How are the climate changes concerns reproduced and represented in the media?

How have these representations influenced policies, personal choices and attitudes towards the environment? By Venita Subramanian University of Leeds, Department of International Communications For several years, global climate change has become a long standing debate that argues forcefully about the unfavorable effects of human activities on the climate. Climate change, be it multidimensional or apocalyptic, is ultimately contingent on the outlook of individuals and groups in societies. At the face of things, climate change is all around us and we encounter this first hand. However, the only reason why we know of this immense phenomenon that exists is because we have been told of its vital presence; in other words, manifestations of climate change (Hansen, 2009). It is not so long ago that the whole host of natural processes such as flooding, hurricanes, droughts, hot summers, etc would not automatically have triggered references to global warming or climate change in the way that has now become more or less customary (Hansen, 2009, p. 170). A survey carried out for the UK governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2008 found that 98 percent of the people were conscious of the climate change crises, and of them, 89 percent had seen a mention of it on television, 58 percent were aware of it through radio and 40 percent read about it over the internet (Boyce, 2009, p. 59). Such figures compel us to explore the news media, which we rely on to tell us about the crises that we face today. The scope of this essay is to examine the relationship between scientific claims of climate change and the representation of the issue in media. Climate change here refers to the global warming or greenhouse effect phenomenon which is the central point of emphasis. It further examines the political parameters that sway the media coverage of climate change. In order to investigate this representation, analyzing the reasons why the problem is a target on the media setting agenda, is an added aspect to be explored. The essay also discusses the historical overview of global warming and its correlation to media coverage. The key questions that have been raised here are, is the issue on climate change being misrepresented by the media? How does the contention of climate change affect the role of policy makers and individual decision making? Just like most media debates, objectivity is certainly a matter of question for climate change representation as well. The greenhouse effect is not any new theory coined by my scientists. Carbon-dioxide is said to be the single most substantial man-made greenhouse gas consisting of 0.03 percent of the green house gases. Although study shows that scientific evidence of this claim in not conclusive, media has more often than not, used scientific uncertainty as a prominent theme to construct an exclusionary boundary between the public and climate change scientists (Zehr, 2000). Besides, policy makers impose taxes and other broad based proposals in response to the effects of global warming (Poterba, 1993). As early as the 19th century, scientists started to speculate about the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels (Barbara Adam, 2003).Throughout the 1970s and 1980s; climate scientists had been working to give public attention to the topic. The riveting fact that climate change could be anthropogenic, in other words, be caused by human behavior was a topic that had little or no media attention and popularity in the scientific community (Barbara Adam, 2003). When scientists and climate activists started connecting the climate change research to more popular topics such as nuclear winter 1 and ozone depletion, mass media started gaining
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In the 1980s, scientists calculated that an exchange of relatively small nuclear weapons could put the world into a decade long nuclear-winter that would put enough smoke into the atmosphere to shade the Earth from the Sun (MacKenzie, 2007).

