Routine Reporting of Environmental Risk: The First Traces of Micropollutants in the German Press

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes the emergence of a new environmental issue in the German press. Since the 1990s, scientists have detected traces of pharmaceuticals, hormones and chemicals in all segments of the water cycle. These micropollutants have negative effects on aquatic life and might affect human health. Their sources are manifold and include private households. Yet although micropollutants of are direct concern to media audiences, they are a challenging topic for news reporting. Although this issue is systemic and fraught with uncertainty, it does not easily translate into news stories. Our content analysis of 444 articles (1995–2015) reveals that the societal risk was rarely presented as a stand-alone topic. Instead, the issue was mostly covered as part of local routine reporting and framed as a challenge for experts to solve. Over time, the reporting became more managerial, while media framings of micropollutants gained more substance and scope. We contend that local routine reporting should receive more attention as a public forum for addressing emerging environmental concerns.     

Eating Meat and Climate Change: The Media Blind Spot—A Study of Spanish and Italian Press Coverage

There is strong evidence that a meat and dairy-based diet is a very important contributor to climate change. However, the correlation between the production and consumption of livestock and anthropogenic climate change has received minimal media coverage. The literature for English-speaking countries shows a sort of media blind spot for meat in that the news media barely address, or do not address, the responsibility of individuals' dietary choices with regard to this issue. In this paper, we provide data for press coverage in Southern Europe from a sample of the top 10 Spanish and Italian newspapers for a seven-year period (2006–2013). Data from our samples correlate with findings from previous studies. However, our comparative study suggests that there are also meaningful differences between both countries studied while their alleged Mediterranean dietary background makes no difference in terms of ethical or dietary sensitivity.     

Developing Communication Strategies for Mitigating Actions Against Global Warming: Linking Framing and a Dual Processing Model

Although there is increasing public awareness of global warming, there is a gap between such perception and relevant actions to combat the problem. In order to develop effective strategies for facilitating public actions, in this paper we draw upon framing theory and a dual processing model. Based on an experiment involving 261 participants from a large public university in Taiwan, this study found that by framing global warming as a local issue, communication messages can trigger both analytic (issue relevance) and affective (negative emotions) appraisals, which, in turn, will increase people's intentions to take actions. This study provides important insights for government and environmental groups when designing communication campaigns on this issue.     

The case for policy‐relevant conservation science

Drawing on the “evidence‐based” (Sutherland et al. 2013) versus “evidence‐informed” debate (Adams & Sandbrook 2013), which has become prominent in conservation science, I argue that science can be influential if it holds a dual reference (Lentsch & Weingart 2011) that contributes to the needs of policy makers whilst maintaining technical rigor. In line with such a strategy, conservation scientists are increasingly recognizing the usefulness of constructing narratives through which to enhance the influence of their evidence (Leslie et al. 2013; Lawton & Rudd 2014). Yet telling stories alone is rarely enough to influence policy; instead, these narratives must be policy relevant. To ensure that evidence is persuasive alongside other factors in a complex policy‐making process, conservation scientists could follow 2 steps: reframe within salient political contexts and engage more productively in boundary work, which is defined as the ways in which scientists “construct, negotiate, and defend the boundary between science and policy” (Owens et al. 2006:640). These will both improve the chances of evidence‐informed conservation policy.     

A Simple Intervention to Reduce Framing Effects in Perceptions of Global Climate Change

This paper explores a technique for mitigating framing effects in perceptions of global climate change. People's opinions on issues ranging from same sex marriage and the environment to free speech and health care have been shown to be influenced by the way in which the issue is presented: the metaphors, images, and catchphrases that communicate implicit normative messages about the issue. The work described here synthesizes insights from experimental research on moderators of framing effects and sociological research on frame reflection. Based on this synthesis, this paper describes a test of a simple highlighting technique for focusing respondents' attention on the framing operating in political materials. Results suggest that this intervention not only can reduce the opinion-shaping impact of frames but may also reduce ideological polarization. Implications include a better understanding of the mechanisms by which frames operate, techniques for making frame reflection possible among political non-elites, and recommendations for strengthening environmental groups' public communication strategies.     

