Dissertation Abstract
What do newspapers tell us about climate change and food practices? A discursive frame analysis of mainstream Australian and US newspapers.
Mittal, Radhika 2013 http://about.me/radhikamittal
Department of Sociology, Macquarie University (Australia), 438 pp.
This thesis investigates the representation of climate-friendly food practices in four broadsheet newspapers in Australia and United States of America. While a wide variety of research has looked at the development of the climate change discourse in newspapers around the world, less attention has been paid to news coverage of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures. News media communicate risk and inform public understanding, making it essential to examine the messages they transmit, especially on topics of global concern.
Transitioning to environmentally sustainable food production and consumption practices, such as plant-based, organic and local foods, can play a significant role in adapting to and mitigating climate change. This study conducts a quantitative content analysis and a discursive frame analysis to assess the coverage of these three food clusters (plant-based, organic and local foods) in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The New York Times and The Washington Post within a two year time period.
Results are interpreted through frames, themes and a set of categories developed for the purpose. Patterns of coverage across newspapers and food clusters are compared. The analysis identifies new frames and themes in the communication of climate change sustainability. Using complex discourses, newspapers occasionally construct actionable, empowering frames, but mainly generate oppositional, distanced discourses around food and environmental sustainability in the context of climate change. The two U.S.-based newspapers position the impacts of food production and consumption on climate change more accurately than do the Australian newspapers. The representation of local food practices is positive across all four newspapers, while plant-based food practices are poorly presented, statistically as well as through uninspiring frames. Organic (including non-genetically modified) food is also not highlighted as a progressive step in adapting to and mitigating climate change.
This study suggests the need for journalism to re-visit the environmental beat. Accurate news reporting and comprehensive coverage are required to operationalise sustainable food as an environmental imperative. Richer narratives can situate food in the context of climate change and engage with the intersecting intricacies of socio-political, economic, ecological, cultural and humanitarian issues.
Transitioning to environmentally sustainable food production and consumption practices, such as plant-based, organic and local foods, can play a significant role in adapting to and mitigating climate change. This study conducts a quantitative content analysis and a discursive frame analysis to assess the coverage of these three food clusters (plant-based, organic and local foods) in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The New York Times and The Washington Post within a two year time period.
Results are interpreted through frames, themes and a set of categories developed for the purpose. Patterns of coverage across newspapers and food clusters are compared. The analysis identifies new frames and themes in the communication of climate change sustainability. Using complex discourses, newspapers occasionally construct actionable, empowering frames, but mainly generate oppositional, distanced discourses around food and environmental sustainability in the context of climate change. The two U.S.-based newspapers position the impacts of food production and consumption on climate change more accurately than do the Australian newspapers. The representation of local food practices is positive across all four newspapers, while plant-based food practices are poorly presented, statistically as well as through uninspiring frames. Organic (including non-genetically modified) food is also not highlighted as a progressive step in adapting to and mitigating climate change.
This study suggests the need for journalism to re-visit the environmental beat. Accurate news reporting and comprehensive coverage are required to operationalise sustainable food as an environmental imperative. Richer narratives can situate food in the context of climate change and engage with the intersecting intricacies of socio-political, economic, ecological, cultural and humanitarian issues.