Climate change narratives in Philippine print news media

Abstract

Despite the ample coverage of climate change in the mass media of developed countries and the increasing scholarship on climate change communication, how climate change is covered in developing nations remains understudied. Yet, developing nations are the most vulnerable to climate change effects. An understanding on climate change narratives in these countries may contribute to innovative ways to address this sustainable development issue. In this study, 31 print climate change news articles that were published from 2013 to 2017 in three major Philippine newspapers were analyzed to answer the research question, “What are the climate change narratives that are present in Philippine print news media?” Using close reading techniques and Arnold’s integrated model of cultural narrative analysis, four main narratives were extracted: (1) the narrative of international cooperation with a sub-narrative of internal struggle between climate action and national development; (2) the narrative of government "war" against climate change with three sub-categories: economic aspects, disaster preparedness, and calls for public cooperation; (3) the narrative of climate justice; and (4) the narrative of science as an answer to climate change. In each news story is a layering of the narratives which was made possible by its episodic nature.

Keywords:

• Climate change communication
• climate change narratives
• Philippines
• narrative analysis
• climate change

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Dr. Alexander G. Flor, Dr. Benjamina Paula Gonzales-Flor, and Dr. Joane V. Serrano of the University of the Philippines Open University for their guidance during the conduct of this research study. She is also grateful to the Administrative Council of Central Luzon State University, especially Dr. Danilo S. Vargas, Dr. Tereso A. Abella, Dr. Melissa E. Agulto, Dr. Edgar A. Orden, Dr. Myrna Umagat, and Dr. Renato G. Reyes who gave their support during her masteral studies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.