interest in the claim of a depleting environment (Stephen H. Schneider, 2009). Science, like any other subject, is also recreated and not simply reproduced in the news coverage (Carvalho, 2007). Media voiced out claims about the potentially dangerous outcome of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that was caused as a result of human activities. The green house effect phenomena or more popularly as global warming was particularly indicative to a larger audience because of its direct appeal. People could candidly relate to the unpleasant weather conditions such as heat and humidity that had negative connotations of being unpleasant and overpowering (Hansen, 2009). However, the relationship between the scientific evidence and the actual coverage of climate change in the media is still ambivalent. A study covering the United States television coverage from 1968 to 1996 found no direct correlation between the extreme weather conditions and the climate change coverage. (Stephen H. Schneider, 2009). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that was set up in 1988 was a valuable source of scientific, technical and socio-economic information for the United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has a significant impact on international negotiations and development (Brian Dawson, 2009, p. 224). Although the IPCC identified climate change as a global threat to the planet, the public is still presented with unclear data by the media (Jaclyn Marisa Dispensa, 2003). The IPCC is said to consists of two thousand of the worlds leading scientists who yet remain unconvinced that climate change can be proven to be a real threat and have mechanized their own public relations strategies to contradict the message from the IPCC (Barbara Adam, 2003). We see this indistinctness in the print coverage of climate change where several inconsistencies were seen with reporting. National newspapers were seen to address national and international ramifications of climate change whereas regional newspapers addressed it on a local level. The disparities in media coverage, also varied among science and non-science journalists who sometimes had very little idea about the scientific evidence related to climate change (Barbara Adam, 2003, p. 207). Once these news reports are covered by journalists and disseminated in television, print media and the internet, the next thing to think about is how this information can compete in the public arena for consideration. All media that exists is highly competitive where editors contend with other channels of communications for a higher readership/audience share. Journalists compete with each other for space for their reports. For an issue such as global warming that is long running and complex, scientific evidence and economic concepts doesnt transmute the structure of the story which is the main journalistic intent (Lever-Tracy, 2010). Hence, we also see the aim of media professionals and environment scientists are of different poles of the paradigm. Media professionals need to sell the story in whatever way they can, even at the cost of oversimplifying or exaggerating claims in order to win the media space. For most of 1990s to early 2000s, this resulted in a news coverage that was evenly balanced among expert groups. Media biases give little room for analyzing the changing political economies that could affect the debate on carbon emissions. In most cases, the confined media spaces results in very little in-depth understanding to the subject and classifies climate science, policies and politics in a singular bracket (Lever-Tracy, 2010). At best, the media should counter the different aspects of coverage of climate change issues from different angles; whether anthropogenic or a natural course of the earth. However, for this adequate mediation to take place, the journalists themselves must have a better understanding of the ecological and scientific outlook and the politics of climate change. Boykoff and Boykoff (2004), have maintained that journalistic norm of balance has resulted to unfair depictions of knowledge on climate change in the US prestige press with an added weight of those that deny anthropogenic origins or that the problem is scientifically provable (Carvalho, 2007).

Global climate change has now evolved into a scientific and political lighting rod, challenging us to develop new connections among science, public policy and journalism (Barbara Adam, 2003, p. 202). From a mere scientific point of view, occurrence of global warming as natural occurrences is not enough without proper documentation and interpretation of the same. Hence, for these policies to be successful, media plays a convergent role that is used a powerful tool by scientists and policy makers. A link is suggested between conceptions of the global warming problem as it is constructed by the mass media, and the nature of policy responses at an international level (Newell, 2000, p. 68).In order to achieve this, the media sets an agenda that determines which news should be in focus and presented to the public. However, this media agenda setting is noted to be direct and indirect. According to Peter John Newell, classifies this into a direct and indirect media agenda setting approach. Direct agenda setting relates to the medias role in politicizing an issue and generating institutional responses. On the other hand, the media also engages in indirect agenda setting that focuses on formulating the climate change debate and legitimation of conventional understanding of the subject (Newell, 2000, pp. 68, 69). Newell further adds that by understanding the political role of media helps to ascertain how some conclusions of environmental issues acquire salience in policy. By projecting a particular issue over another the media exerts an influence in the policy making debate and reinforces the assertion that media does not follow an objective approach. Newell notes that some media are more agenda setting than others, either because of the size of their audience or their relation with the political class that makes decision on climate policy. We have seen climate change politicization as early at the 1980s. From the 1980s, the coverage in British and United States increased sharply as the issue started becoming highly politicized. In the September of 1988, the former British Prime Minister Mrs. Thatcher made her first green speech addressing the problem of anthropogenic climate change that further escalated the media agenda. During the mid 1980s, media covered the scientific discourses by environment scientists making claims that appeared as a principal source of stories. However, after Mrs. Thatchers intervention, the scientists lost track of the debate as political elites started the shape the agenda. A similar agenda is also seen in the United States and Germany (Anderson, 2009). The effectiveness of such coverage can be measured through the audience sensitiveness to issues shown on media. For example, the public rejection of the use of CFCs 2 that are found in aerosols, created negotiation space for governments to approve emission reduction sanctions by breaking down the opposition of chemical industries which were given incentives to push the internationalization of regulations (Newell, 2000, pp. 70, 71). Conversely, with the nonexistence of media influence that shapes public opinion, governments are less likely to act on their own ingenuity. The governments need the media to influence the public perceptions of what is right or wrong with regard to government policies. Hence we see that the role of media is irreplaceable in order for the public to comprehend the complexities of climate change. With repeated media coverage of a single issue, the media converts the climate change issue into the political agenda. For example, Germanys stance on the acid rain negotiations due to the destruction of the Black Forests was partly because of the public outrage that pressed for political reforms. In the elections that took place, early 1983, politicians quickly announced their shift in view in face of the unrelenting campaigns by the green party 3. The continuing campaigns in West Germany were a significant marker in the

