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Home , 1970s energy crisis, Artists Against Fracking, Discourse analysis, North Dakota oil boom, Steve Bakken

A Comparative of Media Texts Pertaining to Fracking

in ’s Bakken Region

A dissertation presented to

the faculty of

the Scripps College of of Ohio University

In partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Brian J. Hough

August 2015

© 2015 Brian J. Hough. All Rights Reserved

This dissertation titled

A Comparative Discourse Analysis of Media Texts Pertaining to Fracking

in North Dakota’s Bakken Region

by

BRIAN J. HOUGH

has been approved for

the School of Media Arts and Studies

and the Scripps College of Communication by

Lawrence E. Wood

Associate Professor of Media Arts and Studies

Scott Titsworth

Dean, Scripps College of Communication

ii ABSTRACT

HOUGH, BRIAN J., Ph.D., August 2015, Mass

A Comparative Discourse Analysis of Media Texts Pertaining to Fracking in North

Dakota’s Bakken Region

Director of Dissertation: Lawrence E. Wood

This broadly investigates mediated discourse and knowledge construction among media outlets commonly identified as “traditional” and “new.”

Specifically, this research represents a of fracking in the Bakken shale region of North Dakota. Using qualitative, interpretive methods this dissertation considers what knowledge(s) are constructed, upheld, and silenced in mediated representations of fracking in the Bakken.

This dissertation draws upon a poststructural definition of discourse, which views knowledge and as constructed realities, rather than Real in an objective sense

(Castree, 2001, 2014; , 2010/1972; Hall, 1997). Although the power and resources required to produce discourse is unequal, taken-for-granted ways of thinking and doing are nevertheless always open to challenge from relatively less powerful sources. This is consistent with Foucault’s (1995/1975) conception of power as circulatory and disciplinary, rather than oppressive.

Data for this research come from a mix of “traditional” and “new” media sources.

Some scholars argue that these distinctions become less important in a converged mediascape (Jenkins, 2006). Nevertheless, this research proceeds from the position that

(1) the productive norms of traditional and could result in distinct knowledges and claims to truth, and furthermore (2) current research continues to distinguish between

iii the productive norms and types of knowledge constructed by traditional and new media

(e.g. Geiger and Lampinen, 2014; Kim, 2015). Scholars argue that traditional media represent objective accounts of events, whose texts are undeniably powerful shapers of knowledge, and disseminated by a professional caste culturally sanctioned to report on events, i.e. journalists (e.g. Gerhards and Schäfer, 2010; Lockwood, 2011). Alternately, scholars note that new media, e.g. blogs and social media aggregators, present the lay public and under-represented organizations with productive avenues to challenge the dominant put forth by commercial, mainstream traditional media outlets (e.g.

Atkinson and Rosati, 2009; Kaye and Johnson, 2011; Parker and Song, 2009) Scholars are currently split regarding new media’s potential to substantially offset established traditional media power (e.g. Tang and Yang, 2011; van Dijck, 2009, 2012).

This research takes place within multiple environmental contexts: the United

States recent increase in oil and gas development, oil companies’ global expansion of

“unconventional” extraction practices such as , and global climate change. Given our dependence on myriad forms of media for knowledge of these events, this project’s implications project beyond a regional case study of fracking in North

Dakota.

iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost I would like to thank my wife Gina. Her support, patience, proofreading, and sacrifice throughout this process is simply beyond parallel. Additional accolades go to my immediate family—father Jim, mother Kay, and sister Katie—and family-by-marriage—Richard and Brenda Knapp, and the extended Baartman family.

Thanks for listening to my Bakken ramblings, getting me out of my own head, and supporting me throughout the entire process.

Additional thanks to this project’s advisor Dr. Lawrence Wood. I was slow getting ‘out of the gate’ with this dissertation. I appreciate your patience, tolerance of an anxiety-ridden advisee, superb academic and professional guidance. Thanks also to my committee: Dr. Jenny Nelson, whose office door was always open, and greatly aided my understanding of poststructural theory; Dr. Roger Aden, whose scholarship provided me with new insights on place; and Dr. Harold Perkins, whose discussions of the upper

Midwest made home feel a little less distant.

Finally, thanks to my fellow graduate students and friends who shared this journey. I would specifically like to thank Dr. Greg Newton—watching the Vikings lose is less miserable among friends, wings, and beer. Thanks also to Betsy Pike, who provided good humored perspective throughout the and editing process. Finally, to the proprietors of Avalanche Pizza, and Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery: if carbohydrates are indeed brain food, your respective establishments undoubtedly, and profoundly, contributed to this endeavor’s successful completion.

v TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Abstract ...... iii Acknowledgments...... v List of Figures ...... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 1 Fracking History and Practice ...... 2 Fracking and Oil in North Dakota’s Bakken Region ...... 6 Brief Overview of Remaining Chapters ...... 9 Conclusion to Chapter One ...... 12 Chapter 2: Theoretical Background and Literature ...... 15 Discourse ...... 17 Discourse and Power ...... 20 Discursive Formations and Intertextuality ...... 23 Discourse: Institutions, Ideology, and Hegemony ...... 26 Resources and Resistance ...... 32 Chapter 3: Mediated Discourse ...... 36 Traditional Media ...... 40 Objective Reality and Traditional Media ...... 41 The Question of ‘Who Speaks’ in Traditional Media ...... 43 Traditional Media and Power ...... 46 Alternative Journalism ...... 51 New Media ...... 52 The Web as an Alternative ...... 54 New Media - Blogs ...... 56 New Media Critiques ...... 58 Audience Labor ...... 61 From Audience Labor to Audience Exploitation ...... 62 Controlling User Generated Content ...... 65 Environmental Discourse ...... 67 The Romantic/Resource Binary ...... 70 Nature as Commodity ...... 72

vi Nature and Media ...... 73 Related Scholarship ...... 77 Strategies of Power ...... 78 New Media Complexity ...... 81 ...... 84 Conclusion to Chapter Three ...... 88 Chapter 4: Methodological Approach to This Research ...... 92 Structural and Poststructural Discourse Analysis ...... 93 Procedural Guidelines ...... 94 Sources Utilized in Discourse Analysis ...... 95 Traditional Media: The Talk Radio Program Energy Matters ...... 98 Traditional Media: ...... 100 New Media: Grist ...... 103 New Media: Bakken Watch Facebook Page ...... 104 Chapter 5: Fracking, Media, and Neoliberal Discourse ...... 109 Economic Trends ...... 109 Absence of Critiques ...... 115 Construction of the Individual ...... 119 The State ...... 123 The Localized State ...... 126 Critiques of Neoliberalism ...... 128 Conclusion to Chapter Five ...... 136 Chapter 6: Environmental Discourse ...... 139 Promethean Cornucopia and the Denial of Limits ...... 141 Promethean Technology ...... 146 Promethean Co-Optation of Environmental Concern ...... 149 Administrative Rationalism ...... 152 Blaming Industry and the Local State ...... 157 Beyond Fossil Fuels ...... 161 Conclusion to Chapter Six ...... 165 Chapter 7: Cross-Media Analysis ...... 168 Energy Matters ...... 168 The New York Times ...... 172

vii Grist ...... 175 Bakken Watch Facebook Page ...... 178 Topical Homogeneity ...... 185 Discursive Silences ...... 187 Conclusion to Chapter Seven ...... 192 Chapter 8: Review and Conclusion...... 194 Project Execution and Discursive Differences ...... 200 Final Thoughts and Path Forward ...... 203 References ...... 209

viii LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1: Fracking Illustrated: A Guide to Shale Oil Extraction. © Popular Mechanics, 2012...... 4

Figure 2: Grist representing North Dakota's economy. © The Atlantic Monthly Group, 2013...... 110

Figure 3: Photograph representing low . © The New York Times Company, 2008 ...... 113

Figure 4: Bakken Watch Facebook Page critique of Lynn Helms...... 132

Figure 5: Challenging discourses of wealth and prosperity. © The New York Times Company, 2014 ...... 133

Figure 6: Perceived misplacement of North Dakota priorities. © NBC Universal, 2014 ...... 136

Figure 7: Flaring from space. © Al Jazeera America LLC, 2014 ...... 143

Figure 8: The "new oilfield," via Saf T Compliance International's Facebook page ..... 152

Figure 9: Grist visually represents North Dakota government secrecy ...... 176

Figure 10: Theodore Roosevelt "argues" for oversight ...... 181

Figure 11: Communicating enviro/industrial tension ...... 182

Figure 12: A counter-economic visual ...... 183

Figure 13: Distant oil-by-rail accidents seem closer during some morning commutes .. 201

ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study is to explore mediated knowledge constitution relating to a particular and place: namely fossil fuel extraction in western North Dakota’s

Bakken region. The range of media sources analyzed in this study include what are now commonly understood as “traditional” media, such as film, newspapers, broadcast television, and radio, as well as “new” media, such as blogs and social media outlets such as Facebook. While there has been some tendency to view traditional and new media in binary terms (see Westphal, 2009 for writing indicative of the binary view), scholars such as Henry Jenkins (2006) argue that the traditional-new media binary is better understood as being collapsed into a converged mediascape in which distinctions between

“traditional” and “new’ media become less distinct. This dissertation’s research begins with the assumption that both views are potentially correct, in that the mediascape may indeed be converging—e.g. users access both blogs and traditional journalism texts online, traditional news outlets utilize blog-derived comment features, and social media outlets such as Facebook aggregate all these texts in a single location.

However, some fundamental distinctions nonetheless exist when comparing the two (e.g. Geiger and Lampinen, 2014; Kim, 2015; Lang, 2015 for recent overviews). In particular this study seeks to examine whether there are identifiable and reasonably consistent differences between traditional and new media in relation to how texts are produced, the truth they claim, and the knowledge they produce. As subsequent sections outline, the productive norms between traditional and new media are different, and scholarship seems split as to new media’s potential to truly disrupt established systems of

1 power (Denskus and Esser, 2013; Tang and Yang, 2011; Simpach, 2005; van Dijck,

2009, 2012).

This introductory chapter begins by providing a brief overview of the history and practice of hydraulic fracturing (henceforth: fracking), including current practices, concerns, and technologies used.1 It then provides a brief overview of contemporary issues surrounding fracking in North Dakota’s Bakken Region. The remainder of this introduction then previews subsequent chapters. These chapters include, among other things, an overview of theoretical considerations that formed the basis for this study, scholarly work directly related to this research, an overview of the methodological approach to this dissertation, results chapters, and finally a discussion/conclusion.

Fracking History and Practice

Montgomery and Smith (2010) trace fracking’s development back to the mid-19th century practice of well “shooting,”—firing explosive liquid into oil wells to increase oil flow, which gave way to “pressure parting,”—injecting non-explosive acid into wells to achieve the same end, in the 1930s. Amoco Oil began experimenting with fracking in the

1940s, with the first experimental site going online, in southwest Kansas, in 1947.

Although results were negligible, Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company obtained a patent, and exclusive rights to “hydrafrac.” The first commercial fracking ventures occurred in Oklahoma and , both on March 17, 1949. The number of fracked wells continued to increase over time, with 3,000 new wells per month coming online in the mid-1950s, and over 50,000 by 2008. Montgomery and Smith’s (2010) global estimate

1 Fracking, with a “k,” is consistent with media usage, although oil workers contend fracing—with no “k”—represents proper usage. 2 now rests at nearly 2.5 million fracked wells, with 1.1 million wells in the

(Halliburton 2013; Shell South Africa, n.d.), and nearly 8,500 total wells currently operating in North Dakota (Helms, 2013). On average 35,000 new wells appear in the

United States every year (Shell South Africa, 2011). FracFocus (2013a) cites industry experts who believe that 60 to 80 percent of all domestic oil and gas wells will be fracked in the next decade, while Halliburton (2013) estimates 90 percent of new oil and gas wells will remain viable only if fracked, thus the practice seems poised to continue for some time.

Fracking is classified as an “unconventional” resource extraction method

(Halliburton, 2015). Conventional extraction methods remove oil from pools, held in place by impermeable rock layers (Duncan, 2012). Fracking allows energy companies to remove oil and natural gas from within the rock itself—as is the case in western North

Dakota’s Bakken region, in which oil and gas is distributed within, not on top of, deep rock formations (Duncan, 2012). Because the layer of subterranean rock containing the oil or gas is often narrow, technological innovations such as horizontal drilling, which requires a 90-degree turn off the vertical well, allows extraction along the length of a deposit, making this method of collection more efficient than drilling a series of vertical shafts (see figure 1).

3

Figure 1: Fracking Illustrated: A Guide to Shale Oil Extraction. © Popular Mechanics, 2012

There are three primary components involved in the fracking process: chemicals

(sometimes referred to as fracking fluid), water, and proppant (sometimes referred to as sand). FracFocus—a corporative website maintained by state water officials and the

Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission—lists 59 chemicals commonly used in the fracking process, most of which fall under one of six use categories:

1. Acids: Help dissolve minerals, remove excess cement and debris, and initiates

fractures within rock.

2. Biocides: These chemicals control bacterial growth, and help inhibit

corrosion.

3. Corrosion Inhibitors: Used in conjunction with acids to prevent pipe

corrosion.

4 4. Friction Reducers: Decreased pumping friction results in less well pressure,

and decreased emissions from pumps.

5. Gelling Agents: Serve to improve proppant placement, decrease water use,

and increases natural gas recovery

6. Oxygen Scavengers: Decrease risk of pipe corrosion due to oxygen, thus

increasing the overall integrity of the fracked well. (FracFocus, 2013b)

From a hydrologic perspective, conventional oil wells require approximately 60 thousand gallons of water, but fracking wells require between three and seven million gallons of water per well, thus the process is quite hydro-intense (Gibson, 2013; Risser,

2012; Royte, 2012). The third component utilized in fracking, proppant (sand), is a granular material which holds cracks and fissures open. Typical fracking wells require

100 thousand pounds of proppant, while “extreme” wells require up to five million pounds (Montgomery & Smith, 2010).

United States Geological (USGS) hydrologist Dennis Risser (2012) notes that because each fracking site is unique, discussing the practice in general terms sometimes proves difficult. Nevertheless, he observes that between five and 15 percent of all material (i.e. chemicals, water, and proppant) injected into a well comes back up, bringing with it additional earth elements. This material is called flowback, brine, or produced water. Contrary to USGS flowback estimates, journalistic accounts cite flowback volumes as high as 70 percent (Royte, 2012). Specific flowback amounts notwithstanding, disposal of flowback is an evolving component of fracking practice.

