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How do the media communicate
the environmental problems?Iosif Botetzagias, Assistant Professor
Department of Environment,
University of the Aegean, Greece,[email protected]
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Do environmental problems exist?
TIME magazine (writing
about Cuyahoga river in
August 1969):
Anyone who falls into the Cuyahoga
does not drown, he decays.
YET.There had been 13 fires over
the last 100 years, and the
1969 was a minor one. So,
why did it get such a cover?
1969
1952
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The mass media affect us but how?
Mass society : the public are like sponges, absorbinganything the media offers.
The hypodermic model: Media = needles, infusing certainmessages into the publics mind- and the latter reacts in
predictable ways. Uses and gratifications theory : why does the public
choose to use the media?
1. Surveillance: I want to know whats going on (I feel more
secure)2. Personal identity: TV characters as role-models
3. Relationships with the media (e.g the elderly) & Buildingrelationships around the media (e.g.family watching)
4. Diversion, fun, chill out
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Critical theory
Political economy: Medias operation is
conditioned by economic interests (e.g. ownership,
advertising, competition etc.)
Structuralism: Its not whatthe media talk
aboutthat is important, but howthey talk aboutit
(the role of symbols or signs).
Cultural studies: Interpreting those signs is a
cultural process which depends on the communal
and personal beliefs.
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How do environmental issues make it
to the media? Some thingsjust happen! (Fukushima nuclear
accident)
Environmental journalists do existand they have
to make a living! (environmental beat).
Yet, most often, it is notthe journalists who
discover a topic- topics come knocking on thejournalists door!
I refer to Press releases and, all more common,
media information packs.
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How do the media choose the news?
Gatekeeping not everything is published/broadcasteda) The role of economic (adverts) & political interests
b) The policy (e.g. Youth-oriented channel) and the ideologyof the media.
c) What is newsworthy?7 basic principlesabout events1. Impact: Are many people affected?
2. Timeliness: Is it fresh news?
3. Prominence: Is it about someone famous?
4. Proximity: Is it about us (village, town, country)?
5. Bizarreness: Man bites dog
6. Conflict: Is there dispute, tension, violence?
7. Currency: Is it related with what is already at front stage?
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Environment as news
Events are in constant and vigorous competition forspace and time in the media.
Environmental events are at a disadvantage since:
They (mainly) have a highly scientific and technicaldimension- thus are not easily comprehensible by thepublic.
The media prefer dramatic and confrontational events-
not slowly evolving controversies.
Thus any coverage of environmental events will besporadic.
Yet, is there a pattern of coverage over time?
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0
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N
umberofArticles
KathimeriniClimate Change Global Warming Sum
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NumberofA
rticles
Eleftherotypia
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Ta Nea
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umberofArticles
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rticles
Eleftherotypia
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Ta Nea
G8 Summit,
Gleneagles, UK3rd IPCCreport JohannesburgSummit
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Downs issue attention cycle (1972)
The publics attention on an env. topic goes through a 5-stages cycle:
1. Pre-problem stage: few know of the problem, fewer worry about it.
2. Alarmed discovery & euphoric enthusiasm: dramatic events bring the
problem to the fore the public feels sure that it will be dealt with now
that it has become known.
3. Realizing the cost of significant progress: Realizing the necessary
changes (and the costs entailed) cool down the publics enthusiasm
4. Gradual decline of interest: People get discouraged, annoyed or bored
5. The post-problem stage: The problem fades away from centre
stage as new problems move in. Sporadic resurgence of concern.
Interest not as low as in 1st phase, now there exist specialized actors
dealing with the problem
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Climate Change in the Greek press
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Eleftherotypia Kathimerini Ta NEA Total
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How do the media present the
environmental news? After a topic/event is selected for being reported,
the journalist must organize its presentation:
1. Select the sources.
2. Select data and quotes.
3. Set up a story around the topic/event.
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On Sources and Data
Sending pretty Press Releases does not guaranteeyou will get published.
Preferred sources are those which the media
consider trustworthy mainly the governmentand scientists.
National newspapers usually dont prefer ENGOs
or grassroots orgs (local newspapers differ) Thus, in big newspapers coverage will more likely
be objective (focus on quantitative data) rather
than subjective (values, quality of life etc.)
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Number of articles and actors involved in the Greek public
debate concerning CC (2001-2008)
Eleftherotypia Kathimerini Ta Nea
N of articles referring to a public debate 266 110 87
N of unique individuals referred to in the articles 136 78 67
affiliated with*: Organizations (of which %): 80 43 45
Political Parties 8.8% 9.3% 11.%
Government 25.0% 37.2% 11.1%
NGOs 10.0% 9.3% 17.8%
Research bodies 16.3% 23.2% 26.7%
Business 10.0% 18.6% 20.0%Participatory venue 5.0% 0% 6.7%
Other
(of which: Unions/Grassroots)
20.0%
(80%)
2.3%
(0%)
6.7%
(33%)
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On setting the story
Most media informants,
offer an all-inclusiveinterpreting package
for any given topic.
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Media Packages (Gamson & Modigliani 1989)
At its core each package has a central idea, or
frame.
Each frame supports a series of kindred positions
on the topic.
The package also includes a number of symbols
which communicate its frame and position in an
easy way.
Packages have to develop and accommodate new
developments if they are to survive (e.g.
Chernobyl Fukushima)
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Packages have signatures
a set of elements that suggest its core frame and
position in a shorthand fashion (e.g. the Domino-
effect for the Vietnam war)
These elements are:
1. Framing devices
Ways of perceiving the topic
2. Reasoning devices
Justifying/supporting the packages
main position.
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Framing devices (e.g. GMOs) Metaphors: imagined events(Pandoras box; Hybris)
Exemplars: historic antecedents (Dollythe sheep)
Catch-phrases:Frankenstein food
Depictions: characterizing opponents/supporters
(The Sorcerers Apprentice)
Images: visuals which suggest the
packages core
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Reasoning devices
Roots: what causes the problem? (The
industries greed; the capitalist system)
Consequences: what will flow from different
policies? (if GMOs are allowed all traditional
crop varieties will become extinct)
Appeal to principles: what is the moral
reasoning for a certain policy? (GMO-food
must carry a label cause I have the right to
know what I am eating)
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The success of each package
depends on
Its Cultural resonance- how does it fit with
general cultural models (e.g. is progressassociated withPrometheus or Frankenstein?).
Its Sponsors: those who promote it in the media
(through interviews, articles etc.)
YET ALSO the Medias practices: trustworthy
sources, hierarchy of sources, balance and
objectivity, journalists own values and agenda.
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So, how do the media influence us?
The press may not be successful much of the time in telling
people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling
its readers what to think about. The world will look
different to different people, depending on the map that is
drawn for them by writers, editors, and publishers of the
paper they read(Cohen, 1963).