| Summary: | Lay Summary: Do news outlets and social media react the same way to international climate summits? In this paper, we compare the evaluations of the UN climate conference held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021 (COP26) across a sample of English-language mainstream news outlets in four countries with those of prominent activists, politicians, international organizations, and celebrities on Facebook and Instagram. We find strong differences in the two media arenas, with news outlets presenting the summit as a moderate success and social media leaders characterizing it as a failure. We discuss the implications of this divergence on media effects and communication efforts, specifically the dangers they may pose to educating the public on key climate policy matters and mobilizing lasting support.
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