Graduation Year
2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Degree Granting Department
Sociology
Major Professor
Jennifer Friedman, Ph.D.
Co-Major Professor
Jamie Sommer, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Melissa Sloan, Ph.D.
Keywords
climate change, emotion, framing analysis, media analysis, qualitative research
Abstract
How the media covers climate change is a crucial issue because it can impact public opinion and influence policy, and local newspapers are an understudied yet essential source of media. Previous media research has utilized framing approaches, considered ideology and hegemony, and begun to seriously examine emotion. The purpose of this research project is to synthesize these approaches to examine how the Tampa Bay Times covers climate change. Using research questions that focus on how the coverage is framed and how emotion is used, I collected two samples of articles from different newspaper sections and conducted textual analysis. I identify four themes that reflect how articles framed climate change coverage: climate change is real, the Anthropocene vs. its alternatives, small picture vs. big picture, and business as usual vs. calls for action. I also describe how emotion is used or not used: emotion is evoked when covering activists and describing disasters, emotion is utilized in contradictory ways among and within articles, and emotion is frequently absent from articles. In the discussion, I argue that the results reflect a “smorgasbord coverage” approach – perhaps a consequence of the Tampa Bay Times’ need to appeal to a wide audience – and discuss the implications of this approach. I also demonstrate how the results connect to and extend previous literature and offer directions for future research.
Scholar Commons Citation
Veeneman, Madison, "Framing, Emotion, and Contradiction in the Tampa Bay Times’ Climate Change Coverage" (2023). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/9941