2 3

choloroflurocarbons Green Party of Germany was a German environmentalist political party focused on protests against the use of nuclear power, and the movement was directed especially at German labour, businesses, politicians and all of who actively endorsed its use. Widespread opposition to the deployment of a new generation of nuclear missiles in the

advancement of public environmental awareness in Europe (Park, 1987, p. 170). Ungar argues that the public and the media responses to the alarming heat and draught in the summer of 1988 in the United States was the main reason for the significant shift of attitudes by policy makers and accelerated political demands (Newell, 2000). Politicians were caught off guard and lacked a thorough understanding of global warming and were forced to succumb to popular concerns. Moreover, studies also show that once the governments address these issues, media coverage declines as a solution is perceived to be in hand (Newell, 2000). Media coverage on climate change can have far reaching impacts on policy makers and public perception of the topic. Concerns over climate change made more than 180 countries sign the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 in Rio de Jeneiro which declared that serious action must be taken against reducing the effects of green house gases on the environment. To this effect, the Kyoto Protocol was signed that legally bound green house gas emission targets for industrialized countries to achieve (Stephen H. Schneider, 2009). The advocates of the Kyoto Protocol celebrated its ratification as the first major step in international climate policy. On the contrary, several opponents rejected the claims made in the Kyoto Protocol to be highly inefficient and impractical. One of the main reasons for this skepticism was that, the majority of the countries that were said to account for the largest emission of green house gases were the developing countries, who refused to become a part of the Kyoto Protocol. Additionally, the United States announced its withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol in 2001 which resulted in many countries renegotiating the claims made in the protocol (Helm, 2005, p. 254). However, peaks in media coverage during this time period directly relate to the importance the Kyoto Protocol held in the media agenda towards media coverage of climate change. In a journal published in Sociology Compass, it was estimated that over 3500 journalists and 400 media organizations from 160 countries were covering issues on climate change during this time. It is also noticed that news coverage significantly increases when climate change is promoted by the politically elite. The release of Al Gore 4s film, An Inconvenient Truth, gained a steady increase in media coverage during 2006 (Anderson, 2009). Over this period, it was recorded that media coverage in Australia, New Zealand, Middle East, Asia, South Africa was also on the rise. Ironically, media coverage on climate issues was comparatively less in developing countries during this same period of time (Anderson, 2009). The fluctuating nature of climate change news coverage over the last several decades is explained in Anthony Downs Issue-Attention Cycle. According to Down, public attention hardly ever remains focused on any one issue for a long time. Each of these problems, remains a central focus for a short time, though still unsolved, slips out of public attention. Down says that the issue-attention cycle is rooted both in the nature of the domestic problems and in the way major communications media interact with the public (DOWNS). Conclusion Climate change is perhaps the most exaggerated and over emphasized natural crises that is mediated today. After decades of analyzing the existence of climate change as a global threat, there are still conflicting views and ambiguity on the true nature of the problem. Concerns about climate change have well been passed down and massively covered by the media in many ways. By large, scientific uncertainty has been the main center of attention and a problem to many environment policy makers. Even if this uncertainty could be articulated explicitly, this problem still poses as a hindrance to policy action and a long term impact on decision making of
West Germany sparked a nationwide peace movement that helped Greens enter the national parliament in 1983 (Conradt). 4 Former Vice President Al Gore is cofounder and Chairman of Generation Investment Management, a firm that is focused on a new approach to Sustainable Investing (Al Gore).