Some companies inject flowback into deep underground wells for disposal, which can apparently cause earthquakes (Leith, 2012). Another option is to treat and recycle the

5 flowback for reuse at other fracking sites (Risser, 2012). In other instances, flowback is stored in lined, above-ground pits which, critics contend, sometimes leak and risk contaminating land and water. These disposal and reuse strategies replace the earlier practice of treating flowback at municipal water plants, which are ill-equipped to process many of the chemicals and elements contained in the liquid (Risser, 2012).

Although fracking is over 60 years old the phenomenon is relatively new to public consciousness (Montgomery & Smith, 2010; Russ, 2012; Wolfgang, 2012). This new awareness is due to increased deployment of the technology, constituting a new niche within the extractive industries (Shell South Africa, n.d.). Increased fracking awareness also results from heightened scrutiny from news organizations (Russ, 2012), and from entertainment media texts—e.g. Matt Damon’s recent film Promised Land, and high profile anti-fracking groups like Artists Against Fracking, which counts ,

Hugh Jackman, , and as members (Wolfgang, 2012). Indeed, fracking has become a controversial practice in many parts of the country, which also lends to its visibility. Contention surrounding fracking within the context of this study is elaborated upon in Chapter Three.

Fracking and Oil in North Dakota’s Bakken Region

The oil industry arrived in North Dakota in 1916, and North Dakota became an oil-producing state when the Amerada Company struck oil on Henry O.

Bakken’s farm in 1951 (Dalrymple, 2012; Robinson, 1995/1966). The Amerada well produced over 255 thousand barrels of oil during its lifetime, a satisfactory amount for a vertical well of the day (Dalrymple, 2012). By the early 1960s North Dakota ranked tenth among oil producing states, extracting approximately two million barrels of oil per month

6 (Robinson, 1995/1966). After numerous cycles of and bust, North Dakota’s oil and gas industry is currently booming again (Bump, 2012d). The North Dakota

Petroleum Council’s (2012) official statistics for 2011 reported production of over 416 thousand barrels per day. As of February, 2015, North Dakota reported 9,166 active wells, with daily total oil production over 1.1 million barrels (North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, 2015).

Activities in the Bakken seem poised to continue for decades despite North

Dakota’s traditional mining impediments of extraction cost, challenging geology, and lack of distribution infrastructure (Robinson, 1995/1966). One factor contributing to the

Bakken’s projected longevity is the amount of recoverable oil. LeFever and Helms (n.d) summarize multiple estimates of recoverable oil, citing figures as low as 3.64 billion barrels (BBbls), and as high as 501 BBbls. The current USGS estimate of recoverable oil is 7.4 BBbls; the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources estimates between 11 and 16 BBbls; and Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm estimates 24 BBbls

(Dalrymple, 2013). Assuming market conditions remain favorable, global demand remains high, and the estimated need for 35 to 40 thousand wells to fully exploit the

Bakken is accurate, oil extraction could realistically last between 20 and 45 years

(Brown, 2013).

As long as demand and oil prices remain high, unconventional deposits such as those found in the Bakken will remain financially attractive investments. Despite growth in renewable energy, fossil fuels dominate both domestic and global energy use. In the

United States, oil and gas supply approximately 25 percent of our energy (Duncan, 2012), with renewables accounting for slightly more than 12 percent (Rosenthal, 2013). A recent

7 International Energy Agency (2012) report notes that “[d]espite the growth in low carbon sources of energy, fossil fuels remain dominant in the global energy mix, supported by subsidies that amounted to $523 billion in 2011, up almost 30% on 2010 and six times more than subsidies for renewals” (p. 1).

In some ways fracking in North Dakota differs relative to fracking in other locations. For example, drilling depths in North Dakota tend to be deeper—often between

8,000 and 10,000 feet—than extraction sites in other states (Ruggles, 2012; Spikes,

2012). Other factors making the Bakken unique relative to other United States fracking sites include (1) fracking in North Dakota primarily produces oil, as opposed to natural gas; and (2) the Bakken relies on horizontal drilling, at distances up to 10,000 feet away from from the vertical well, more so than other shales (Spikes, 2012).

On the other hand, the socioeconomic impacts of fracking in North Dakota are similar to other sites of fossil fuel extraction. Seydlitz and Laska (1993) observe that, historically, the combination of high wages and in-migration impact energy industry boomtowns in numerous social contexts such as increased crime, changing norms of educational attainment, availability of community services, and cost of living. To this list

Bakken residents add housing shortages, a seemingly ironic complication given western

North Dakota’s traditionally sparse population. Bakken communities, slow to embrace the oil boom due to skepticism born of prior boom/bust cycles, are pressed for affordable housing, schools, services, and infrastructure for families and individuals moving to the area in search of, or as a result of, new jobs. People who cannot find housing often live in

RVs or in their car. Those who do find housing encounter rents exceeding those found in

Boston or New York City—a one bedroom apartment in Williston rents, on average, for

8 $2300 per month, compared with ’s $1814 per month and New York City’s $1789 per month (Falk, 2012, see also Bump, 2013b, 2013c; Davey, 2010; Upton, 2014d).

According to Apartment Guide, Williston, North Dakota is now the most expensive place in the country to rent an entry level apartment (Craig, 2014). These facts have led to the displacement of long-time residents, including those on low or fixed incomes, who either can no longer afford to live there, or simply wish to escape the influx of activity. That said, these challenges exist amid low unemployment, high wages, and record state budget surplus (Hendricks, 2012; North Dakota Petroleum Council, 2013). Such is the complex, ambiguous state of affairs this study proposes to examine by way of mediated discourse.

Brief Overview of Remaining Chapters

The next chapter begins by reviewing the relationship between media and discourse, citing scholars who argue that traditional and new media are two primary ways institutions and individuals discursively constitute objects and produce knowledge. The next section of Chapter Two discusses discourse in a theoretical sense, distinguishing between structural, linguistic understandings of discourse, and Foucault’s (2010/1972) poststructural, social approach which views discourse as a phenomenon greater than language alone, and saturated with power. Chapter Two’s conclusion summarizes key concepts associated with discourse analysis, namely power, truth regimes, discursive formations, and intertextuality.

Chapter Three further specifies issues associated with relationships between media and discourse, in part by distinguishing between traditional and new media.

Broadly speaking, media represent one element within the phenomenon of discourse; but, media is a particularly potent discursive element because we are encouraged to consume

9 great quantities of media texts (Anderson, 1997; Fairclough, 1992; Hall, 1997;

Silverblatt, 2004). Rose (2001) argues that institutions, in general, deploy knowledge in such realistic ways that consumers often uncritically accept that knowledge. Scholars further observe that texts originating from media institutions meet with uncritical acceptance because media texts (1) employ ideological conforming to culturally accepted notions of good or proper thinking, and (2) media consumers exist at some distance—physical, conceptual, cultural—from mediated representations, thus accepting them at face value (Murphy, 2011).

Amongst other things, Chapter Three also examines environmental discourse, focusing on media discourses which constitute environmental meaning and promote action toward the natural world. Where some scholars present multiple environmental discourses (Cronon, 1996; Dryzek, 1997), other scholars argue that media texts construct nature in binary terms—nature-as-romantic, or nature-as-resource. Still other researchers perceive this binary as false, arguing that underlying, often silent, themes of capitalism and consumption persist in all environmental discourse (Ghose, 2011; Hodgins and

Thompson, 2011; McCarthy, 2008; Meister and Japp, 2002). Chapter Three concludes by identifying other relevant research and empirical findings, and also reviews scholarship pertinent to neoliberalism—which represents the dominant theme present in this dissertation’s findings. Overall, the next two chapters of this dissertation provide a review of the main theoretical considerations, along with the key empirical scholarship, that informs this work.

Chapter Four reviews discourse analysis as an analytical method. Chapter Four begins by contrasting discourse analysis with other methods often utilized in the study of

10 texts—namely textual analysis and . Next, Chapter Four further investigates methodological considerations in executing a socially-oriented, poststructural discourse analysis versus more structural, linguistically-oriented projects. Subsequently,

Chapter Four provides additional context regarding oil extraction in western North

Dakota before proposing four specific data sources for this project: a local radio program,

Energy Matters, and a sampling of Bakken-related articles from the New York Times represent traditional media; Grist, an environmental blog, and a Facebook page maintained by an organization called Bakken Watch comprise the new media portion of this study.

Chapters Five, Six, and Seven comprise the results sections of this research.

Chapter Five presents neoliberal themes within this dissertation’s data set. Discourse of this type emphasizes monetary gain, growth, and job creation while constituting state (i.e. federal) regulation as excessive (e.g. Harvey, 2005; Peck and Tickell, 2002; Tickell and

Peck, 2003). Neoliberal co-optation of culturally established discourses is another hallmark of neoliberalism Chapter Five explores. Specific co-opted discourses highlighted in Chapter Five include the American Dream (i.e. material possession, making one’s own way) and discourses of the frontier (i.e. pioneers staking their claim in wild, untamed surroundings). Finally, Chapter Five concludes with a section highlighting critiques of dominant neoliberal discourse.

Chapter Six focuses on various environmental discourses within the dataset.

Contrary to environmental discourses which view humanity and nature as symbiotic, e.g. green romanticism (Dryzek, 1997) or universal nature (Castree, 2014), results in Chapter

Six invariably construct humanity as hierarchically above the environment. Two

11 environmental discourses emerge as dominant: Promethean—which constructs the environment as nothing more than raw matter for human use and transformation; and administrative rationalist—which constructs experts and state bureaucracy, rather than individuals, as active agents, while further noting tension between state regulators and industrial practitioners in environmental matters (Dryzek, 1997). Chapter Six also includes examples of environmental discourse expressing less extractive relationships between humans and the natural world. Similar to Chapter Five, few results in Chapter

Six critique taken-for-granted consumptive practice, but some texts in Chapter Six nevertheless represent the strongest counter-discourses to oil extraction and fossil fuel use within the data set.

Chapter Seven shifts from predominant themes within media samples to discussions of the media outlets themselves. After reviewing each media source, I will argue that Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page exhibit an epistemic dependence on other media, especially traditional mainstream media. Their dependence limits each source’s counter-discursive potential, and further results in topical homogeneity, i.e. very few topics gain traction across this dataset. Because so few topics are visible, Chapter

Seven includes numerous invisible, or silent, topics of note. Finally, Chapter Eight concludes this dissertation by reviewing previous chapters, and discussing differences between traditional and new media within the context of this dissertation’s .

Conclusion to Chapter One

Studying media’s discursive constitution of oil and gas extraction in North Dakota is significant for many reasons. Popular culture texts are a primary source of ,

12 through which meaning is constructed, reinforced, and/or modified (Meister and Japp,

2002). Such artifacts include news media, but also entertainment media which, arguably, reinforce entrenched ways of (consumerist) thinking and behaving (Eriksson, 2008;

Murphy, 2011). Scholars further argue that media discourse encourages consideration of media production and consumption. For instance, Lou (2010) writes that the “material means of presentation,” e.g., a glossy magazine versus cheaply printed fanzine, or a professionally-produced network news piece versus local cable access production, point toward productive resource inequality (p. 629), while also giving clues as to both intended audience and how the discourse is likely received (Waitt, 2005).

Furthermore, activities in the Bakken represent an opportunity to study discourse in a multi-faceted, currently unfolding circumstance with regional, national, and global significance. Powerful proponents and detractors of fracking discursively craft supportive to their , and mindful examination of inclusion and exclusion, of voice and silence, revealing underlying workings of power and ideology contained within texts originating in, or about, fracking activities western North Dakota. Fracking proponents and detractors alike cite conflicting, or selective, “truths” and “facts” supporting their claims for or against the practice. How are we to interpret such claims, which are often in clear contrast with one another and make similar truth arguments (e.g. both - and anti-fracking groups cite scientific studies)? This project utilizes discourse analysis in engaging questions of power, knowledge, truth, and ideological motivation present in mediated messages pertaining to the Bakken oil boom currently underway in western North Dakota.

13 Perhaps the most significant aspect of this study is that it examines fracking – a major, contemporary environmental issue – in the context of what is understood as traditional as well as new media, both of which have continued to considerably evolve over the past two decades. Given the somewhat rapid and ever-changing nature of media and related content, the comparative discourse analysis of mediated constitutions of fracking as offered through this project provides an opportunity to examine a number of scholarly debates that are in need of ongoing examination, especially in a media context marked by rapid change.

Previous scholarship reviews media’s role in numerous constitutive contexts. For example, research has examined how media plays a role in producing knowledge of peripheral “others” (e.g., Jansson, 2003; Avrahm and Frist, 2006; Eriksson, 2008). In relation to environmental issues in particular, research has examined, for example, media’s relationship to fossil fuel extraction by highlighting hegemonic campaigns designed to shift public knowledge and perception in favor of oil companies

(Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Murphee and Aucoin, 2010). Studies have also examined discursive co-optation, such as extractive industries’ adaptation of counter- discursive terms such as “renewable,” “sustainable,” or “environmentally friendly” in an attempt to garner public support for their practices (Jensen, 2012). Building on such research and similar types of work, this dissertation examines how outlets across the traditional-new media continuum constitute knowledge related to fracking.

14 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE

This chapter begins by discussing media’s intersection with discourse. Media represent a powerful social institution, in some cases replacing more traditional institutions such as religion, schools, and family which partially constitute proper cultural thought and behavior (Silverblatt, 2004). A constitutive understanding of discourse opposes the notion that objects have an objective, inherent, or singular meaning representable by language (Gill, 2000; Hall, 1997). Scholars express this idea by describing discourse as actively constituting reality versus passively reflecting reality

(Berg and Kearns, 1996; Castree, 2001, 2014; Cronon, 1996; Fairclough, 1992; Hall,

1997; Waitt, 2005). It is understood that objects do have a material existence outside of discourse, but objects lack meaning outside of discourse. Thus, media discourses actively produce meaning (Chanan, 2005; Fairclough, 1992; Hall, 1997; Storey, 2009).

