Vasumati Rao
Research Scholar, Madras Christian
College, Tambaram. Chennai
.
 |
Abstract:
Climate change is one the challenges of the modern era and is
often characterized by changes in the weather pattern over a period of time. The
role of media in highlighting the issue is quite crucial. India and US have
adopted conflicting positions on climate change and the ways to mitigate it.
This study tries to compare and analyze reporting of the issue by two
business newspapers; The Economic Times in India and The Wall Street Journal in
the US
Keywords: Climate Change, Valid Science,
Controversial Science
Introduction
Climate change is a global phenomenon which has gripped the
attention of the whole world. Climate change has found widespread media
attention too. Discussions in the scientific community have pointed to
anthropogenic activity as a major reason for climate change. Since the
industrial revolution, emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
have been high. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (
UNFCCC) has defined it as a change in the climate linked to human activity
either directly or indirectly changing the contents of the atmosphere. Environmental
scientists have sounded alarm on climate change. Mass media have been major
influencers in the society and have often drawn the attention of the society
and the political class. The perception of the problem and the way its
communicated to the general public has major variance across countries and the
role of media in this is quite significant.
Review of Literature
Media has also found itself embroiled in controversy for
either downplaying or exaggerating the issue of climate change. Unlike in most
of the world, US has frequently seen climate change issue downplayed especially
by various pressure groups. P Weingart
et al (2000)1saida group of scientists negating the effects of
climate change were supposedly paid by the strong oil lobby in the US.
Andreas Scmidt ( 2003)2 suggested the mass media is the core of the modern
day society and is greatly responsible for societal discussion of climate
change and for bringing it to fore in politics. For Anderson (2011)3 the mass media is crucial for
increasing awareness in the society. And for Kreisi (2001) mass media discussions and debates is an important
measure of importance of any issue and for the connected views of the society
and its preferences.
Many case studies have appeared in the media on the topic of
climate change but most of them have been either specific to a particular
country or multiple countries together. There has been no comparison of media
coverage of two major democracies in the world; India and the United
States. For Andreas Scmidt the questions explored have different analytical
perspectives, media, frames and also research questions. And hence the results
almost impossible to equate. Eskjaer
(2010)4termed the number of news stories on climate change in
the print media shows the attention of the
nation on the issue, circulation of the newspaper and its financial
condition. But its impossible to conclude if the differences in the media
coverage of climate change in countries across the world is due to the
circulation of the newspaper or because of the importance given to the issue of
climate change in the respective country. Though literature study points to
numerous comparative studies involving various media sources on the topic of
climate change but none in particular is on news stories in the economic
newspapers.
Objectives
1. To find the extensiveness of media coverage preceding and
following the Bonn Climate Change Meet.
2. To find if the media stories have different perspectives
on climate change in the two countries; India and United States of America.
Methodology
The Economic Times is the leading business newspaper in India
and The Wall Street Journal in the US. Business newspapers were chosen for this
study on climate change as industries and businesses are directly and
indirectly impacted by this phenomenon and also considered major contributors
to it. The period of study extends from September 2017 to March 2018. The time
preceding and following the Bonn Climate Change Summit in November 2017 was
chosen for the period of study as the
media activity is expected to be maximum around the time of the event. This
study is a content analysis with 4 frames chosen by extensive literature
review. There is a perceptible difference in the media coverage on climate
change in India and the US as is manifested in the 4 frames.
For Esser &
Hanitzsch(2012)5 the usefulness of a comparative study is well
established as these studies are employed to study the relationship between
various social phenomena. One of the major objective of comparative study is to
compare likeness and differences between social structures. Michael Beck (2004)6stated
comparative research tries to weigh up and dissimilitude countries,
institutions, societies and cultures.
This paper is a comparative study of print media and is an
attempt to compare news stories that have appeared in the leading business
newspaper in India and the United States specific to climate change. The Economic Times in India and The Wall
Street Journal in the United States formed the source of data. Both these
publications are leading economic/business newspapers in respective countries.
The Economic Times is the world’s second most read economic newspaper after the
Wall Street Journal. The readership of The Economic Times according to the
Audit Bureau of Circulation is about 400, 000.
This is published from 12 cities in India and is owned by Bennet,
Coleman & Company Ltd. The Wall Street Journal is American business based,
English language newspaper headquartered in the city of New York. The Wall
Street Journal is the largest circulated newspaper in the United States and
counts almost 30, 0000 people as its subscribers.
The period of the
study extends from September 2017 to March 2018. This time period was chosen keeping
in view the Bonn Climate Change Meet that happened between November 6th
2017 and November 17th 2017. As the meeting happened in November
2017, months preceding and following it were chosen as the frequency of the news
story is generally high around any event.
Data and Analysis
Global warming and
climate change is an issue concerning both the developing and the developed
world, a comparative study of the news stories appearing in countries on
different side of the spectrum will help us understand if the perspective of
the media is same on both side of the world. The perception of the US Government
and its stance on climate change is different from that of the Indian Govt. The
media is often known for its agenda setting function and the tilt of the news
stories might often reflect on the governmental actions.
Extensive literature review helped deduce frames to basically
4 categories. This study has primarily 4 frames; media attention, valid
science, ambiguous cause and effect and the controversial science.
Media attention or climate change
news in the two newspapers
This forms the first frame for analysis. The newspaper analysis showed various topics
connected to climate change, consequence of climate change on certain
geographical areas, habitation, prediction of weather changes and threats, and
various suggestions related to reducing the threat.There are 23 lists in all
for The Economic Times and 19 lists for The Wall Street Journal.
