A Re-Articulation of the North-South Vertical Global Green Communication Discourse
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―Aswe are, so shall they...‖ A re-articulation of the North-South vertical global green communication discourse A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the Degree of Master of Social Science, in The Centre for Communication, Media & Society, School of Applied Human Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College, Durban, South Africa By Henri-Count Evans 215081374 Supervisor: Professor Ruth Teer-Tomaselli December 2015 COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES Declaration - Plagiarism I ... Henri-Count Evans...declare that 1. The research reported in this thesis, except where otherwise indicated, is my original research. 2. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university. 3. This thesis does not contain other persons‘ data, pictures, graphs or other information, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other persons. 4. This thesis does not contain other persons' writing, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other researchers. Where other written sources have been quoted, then: a. Their words have been re-written but the general information attributed to them has been referenced b. Where their exact words have been used, then their writing has been placed inside quotation marks, and referenced. 5. This thesis does not contain text, graphics or tables copied and pasted from the Internet, unless specifically acknowledged, and the source being detailed in the thesis and in the References sections. Signed ……………………………………………………………………………… Supervisor: ………………………………………………………………………………. i Acknowledgements My profound gratitude goes to my supervisor, Professor Ruth Teer-Tomaselli, whose timely guidance, comments and constructive criticism have made this work enjoyable and possible. Her scholarly support helped me get through the different stages of putting this work together. I am very thankful for her generous help in providing me with very good references whenever the objectives of this study needed them. I would like to register my acknowledgement and appreciation to the Centre for Communication, Media and Society in particular and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in general for granting me the opportunity to study at this premium university of African scholarship. The work has been strenuous, but the continuous encouragements, critical conversations and moral company of my beloved Rose kept me focused. Finally yet importantly, nothing can describe my indebtedness to my family, but I would like to thank them for their unwavering trust. Overall I glorify our Mighty God for his unfailing love and companionship throughout the course. ii Abstract The emergence of a new global discourse on climate change, a discourse that has become both political and ideological, and the realisation that the global media are the dominant providers of global climate change information motivated this study to examine the manner in which climate change issues of the developing countries (global south) are dealt with in selected newspapers in developed countries (global north). The study sought to investigate the manner in which a sample of quality mainstream newspapers from the global north report on, and represent, issues concerning climate change in the global south. The study also explored, through the structural theory of imperialism, how the media, while covering global climate change, consciously or subconsciously can either reinforce or subvert structural inequalities between the global north and the global south, and investigated the flow of information around issues of climate change as they traverse the global north information economy. In order to achieve the above objectives, the study used four newspapers located in the Northern hemisphere, two from the East Coast of the United States (The Washington Post and The New York Times); and two from London in the United Kingdom (The Telegraph and The Guardian). The study took a qualitative methodological approach rooted in the interpretative research philosophy. The news stories for analysis were downloaded from the newspaper websites‘ archives using purposive sampling strategies. Twenty stories focussing on climate change issues in the global south (Southern hemisphere) were chosen for analysis with five stories from each newspaper. The newspaper articles analysed were collected from the newspaper websites through keyword searches. The study used news articles published between March 2014 and March 2015. The study found that the global south is represented in the global north mainstream newspapers as poor countries in need of climate change aid, as barriers to global climate change deals and agreements and also as selfish and insensitive to environmental concerns. The sourcing patterns across all the stories reveal bias towards global north political, scientific and business elites. The stories also sought to advance neo-capitalist interests in dealing with climate change portraying climate change as an opportunity for businesses to harness and not as a threat to humanity. iii Acronyms IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change USA/ US United States of America/ United States UK United Kingdom COP Conference of Parties UN United Nations NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration UNEP United Nations Environment Program USAID United States Agency for International Development CEQ Council on Environmental Quality NWICO New World Information and Communication Order NAM Non-Aligned Movement UNESCO United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNDP United Nations Development Program OPIC Overseas Private Investment Corporation ODI Overseas Development Institute GCF Green Climate Fund iv Table of Contents Declaration - Plagiarism .............................................................................................. i Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... ii Abstract ...................................................................................................................... iii Acronyms ................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ....................................................................................................... v Chapter One: Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Climate change: Severity of the problem .......................................................... 3 1.3 Location of the Study ........................................................................................ 4 1.4 Objectives ......................................................................................................... 7 1.4.1 The objectives of the study are to: ............................................................. 7 1.4.2 Key questions ............................................................................................. 7 1.5 Chapter Outline ................................................................................................. 8 1.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 8 Chapter Two: Review of Literature ............................................................................. 9 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Global Climate Change: A contextual background history ................................ 9 2.3 The Media and Climate Change: A history ..................................................... 10 2.3.1 Issue-Attention Cycles and Climate Change Coverage in the Media ....... 12 2.4 The Media and Global Climate Change .......................................................... 13 2.5 Political Economy of the Media and Climate Change ..................................... 15 2.6 Climate change coverage in the United States and United Kingdom Quality Newspapers .......................................................................................................... 16 2.6.1 Peaks and falls in coverage ..................................................................... 17 2.6.2 Ideological Constructions and Framing of Climate Change ..................... 18 2.7 Representation of the Global South in the Global North media ...................... 22 2.7.1 The media-climate change matrix ............................................................ 25 2.8 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 26 Chapter Three: Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks ........................................ 27 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 27 3.2 Structural Theory of Imperialism ..................................................................... 28 3.3 Capitalist Risk Society and Global Inequality .................................................. 32 v 3.3.1 Global Climate Change Inequalities ......................................................... 32 3.3.2 Inequality in Vulnerability ......................................................................... 34 3.3.3 Inequality in expected