This study examines discourse in both traditional and new media. Scholars broadly characterize traditional media as an authoritative, modernist discourse produced by a professional cast, confident in its capacity to reflect an objective reality, while offering little opportunity for audience input (Gerhards and Schäfer, 2010; Lockwood,

2011; Sovacool, 2008; Wall, 2005). Scholars further argue that traditional news media produces truth and knowledge because 1) journalism’s objectivity equates to credibility;

2) media consumers lack expertise in, or experience with, media depictions; 3) consumers accept news reports as true simply because they appear on, for example, CNN or a trusted newspaper (Balaji, 2011; Castree, 2014; Ewalt, 2011; Goldman and Papson, 2011;

Meister and Japp, 2002; Mitra and Watts, 2002; Muprhy, 2011). These culminate in media representations serving as a proxy for lived experience (Castree, 2014). That said,

15 a recent study from the Pew Research Center (2013) shows consumers are increasingly distrustful of, or dissatisfied with, traditional news and media, and therefore seek alternatives to traditional media.

An alternative to traditional media is new media. In contrast to traditional media,

Wall (2005) characterizes new media as a postmodern, open, and participatory discourse in which authors and audiences co-create meanings. Anyone with Internet access, regardless of professional credentials, theoretically produces meaning via the creation and consumption of new media texts. Scholarship relating to the efficacies associated with new media has mixed conclusions. Some early research highlights the emergence of

Web-based communities, and views new media production as a counter-hegemonic shift in power from corporate media to everyday citizens (Atkinson and Rosati, 2009; Mitra and Watts, 2002; Warf and Grimes, 1997). Meanwhile, more recent research questions the degree to which Web-based production challenges institutional power, arguing instead that new media’s promise of creative freedom results in free labor, content control, and surrendering of profitable meta-data, all of which sustain power imbalances between media institutions and the general public (Fisher, 2012; Örnebring, 2008; van

Dijck, 2009, 2012; Wardle and Williams, 2010).

As traditional media brands further colonize the Web, some researchers observe that although new media’s egalitarian potential is encouraging, scholars must go beyond asking questions such as ‘who speaks,’ and ask less superficial questions such as ‘who is actually heard’ (Burgess, 2006; Castree, 2014; Parker and Song, 2009). Most new media products remain invisible without exposure from traditionally powerful media (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Castree, 2014; Mitra and Watts, 2002; Tang and Yang, 2011). This

16 highlights a complex relationship between traditional and new media. On one hand, the potential for self-representation and expression of alternative viewpoints among traditionally marginalized groups exists (Parker and Song, 2009; Mitra and Watts, 2002;

Rochet, 2007; Warf and Grimes, 1997). On the other hand, new media outlets, and blogs in particular, often establish credibility by linking to traditional media reports (Reese,

Rutigliano, Hyun, and Jeong, 2007; Wall, 2005), thereby amplifying traditionally powerful media voices (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Kenix, 2009).

A more in-depth discussion of traditional and new media follows later in Chapter

Three, including relevant literature pertaining to mediated discourses of nature and the environment. Before establishing the particulars of media and discourse, however, this chapter proceeds as follows: first, a general definition and overview of discourse analysis; next, a review of key concepts associated with discourse analysis, including power, regimes of truth, discursive formations, and intertextuality as these concepts underpin discourse as a theory and help guide analysis; third, a discussion of discourse in service to power, including the role institutions, ideology, hegemony, and access to productive and distributive resources play in textual production—both in service to power, but also as a means to craft counter-discourses resistant to established platforms of power.

Discourse

Scholars have used the term discourse to describe a of phenomena and practices. Historically discourse denoted rhetoric or language in which discourse is composed of small pieces of information aggregating to form a common worldview

(Dryzek, 1997; Meister and Japp, 2002; O’Farrell, 2005). Other early research focused on

17 structural discourse—e.g. analyzing and linguistic rules, essentially asking

“who said what to whom, where, when, and how,” (Lees, 2004, p. 103; see also

Fairclough, 1992). An alternate strand of discourse analysis focuses on wider constitutions, asking how power influences and constitutes knowledges of objects and subjects, with some discourses becoming taken-for-granted. Various scholars move beyond grammatical and linguistic structure in defining discourse as groups of statements that establish rules regarding definition of objects, norms of behavior, and specific types of knowledge (Castree, 2001, 2014; Foucault, 2010/1972; Hall, 1997; Rose, 2001; Waitt,

2005). Still others look toward discourse and its relationship to action, understanding performative discourse as the intersection of texts, production of those texts, and resulting social practice—e.g. acting in such a way as to recognizably “belong” to a particular discourse (Eriksson, 2008; Fairclough, 1992; Gee, 2005). The intersection of discourse and action highlights one way in which discourse is dialectic—texts not only influence action, but come into being via action (Fairclough, 1995; Hall, 1997; Jensen, 2012;

Meister & Japp, 2002; Rose, 2001). As Tuan notes, “ alone cannot materially transform nature, [but] it can direct attention . . . make things formerly overlooked—and hence invisible and nonexistent—visible and real” (1991, p. 685). This speaks to the power of discourse to not only constitute meaning, but form material outcomes

(Fairclough, 1992; Hall, 1997).

Thus, the common understanding of discourse as used in and similar types of academic research, is that language and texts (broadly defined) are infused with power, are produced by a small number of powerful actors, constitute subjects and meaning, result in particular knowledges, and promote certain ways of

18 behaving—this is consistent with a poststructural approach to discourse analysis (Castree,

2001, 2014; Cronan, 1996; Fairclough, 1992, 1995; Foucault, 2010/1972; Jensen, 2012;

Hall, 1997; Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005). Rooted in Foucauldian thought, poststructural discourse analysis “investigates the rules about the production of knowledge through language and its influence over what we do” (Waitt, 2005, p. 164; see also Hall, 1997).

McHoul and Grace (1993) trace Foucault’s approach to his break from formal language studies, and corresponding interest in French philosophy and critical discourse theory, which explores the history of ideas rather than language. It is therefore statements, not structural characteristics of language and grammatical rules, which comprise discourse

(Fairclough, 1992). Statements differ from language in that 1) non-linguistic texts such as maps, tables, charts, and other representations of statistical data qualify as statements, and

2) statements, unlike language, do not adhere to predictable grammatical rules (McHoul

& Grace, 1993).

A poststructural approach further views discourse as larger than written or spoken alone; discourse is a holistic phenomenon greater than the sum of its individual parts (Eriksson, 2008; Foucault, 2010/1972; Hall, 1997; Jensen, 2012). A singular text or document generally lacks the power and influence to alter discourse or taken-for-granted knowledge, but numerous statements circulating in concert become potent tools and generators of knowledge, speaking to the intertextuality of discourse (see below). Rules governing discursive production differ according to myriad factors including ideological stance, institutional norms, or personal experience (McGregor, 2003). Furthermore, discourses’ meanings change over time, as do rules dictating who can make statements, and what those statements can say (O’Farrell, 2005). Finally, scholars note that

19 Foucault’s poststructural approach does not promote limitless interpretations or meanings, because various structures and other manifestations of power dictate both textual production—e.g. what can be said—and range of potential interpretations—e.g. what can be thought (Hall, 1997; McHoul and Grace, 1993). The following sections highlight key concepts associated with a poststructural approach to discourse analysis.

Discourse and Power

Thompson (1995) describes power as “the ability to act in pursuit of one’s aims and interests, the ability to intervene in the course of events and to affect their outcome”

(p. 13). Or, as Castree (2014) similarly argues, power represents the unequally-distributed capacity to influence the material world “in non-trivial ways” (p. 183). Indeed, power relations saturate our lives—from the private sphere of the family, to more public spheres of the workplace, politics, and law (Hall, 1997). Scholarly conceptions of discursive power view it not as a visible manifestation of oppression or violence, but rather as a mechanism which inhabits institutions and individuals, thereby conditioning thought and disciplining action (Castree, 2014; Fairclough, 1992; Foucault, 1995/1975; Hall, 1997;

Laughey, 2007; Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005). Foucault’s classic example stems from his study of punishment and the prison, noting the institutional shift from public displays of violent punishment to “hidden” forms of punishment. Hidden power is effective,

Foucault writes, because subjects fear the inevitability of punishment; “it is the certainty of being punished and not the horrifying spectacle of public punishment that must discourage crime” (1995/1975, p. 9). In lieu of public punishment, prisons relied on panoptic surveillance—the threat of being caught in some unacceptable behavior—to maintain order. In similar fashion power, emanating from institutions and other

20 authoritative bodies, circulates and disciplines subjects’ behavior by defining “normal” or

“unacceptable” thought and action (Rose, 2001; Storey, 2009). Of particular interest to this study is power’s relationship to knowledge. Fairclough (1992) articulates a “dual relation” between power and knowledge in society as a whole: power develops based on generated knowledge, but power is also exercised in the process of gathering knowledge.

Knowledges proclaimed by certain discourses achieve dominance via two interrelated occurrences. First, they often originate within powerful institutions; second, these discourses speak with authority, and are therefore accepted as true (Rose, 2001; Waitt,

2005). The means by which discourses claim truth is known as a regime of truth.

Numerous scholars state that truths in discourse are historically contingent and somewhat relative, because truths claimed by discourse need not be objectively true, but thought of as true (Hall, 1997; Storey, 2009; Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005). Hall elaborates, saying “[k]nowledge linked to power not only assumes the authority of truth, but has the power to make itself true” (1997, p. 49). Over time, and with enough intertextual repetition, certain truths and knowledges achieve taken-for-granted status, appearing unified and coherent (Berg and Kearns, 1996; Fairclough, 1992; Hall, 1997; McGregor,

2003; Rose, 2001; Storey, 2009; Waitt, 2005). Discourses achieving taken-for-granted status become entrenched and difficult to uproot; but like knowledge, truth is not fixed as constitutions of truth, and means of proclaiming truth, shift over time (Rose, 2001; Waitt,

2005).

Of particular importance to this study are the regimes of truth found in media.

Science and media, for instance, often intertwine in mediated representations presenting scientific findings as certain, rather than as part of an ongoing, often uncertain, process of

21 discovery (Castree, 2014; Sovacool, 2008). Truth regimes in media also manifest via visual representation and first-hand experience. Scholars investigating visual representations discuss the problems associated with assuming a connection between image, reality, and the perception that a camera’s lens acts as proxy for the eye, in relation to contextualizing an image’s meaning. (DeLuca and Demo, 2000; Remillard,

2011; Rose, 2001). The association between visual representation and truth relates to the truth of first-hand experience. Regardless of whether first-hand accounts of events include images, the claim “I was there” carries considerable weight (Lin, 2003). In similar fashion, scholars note that truth claims made by bloggers or journalists “on the ground” impart first-hand knowledge in their reports, giving reports an air of authority

(Kaye and Johnson, 2011).

Furthermore, it is understood that mediated representations—regardless of platform—are more likely accepted as true when the media consumer exists at some distance—conceptual or physical—from the events media depicts (Appadurai, 2003;

Meister and Japp, 2002; Murphy, 2011). That said, scholars argue that truth claims in traditional and new media differ somewhat in that the former rely on expert opinion and objective detachment; the latter, at times, view expertise and objectivity as untruthful and biased in favor of established power, therefore texts lacking “mainstream” connections are more believable (Kaye and Johnson, 2011; Wall, 2005).

Overall, the authority to craft discourses—and thereby the knowledges and truths they proclaim—is contingent on numerous factors. One factor is adherence to the rules which structure a given discourse, thereby imbuing discourses with authority, and

22 permitting particular utterances while disallowing others within that discourse. As will be discussed in the next section, these structural rules are called discursive formations.

Discursive Formations and Intertextuality

Foucault (2010/1972) writes that “whenever one can describe, between a number of statements . . . a regularity . . . we are dealing with a discursive formation” (p. 38).

Foucault continues, writing that objects—he uses “madness” as an example—are constituted differently by different institutions, e.g. medical, legal, or law enforcement.

Thus discursive formations are somewhat contingent on institutional origin—each with particular rules, based on institutional norms which dictate the production of statements.

Fairclough (1992) similarly defines discursive formations as “systems of rules which make it possible for certain statements but not others to occur at particular times, places and institutional locations” (p. 40). Discursive formations, emanating from various institutions, intersect and constitute our knowledge of objects, while also limiting textual production; these rules and meanings are not stable, but can change over time

(Fairclough, 1992; Waitt, 2005). Because there are countless discourses in modern society, and limitless topics to which discourses speak, there are, theoretically, innumerable discursive formations structuring truth and knowledge, with some arguably more important than others (Fairclough, 1992; Gee, 2005).

Of primary interest to this dissertation are productive rules pertaining to traditional and new media discourses, the role these rules play in producing statements, and whether statements emanating from these two discursive formations constitute different knowledges regarding fracking. One key theme—elaborated upon below— includes how discursive formations establish authority in a given media type. Traditional

23 media, for instance, rely on elite or expert sources to establish the “truth” of their discourse (Gerhards and Schäfer, 2010; Lockwood, 2011; Sovacool, 2008). Meanwhile, blogs appear credible to readers because they often ignore expert (establishment) viewpoints in favor of less mainstream perspectives (Kaye, 2010; Kaye and Johnson,

2011). In both cases truth and knowledge are partially dependent upon each platform’s discursive formation.

Finally, scholars note the significance of describing the “field of statements” which comprise discursive formations (Fairclough, 1992; Foucault, 2010/1972). In

Foucault’s approach analysts do not seek hidden meanings, but rather look for commonalities among statements and texts in defining the discursive formation. This observation directs attention toward the intertextual nature of discourse. It is via intertextual study that commonalities among statements are found, which not only delimits discursive formations, but helps explicate various other phenomena associated with discourse.

Intertextuality, like discourse, has many meanings and applications across scholarship (Atkinson and Rosati, 2009), and is described as “the diversity of forms through which discourse can be articulated,” (Rose, 2001, p. 136). Scholars also identify intertextuality as essential to establishing and sustaining meaning as singular texts incorporate other texts—and meanings—into their production (Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005).