Figure 1
The Economic Times:
Frequency of Articles on Climate Change
Figure 2
The Wall Street
Journal: Frequency of Articles on climate change
Valid Science
The Economic Times
The newspaper stories framed as valid science were
categorical statements or facts based on scientific study. There was no
ambiguity, uncertainty or doubt of the research on climate change or the
definers of climate change. Among the stories that suit the frame of ‘valid
science’ is the article titled ‘Is Climate Change the Culprit Behind Floods and
Farming Woes’ contains data collected by the research team of the IIT. There
are many stories that followed. Story titled ‘Businesses in Country Step Up
Efforts Towards A Greener Environment’ is a commentary on proactive measures by
businesses as appeared in a report by Carbon Disclosure Project India. ‘Climate
Change Might Be Worse Than Believed: Study’ gives an alarming account of
climate change while quoting research of ‘Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology’, ‘French National Centre for Scientific Research’ and the journal
‘National Communications. The article titled ‘ LMDC’s Call for Greater
Attention on Efforts to Tackle Climate Change’ quoted data released by the
United Nations Environment Program in support of its demand for greater efforts
to control climate change. The article titled ‘India Emerging as a Climate Performer
quotes figures published in ‘Nature Climate Change’ as part of the Global
Carbon Budget. On December 20th 2017, an article titled ‘2017 May Be Top
Hottest Years on Record: Study’ appeared in The Economic Times and quoted data
from World Meteorological Department and NASA while Gujarat Ecology Commission
was quoted for the story‘ Scientists Warn of More Cyclones in the Arabian
Sea’. ‘Climate Change Linked to More
Flowery Forests’ quoted the journal ‘Global Change Bilology’. ‘Climate Change
to Impact Agricultural Income by Upto 25%’, according to a economic survey.
‘Climate Change Diet: Arctic Sea Ice Thins So Do Polar Bears’ that appeared on
February 3 2018 discusses research of US Geological Survey. ‘Global Sea Level
Surging at Faster Rate: Study’ quotes researches at University of Colorado.
‘Wacky Weather Makes Arctic Warmer Than Europe’ and quotes Danish Meteorological
Institute. ‘Warming Climate Will Displace Millions in Coming Decades: World
Bank’ appeared on March 19th 2018 and quotes data from the World Bank. ‘India
Most Vulnerable Country to Climate Change’ appeared on March 20th 2018. This
article posted data from the research of HSBC.
Wall Street Journal
The stories titled ‘How Companies Are Pushing Ahead on Climate
Change Targets’ and ‘Federal Climate Expert Rank Last Year Among Three Warmest
in Modern Times’ was based on NASA report on warmer than usual summers in many
parts of the world and also necessitating
action from the industries. ‘Germany Falling Short of Emission Targets’
news report quoted data from the EU.‘A Big Sky Plan to Cool The Planet’ describe
new strategies planned to reduce the effect of global warming as suggested in
research papers published in the journal ‘Earth’s Future’.‘Parched South Africa
Struggles to Avoid Day Zero: Water Shutdown’. This article clearly backs the
theory of climate change leading to water shortage.
Ambigous cause and effects
The Economic Times
These stories don’t have
solid scientific data or a research to conclusively deduce happenings to
climate change. The story titled
‘Nations May Focus on Human and Economic Losses at Climate Talks’ that appeared
on November 6th 2017, while discussing human and economic losses doesn’t back
its story with any scientific research.
‘Climate Change Time is Running Out’ that appeared on Novermber16th 2017
in the Economic Times though mentions the names of few environmental scientists
and their opinion but doesn’t mention any particular study to back its
claims.. ‘Climate Change Pushing Weather
Extremes Off the Scale, Says Global Cities Group’ doesn’t give statistical data to prove its
case. March 15th 2018, ‘Weathering Trump’s Skepticism, US officials Still
Fighting Global Warming’.
Wall Street Journal
‘Cuomo Calls for More Wind Power’,
appeared on January 2nd 2018 doesn’t give any scientific facts in favour of
wind power. Article that appeared on January 25th 2018 titled, ‘Regulation is
Largest Barrier to Solar Power’ doesn’t back any scientific study to support
its story. ‘Climate Change Might Swamp Your Multi Bond Portfolio’ appeared on
February 2 2018.
Controversial
Science
The
Economic Times
This
story titled ‘Its Super Cold in US, Is Global Warming For Real’ questioned the
basic issue of climate change.
Wall
Street Journal
‘Climate Change Hype Doesn’t Help’
appeared on September 17 2017. This is an article by a scientist who downplays role of climate change in the
increase in hurricanes and their devastating consequences on the US mainland.
‘Bad Weather Is No Reason For
Climate Alarm’ and ‘Doomsday Climate Scenarios Are A Joke’
clearly negates the science of climate change.
Conclusion
Climate change is a pertinent topic in the media in
both India and the United States of America. There is increased media attention
around the time of the summit in Bonn in The Economic Times while in the Wall
Street Journal, climate change attracted more attention when some part of the
country was under unprecedented extreme cold spell in January/February. So
though there has been considerable media attention, the reason for this
increased coloumn space is different in both the countries. India’s The
Economic Times has most of the stories under ‘valid science’ and a few under ‘ambiguous
cause and effect and just one under ‘controversial science’. This is basically
reflective of the governmental policy on climate change. Successive governments
in India have recognised and accepted dangerous repercussions of climate
change. India has also been advocating green energy on various platforms. The
United States on the other hand has questioned the science behind climate
change and has even dropped out of climate change agreement. The large number
of stories in the ‘controversial science’ category in tune with their
governmental policy and reflects general apprehension in the society. Future
research could take up intensive analysis of mass media discussions that affect
perceptions in the society and also elicit governmental action instead being
restricted just to the issue of attention.
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