Claims, Frames, and Blame

Abstract

As economies in Southeast Asia develop, there is renewed interest in the impact such growth has on nature. This study seeks to investigate how environmental issues have been covered in the English-language press of the region. Are some countries providing greater print news coverage versus others? Are there detectable patterns or noticeable biases in the coverage? What sources are relied upon in the print media stories? And what frames do we see in the coverage? This study identified general coverage patterns of the environment over a 10-year period (2002-2012), in several of the region’s English-language newspapers. News stories were analyzed to discern the nature of the coverage, coding for several variables as indicated by previous literature. Results indicate that use of the term climate change became preferred over that of global warming. In addition, coverage increased greatly starting in 2006. Government officials were most often the sources quoted within stories (Claims). Articles contained more “judgments” about the issue than “solutions” (Frames). Finally, though most articles eschewed mentioning a specific actor as causing climate change, “man” was implicated in a number of stories more often than simply “nature” (Blame).