No text is purely original. Authors encode their work with meaning, consciously or unconsciously drawing upon other texts; meanwhile, textual receivers also draw, consciously or unconsciously, upon other textual encounters, and bring their own interpretations to bear in decoding the author’s work. Fairclough (1992, 1995)

24 conceptualizes intertextual discourse as a series of chains and transformations: each transformation (e.g. from written speech to televised address) represents a link on a particular text’s chain. Viewing intertextuality as a series of chains and transformations repeating “across a range of texts and as forms of conduct” (Hall, 1997, p. 44) partially explains both the evolution of singular texts, but also speaks to discursive reinforcement across many texts and platforms. Repetition and reinforcement partially explicate certain discourses’ ability to achieve dominance, or taken-for-granted status, over others (Rose,

2001; Waitt, 2005). Thinking of discourse in this manner places discourse above individual texts, as something which integrates “language, actions, interactions, ways of thinking, believing, valuing and using various , tools, and objects” into a broad mosaic informing what we know as permissible thought and action (Gee, 2005, p. 21).

In addition to examining repetition and reinforcement across texts, intertextual chains and transformations present an opportunity to study textual movement from one discursive field to another—a phenomenon Ott and Walter describe as “textual strategy”

(2000, p. 434). Textual strategy involves conscious intertextual transformation to achieve some goal. Thus, when Fairclough (1992) notes that intertextual transformations often occur in predictable ways, depending on the anticipated audience, he grounds Sovacool’s

(2008) contention that texts moving from scientific discourse to various mediated discourses are predictably over-simplified. This over-simplification occurs to appease media’s discursive formations. Because audiences are demographically diverse, a singular text (e.g., a fracking article in an academic journal) may be transformed in several ways to meet ideological or informational expectations of producers and/or

25 receivers. Tracing intertextual chains and transformations is not only helpful in uncovering how texts change, but also what motives facilitate textual transformations.

Thus far, this chapter has reviewed a poststructural approach to discourse as outlined by numerous scholars, and originating with the work of Foucault (2010/1972).

Contrary to discourse in the purely linguistic sense, the poststructural approach views discourse as comprised of inter-related statements. Statements are saturated with power, constitute knowledge of objects, claim truth over competing discourses, and are produced within identifiable discursive formations. The next section discusses elements associated with how discourse serves the interest of power and those in power, with key considerations in such regards including institutional relationships to discourse, as well as relationships between discourse, ideology and hegemony.

Discourse: Institutions, Ideology, and Hegemony

Institutions are one means by which dominant voices produce and disseminate messages to audiences, as it is often via institutions that dominant voices emerge. Hall

(1997) writes that institutions rest at the intersection of power and discourse forming contextually or historically specific forms of knowledge—an example of power/knowledge. Silverblatt (2004) defines a social institution as “an organization that is critical to the socialization process . . . contribut[ing] to the stability of a society by maintaining an ongoing presence. In that sense institutions are tied to tradition” (p. 35).

He further explains that institutions are relatively self-contained, invite lifelong involvement, and serve a variety of functions. These functions include group access and membership, unification of diverse groups, establishing order, defining success and failure, governing deviant behavior, and defining/affirming values (Silverblatt, 2004).

26 Power circulates within all institutions, some more obviously than others (Rose,

2001). Museums, for example, represent a less obvious instance of institutional power in their (re)distribution of dominant knowledge, and frequent silencing of alternate interpretations (Guntarik, 2009; Rose, 2001). Murphy (2011) makes a similar argument regarding seemingly innocuous entertainment media texts, writing that such texts reinforce dominant discourses of environmentally dubious consumption under the guise of environmental stewardship. Of particular interest to this study is Silverblatt’s (2004) contention that media have replaced older institutions, such as the church, school, and family, in fulfilling the above societal functions.

Media institutions, like all institutions, are upheld by various support structures

(Rose, 2001). However, when discussing media institutions—in a general sense—it is worth remembering that “media” does not represent a singular, monolithic entity

(Golding and Murdock, 2000). Although many western media organizations are horizontally or vertically integrated commercial enterprises (e.g. Comcast/NBC

Universal), organizations such as the BBC, advertising agencies, wire services (e.g. the

Associated Press) and Web-based media producers all conglomerate under the aegis of

“media institution” (Golding and Murdock, 2000). Golding and Murdock (2000) further observe that the institution of media does not act in isolation from other powerful institutions. For instance, institutions of the state not only regulate media, but also use media to disseminate messages, promote policy, or provide expert/authoritative analysis.

These types of institutional interactions result in, as Hall (1997) notes, dominant forms of knowledge, meaning, and for some scholars, material expression of ideology (Fairclough,

1992). Although the extent to which ideology in discourse is a product of conscious or

27 unconscious inclusion (see below), scholars often discusses ideology—and the related concept of hegemony—in conjunction with discourse.

Ideology in classic Marxist thinking represents the oppressive will of the elite, supported and disseminated via institutions—family, religion, communications, education—designed to uphold and perpetuate elite power; “a produced knowledge, a knowledge that is opposed to ‘truth,’ a knowledge that oppresses and represses” (Sholle,

1988, p. 16-19; Atkinson, 2003; Daldal, 2014; Demirović, 2009 ). This implies the presence of a singular ideology among the elite class. This view proves too simplistic for some scholars and, therefore, represents a point of departure between Marxist scholars and those following Foucault (Daldal, 2014; Demirović, 2009; Fairclough, 1992; Sholle,

1988; Storey, 2009). More recent understandings of ideology define the concept variously as: values or belief systems implicitly reinforced and distributed by communication (McQuail, 2005); constructed realities present in discursive production

“which contribute to the production, reproduction, or transformation of relations of domination” (Fairclough, 1992, p. 87); a competitive phenomenon among powerful actors, often played out in the cultural arena (Anderson, 1997); and finally, as a manifestation of “soft” power which convinces, rather than oppresses, subjects (Castree,

2014). Common among these latter definitions is the view that there is no singular ideology originating with the oppressive elite, but rather a range of complimentary, or competitive, ideologies originating from multiple sources of power. Ideology is also present in less powerful social groups across various institutions (e.g. family, media), therefore ideology is not an exclusive product of elite production (Chiluwa, 2012; Lou,

2010; Waitt, 2005). Similarly, Fairclough’s (1992) dialectic view states that discourse is

28 not hopelessly ideological and static, but rather transformable as rival interests struggle to restructure discourse, and therefore the ideologies contained within them.

A dialectic view further suggests that ideology resides in both structures and texts themselves (Fairclough, 1992). For instance, media’s gatekeeping function—i.e. determining what information to disseminate—is influenced by organizational, professional, and cultural structures, which in turn result in implicitly ideological texts which tend to reinforce dominant viewpoints (Castree, 2014; McQuail, 2005). Ideology contained within texts may be relatively obvious, or obfuscated from view (Chiluwa,

2012; Dando, 2009; Fairclough, 1995). Scholars suggest ideologies in texts reveal themselves in multiple ways—via modifiers (e.g. “wetlands” versus “swamps”) and metaphors, for example (Chiluwa, 2012; Fairclough, 1992; Murphy, 2011). Also, analysts might examine newspaper headlines in hopes of revealing how different publications emphasize and silence certain aspects of current events to suit specific ideologies (Dando,

2009). These examples substantiate Fairclough’s (1992) contention that institutions often have specific ways of “processing” and transforming texts to meet their needs. However,

Fairclough (1992) cautions that relying exclusively on textual analysis fails to consider consumer resistance to ideologies in texts. Scholarship such as this, along with the

Birmingham School’s shift from studying ideology in texts to studying polysemic audience decodings of, and resistance to, ideological texts again reinforces a dialectic, competitive, and potentially transformative view of discourse (Fairclough, 1992; Hall,

1974/1980; McQuail, 2005).

A related manifestation of power in discourse is hegemony, a concept popularized by Gramsci (1971) as he sought to understand the continued existence of capitalism.

29 Hegemony is an exertion of non-coercive power in which State ideology maintains dominance “by working on the popular mentality via the institutions of society” (Daldal,

2014, p. 150). This type of power—the “civil society” of Gramsci’s integral state— differs from more domineering exertions of force associated with “political society”

(Demirović, 2009). Over time State ideology, disguised as anything but, becomes uncritically ensconced within institutions, thus achieving the level of “common sense”

(Daldal, 2014; Demirović, 2009; Kumar and Verma, 2009).

Despite Gramsci and Foucault’s different positions on the nature of power—the former seeing it as emanating from the State, the latter arguing that power circulates among all individuals and institutions—and the possibilities to resist power, scholars observe some congruence between the two positions (Daldal, 2014; Demirović, 2009;

Gagné and McGaughey, 2002; Kumar and Verma, 2009). For example, both positions share concerns pertaining to institutional knowledge, knowledge exclusion, taken-for- granted “common sense” knowledge, and productive power—whether that production stems from elites rewarding those who acquiesce, or results from discipline and the possibility of punishment (Daldal, 2014; Demirović, 2009; Kumar and Verma, 2009).

Empirically, scholars note that hegemony represents a useful harmonizer between dominant and subversive discourses—at once partially explicating the taken-for- grantedness (i.e. “common sense”) of dominant discourses while also providing a mechanism for discursive (i.e. negotiated) change (Fairclough, 1992; Laughey, 2007).

Fairclough (1992) elaborates, saying that hegemony is not just dominance, but leadership, and thus requires the cultivation of alliances and integration rather than simple domination. These alliances result in “an unstable equilibrium” in which hegemony

30 represents “a constant struggle around points of greatest instability” (Fairclough, 1992, p.

92). Scholars further combine Gramscian hegemony and Foucauldian discipline to investigate collective acceptance of elite positions, and the means by which individuals are constituted within, but also resistant to, those positions (Gagné and McGaughey,

2002; Kumar and Verma; 2009).

Scholars caution that researchers must carefully examine opposition (negotiation) to dominant discourse, because hegemony—cloaked as dissent, but serving power— implicitly maintains the status quo (Good, 2008; Jensen, 2012; McGregor, 2003). Other examples include Fairclough’s (1992) questioning of whether instances of conversationalized media discourse (i.e. less technical, more relatable “everyday” language) represent “a real shift in power relations in favor of ordinary people, or . . . merely a strategy on the part of those with power to . . . manipulate [audiences] socially and politically” (1995, p. 13; see also van Dijck, 2012). Fairclough’s own example seems to support Foucault’s contention that power often contains resistance. Other examples include Atkinson’s observation that resistant narratives produced within anti-consumer publications like Adbusters “help . . . readers to feel that they are making a difference,” but the extent to which material change occurs is difficult to measure (2003, p. 178, emphasis added). Furthermore, discursive co-optation, in which power adopts the rhetoric of resistance for its own ends, often represents hegemonic strategy (Atkinson, 2003;

Jensen, 2012). Although hegemony is an essential element in discursive change—by definition the concept sees power as negotiated and thus open to contestation (Fairclough,

1992, 1995)—these instances show how power can contain resistant discourses within certain boundaries, providing the illusion of change (Chomsky, 1989; de Goede, 1996).

31 The inescapable reality is that some discourses are more powerful, more ensconced, than others. A constitutive view of discourse dictates that entrenched discourses are not necessarily more “true”—in an objective sense—than competing discourses, but that power makes them true (Hall, 1997). Furthermore, when considering discursive change and challenges to power, scholars argue that productive potential is less important factors than who is actually heard (Burgess, 2006; Castree, 2014; Parker and Song, 2009). Thus those with access to financial capital, and technological tools of production, distribution, and exhibition, position themselves as drivers of discourse

(Castree, 2014; Golding and Murdock, 2000). The following section discusses discursive resources, and also reviews scholarship acknowledging that powerful discourses are not unchallengeable discourses.

Resources and Resistance

Thompson’s (1995) definition of power—acting in pursuit of one’s interests, and influencing events and outcomes—hinges upon utilization of available resources. He, and other scholars, further argue that as resources increase, the power to act and influence increases, thereby highlighting existing power inequity between, for example, wealthy and poor, or corporations and most individuals (Castree, 2014; Ross and Cuillier, 2013;

Thompson, 1995). Scholars acknowledge that everyone, regardless of station, bring some resources to bear in textual production (e.g. by making choices regarding identity expression), and that even the disenfranchised and/or marginalized exert some agency relative to dominant forces (Baranovitch, 2003; Gagné and McGaughey, 2002; Gee,

2005; Ross and Cuillier, 2013; Waitt, 2005). It is nonetheless true that certain voices speak more powerfully than others depending on status, or access to economic and

32 communicative resources. For instance, discourses put forth by vertically- and horizontally-integrated media conglomerates are almost inescapable, while discourses produced by local citizen bloggers are often relatively obscure (Golding and Murdock,

2000; Goldman and Papson, 2011; Lou, 2010).

From the preceding review, power might seem entrenched and immobile.

However, as noted above, many scholars view power as a circulatory phenomenon inhabiting—to greater or lesser degrees—every individual and institution (Baranovitch,

2003; Gee, 2005; Ross and Cuillier, 2013; Waitt, 2005). Put another way, discourse is dialectic in many respects, as tensions exist between more and less powerful actors, institutional structure and individual agency, and between various discursive formations

(Fairclough, 1992, 1995). Granting that some discourses are undeniably powerful, scholars note that dominant discourses exist among a multitude of other competing discourses, and as such “are not impenetrable” (Dryzek, 1997, p. 20; see also Gee, 2005;

Murphy, 2011). Numerous scholars further argue that a dialectic view of discourse dictates that power necessarily entails resistance (Fairclough, 1992; Rose, 2001; Waitt,

2005). Fairclough (1992) writes that discursive change occurs, in part, because textual practices from numerous discourses intersect with, and potentially influence, one another.

In Fairclough’s (1992) dialectic view overemphasis on agency is tantamount to calling subjects or outcomes into being simply by thinking or speaking; overemphasis on structure negates active social agents’ ability to contest entrenched representations, discursive practices, and to fashion their own discourse—thus a dialectic view sees power and agency in tension with one another. Approaching discourse from a dialectic

33 perspective gives rise to the possibility of counter-discourses, or discourses which resist and critique taken-for-granted knowledge (McGregor, 2003).

Examples of counter-discursive texts include a wide range of material, from marginalized groups influencing elite clientele via resistance art in restaurants

(Baranovitch, 2003), to numerous incarnations of non-commercial and web-based media production (see below). Counter-discourses may originate with individuals (e.g. the restaurant owner), but more often—and perhaps ironically given the range of communication tools currently available—scholars argue that the interdependence and complexity of modern society makes it more difficult for the “ordinary” citizen to facilitate change because individuals 1) are often removed from decisions which influence them; and 2) lack the financial, cultural, and symbolic resources necessary to be heard (Castree, 2014; Meister and Japp, 2002; Murphy, 2011; Sovocool, 2008). For that reason counter-discourses often originate with regional or local elites due to media, financial, and social access (Eriksson, 2008; Jansson, 2010; Jensen, 2012). Counter- discourses, then, are possible and originate from a variety of platforms. However, as outlined above with regard to hegemonic negotiation, scholars observe that the phenomenon of counter-discourse is a complex matter in which the critique of power does not necessarily challenge power (Chomsky, 1997; de Goede, 1996; Fairclough,

1995; Tang and Yang, 2011).

