11: PRINT MEDIA AND CLIMATE CHANGE: A COMPARISON OF THE 1992 RIO SUMMIT AND THE 2009 COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE

Climate change is considered a slow onset hazard — its effects may take decades to become evident, and it often does not demonstrate visible direct impacts. News media is the primary means for public understanding of climate change, yet it is a channel that survives on stories that can be dramatized. This conflict between ‘slow’ climate change and ‘fast’ news media is analyzed through a study on Time magazine, when two momentous climate change events were happening — the 1992 Rio Summit and the 2009 Copenhagen conference. With the passage of almost twenty years between them, a comparative increase in interest was noted; although there was strong indication overall that climate change was most important when considered in the political context. Being an American publication, it was also slightly skewed in favor of domestic politics, with climate change often framed as tool or handicap. The largest difference in context frames was the rise of business interest in climate change, where it was increasingly integrated into strategy and business value. Finally, there was a shift from articles being discussion-oriented (saying) to being action-oriented (doing). As public understanding of climate science is a necessary foundation to creating long-term effective action, governments, and more likely, corporations, need to kick-start the transition to a climate-aware society. At the same time, the media industry needs to play their part in creating accountability, either by boosting its own collective awareness or having peer pressure in the form of an accord.