NEWS ANALYSIS RESEARCH PRESENTATION PROPOSAL Student Name Madeleine - PDF document

Journalism Theory and News Ethics—Bournemouth University ‘NEWS’ ANALYSIS RESEARCH PRESENTATION PROPOSAL Student Name Madeleine Marlow Research Project Title How is Climate Change Represented in UK Broadsheet and Tabloid Newspapers? Research Question How is Climate Change Represented in UK Broadsheet and Tabloid Newspapers? Research Aims and Objectives This study aims to compare and contrast the representations of climate change by broadsheet and tabloid newspapers, specifically The Guardian and The Sun. The study further aims to analyse how the issue of climate change is framed in articles, and whether the public sphere is being fed distorted, inaccurate information. Research into newspaper articles will help uncover how the journalistic qualities balance and impartiality are used by UK press. Context/Background & Rationale The issue of climate change has once again been brought to the forefront, as the Paris Agreement and the 2016 Unites States Presidential Election have highlighted the newest challenges facing climate change. This study will therefore analyze and uncover the ways in which climate change is represented in UK broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. Specifically, aiming to disclose a comparison between The Guardian and The Sun. The media is becoming an increasingly important source of scientific information, and studies have revealed that this information is being significantly misreported (Bell 1994). Journalists’ inaccurate understanding of the scientific consensus exacerbates public confusion (Wilson 2000), thereby preventing any attempts to address the issue (Leiserowitz 2005). Further, the mass media often depict climate change as an area of great scientific controversy, meaning the subject is widely understood in the public sphere as uncertain (Kellstetd, Zahran and Vedlitz 2008). Attachment to journalistic norms, such as balance and framing, is key in understanding the way in which climate change is represented (Boykoff and Boykoff 2007, Trumbo 1996). 1

Journalism Theory and News Ethics—Bournemouth University Literature Review Butler and Pidgeon (2009) reveal the lasting damage that ‘balanced’ coverage has on public perception of climate change, providing this study with valuable insight into the immense influence that media sources have on public understanding. Similarly, Boykoff and Roberts (2007) analyze the effects of giving each side equal attention, finding that climate ‘sceptics’ paralyze public engagement with the issue. These theories aid in formulating a hypothesis for this study. Helping to develop an understanding of the way in which journalists can present climate change as contentious, Boykoff (2007) highlights framing as a tool employed to depict climate science as an area of great uncertainty, despite scientific consensus. Good (2008) elaborates on these findings, discussing framing as a means of serving the elite. Such research can be further developed in this study. Boykoff and Mansfield’s (2008) examination of UK tabloid coverage of climate change is similar to that in this study, and therefore highlights the value that a comparative study between tabloid and broadcast newspapers would be in contributing to investigations of media representations. Earlier research by Taylor and Nathan (2002) looks further at UK newspapers reports, giving detail and clarity to this study. Smith’s (2005) qualitative research explores how climate stories are shaped against a backdrop of time-pressured newsrooms. This research brings to light exactly what drives newsrooms to distort the representation of climate change risks. This is important to consider in this study, as UK newspapers may similarly be pushed to manipulate climate change due to time restrictions (Allan, Adam, and Carter 2000). Methodology and Sources In order to provide a detailed and thorough analysis of the way in which Climate Change is represented in UK newspapers, two research methods will be employed for this study. Firstly, qualitative data will be collected through discourse analysis, as Burke, Welch-Devine, and Gustafson’s (2015) paper reveals the benefits of this research technique. Focusing on news articles related to climate change, the analysis will scrutinize publications by UK broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. The research process will look at any news framing within each article, attempts of balance, and references to the dangers of climate change or actions that need to be taken (Carvalho and Burgess 2005, Doulton and Brown 2009). Secondly, quantitative data will accompany the study, using Krippendorff’s (2012) definition of content analysis to compare and contrast broadsheet and tabloid newspapers in their representation of climate change. Frequency analysis will count the number of articles that include the words “climate change” over a certain period of time (Dotson et al. 2012), uncovering the difference between the two outlets in terms of media attention (Trumbo 1996). 3 2

Journalism Theory and News Ethics—Bournemouth University Ethical Implications Due to the methodology used in this particular research, there are minimal ethical implications to consider. The chosen combination of research methods are strictly text related, and do not involve participants, such as interviews and focus groups. Because of this, there is no ethical implication to be drawn regarding the subject matter. Strengths/Weaknesses of the Project + Addressing an issue that is more vital now than ever before. The research is therefore both timely and topical. + Combined methodology together creates detailed and thorough research, and will therefore contribute to the field of knowledge by filling in research gaps, specifically, questions raised by Alison Anderson (2009). + Focuses on key elements of journalism: balance, framing and impartiality. - Will require a lot of research and will therefore be quite a lengthy process, as the comparative style means analysis is required for both broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. - Findings will be difficult to generalize to the entirety of UK newspapers, as only The Guardian and The Sun will be included. - Does not cover online, broadcast or magazine outlets. References Allan, S., Adam, B. and Carter, C. (2000) Environmental Risks and the Media . Edited by Cardiff School of Social Sciences Barbara Adam. London: Routledge. Anderson, A. (2009) ‘Media, Politics and Climate Change: Towards a New Research Agenda’, Sociology Compass , 3(2), pp. 166–182. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-9020.2008.00188.x. Bell, A. (1994) ‘Media (mis)communication on the science of climate change’, Public Understanding of Science , 3(3), pp. 259–275. doi: 10.1088/0963-6625/3/3/002. Boykoff, M.T. (2007) ‘From convergence to contention: United States mass media representations of anthropogenic climate change science’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers , 32(4), pp. 477–489. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-5661.2007.00270.x. Boykoff, M.T. and Boykoff, J.M. (2007) ‘Climate change and journalistic norms: A case-study of US mass-media coverage’, Geoforum , 38(6), pp. 1190–1204. doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2007.01.008. Boykoff, M.T. and Mansfield, M. (2008) ‘“Ye Olde hot Aire”: Reporting on human contributions to climate change in the UK tabloid press’, Environmental Research Letters , 3(2), p. 024002. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/3/2/024002. Boykoff, M.T. and Roberts, J.T. (2007) Media Coverage of Climate Change: Current Trends, Strengths, Weaknesses . United Nations Development Programme. Burke, B.J., Welch-Devine, M. and Gustafson, S. (2015) ‘Nature talk in an Appalachian newspaper: What environmental discourse analysis reveals about efforts to address Exurbanization and climate 3