individuals and groups. On the contrary, sometimes uncertainty might be useful to scientists who can serve as an alibi of the lack of policy effectiveness (Wynne, 1996). As seen through the course of the essay, studies of media coverage on climate change have shown that the media adapts the same values and norms just like any other news reporting. Politics, environment policies, geographic proximity, relevance and value are few of the important determinants in the selection of news. News is not merely produced but reconstructed, with several factors taken into consideration. Various media presentations shown are seen to be based less on facts and more on an ideological representation that appeals to a larger audience. The goals associated with these representations are governed by political factors, that have direct and indirect implications on policymakers and scientists. The media controlling political elites will continue to sway the public image and keep the construction of global warming because of the political and economic connotations. Whatever the real risks of climate change maybe, the discourses change from scientists, political actors and media. The segregation of the three classes are deliberately arranged to achieve goals within the respective sectors. For the sake of brevity and simplification, it may be said that in the German discourse on climate change, scientists politicized the issue, politicians reduced the scientific complexities and uncertainties to CO2 emissions reduction targets, and the media ignored the uncertainties and transformed them into a sequence of events leading to catastrophe and requiring immediate action (Peter Weingart, 2000). This converging relationship results in generalization of such a complex issue that requires fresh prospects. Media only reports what they think is worth reporting and politicians only decide on options that let them make decisions. Doubts about the certainty of scientific claims may easily throw their credibility into question (Peter Weingart, 2000). We have to first acknowledge that new approaches are needed to resolve, or progress in the debate. News coverage needs new elements to base their stories around and more journalists should be well versed with the scientific discourses to efficiently participate in the media debate. Bibliography Al Gore. (n.d.). Retrieved from Al Gore: http://www.algore.com/about.html Anderson, A. (2009). Media, Politics and Climate Change: Towards a New Research Agenda. Sociology Compass . Barbara Adam, S. A. (2003). Environmental Risks and the Media. Boyce, T. (2009). Climate change and the media. Brian Dawson, M. S. (2009). The complete guide to climate change. Carvalho, A. (2007). Ideological cultures and media discourses on scientific knowledge: rereading news on climate change. sagepublications . Center, C. T. (2010). Carbon Tax CenterPricing carbon efficiently and equitably. Retrieved from Carbon Tax: http://www.carbontax.org/introduction/ Conradt, D. P. (n.d.). Green Party of Germany. Retrieved from Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/931089/Green-Party-of-Germany DOWNS, A. Up and down with ecology-the "issue-attention cycle". Hansen, A. (2009). Environment, Media and Communication.

Helm, D. (2005). Climate-change policy. Jaclyn Marisa Dispensa, a. R. (2003). MEDIAS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: Focus on Global Warming - A Comparative Study. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy . Lever-Tracy, C. (2010). Routledge Handbook of Climate Change and Society. MacKenzie, D. (2007). 'Nuclear winter' may kill more than a nuclear war. Retrieved from newscientist: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11287-nuclear-winter-may-kill-morethan-a-nuclear-war.html Newell, P. J. (2000). Climate for change: non-state actors and the global politics of greenhouse. Park, C. C. (1987). Acid rain: rhetoric and reality. Peter Weingart, A. E. (2000). Risks of communication: discourses on climate change in science, politics, and the mass media. sagepublications . Poterba, J. M. (1993). Global Warming Policy: A Public Finance Perspective. American Economic Association , 47-63. Stephen H. Schneider, A. R. (2009). Climate Change Science and Policy. Wilson, K. M. (2000). Drought, debate, and uncertainty: measuring reporters knowledge and ignorance about climate change. sage publications . Wynne, S. S. (1996). Representing Uncertainty in Global Climate Change Science and Policy: Boundary-Ordering Devices and Authority. Science Technology Human Values, sage publications . Zehr, S. C. (2000). Public representations of scientific uncertainty about global climate change. sage publications .