NetLab UFRJ researcher presents new indicators on climate coverage and data integrity in Brazil

Last Monday (March 16), Fernando Ferreira, an associate researcher at UFRJ NetLab, presented the results of the project “Indicators of Journalistic Coverage of Climate News.” The presentation, held at the UFRJ Technology Park, was part of the 3rd cycle of Special Projects, bringing together researchers and participants involved in initiatives developed by the Technology Park.

The project focused on developing indicators to analyze journalistic coverage of climate news in Brazil, starting with a broad monitoring of publications that subsequently underwent a filtering and selection process until a sample was defined for in-depth analysis.

Based on this process, indicators were defined to assess risks to the integrity of information, considering, for example, alignment with the scientific consensus, editorial transparency, accountability of the actors involved, and the track record of the media outlets analyzed.

As a result, recurring patterns in coverage were identified, including the presence of content inconsistent with climate science and limitations in transparency on the part of some websites. Additionally, recurring problems were observed in outlets already associated with misinformation.

The project also involved the development of an interactive dashboard that organizes the data and enables structured analysis of the news ecosystem, while keeping the websites anonymous, by integrating artificial intelligence techniques, qualitative analysis, and data visualization.