Even though news media have expanded their coverage of climate change (CC) over the past decades, public understanding of the issue remains limited and often clouded by misconceptions about its causes, consequences, and potential solutions. One contributing factor to this gap could be the increasing prevalence of strategies to (dis)engage with news, such as news avoidance and “snacking.” News avoidance is not necessarily an all-encompassing phenomenon; it often manifests in a topic-specific form. Relatedly, “snacking” on news typically involves the skimming of headlines and photos without deep engagement, which can lead audiences to miss critical aspects of the content. This study systematically examines the psychological and cognitive factors that contribute to these two forms of (dis)engagement with news related to CC coverage. Using longitudinal survey data from Spain, we found evidence that low interest in CC and the “news-finds-me” (NFM) perception are key predictors of CC news avoidance. Moreover, trust in science and NFM are positively linked to “snacking” over time.
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Ardèvol‐Abreu et al. (2025) studied this question.
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