Smog and Air Pollution: Journalistic Criticism and Environmental Accountability in China

Abstract

This article examines critical environmental reporting of the Chinese smog crisis, also known as the PM2.5 crisis, which are episodes of heavy particulate air pollution. By focusing on the sequence of media attention on PM2.5 standards and metrics, I show how the narrow focus on smog pollution developed into a broader critique of China's economic development model and of how government makes and carries out policy. I argue that environmental journalists have played a key role in promoting accountability on governments for tackling smog. At different stages of the smog crisis, journalists managed to show or create links between PM2.5 metrics and wider issues of public health, economic development, political power, social injustice, civic involvement and China's place in the world. They were able to employ the smog issue to make broader political and economic critiques, demanding greater government accountability and transparency in smog governance. Journalistic criticisms intensified public pressure on the authorities for reducing pollution and improving air quality.