One manifestation of the larger phenomenon of mediatization of global policy-making in recent decades is the very strong presence of mass media representatives from around the world at global climate change conferences, and the extensive news media coverage of those events. The most prominent mechanism for interaction between governments and the mass media on those occasions is press briefings. We explore patterns in the use of press briefings by governments in this context, arguing that governments use press briefings both for reasons of appropriateness and consequence. Using information on press briefings collected from the UNFCCC archives we find that democraciesdemocracies, which are more likely to be motivated by a logic of appropriateness, relative to other political systems, are more likely to initiate press briefings. We find somewhat less, but still some support for the logic of consequence argument, which holds that government choices to initiate press briefings are motivated by vulnerability to climate change and political positioning in the climate bargaining process.