This chapter has served as an overview of discourse as theory, and the elements which comprise discourse—namely power, regimes of truth, discursive formations, and intertextuality. Amongst other things, it included a discussion of the institutional origins of many dominant discourses, the manifestation of ideology in discourse, hegemonic

34 negotiation between relatively more- and less-powerful actors, and access to productive and distributive resources. At the same time, it noted that is important to understand discourse as essentially fluid in nature. While a given discourse can be highly influential and entrenched, it can never be permanently fixed or secure. Building upon the topics and issues discussed here, the next chapter focuses on the type of institutional discourses specifically relevant to this dissertation, namely mediated discourse.

35 CHAPTER 3: MEDIATED DISCOURSE

Prior to modern news and information passed via face-to-face or written interaction (e.g. letters, or neighbors relating their travels upon return); however, current media technology allows the efficient transmission of temporally and geographically displaced knowledge with great speed, over great distance, to many consumers, simultaneously (Thompson, 1995). Scholars note that modern media texts not only convey meaning, but partially constitute our world, thus media represents one element within the broader tapestry of discourse (Anderson, 1997; Hall, 1997). Sovacool

(2008) further argues that three characteristics distinguish mediated knowledge from knowledges produced within other discourses: first, mediated discourse is normative, geared toward general (mass) consumption, usually for economic gain; second, mediated discourse encourages controversy, again, usually for economic gain; finally, mediated discourse’s primary actors are generally not everyday citizens or industry experts, but journalists who occupy a middle-ground between citizens and experts—although expert voices do figure prominently into media discourse (see below).

Media’s status as a cultural and social institution encourages study of the practice because, scholars observe, 1) the “creative power” of art, prose, and other seemingly innocent texts is often overlooked, 2) fictional worlds and media representations are often more “real” to people than places’ material existence—e.g. 221 Baker Street lives vividly via representation more so than the actual city of London, and 3) the power to and define via mediated channels is unequal because resources needed to produce, distribute, and exhibit texts favors the powerful (Golding and Murdock, 2000; Lou, 2010; Murphy,

2011; Tuan, 1991). Furthermore, media act as an institutional site circulating powerful

36 discourses that, over time, achieve an internalized taken-for-granted status of which subjects are often unaware, do not question, and therefore unconsciously repeat

(Laughey, 2007).

Institutions, broadly speaking, “deploy a rhetoric of realism . . . which makes it difficult . . . to question the kinds of knowledge they offer” (Rose, 2001, p. 186).

Similarly, consumers often fail to question mass mediated “realisms” for a variety of reasons. First is the difficulty in questioning ideoscapes—politicized media fragments reflective of producers’ ideology such as “freedom” or “green”—because ideoscapes often parallel entrenched cultural definitions of good or proper thought and behavior

(Appadurai , 2003; Murphy, 2011). Researchers note that deployment of ideoscapes is often a conscious, hegemonic maneuver intended to sway public opinion and silence opposition—such as when corporations deploy imagery of environmental stewardship, patriotism, or traditional family (Anderson, 1997; Jensen, 2012; Murphy, 2011).

Second, uncritical acceptance of mediated knowledge results, in part, from lack of expertise in matters media represent. Meister and Japp (2002) outline the following scenario:

Consider the average, middle class American family. Neither parents nor

children are experts on environmental issues, nor do they read scientific or

other expert literature on the subject. Rather, their knowledge and understanding

of the environment are constructed and maintained via a constant stream of

language and images derived from popular culture. (2002, p. 3; see also Castree,

2014)

37 To Meister and Japp’s (2002) point, in a complex world the general public lacks the expertise to interrogate mediated discourses about any number of topics. Scholars also note that the vast quantities of information currently available to citizens do not necessarily equate to easily understood, or ideologically neutral, information (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Sovacool, 2008).

A related factor contributing to uncritical acceptance of media discourse is lack of experience, i.e. being at a physical or conceptual distance from media representations

(Balaji, 2011; Castree, 2014; Ewalt, 2011; Goldman and Papson, 2011; Muprhy, 2011;

Thompson, 1995). Georgiou (2010) contends that distance decreases motivation to question media constitutions, thus consumers often absorb material without challenging the limits of subject construction, i.e. asking what goes unsaid, or who benefits from media constructions. Consumers’ lack of experience and expertise puts them in a state of epistemic (knowledge) dependence with journalists, and their expert/elite sources, who collectively define and represent a complex world for the citizen majority (Castree,

2014).

Scholars thus argue that unchallenged, repetitive, and intertextual constitutions of objects gradually become taken-for-granted to the point that we cannot imagine objects outside mediation, thus representations become totalizing and real, especially independent of experience (Georgiou, 2010; Matei and Ball-Rokeach, 2005; Meister and

Japp, 2002; Storey, 2009). In this sense media represent a regime of truth unto itself, with constitutions accepted as true or authoritative simply because media repeatedly say they are true, and not because of quality, accuracy, or connections with media consumers’ experience (Mitra and Watts, 2002).

38 Of interest to this dissertation are media constitutions of fracking and the environment because media’s link between human imagining of, and subsequent acts toward, the environment often goes un-interrogated (Anderson, 1997; Braun and

Wainwright, 2001; Castree, 2001, 2014; Cronon, 1996; Meister and Japp, 2002; Murphy,

2011). Recent advances in technology, and expansion of Web-based media, highlight an apparent division within media discourse between traditional media and new media, though the distinction is becoming less obvious. Traditional media journalists and brands colonize the Web via, for example, newspaper websites and columnist blogs (Westphal,

2009), while blogs and other social networking tools potentially transform everyday citizens into journalists and media producers able to distribute messages independent of traditional media structure. As noted in Chapter One, the idea of converging mediascapes is not new (e.g. Jenkins, 2006). Nevertheless this study argues that traditional and new media represent relatively distinct discursive formations, and therefore are theoretically capable of producing different knowledges based on distinct rules of textual production.

With this in mind, this chapter reviews concepts and literature related to the structures of traditional media and new media. Beginning with traditional media, the forthcoming review defines the genre, summarizes literature discussing discursive constitution of subjects versus objective reporting, looks at voices commonly amplified by traditional media, reviews western media’s commercial leanings, and briefly reviews potential for counter-discourse in traditional media before transitioning into a review of new media scholarship.

39 Traditional Media

Traditional mass media—also called “legacy” media or “old” media—include media outlets in existence prior to the Web such as print (newspapers, magazines), film, and broadcast (television, radio). Some scholars define traditional media as detached, with rigidly structured texts which establish truth via expert sources and eyewitness accounts (e.g. Wall, 2005). Historically traditional media comprise a distinct type of closed which, scholars argue, discourages debate among the general public due to 1) limited capacity for citizen response and engagement, and relatedly 2) traditional journalism’s reliance on experts and other elite sources, rather than lay-public voices (Gerhards and Schäfer, 2010; Lockwood, 2011; Sovacool, 2008). Finally, mediated imagery, often taken-for-granted as mirrors of reality, and journalism’s adherence to traditions of value-free “objective” reporting, to many scholars, represent a modernist, authoritative, mimetic discourse which claims to objectively reflect, rather than subjectively constitute, reality (Daley, 2000; Deluca and Demo, 2000; Remillard,

2011; Rose, 2001).

Chomsky (1997) divides traditional media into “elite” and “entertainment” media.

The former, including networks such as CBS, and newspapers of record like The New

York Times, are “the agenda-setting media because they are the ones with the big resources [setting] the framework in which everyone else operates” (para. 6). Although media’s impact relative to other institutional influence is difficult to isolate (Anderson,

1997), and perhaps contrary to Chomsky’s (1997) argument that elite news media set the agenda for entertainment media, other scholars argue that traditional entertainment media—e.g. film, televised sitcoms, comic books—subtly elevate and entrench select

40 discourses because consumers engage entertainment material less critically (de Goede,

1996; Meister and Japp, 2002; Murphy, 2011).

That said, Sunstein (2007) argues that traditional media, or “general interest intermediaries” provide an essential function within the current mediascape, especially relative to customized news feeds and selective exposure possible online. The general interest intermediary allows for “a range of chance encounters, involving . . . materials and topics” not sought out in advance (Sunstein, 2007, pp. 8-9). In this way traditional media acts similarly to other chance occurrences in which one encounters both the familiar, and a wide range of unfamiliar people or situations (Sunstein, 2007). One aspect of traditional media of interest to this project is media’s role in constituting reality. The following section highlights relevant scholarship discussing media as a constitutive phenomenon, and how journalistic norms such as objectivity fit into a constitutive framework.

Objective Reality and Traditional Media

A constitutive view of media implies agency on the part of both media producers and media consumers. Media producers play an active role in representing subjects in particular ways, as opposed to mirroring an already present, objective reality. Consumers may then accept or reject these representations (Avrahm and First, 2006; Berg and

Kearns, 1996; Hall, 1997). Implications of media’s constitutive role include: 1) rethinking our understanding of media’s agenda-setting capacity—i.e. the media do not tell us what to think, but set the agenda for what we think about—to include the possibility that media really do tell us what to think (Murphee and Aucoin, 2010); 2) acknowledging that media’s cultivation effect—i.e. that frequent television viewers

41 believe televised reality mimics lived reality—can endure for decades with enough repetition (Matei and Ball-Rokeach, 2005); 3) that the dialectic between mediated reality and lived reality is tenuous, because media’s constitutive nature generates its own reality, especially independent of experience (Lukinbeal and Craine, 2009).

A fundamental element within the discursive formation of traditional news meida, and one which contributes to this constitutive discussion is objectivity. Some scholars argue that objectivity actually decreases credibility among consumers (see Marchi, 2012), or that objectivity paradoxically increases bias by creating a sense of false equivalency between binary positions (Castree, 2014), yet objectivity remains a central journalistic principle. For journalists objectivity often means separation from personal feelings, emotions, or prejudices. Ideally this of reporting results in factual, value-free information (Lewis, 2012). Whether or not objectivity actually exists is a matter of some debate. Daley (2000) writes that objectivity is essentially a myth, put forth by journalists who believe “they can disengage themselves from the world of values and report on

‘empirical facts’ from some Olympian vantage point” (p. 268). Other scholars occupy a middle ground, cautioning against equating objectivity with neutrality or balance, and arguing instead that understanding objectivity “in terms of a continuum of degrees of detachment” between journalist and the events on which they report is more fruitful in identifying potential news bias (Anderson, 1997, p. 14).

Questions of constitution and objectivity are relevant given that media are a vital social filter via which people know their world (Dando, 2009). Indeed, news media’s claims of objectivity not only significantly contribute to media’s regime of truth and resulting knowledge production, but implicitly deny the possibility of alternate

42 interpretations. Various scholars note that media representations, even if objectively true, focus on certain aspects of lived experience over others—i.e. reporting necessarily involves making choices of inclusion and exclusion, thus representing stories in totality is impossible (Darling-Wolf and Mendelson, 2008; Eriksson, 2008; Georgiou, 2010; see also Horton, 2008, who examines the dialectic between constituting subjects and representing reality in his piece focusing on BBC’s Postman Pat). Scholars nevertheless observe that the discursive formations of entertainment media and journalism dictate repetition of certain voices and representations over others (Darling-Wolf and

Mendelson, 2008; Eriksson, 2008; Georgiou, 2010; Horton, 2008). Asking who has access to the constitutive power of traditional media leads to questions of access, journalistic norms, and the dialectic between agency and structure in perpetuating discourse.

The Question of ‘Who Speaks’ in Traditional Media

As noted above, access to traditional mass media is not equal, but limited to certain groups of professionals, influential individuals, and organizations (Avrahm and

First, 2006; Lou, 2010). The majority of those producing traditional media discourse belong to a recognizable caste of professionals—e.g., journalists, reporters, disc jockeys, directors, and the like. These individuals possess credentials imbuing them with authority, and membership within a group of culturally sanctioned, authoritative information disseminators, which separates them from the general population of non- professional content producers (Reese, et al, 2007; Sovacool, 2008). Increasingly, this group of traditional media professionals produce texts within horizontally and/or vertically integrated entities, which range in size from global corporations (e.g.

43 Comcast/NBC-Universal), to regional operators (e.g. Forum Communications in Fargo,

North Dakota, which owns print and broadcast outlets throughout North Dakota and

Minnesota), to locally-owned stand-alone media outlets. These integrations allow media outlets tremendous intertextual power in making certain texts visible and meaningful, which then “shape and guide the contours of what is talked about and how” (Murphy,

2011, p. 232; see also Dando, 2009; Lou, 2010; Murphee and Aucoin, 2010; Tang and

Yang, 2011). Even in instances of singular, local ownership the lay-public is at a discursive disadvantage relative to media professionals, and the media institutions they work within, in terms of textual production and distribution.

This is not to say traditional media completely exclude the audience. For instance, news outlets solicit reactions from citizens involved in some newsworthy event, publish letters to the editor, encourage social media debate, or invite listeners to call and voice opinions. However, scholars find instances of truly collaborative ventures between

“professional” journalists and their “amateur” audience lacking. Instead journalists prefer controlling and molding audience-generated content as they would other source material, thereby solidifying their professional and cultural status as information authorities

(Lewis, 2012; Örnebring, 2008; Wardle and Williams, 2010). Fairclough observed this tendency some time ago when he wrote that traditional media texts include voices of

“[o]rdinary . . . rank-and-file members of organizations” only to typify reactions to news

(1995, p. 49). In other words, traditional media value the experiences, reactions, and emotions of the general populous, often in sensational or emotional circumstances.

Because of traditional mass media’s reliance on advertising, entertainment value, and profit, meaningful audience participation in discourse production is rarely encouraged

44 because professional expertise and skill, at least according to conventional wisdom, result in better produced, more profitable products (see Audience Labor, below).