Effective advocacy: the psychological mechanisms of environmental issue framing

ABSTRACT

While environmental issues are among the most serious threats to human security, they tend to rank toward the bottom of Americans’ priorities for political action. To redress this, environmental organizations strategically frame their mobilization communications in an attempt to garner the public’s support. Advocacy research groups encourage the use of motivational, economic and personal frames because of their ability to mobilize support through distinct psychological processes: efficacy, psychological proximity and emotion. An experimental study is conducted that tests the extent to which these mechanisms mediate environmental frames’ effects on support for an environmental campaign. Results of this study lead to the conclusion that motivational frames are unable to elicit efficacy in the target audience, thus proving ineffectual at influencing attitudes or behaviors. Economic and personal frames are more successful, aligning the audience’s attitudes with the message and operating through psychological proximity, sadness and anger to induce behavioral support for the environmental campaign.     

Fracking and Framing: A Comparative Analysis of Media Coverage of Hydraulic Fracturing in Canadian and US Newspapers

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a controversial but popular method of extracting oil and gas in North America. There are a myriad of completing claims about the economic benefits and the environmental costs of the technology. This paper examines news media coverage of fracking in four Canadian and four American newspapers over a five-year period. A comparison is made at the national level as well as at a paired subnational level between jurisdictions where fracking is embraced and where fracking is banned. The paper demonstrates that in both countries the main storyline is about water quality, but beyond that differences emerge as Americans focus more on wildlife and public health and Canadians focus more on moratoriums and energy independence. Moreover, while there were similarities in media coverage of fracking in pro-fracking and anti-fracking jurisdictions, there were notable differences in attention to the topics of public health and economic benefits.     

Avoiding cultural trauma: climate change and social inertia

ABSTRACT

The failure of societies to respond in a concerted, meaningful way to climate change is a core concern of the social science climate literature. Existing explanations of social inertia display little coherence. Here, a theoretical approach is suggested that integrates disparate perspectives on social inertia regarding climate change. Climate change constitutes a potential cultural trauma. The threat of cultural trauma is met with resistance and attempts to restore and maintain the status quo. Thus, efforts to avoid large-scale social changes associated with climate change constitute an effort to avoid cultural trauma, and result in social inertia regarding climate change at individual, institutional, and societal levels. Existing approaches to social inertia are reviewed. An intellectual framework utilizing the work of Pierre Bourdieu is proposed to integrate these different levels of social interaction. Social processes that maintain social order and thus avoid cultural trauma create social inertia regarding climate change.     

Image Themes and Frames in US Print News Stories about Climate Change

Research on frames in climate change (CC) news coverage has advanced substantially over the past decade, but the emerging understanding of the framing role of visual imagery that often accompanies news texts remains fragmented. We report on a set of image frames identified through content analysis of 350 images associated with 200 news articles from 11 US newspaper and magazine sources from 1969 through late 2009. We reliably identified and quantified the occurrence of 118 image themes. We then hierarchically clustered the themes based on their co-occurrence in images to identify an integrated framework of 42 image frames. We highlight frames associated with particular types of images (e.g., photographs and maps) or geographic regions. From among the full set of frames, we identify 15 that commonly appear in US CC news imagery and discuss the ways in which image frames make salient (or render invisible) particular categories of people, geographic regions, aspects of science, and spheres of activity.     

Environmental Risks in Newspaper Coverage: A Framing Analysis of Investigative Reports on Environmental Problems in 10 Chinese Newspapers

Economic modernization has been China's national priority since the establishment of the People's Republic. Since the authorities retain control over the media, which is also now subject to commercial influences, it might be expected that the Chinese news media would construct a discourse of assurance, endorsing economic modernization. A framing analysis of newspaper investigative reports on environmental problems in this article, however, shows that these reports have portrayed environmental problems in a manner that opposes rather than supports the national priority for economic growth. It challenges rather than reinforces the current institutional discourse of development and criticizes rather than contributes to the present structure of the capitalist mode of production in China. In this case, the prominence of the critical reflective discourse demonstrates the critical role investigative journalism potentially plays in arousing the public's awareness of risks in order to create a society in which such risks can be minimized. Factors in the wider social context contribute to our understanding of the critical discourse of environmental problems.