Talk by Anastasia Denisova, Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster in London.
This talk explores the urgent challenges of communicating climate change in the media. While many books have been written about climate change—this research goes to the very heart of what makes humans care about stories enough to act. In a direct and sympathetic approach, Denisova tackles problems of greenwashing, news narratives, colonial framings and more. Taking climate anxiety as a starting point, the author positions herself with empathy and asks the question: ‘what slows down citizen action?’ This fresh perspective acknowledges the pressing challenge of public disengagement, and the anxiety people feel when faced with increasingly bleak headlines as the climate crisis intensifies. There is a surprising challenge to apocalyptic storytelling and a hero’s narrative, which Denisova argues are counter-productive, while solutions are provided for media storytellers.
- Date
- Wednesday 19 Feb 2025, 16:00 - 17:00
- Type
- Online event
- Spoken Language
- English
- Ticket information
We ask you to sign up for the talk in order to receive the link for zoom (see form below).
Bio
Dr Anastasia Denisova is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism at the Communication and Media Research Institute, University of Westminster. She specializes in viral cultures, Internet memes, and climate change communication. She published a book Internet Memes and Society in 2019. In 2021, Dr Denisova undertook an extensive review of fashion coverage in the media and released a policy brief Fashion Media and Sustainability. Her upcoming new monograph Effective Climate Communication is out in Spring 2025 (Palgrave Macmillan).
Anastasia has published widely in top academic journals, including Social Media+Society; Media, Culture and Society; Journalism etc. Dr Denisova is a Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy and a Board member of Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture.
About the talk series
“Voices of Change: Activism, Democracy, and Social Justice” talk series are co-organized by European Communication Research and Education Association’s Communication and Democracy section and The Activism, Communication, and Social Justice Interest Group of the International Communication Association.
This series aims to provide a platform for scholars across disciplines—including communication, sociology, political science, and law—to engage in thought-provoking conversations and pioneering research in these critical areas. It will foster a space for scholars to connect, learn, and grow within a global network of researchers dedicated to advancing knowledge and dialogue on democracy, activism, and social justice.