If traditional media generally exclude audience members from significant textual production, and journalistic objectivity theoretically precludes the privileging of reporter opinions, what voices do traditional media texts amplify? Scholars argue that traditional media privilege expert and elite voices, e.g. politicians, academics, scientists, and public relations representatives (Avraham and First, 2006; Fairclough, 1995; Gerhards and

Schäfer, 2010). Some scholars suggest that elites are popular sources for journalists because the latter lack local context, and therefore rely on local experts for information

(Chanan, 2005; Massing, 2007). Other researchers point out that journalistic reliance on expert sources is consistent with a modernist interpretation of traditional media in that one key tenet of modernism involves the intersection of science, politics, and various administrative apparatuses in the dissemination of knowledge (Aylesworth, 2013; Pietilä,

2005; Wall, 2005). The knowledge of science, and other expert (i.e. rational) fields displaces alternate forms of lay-knowledge in traditional media (Aylesworth, 2013).

Within traditional media’s meta-narrative of authority and expertise are two more relevant observations: first, scholars further note expert sources not only contextualize

“facts” in stories, but also attempt to silence or discredit competing narratives (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Daley, 2000; Fairclough, 1995). Second, elite opinion—like ideology and discourse in general—is not uniform, but rather experts “battle to privilege their version of reality over others” (Anderson, 1997, p. 35).

Thus, traditional media are powerful disseminators of knowledge, and from a productive standpoint operate largely independent of the public they inform. Subsequent

45 portions of this review examine new, web-based media as a theoretical counter-balance to traditional media, especially within the context of audience production and distribution.

Of more immediate relevance is a discussion of media production as a conscious—or not—mechanism of power. For instance, Fairclough argues that power hegemonically cloaks itself in the relatable language of “everyday” people, thus “transmitting the voices of power in a disguised and covert form” (Fairclough, 1995, p. 110). Conversely,

McQuail (2005) writes that mediated ideology often occurs implicitly, rather than from any conscious intent.

Traditional Media and Power

The question of intentionality, for some scholars, is unnecessary because discourse analysts study existing discourse regardless of intentionality—though Berg and

Kearns (1996) argue it is perhaps fruitful to analyze texts as if constructed by an agency- driven subject. Others argue that whether conscious or unconscious, communication is always purposeful, and never arbitrary (McGregor, 2003). Nevertheless, proceeding from

Fairclough’s (1992) dialectic of discourse compels researchers to examine tensions between agency and structure in discursive production. For instance, public relations and advertising campaigns seem to demonstrate a self-conscious, agency-driven attempt to influence public opinion in favor of business practices advantageous to their organizational agenda (Murphee and Aucoin, 2010).

On the other hand, scholars question the degree to which media producers consciously serve power or manipulate opinion, as discursive texts and “representations .

. . carry some trace of their authors’ habits, preferences, desires or values. . . . [A]lbeit often unconscious or unthinking ones” (Castree, 2014, p. 51). This view stipulates that

46 media institutions, and by extension those employed by these institutions, unwittingly produce ideological material because they operate within the confines of established structure and practice (Denkus and Esser, 2013; Laughey, 2007). Institutions perpetuate themselves, and their ideology, by rewarding like-minded employees while filtering out individuals with opinions contrary to those in power (Chomsky, 1997; Denkus and Esser,

2013; McQuail, 2005). Thus, scholars argue, there is no nefarious intent because those producing materials on behalf of their employer see themselves as acting appropriately, rather than viewing “themselves as projecting schemes” upon the public (Denkus and

Esser, 2013, p. 417).

The discursive formations journalists and other media producers operate within should not be discounted when considering the end product. New York Times columnist

David Brooks recalls advice he received from veteran journalist Robert Novak:

“ three politicians every day. . . . I try to consult 15 people a week, though usually half of them are scholars” (Brooks and Collins, 2010, para. 7). In this instance

Brooks’ foregrounding of elite political and academic voices, it seems, is based less on a conscious desire to perpetuate elite or deceptive ideology, and more on unquestioned journalistic norms. Whether ideological presence in traditional media is conscious or not, scholars generally agree that western media represent a predominately commercial enterprise, and it is toward commercialism in media that this review now turns.

Similar to media promoting State interests under more restrictive regimes (e.g.,

China, North Korea), scholars studying western media note the institution generally serves commercial and capitalist agendas (Chomsky, 1997; Fairclough, 1995; Silverblatt,

2004; Viall, 2009). The move toward marketization 1) suggests that media outlets, often

47 part of larger corporate frameworks, increasingly share common interests with business and government, thus (potentially) amplifying dominant financial and political voices; 2) blurs the previously distinct discursive practices of entertainment and information, forcing news media to attract consumers by incorporating elements of the “leisure” industry into their public affairs programming (Fairclough, 1995; Örnebring, 2008; Viall,

2009). Given media’s responsibility in communicating vital, often complex, information to the public some scholars consider traditional media’s commercial tendencies problematic because prioritizing sensationalism and profit ultimately leads to a poorly informed citizenry (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Chomsky, 1997; Fairclough, 1995).

Fairclough summarizes the tensions of commercial media, saying:

There is considerable diversity of voices, but these diverse voices are so

ordered that overwhelmingly the system, with respect to consumption and

consumerism, is constantly endorsed and re-endorsed. Also, because

marketization undermines the media as a public sphere . . . there is a

diversion of attention and energy away from political and social issues which

helps insulate existing relations of power and domination from serious

challenge—people are constructed as spectators of events rather than

participating citizens. (1995, pp. 12-13)

However, some scholars argue that the news values of commercialism and sensationalism are not universally negative. Journalists working for publications such as National

Geographic connect their stories with commercial pop culture events, thereby capitalizing on public interest. For example, a Samurai story in National Geographic coincided with Tom Cruise’s film The Last Samurai. In this instance connecting the

48 magazine article to the movie saved National Geographic’s story, as the article authors doubt the piece would have been published if not for the film (Darling-Wolf and

Mendelson, 2008). Also, environmental groups such as Greenpeace utilize the news value of sensationalism when carrying out high-visibility protests, thus bringing media attention and public consciousness to their cause (Anderson, 1997). Nevertheless, sensationalism and profit motive remain problematic when media rely on representational stereotypes. Stereotypes are attractive to media outlets fearful that material which is unfamiliar, or challenges consumer’s taken-for-granted expectations, may negatively impact the company’s financial bottom line—a critique leveled at National Geographic for the Samurai story mentioned above (Darling-Wolf and Mendelson, 2008).

Beyond reliance on stereotypes, other outcomes of traditional media’s commercial leanings include simplistic, binary (e.g. for or against, positive or negative) representations of complex issues (Braun and Wainwright, 2001; Sovacool, 2008). This highlights the influence discursive formations have on textual production within a given discourse, and also inconsistencies which may arise as texts transform and move between one discursive formation and another (Fairclough, 1992). The discursive formation of scientific journals, for instance, dictates production of texts which are neutral in tone, thoroughly researched, and hesitant to declare final, absolute truth (Sovacool, 2008).

When media transform scientific texts into news or other mass-mediated material, they must do so in such a way as to make the content understandable to lay audiences, but also

(as noted above) interesting and commercially viable (Sovacool, 2008).

A related matter contributing to media’s (arguably) simplistic representations is lack of resources. The past 13 years have seen a 30 percent reduction in newsroom staff,

49 across-the-board decreases in viewership for local television news, and significant migration of advertising dollars from traditional media to the Web and mobile devices

(Pew Research Center, 2013). This exacerbates an already present tendency among media outlets to cover issues in close geographic proximity to existing facilities (Heider, 2000).

Scholars further argue that the closing of international and regional news bureaus results in a product even more reliant on metropolitan experts and perspectives, because covering geographically or conceptually peripheral stories is deemed too expensive and uninteresting to core audiences (Heider, 2000; Massing, 2007). Ironically, organizational cost-saving maneuvers—e.g. less local content, fewer reporters, and higher volumes of pre-produced public relations and lifestyle material—actually drive consumers away from traditional media, making financial capital even more scarce (Bauder, 2013). The

Pew Research Center summarizes the state of traditional news media as follows:

This adds up to a news industry that is more undermanned and unprepared

to uncover stories, dig deep into emerging ones or to question information put

into its hands. And findings from our new public opinion survey released in this

report reveal that the public is taking notice. Nearly one-third of the

respondents (31%) have deserted a news outlet because it no longer provides

the news and information they had grown accustomed to. (2013, para. 3)

This is not to say that alternative perspectives are completely absent from traditional media discourse. A tradition exists within traditional media which bears many characteristics currently associated with Web-based texts—alternative journalism.

50 Alternative Journalism

The above review portrays traditional media, and especially journalism, in arguably negative terms—an institutional echo chamber for the powerful that subtly promotes elite interests, and fails to provide depth and context in favor of simplistic, sensational, commercially viable representations. However, a traditional media sub-genre gives voice to counter-discourses, advocates social change, and presents consumers with alternate perspectives on events. Variously defined as insurgent or counter-hegemonic journalism, the generally accepted term is alternative journalism (Harcup, 2005; Kenix,

2009). Alternative journalism, contrary to more mainstream standards, “tends to emphasize reporters subjective opinion,” and has existed for centuries (Kenix, 2009, p.

791). Harcup (2005) observes that mainstream traditional media often co-op, and intertextually transform, material from alternative sources. On the one hand, this brings alternative perspectives to wider audiences; on the other hand, mainstream media’s transformations bring alternative viewpoints within the sphere of power.

Alternative journalism further distinguishes itself from more mainstream traditional media in that the dichotomy between content producer and content receiver is less distinct as passionate audience members, often lacking the recognizable credentials of “professional” journalists become content contributors to alternative media outlets

(Harcup, 2005). Although alternative journalism embraced subjectivity, gave voice to divergent viewpoints, and blurred divisions between producer and receiver prior to the

Web, it is online that these discursive standards of alternative journalism theoretically find greater, and more diverse avenues of expression (Tang and Yang, 2011). The following section defines new media, explores early research which largely viewed Web-

51 based production as a counter-hegemonic tool, and examines one specific type of new media production of particular relevance to this dissertation—the blog—before summarizing scholarship critical of new media as a site where, despite optimistic rhetoric to the contrary, established power nevertheless manipulates and controls content toward its own ends.

New Media

New media differs from traditional media in that new media represents “both an ideal public sphere and a propagandist communications channel” (Lockwood, 2011, p.

51). Scholars further define new media as postmodern and participatory, characterized by theoretically limitless public access, thereby facilitating the communication of information and diverse ideas (an “ideal public sphere”) via unapologetically opinionated

(“propagandist”) content, while accommodating a self-representative capacity for voices excluded by traditional media institutions, often independent of professional credentials

(De Keyser and Raeymaeckers, 2012; Wall, 2005). The question of productive and distributive access is key for Fairclough:

[T]he issue of which categories of social agent get to write, speak and be seen—

and which do not—assumes considerable importance. There is no technical

reason why communities of various sorts could not produce their own videos

and have them broadcast as documentaries or news items. But this rarely

happens. Media output is very much under professional and institutional

control, and in general it is those who already have other forms of economic,

political, or cultural power that have the best access to media. (1995, p. 40)

52 In the time since Fairclough’s observations regarding traditional media, new media has, according to some scholars, vastly democratized media access, textual distribution, information diversity, opinion variety, and citizens’ production potential (Fanselow,

2009; Mitra and Watts, 2002; Viall, 2009; Wall, 2005; Warf and Grimes, 1997). In online discursive spaces, Mitra and Watts (2002) argue that power stems from the ability to create voice. Transcending traditional limits to production and distribution such as geographic location and access to financial capital is, theoretically, easier on the Web.

Other scholars, however, offer a more temperate appraisal of the Web’s capacity to challenge mediated power/knowledge, arguing that “productivity in itself is not sufficient grounds for celebration. The question that scholars must ask about ‘democratic’ media participation can no longer be limited to ‘who gets to speak,’ but expanded to include

‘who is heard, and to what end?” (Burgess, 2006, p. 203; see also Parker and Song, 2009; van Dijck, 2009, 2012).

This observation points toward a scholarly tension surrounding research into new

media’s potential to challenge power. Early research recognized the “persistent seeping

of traditional sources of power into the Web,” e.g. CNN’s web presence commands more

attention than individual online discourses such as personal blogs (Mitra and Watts, 2002,

p. 490). Other scholars point toward the Web’s potential for allowing users to reach large

audiences, but acknowledge the relative lack of attention new media texts often receive

compared to traditional outlets such as television (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007;

Castree, 2014). That said, an alternative perspective argues that new media’s cumulative

audience matters less than its impact on smaller communities. For example, the seeming

insignificance of a personal or community blog’s page views relative to CNN’s is

53 secondary to the blog’s material presence, potential for small-scale community development, and impact in the local public sphere (Atkinson and Rosatti, 2009; Chanan,

2005; Parker and Song, 2009).

Despite traditional media’s initial dismissal of web-based competitors—

Advertising Age once described blogs as “hype dished out largely by the unemployable to the aimless,”—as polarizing, opinionated, profitless, and lacking in journalistic rigor, traditional media brands have since embraced the Web, or at least accepted that online presence is now required to remain viable (Carlson, 2007, p. 274; Kenix, 2009; Reese, et al, 2007; Sunstein, 2007). In light of traditional and new-media convergence (Jenkins,

2006), the question pertinent to this study is: to what degree has new media de-centered traditional media’s power, or altered what voices and knowledges are present in the public sphere? Put another way, do new media really offer the public texts radically different from the status quo? The remainder of this section reviews theorizing on the

Web’s potential as a counter-discursive tool, discusses one particularly popular manifestation of new media (the blog), and elaborates upon the complex relationship between new and traditional media. This includes scholars who argue that, contrary to the counter-discursive view of new media, power exploits web-based audiences and production in often unseen ways.

The Web as an Alternative

Early research into Web-based discourse proclaimed the platform’s democratic, counter-hegemonic potential, saying the new discursive space represented a “fundamental shift . . . of power . . . relating to the ways in which individuals and institutions are choosing to voice themselves (Mitra and Watts, 2002, p. 488; Schiffer, 2006). Online

54 communication is the latest form of electronic communications that, consistent with early postindustrial thinking, imagines the egalitarian, democratic, non-hierarchal possibilities of electronic communication (Warf and Grimes, 1997). Contrary to more traditional forms of mediated representation in which powerful institutional voices, rich in economic and cultural capital, obscure marginal perspectives, the de-centered world of cyberspace, theoretically, allows for unique discourses vis-à-vis traditional media (Mitra and Watts,

2002). Finally, early scholarship theorized that the intermingling of diverse groups and individuals online promotes intersubjective exchanges, with exposure to new knowledge leading to a potential altering of established practice, knowledge, and understanding

(Warf and Grimes, 1997).

