Chilly Reception: A Content Analysis of Comments on a Reformed Climate Skeptic’s Confession

While analyses of climate change news stories have documented how climate science practitioners and communicators convey knowledge, how audiences receive stories documenting an author’s changed perspective on climate change science is virtually unexplored. This preliminary study qualitatively investigates the content of comments on a New York Times column documenting its author’s conversion from climate change agnostic to acknowledger. Findings suggest this conversion’s reception tends cold—commenters express disapproval of the author’s free-market-solution approach and criticize his tardiness in acknowledging climate change science.