Author:

Keywords:

climate change, conference of the parties, framing, france, media, netherlands, newspaper coverage, united-states, mass-media, news, politics, science, discourses, knowledge, press, Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities, Communication, History & Philosophy Of Science, History & Philosophy of Science, Conference of the Parties, France, Netherlands, NEWSPAPER COVERAGE, UNITED-STATES, MASS-MEDIA, NEWS, POLITICS, SCIENCE, DISCOURSES, KNOWLEDGE, PRESS, Attitude, Climate Change, Humans, Newspapers as Topic, Public Opinion, United Nations, 1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy, 1903 Journalism and Professional Writing, 2202 History and Philosophy of Specific Fields, Science Studies, 4701 Communication and media studies

Abstract:

This study examines the way Dutch and French newspapers frame climate change during the annual United Nations Conferences of the Parties. The methods used in previous studies on the framing of climate change do not allow for general cross-national comparisons. We conduct a quantitative deductive framing analysis on 257 quality Dutch and French newspaper articles between 2001 and 2007. Both countries' newspapers seem to frame climate change through mainly the same lens. The majority of the articles make reference to the consequences of the (non-) pursuit of a certain course of action and of possible losses and gains (consequences frame). Additionally, many articles mention the need for urgent actions, refer to possible solutions and suggest that governments are responsible for and/or capable of alleviating climate change problems (responsibility frame). Finally, the conflict frame was found to be used less often than the aforementioned frames, but more regularly than the human interest frame.