More recent scholarship substantiates Web-based media’s potential in circumventing traditional structures of power, especially as a means of disseminating information either ignored by traditional media, or censored by government offices

(Anderson and Marhadour, 2007). Other research highlights the community-building aspect of new media production. Theoretically any group left out of, or stereotyped by, traditional media discourse can build a community of shared experiences, interests, and alternative knowledge online (Atkinson and Rosatti, 2009; Chanan, 2005; Denkus and

Esser, 2013; Parker and Song, 2009). One primary type of Web-based discourse of interest to this project—indeed “the most pervasive form” of Web-based discourse—is the weblog, or blog (Rochet, 2007, p. 40). Research indicates that blogs serve as platforms of alternative knowledge vis-à-vis knowledge disseminated by government and traditional media institutions (Bird, 2011; Chilwua, 2012; Fanselow, 2009; Murphy,

2011; Viall, 2009).

55 New Media - Blogs

Blog research is a relatively recent, and ongoing, phenomenon (Armstrong and

McAdams, 2013). Scholars define blogs as frequently updated, hyperlinked, subjective texts in which both author and consumer, via blog’s comment feature, co-create meaning

(Carlson, 2007; Tang and Chao, 2010; Wall, 2005). Kenix (2009) argues that, at their ideal best, blogs deeply analyze events, information and news independent of commercial or elite influence, thus presenting more diverse viewpoints than traditional media.

Alternately, researchers question the benefit of a massive, ever growing blogosphere containing endless amounts of seemingly contradictory, sometimes unsubstantiated information of a strongly subjective nature (Carlson, 2007; Kenix, 2009; Sunstein, 2007).

Regardless, scholars argue that blogs’ power stems from both the articulation of previously unspeakable ideas or unheard voices, and in joining individuals together into more powerful collectives capable of action (Somolu, 2007; Wall, 2005). Some blogs receive considerable attention, becoming “focal point” blogs (Sunstein, 2007, p. 143), while others operate not as mass disseminators of information, but in micro-terms akin to

“a neighborhood bar” (Wall, 2005, p. 163), or as “sphericules [of] smaller discursive spaces” (Parker and Song, 2009, p. 588). In this view, scholars note that a blog’s inability to attract vast audiences is less important than cultivating relationships within smaller circles (Atkinson and Rosatti, 2009; Chanan, 2005).

Beyond the positive attributes listed above, other motives for accessing blogs include their personal nature, convenience, depth, and variety of information (Kaye,

2010). Another frequently cited motivation for accessing blogs is their perceived credibility (i.e., truth) relative to traditional “mainstream” journalism (Carlson, 2007;

56 Kaye, 2010; Kaye and Johnson, 2011; Wall, 2005). Kaye and Johnson (2011) observe that perceptions of blog credibility are not uniform, but dependent upon variables such as demographics, blog type, and personal taste. However, those who do find blogs credible cite their perception of blogs as operating independent of established power structure and institutional bias as one factor increasing blog credibility (Wall, 2005). Adding to blogs’ credibility, and further distancing blogs from mainstream journalism, is the perception that blogs 1) cover stories traditional media ignore, marginalize, or cover superficially, and 2) are produced by people close to, or experienced with, the events depicted

(Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Carlson, 2007; Kaye 2010, Kaye and Johnson, 2011).

A final note on blog credibility involves blogs’ linking to material produced by traditional media (Armstrong and McAdams, 2013). On one hand, using traditional media discourse to build counter-arguments presents blog readers with alternative views and opinions—e.g. the blog author links to a New York Times article, from which the blog author interjects their own opinion regarding the Times story (Kaye, 2010). However, this practice also underscores a growing perception that blogs, and new media in general, serve less as an alternative to traditional media and instead reinforce the power of traditional media (Reese, et al, 2007). Following this line of reasoning, the following sections examine research critical of new media and the cyberoptimist position, which views new media as a counter-balance to ensconced discursive power. Beginning with general observations, the following sections then discuss audience labor and exploitation, before discussing control over user-generated content.

57 New Media Critiques

Early scholarship into Web-based media cited the democratic potential of new media and the Web as fundamentally altering relationships of power, hegemony, and representation in favor of traditionally marginalized groups (Mitra and Watts, 2002; Warf and Grimes, 1997). Consider new media’s various impacts on traditional journalism, including 1) comment sections on traditional media sites mirror an inclusive discursive practice pioneered by blogs (Kenix, 2009); 2) traditional journalism outlets feature subjective blog content from previously objective reporters and editorial writers (Hull,

2006); and 3) audience members submit content via the Web, and participate in news distribution through social networking sites (Ots and Karlsson, 2012; Wardle and

Williams, 2010). Furthermore, blogs make information available to the public traditional media often ignores or omits (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Carlson, 2007; Kaye,

2010; Kaye and Johnson, 2011; Reese, et al, 2007). As traditional media’s coverage of local politics declines hyper-local citizen blogs—often written by former journalists—fill the gap by covering politics more than any other category (Fanselow, 2009; Viall, 2009).

To some, this means the “long-running sniper’s war between Old Media and New Media” is over because the new media prognosticators were right; the Web won, altering

(destroying?) traditional media’s established practice and, perhaps more importantly, business model (Westphal, 2009, para. 1).

On the other hand, early research also proclaimed the Web’s potential to maintain powerful discourses, noting the Web’s susceptibility to institutional (e.g. commercial, military, academic) control (Warf and Grimes, 1997). Power’s seepage into egalitarian online spaces occurs by various means. Traditional media’s Web presence—whose

58 content often mirrors broadcast or print material—dominate online page views, win awards for online content, have their voices amplified by the blogosphere, and adopt arguably exploitive practices in promoting audience participation (see below) (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Fisher, 2012; Kenix, 2009; Reese, et al., 2007; van Dijck, 2009,

2012; Westphal, 2009).

Furthermore, large online news aggregators such as GoogleNews and Yahoo!News draw the majority of their material from traditional news outlets, thereby expanding traditional media discourse and enhancing revenue (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007;

Reese, et al, 2007). Other research argues that blogs do little to challenge conventional thinking, but actually reinforce preexisting views by linking to like-minded material, i.e. the echo-chamber, and also by engaging traditional media accounts at face value. For example, a politically conservative blog author might contest “liberal” social policy, and link to articles citing examples of “liberal” social policy, while doing little to challenge taken-for-granted constitutions of “liberal” (Reese, et al., 2007; Sunstein, 2007).

Research into non-commercial news blogs found that they, like traditional journalism, present binary notions of right and wrong, mirror traditional journalism’s practice of linking to “official” sources more often than “unofficial” or “alternative” sources, and present arguments “drawn heavily from mainstream positions” (Kenix,

2009, p. 813). Examining the differences—or lack thereof—between traditional and new media discourses necessitates acknowledgment of power, and the various methods through which power exerts its influence or extends its voice. Blogs’ hyperlinking to traditionally powerful media texts is one way this occurs. Another method discussed in critical scholarship involves the solicitation of user-generated content (UGC) as a form of

59 (generally unpaid) audience labor. Various media—news, entertainment, advertising— encourage multiple forms of UGC, but a common thread running throughout this body of scholarship is that powerful actors, e.g. television networks, journalists, or advertising agencies, control UGC to varying degrees, generally for commercial gain (Bird, 2011; van Dijck, 2012; Wardle and Williams, 2010; Willems, 2012).

Before reviewing scholarship relating to audience labor it is worth noting that not everyone avails themselves of the Web’s productive capacity (van Dijck, 2009). This result occurs, in some cases, because websites offer few opportunities for actual content production while emphasizing “interaction” limited to custom news feeds (Ӧrnebring,

2008; Sunstein, 2007). Overall, van Dijck notes that most survey respondents classify themselves as either “passive spectators (33%) [or] inactives (52%)” when asked to characterize their online habits (2009, p. 44). Thus 85 percent of Web users, respectively, limit their UGC interaction to (passively) blogs and watching videos, or do not participate in any new media production.

Of those who do contribute UGC in some capacity, Örnebring (2008, p. 783) concludes that “the overall impression is that users are mostly empowered to create popular culture-oriented content and personal/everyday life-oriented [blog] content” rather than news (see below). Scholars further argue that even though the number of Web users actively producing content is relatively small, the continuing proliferation of social media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) nevertheless brings users into an environment in which they provide valuable information to corporations, advertisers, and other meta- data aggregators, by liking, commenting, or sharing material (Fisher, 2012; Ots and

Karlsson, 2012; van Dijck, 2009). It is within this framework of production that the

60 myriad forms of audience labor occur. Bearing these findings in mind, the following sections review audience labor as a concept, discuss UGC as an exploitive form of labor, and concludes by examining motives for controlling UGC.

Audience Labor

Utilization of audience labor is not a new phenomenon, and takes many forms.

From the beginning, Shimpach argues, audiences “have been . . . fully expected to perform various forms of ‘work’ as a condition of being an audience member (2005, p.

350). Examples of audience labor include completing surveys following a film screening, writing letters to the editors of newspapers or magazines, participating in the television or radio ratings process, taking part in game shows, taking part in user-submitted video programs (e.g. America’s Funniest Home Videos), crime dramas (e.g. COPS), or reality television voting (DeKeyser and Raeymaeckers, 2012; Jian and Liu, 2009; Shimpach,

2005; van Dijck, 2009).

Although audience labor as a political economic, productive force has been studied since the 1970s, the practice took on new scholastic relevance with the rise of reality television in the early 2000s, and again with the relatively recent rise of Web 2.0 and social networks (Duffy, 2010; Fisher, 2012). Scholars are somewhat divided on what, exactly, to make of audience labor, tending to view the practice of online textual production in binary terms—as either empowering or exploitive (Duffy, 2010). The empowering view sees web production in terms of engaged citizens “flexing their muscles against the power of media producers” (Bird, 2011, p. 506). As the above review of voice and counter-discourse indicates, scholars find user access to the Web fosters community in multiple contexts, extends the reach of alternative discourses to

61 theoretically anyone with Web access, and allows for self-representation among those excluded from, or stereotyped by, traditional media discourses. Furthermore, some scholars argue that incorporation of UGC into traditional media increases citizen roles, visibility, and input while decreasing reliance on expert or elite voices (DeKeyser and

Raeymaeckers, 2012; Willems, 2012).

Conversely, research toward an exploitive view argues that audience labor is an often overlooked site of creative and cultural production for powerful industries, thus new media production is less a tool wresting power from the powerful, and more a hegemonic strategy used by power to maintain dominance (Denskus and

Esser, 2013; Tang and Yang, 2011; Simpach, 2005; van Dijck, 2009, 2012). Fisher

(2012) observes that failure to see UGC as labor stems, in part, from equating media consumption with leisure—the antithesis of more traditional definitions of work or labor.

Traditional Marxism maintains that capitalist enterprises increase “relative surplus value” by utilizing unskilled, and therefore low-wage, labor such as UGC (Jian and Liu, 2009).

Since western media resembles other capitalistic enterprises, encouraging audience production of low- or no-cost content represents an opportunity to 1) rhetorically construct the media outlet as collaborative and open to audience participation, while 2) reaping the promotional and financial benefits inherent in such production (Duffy, 2010;

Jian and Liu, 2009; Uzunoğlu, 2011; van Dijck, 2009, 2012).

From Audience Labor to Audience Exploitation

Numerous scholars point toward the exploitive potential of UGC. Because

Western media outlets often are corporate, or at the very least profit-driven, platforms “it is impossible to disregard the influence of the market in defining the meaning” of UGC

62 (van Dijck, 2012, p. 164). Various scholars argue that UGC represents one link within a larger multimedia commodity chain of interested parties including the media outlet itself, sponsors, wireless companies, and Internet service providers (Jian and Liu, 2009;

Willems, 2012). Audience exploitation occurs in numerous ways. For one, UGC generates enormous amounts of demographic and sociographic meta-data (van Dijck,

2009). Additionally, large media firms monitor fan sites which, scholars argue, represent sites of unpaid expert opinion, unattributed idea generation, and no-cost market research

(Fisher, 2012; Jian and Liu, 2009; Shimpach, 2005).

Even though relatively few Web users produce, or participate in, production of online texts, the proliferation of social media sites such as Facebook allow meta-data gathering from even minimally engaged individuals (Fisher, 2012; Örnebring, 2008; van

Dijck, 2009). Data from social networking sites falls into one of five categories: 1) “lean” demographic information of interest to advertising and marketing professionals; 2) information identifying the individual user; 3) information communicated by the user; 4) information identifying time spent on social network sites, and the types of sub-networks an individual forms; and finally 5) data identifying “networks of association” via analysis of likes and comments—a user’s “symbolic universe” (Fisher, 2012, pp. 176-177). Thus, audience labor on social media sites, in the form of constant data generation, transcends previous institutional limitations—namely cost and inefficient sampling techniques—as a means of both acquiring audience information, and marketing products to them (Fisher,

2012).

Beyond meta-data, scholars note that UGC often consists of content—whether entertainment- or news-focused—which organizations solicit, promote and utilize for

63 little or no cost (Duffy, 2010; Jian and Liu, 2009; Ӧrnebring, 2008; Uzunoğlu, 2011). For example, many corporate brands strategically solicit UGC for marketing campaigns because user-generated advertising (UGA) is perceived as more trustworthy than corporate-generated messages, is able to break through traditional advertising clutter, and presents the brand as sensitive to audience input (Duffy, 2010; Uzunoğlu, 2011). Doritos annual Super Bowl commercial contest, which in 2013 encouraged users to submit commercials for the chance to 1) have their ad aired during the Super Bowl, and 2) win one million dollars, serves as a recent example (Doritos, 2013).

