[This interview was conducted by WU's press team, and we are reposting an introductory excerpt from it.]

“Climate change” is a term that evokes a range of emotions in different people – from urgency and concern to skepticism and fatigue. How people respond to a term like this depends largely on the context in which they encounter it – especially in the media.

News outlets play a significant role in shaping public opinion and, ultimately, influencing political decisions. The way climate change is talked about in the media can impact how audiences understand and engage with the issue. By analyzing large volumes of news articles, researchers can measure how discourses evolve over time and identify dominant narratives.

This kind of research uses a method called corpus linguistics – and it helps us better understand how public discourse is evolving.

Mathew Gillings is an Assistant Professor at the WU Institute for English Business Communication and has specialized in this area of linguistic research.

To read his full interview, click here.

A YouTube video in which Mathew explains his research is available here.