Blogging on the ice: connecting audiences with climate-change sciences

"Climate change is a perennially controversial subject frequently splashed across mainstream headlines. However, what we see in the news is not always what the scientists at the front line of climate change experience. Some scientists have been trying to counteract these misconceptions via citizen journalism and directly connecting with the public through blogging rather than official media channels.  Bournemouth University's (BU) Dr Einar Thorsen has spent several years researching citizen journalism around the globe with a particular interest in the polar regions. Growing up in Norway he had admiration for Norwegian national heroes – the polar explorers Nansen and Amundsen – but it was as an adult while co-editing 'Citizen Journalism: Global Perspectives' that Dr Thorsen got to combine his personal and professional interests.  He set about some polar exploring of his own, looking at the idea of citizen journalism as an education tool and the extent to which scientists achieve an unmediated form of communication through their blogging. The International Polar Year (2007-2008) was an obvious starting point for the research with a huge increase in the number of blogs originating from and written 'on the ice'. Focusing on the uses and decision-making behind blogging, Dr Thorsen analysed over 50 Antarctic blogs published throughout the period and interviewed several of the bloggers involved ..."