Mass Communication Research in Sustainability Science: Moving Toward an Engaged Approach to Address Society’s Sustainability Dilemma

Abstract

Mass communication scholarship provides invaluable insight into how discursive trends in media reflect, produce, and obscure society’s most pressing sustainability issues, yet too often this research falls short of creating action, interventions, or change. In this article, we argue that mass communication should be considered a cornerstone discipline for sustainability science research, particularly within transdisiciplinary sustainability science teams. We contend that mass communication researchers can advance sustainability efforts by moving toward a more engaged approach. In an effort to support scholars’ transition to such engagement, we consider how traditional mass communication theories can add value to action-oriented transdisciplinary sustainability science efforts and provide examples of engaged, transdisciplinary mass communication scholarship.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hollie Smith

Hollie Smith (PhD, University of Maine, 2014) is an Assistant Professor in the Harrington School of Communication at University of Rhode Island. Her research interests include the intersections of media, science, and policy.

Brianne Suldovsky

Brianne Suldovsky (PhD, University of Maine, 2016) is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Science of Science Communication at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include the philosophy and practice of science communication.

Laura Lindenfeld

Laura Lindenfeld (PhD, University of California Davis) is the Director for Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stonybrook University. Her research interests include science communication and sustainability science.