Addressing climate change: a media perspective

Abstract

Analysing media coverage can shed light on the politics of climate policy. Conventional notions of how the public sphere represents (or fails to represent) significant social and political issues to citizens are examined. The prominence of global warming stories in the British press is a principal focus. The contours of climate change discourse and the coverage of emissions trading are also touched upon, alongside the political implications that follow. It is then argued that the coverage contributes to a public sphere that is truly international in character but only in a modest way, making political intervention that much more difficult. Climate change policy must take this international public sphere into account if we are to understand how the mitigation of global warming is to be approached and encouraged (and with what limitations).

Keywords:

• media coverage
• climate change
• public sphere
• Britain

Notes

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7287988.stm [Accessed 1 March 2008].

2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7201835.stm [Accessed 1 March 2008].