Global Narratives of Ecological Modernization: The Construction of Climate Change op-eds in China Daily and the New York Times

Abstract

This study assesses the journalistic sources contributing to international climate change op-eds in tandem with narratives arising from this prominent platform for media elites and institutions. Through a theoretical lens of ecological modernization, this paper conducted a mixed methodological analysis featuring descriptive quantitative analysis and a subsequent narrative analysis. The authors first analyzed a dataset of 305 op-eds published by the New York Times and China Daily between January 2016 and October 2019. The authors also assessed the narratively-constructed themes embedded within selected op-eds leading up to the United States’ departure from the Paris Agreement. These narratives, which featured appeals to a global ecological modernization, are (1) Humankind's shared economic destiny; (2) The new globalization and diplomacy; (3) The looming climate catastrophe. While the New York Times and China Daily featured different op-ed contributors and climate topics, both publications helped to construct larger unifying narratives about the role of climate change in global politics, economy, and society.