Segerberg Alexandra, Magnani Matteo
Department of Government, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
InfoLab, Department of Information Technology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
PLoS One. 2025 Apr 8;20(4):e0318338. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0318338. eCollection 2025.
This article addresses the role of digital intermediaries in visual climate communication, and specifically their contribution to the persistence of a 'green ghetto' of traditional communicators and repertoires online. We argue for a comparative sensibility: global platforms convey global issues to global audiences, yet the same platform may distribute conditions of visibility for compelling communication unevenly around the world. The study analyses how a major global visual platform, YouTube (Search), articulates climate change in 232 countries in their official languages. It combines API research, channel coding and computational image analysis to assess the processing and presentation of top-ranked results with respect to their diversity and proximity to local context. The findings show that YouTube Search establishes visibility winners who typically sustain the classic visual repertoire of climate change as a distant problem, and that Global North sources dominate irrespective of region. However, there are notable exceptions to these patterns.
本文探讨了数字中介在视觉气候传播中的作用，特别是它们对传统传播者和在线传播方式的 “绿色贫民窟” 持续存在的影响。我们主张一种比较意识：全球平台将全球问题传达给全球受众，但同一平台可能在全球范围内不均衡地传播有效传播的可见性条件。该研究分析了一个主要的全球视觉平台YouTube（搜索）如何以232个国家的官方语言阐述气候变化。它结合了应用程序编程接口（API）研究、频道编码和计算图像分析，以评估排名靠前的结果在多样性和与当地背景的接近程度方面的处理和呈现情况。研究结果表明，YouTube搜索确定了可见性方面的优胜者，这些优胜者通常将气候变化的经典视觉传播方式维持为一个遥远的问题，而且无论地区如何，全球北方的信息来源都占主导地位。然而，这些模式也有明显的例外。
