Framing of climate issues and “COP21”: U.S. newspaper coverage vs Indian newspaper coverage

Abstract

Using content analysis method and the theory of framing, this study compares news coverage of climate issues around the Paris Climate Conference 2015, also known as “COP21”, between U.S. and Indian newspapers. The findings, based on an analysis of 278 stories published by four leading newspapers in these countries, suggest that international politics-oriented conflict and strategy frame and environmental consequences frame dominated both U.S. and Indian newspaper coverage. Another important finding of this study is the Indian newspaper coverage, compared to the U.S. newspaper coverage, included more information on social progress and innovations toward environment-friendly initiatives.

Framing climate change in local context: Newspaper coverage of climate change in three mountain towns in the intermountain west compared to national coverage

“…Future research could aim to make links between media coverage and difference in public opinion or policy enactment. In many communities, the impacts of climate change extend beyond just environmental consequences and include economic and well-being consequences; this increases the desire for business and others to seek opportunities for alternatives, including alternative energy solutions (Biswas & Kim, 2016). By looking at print media on a local community level, we can potentially gain a clearer understanding of how the media frames the topic of climate change.…”

“…The responsibility frame “presents an issue or problem in such a way as to attribute responsibility for its cause or solution to either the government or to an individual or group” (Semetko and Valkenburg, 2000, p. 96). This frame refers to a party’s involvement in the problem and whether they are capable of solving the issue or responsible for its outcome (Biswas & Kim, 2016; Dirikx & Gelders, 2010).…”

“…It stresses divergence between parties/individuals concerning climate change and is mainly focused on winning and losing (Valkenburg et al, 1999). In the climate change context, conflict frames can be organized around disagreements about causes, climate finance issues and level of commitment for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, among others (Biswas & Kim, 2016). For example, Boykoff and Boykoff (2004) argue that the prestige press gives equal attention to climate change “defenders” and to climate change “skeptics,” causing more confusion and controversy surrounding human-induced climate change.…”

“…Nonetheless, Boykoff (2007) demonstrates that between 2003 and 2006 balanced reporting declined significantly, and a more recent similar study found no evidence for the norm of journalistic balance reporting (Schmid-Petri et al, 2017). Although these studies seem to suggest that conflict surrounding the reality and cause of climate change has decreased, some studies show that the conflict frame in general was still the most frequently reported (An & Gower, 2009; Biswas & Kim, 2016; Matthes, 2009; Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000).…”

Framing and sources: News on environmental justice in Bangladesh

“…Some recent studies have addressed this gap by focusing on environmental journalism in the Global South. For example, Pham & Nash (2017) and Biswas & Kim (2016) have explored issues in South Asia while Takahashi (2011), Guedes (2000), and Waisbord & Peruzzotti (2009) have done so for Latin America. The findings of these studies indicate journalistic preference for episodic and comfortable political framing undermines the potential for journalists to cover multiple aspects of environmental issues, rather than simply the political aspects (Waisbord & Peruzzuotti, 2009;Hall et al, 1978;Boykoff, 2011).These multiple aspects include authoritative statements of scientific confidence in observed and expected physical impacts of climate change, published in a series of reports by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).…”