocated with significant changes regarding media organisations’ own carbon footprint. The charter’s 12th principle goes along with the necessity of developing “low carbon” journalism as a matter of coherence. 

Should media organisations report on the devastating effects of climate change without being exemplary themselves? The video editor in charge of the weekly environmental Plan B series, Charles-Henry Groult said about his newsroom’s ecological responsibility: “What credibility would we have talking about the climate crisis if we flew once a week to do so? How can we hope to engage our readers in a high-quality, trust-based discussion about climate change without living up to our own responsibilities?”

“Low carbon” journalism is possible. And tools are available, which are not detrimental to fieldwork and quality journalism.

Going digital. A good idea? 

Digital technologies now play a major role in media consumption. But the proliferation of increasingly-powerful devices comes at a cost. With print media being associated with tree logging, digital content has often been labelled as eco-friendly in comparison. 

However, the digital sector has major environmental impacts. The French Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications, Post, and Press Distribution (ARCEP) estimates that the sector accounts for 3 to 4% of global carbon emissions, and 2.5% of France’s emissions. 

While these figures might seem relatively low, one has to consider the sector as an ensemble of carbon-intensive elements. In fact, the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME) calculates that servers and infrastructures are responsible for 78% of the sector’s carbon emissions. The pollution associated with digitalisation is continuous and must therefore be examined in terms of water, energy, and rare-earth element uses.

By comparison, 71% of print media’s carbon emissions occur during its fabrication process. While the carbon footprint of an online article increases with reading time, its paper version can circulate almost indefinitely from a one-off emission, according to WeMedia analyses.

So, how do you estimate the carbon intensity of online material? 

The easiest way is probably to install the GreenIT-Analysis plug-in for Chrome and Firefox. This extension collects data to assess the environmental impact of devices, network equipment and servers associated with visiting a webpage. Similarly, the EcoIndex website relies on similar categories to attribute a score between 0 (poor environmental performance) and 100 (highest performance). 

And the truth is, most media outlets don’t rank well, based on a simulation made by French journalist and Sciences Po Professor Gerald Holubowicz.

How to reduce your carbon footprint?

Good news – you can improve that! A key way to do so is to follow eco-design guidelines, which aim to create lighter websites. This limits the use of data and resources which contribute to CO2 emissions. 

Although not specific to the media sector, the Intro guide to digital eco-design (2021) provides key insights and practical tools on how to improve a website’s carbon footprint. 

“What is necessary?” is the main question to have in mind. Whether it is about how content is displayed, or about the type of content itself, eco-design simplifies a website’s layout and uses less animated content and pictures. One of the perks is that it improves content availability.

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The Shift Project calculates that video streaming accounts for 60% of global data flows and 1% of global CO2 emissions. The think tank hence recommends limiting their use as well as reducing their file size. A short guide is available here. 

Digitalisation is only one side of the problem, and there are several other ways in which a newsroom can reduce its carbon impact. To keep track of its emissions, Le Monde compiles distances travelled, modes of transportation used and the amount of devices needed for its reports in a spreasheet. Also, to raise awareness, the amount of CO2 emitted during production is displayed at the end of each of its videos.

Similarly at France Télévisions, Environmental and climate policy advisor Xaviere Farrer Hutchison said flying is forbidden when the same trip can be made by train in less than three and a half hours.

Need more inspiration? The Guardian has withdrawn advertising for fossil fuels from its columns. TF1 launched Eco Respons’ad and Ecoprod: only ADEME-labelled products will be advertised by the TV channel and the environmental impact of its productions is now monitored.

The way forward

Change cannot originate from media organisations only. Although the initiatives mentioned are easily replicable, they mainly rely on individual goodwill and would need to be generalised to the whole sector.

In France, the 2021 Climate and Resilience law dedicates several articles to tackling climate change in the advertising and media sector. ARCEP and the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (ARCOM, ex-CSA) come into play here. The former is granted the right to collect environmental data and to measure the environmental impact of television and other audiovisual media, while the latter supervises “climate contracts” made with media companies to reduce advertising of polluting products.

And the Pour Un Réveil Écologique (Ecological Awakening) collective goes one step further, as its 2023 report shows that there is actually little to no evaluation made by media organisations regarding the environmental cost of the products they advertise. 

They also suggest that media outlets withdraw all ads for fossil fuels and other environmentally-detrimental products in order to decrease their contribution to CO2 emissions. Doing an annual GHG assessment, as well as establishing a carbon emissions-reduction pathway are also encouraged. 

While some media organisations are paving the way, there is room for improvement.

Source of the cover photo: https://unsplash.com

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