Cutting the Climate Agenda: The Effect of Sinclair Broadcasting on Public Awareness of Climate Change

Research has begun to explore the effects of Sinclair ownership on news content and on public opinion. However, research has not yet linked changes in news content to changes in public opinion. Using computational textual analysis, this study finds that once a station is purchased by Sinclair, its volume of climate change reporting drops; the remaining climate change reporting de-emphasizes climate science, and the public becomes less aware climate change is happening.