Although the Doritos contest winner received a sizable cash payment, and

PepsiCo (Doritos parent company) spent significant marketing capital, scholars note the real value to PepsiCo rests in the contest’s ability to promote corporate brands across numerous media platforms, drive traffic to websites, garner positive public perception, and obtain user data (Fisher, 2012; Uzunoğlu, 2011; van Dijck, 2009). Researchers further suggest that contests such as this silence audience labor and corporate control by capitalizing on discourses of self-expression, creativity, and the “rags to riches” stories of average people achieving success, wealth and notoriety, when in fact “UGC boosts the power of [established] media moguls” who ultimately control what UGC receives attention, and what UGC remains essentially invisible (van Dijck, 2009, p. 53; see also

Duffy, 2010; Thompson, 1995, 2005; Tang and Yang, 2011).

The notion of control is relevant in UGC scholarship. For all of UGC’s observed corporate benefits, Uzunoğlu (2011) argues that many brands avoid UGC marketing, citing concerns over (loss of) control. Refusal to cede control of production and content is another commonality throughout this body of research (Duffy, 2010; Lasorsa, Lewis, and

64 Holton, 2012; Lewis, 2012; Ӧrnebring, 2008; Ots and Karlsson, 2012; Wardle and

Williams, 2010; Willems, 2010).

Controlling User Generated Content

Duffy (2010) writes that corporations present contests soliciting user-generated videos and advertisements, like the Doritos example cited above, in democratic “people’s choice” terms, when in fact audience votes are often one small factor in determining the overall winner. Also, utilizing UGC/UGA leaves corporate brands vulnerable to audience-produced counter-discourse. For example, a Chevrolet user-generated advertising campaign assumed users would portray their trucks and SUV’s favorably.

However, a series of anti-Chevrolet mock ads soon spread throughout the Web

(Uzunoğlu, 2011). Thus advertisers must weigh the relative advantages and disadvantages of ceding some level of control to those outside the professional ranks.

Control occurs not only in advertising, but in journalism and news media as well.

Newspapers and other journalistic outlets are brands just like Chevrolet or

Doritos, thus news outlets must simultaneously control brand image, and encourage user involvement, freedom, and agency (Ots and Karlsson, 2012). Numerous studies examine

UGC in a journalistic context, finding that journalists prefer UGC content they can control in the same way they control other source material—as something raw, and in need of professional molding (Lasorsa, et al., 2012; Ots and Karlsson, 2012; Wardle and

Williams, 2010; Willems, 2012). Another criticism among these studies highlights the disconnect between the potential for increased collaboration between professional journalists and the lay public versus actual collaboration. Some researchers attribute journalists’ slow embrace of collaborative UGC to technophobia (Wardle and Williams,

65 2010), while other scholars attribute slow adoption of UGC to organizational boundary maintenance, i.e. maintaining the distinction between “professional” journalists—whose training, experience, and objectivity legitimate their status as informers, and “amateur” audience members—who lack the “expertise” and training necessary to properly inform the public (Lewis, 2012). Indeed, journalists’ need to control and mold content is cited as the primary hindrance to more collaborative ventures between professional journalists and the lay public (Lasorsa, et al., 2012; Lewis, 2012; Ots and Karlsson, 2012;

Örnebring, 2008; Singer, 2005; Wardle and Williams, 2010; Willems, 2012).

This is not to say that user involvement and visibility in news processes and products has not changed with the coming of Web 2.0 (DeKeyser and Raeymaeckers,

2012). For example, in 2005 the preponderance of audience interaction with journalistic products took the form of “comments and reactions,” mostly as emails to individual journalists; in contrast, a 2010 content analysis saw users not only reacting via email and social network sites, but also participating in news distribution (e.g. sharing or linking), processing (e.g. user comments incorporated into headlines), and data gathering phases

(e.g. sending eyewitness accounts or photos) of journalistic production—areas of journalistic practice previously off-limits to audiences (Ots and Karlsson, 2012).

However, Ots and Karlsson conclude that “[w]hen it comes to the important stages of news production the participatory features are fewer and the levels of impact are very low” (2012, p. 56). Similarly, Lasorsa, et al., (2012) coded over 22,000 tweets from the

500 most-followed journalists and found that although journalists did share their gatekeeping capacity by re-tweeting posts from others, most journalists—especially journalists from elite news organizations—made little effort to “open the gates to non-

66 professional participants in the news production process” (p. 31). Studies such as this indicate that, although citizen involvement and visibility in news is increasing, journalistic control over UGC represents institutions adapting the Web “as a new site for old activities” (Lasorsa, et al., p. 21; see also Singer, 2005; Wardle and Williams, 2010).

The preceding sections reviewed new media, and referenced scholarly debate surrounding new media and blog potential to challenge traditional media narratives and power. The preceding review also outlined the ongoing debate surrounding user- generated content (UGC). Like blogs and new media more generally, some view UGC as emancipating, while others see the practice as exploitive and serving power. This chapter now shifts focus from traditional and new media to mediated constructions of the environment, as such constructions are inseparable from fracking. Upcoming sections incorporate a general review of environmental discourse, plus discussion of specific environmental constructions including the romantic/resource binary, and nature as commodity.

Environmental Discourse

The forthcoming sections review scholarly investigations of discourse and the environment. This dissertation utilizes “environment” similarly to Castree’s (2014) concept of “external nature,” which he defines as “[t]he non-human world of living and inanimate phenomena, be they ‘pristine’ or modified” (p. 10). This usage is not intended to silence discourses which grant nature agency, and symbiotically construct human/environment relations—e.g. green romanticism (Dryzek, 1997) or universal nature (Castree, 2014). Rather, this usage of “environment” is consistent with the

67 preponderance of environmental discourse which places humanity hierarchically above their external environment (Dryzek, 1997).

Consistent with literature previously reviewed, scholars in this section argue that the environment is socially constructed (Braun and Wainwright, 2001; Castree, 2001,

2014; Cronon, 1996; Anderson, 1997; John, 2007). This implies that, like other discursively constructed objects, the environment is a shifting, often ideological, construct formed by various institutions (Castree, 2014). This also points toward the material, productive outcomes of discourse and power on the environment, seen in pristine national parks, extractive oil fields, amenity landscapes, and “eco-friendly” suburban development (Cronon, 1996; DeLuca and Demo, 2000; Remillard, 2011).

Dryzek (1997) traces environmental discourse’s origin to the and the contrast between lived urban reality, and representations of pristine natural settings. As the forthcoming review shows, dominant environmental discourse often contains an underlying human-use-value, even though scholars classify environmental discourse variously.

For example, Dryzek’s (1997) writing outlines nine categories of environmental discourse, all of which constitute humanity’s relationship with nature, and its resources, differently. For instance, Promethean discourse expresses human domination over nature, faith in humanity’s technological ability to overcome challenges, belief in limitless resources, and currently represents the dominant environmental discourse. Conversely,

Dryzek’s (1997) green romantic discourse views nature as the dominant entity, and furthermore a powerful actor capable of punishing a human population living out of balance with its natural surroundings. Green rationalists, administrative rationalists, and

68 survivalists believe power rests with elites or States, while democratic pragmatists and adherents of sustainable development argue that power resides with lay-citizens. Many of

Dryzek’s (1997) nine environmental discourses share characteristics. For instance, in hierarchal terms most place humanity above nature (green romantics being the lone exception), and only three groups—green rationalists, green romantics, and survivalists— perceive any need to significantly rework capitalism.

Similarly, Cronon (1996) differentiates among seven social constructions of nature. These include relatively straight-forward constructions, e.g. Nature as Naïve

Reality, which constructs nature as a monolithic entity—“what it [nature] really and truly is” (Cronon, 1996, p. 34, emphasis original). Additionally, Cronon includes constructions arguably more prone to ideological influence and debate, e.g. Nature as Moral Imperative which constitutes what nature “ought to be” (Cornon, 1996, p. 36, emphasis original), or

Nature as Contested Terrain which argues that constructions are always culturally- dependent products of human production. Common among all these myriad constructions, Cronon (1996) argues, “is the meaning we assign to [natural occurrences].

. . we must never forget that these stories are ours, not nature’s. The natural world does not organize itself into parables. Only people do that” (pp. 49-50).

Despite calls to transcend “use it” versus “protect it” binaries (Braun and

Wainwright, 2001) other environmental scholars nevertheless observe the presence of less nuanced romantic/resource environmental constructions (DeLuca and Demo, 2000;

Hodgins and Thompson, 2011; Remillard, 2011). Even Dryzek’s (1997) environmental discourse shares much with the romantic/resource binary: green rationalists and green romantics—as the name implies—strive for harmony with nature. Meanwhile, Dryzek’s

69 (1997) other discourses all contain some resource-driven logic, with some (e.g.

Prometheans) more inclined to exploit resources than others. Scholars argue the romantic/resource binary overlooks an underlying discourse of nature as a commodity

(DeLuca and Demo, 2000; Ghose, 2011; Hodgins and Thompson, 2011; Meister and

Japp, 2002), an observation mirrored in Dryzek’s (1997) argument that capitalism is very often taken-for-granted throughout environmental discourse. The remainder of this section reviews scholarship pertaining to the romantic/resource binary, and research highlighting consumptive attitudes underlying both.

The Romantic/Resource Binary

Scholars offer divergent opinions as to the origins of this resource-driven view of nature. One argument traces nature-as-resource back over ten millennia to the development of agriculture, and human taming of pristine lands (Remillard, 2011; Short,

1991). Others root the resource view in Christianity. Contrary to Eastern religions and paganism, which saw humans existing symbiotically with nature, Christianity places humanity as separate from, and hierarchically above, a natural world created for human use (Remillard, 2011; White, 2003). Other scholars write that the nature-as resource view originates with Enlightenment discourses celebrating human reason, dispassionate scientific observation, and thus physical and intellectual domination of nature (Daley,

2000; Leiss, 1972). Finally, other scholars argue that the Industrial Revolution’s economic and resource requirements necessarily constructed the environment as a resource (Dryzek, 1997; Murphy, 2011). Anderson (1997) argues that, time-of-origin notwithstanding, discourses espousing technological dominance over nature engender feelings of security, freeing humanity from the “nasty, brutish, and short” realities

70 endured by our ancestors in an untamed, frightening wilderness (p. 4-5; see also Cox,

2013). Furthermore, scholars write that discourses privileging human dominance over nature achieve continued resonance in the Western world because they not only validate human superiority, and faith in technology, but compliment neoliberal discourses of capitalism and consumption (Dryzek, 1997; Murphy, 2011; Remillard, 2011, see below).

The binary counterweight to resource-driven discourses understand nature as a romantic, sublime, and spiritual place worthy of protection; in this view nature possesses

“a power that mocks human claims to significance” (DeLuca and Demo, 2000, p. 246).

Remillard cites both Emerson and Thoreau’s as emblematic of the romantic view, as they convey nature’s majesty which, contrary to extractive notions of fiscal or resource wealth, “is beyond quantitative measurements of value” (Remillard, 2011, p.

132). Following these awe-inspiring constructions of nature are more recent preservationist and eco-centric discourses, which 1) rose to prominence in the 1960s and

1970s, in part, due to negative outcomes of unchecked industry and resource extraction, and images of Earth from space framed the planet as finite and vulnerable; and 2) promote a symbiotic view of human/environment interactions, essentially asking humanity to harmonize with nature, rather than dominate or exploit it (Castree, 2001;

Murphy, 2011).

Scholars note that national parks are particularly representative of preservationist, romantic discourse, as places set aside for humanity to escape civilization and nourish the soul (John, 2007; Remillard, 2011). As such, these preeminent examples of natural splendor must be protected from extractive activities that might diminish or destroy their nourishing, restorative properties (Sovacool, 2008). That said, national parks also

71 represent another notable trend in environmental scholarship which argues that nature-as- commodity underlies many environmental constructions.

Nature as Commodity

This environmental discourse argues that nature—whether removing minerals from it, reveling in its pristine beauty, or purchasing souvenirs at a national park—is a product for consumption. Viewing nature in this way broadens the definition of

“resource” to include numerous commodities such as tourism, artistic representations, recreational products, and real estate. For example DeLuca and Demo (2000) observe numerous outcomes resulting from Carleton Watkins nineteenth-century photographic representations of what would eventually become Yosemite National Park. These outcomes include creation of the world’s first wilderness park, burgeoning environmental preservation and tourism, a new standard for landscape photography, and establishment of a marketplace for nature representations, as Watkins photos appeared in the homes of wealthy “tourists, East Coast urban dwellers, [and] armchair adventurers” (p. 247).

Furthermore, researchers argue that romantic representations of wilderness, whether displayed in private homes, government offices, or national currency act as a “double commodity,” at once circulating in the marketplace, while also transforming nature into a valuable, physical possession (Hodgins and Thompson, 2011).

Geographers continue this line of research, observing that pristine wilderness is worthy of possession not only artistically, but literally in the form of real estate (Cronon,

1996; Ghose, 2011; McCarthy, 2008). McCarthy (2008) defines the phenomenon of urban elites relocating to pristine, rural areas as “amenity migration.” In some cases these neighborhoods or regions represent Nature as Self-Conscious Cultural Construction—a

72 not explicitly commercial, but invariably deliberate, effort to bring people and nature closer together (Cronon, 1996). The American “New West” (e.g. Missoula and Bozeman,

Montana; Jackson Hole, Wyoming) is a prime example, as former urban residents escape the city and relocate to “archipelagos” of progressive thinking, slower pace, awe- inspiring beauty, strong community, recreational opportunity, and various other quality- of-life amenities unavailable in metropolitan or Los Angeles (Ghose, 2011;

Hines, 2010). McCarthy (2008) further observes that exurban migrants “typically profess more ‘environmental’ values and priorities than do ‘traditional’ rural residents” while, ironically, often living consumption-driven lifestyles (p. 134). Scholars note that cost of living, homes built in precarious surroundings in order to capture pristine views, and various materials required to recreate and live in these areas (e.g., mountain bikes, skis,

SUVs, sprawling growth) cast doubt on the environmental credibility of such communities (Cronon, 1996; Ghose, 2011; Hines, 2010; McCarthy, 2008). Thus romantic environmental sentiment resides squarely within the purview of consumerism and possession.

Nature and Media

Scholars argue that media’s discursive role in the constitution of the environment, though often overlooked, is worthy of study because various interest groups play upon the resource/romantic binary to further their own interests, often using nature as a backdrop for any number of messages (Hodgins and Thompson, 2011; Meister and Japp,

2002). For example, protectionist groups romanticize images of pristine wilderness, or employ shocking images of environmental destruction, in justifying nature’s defense

(Anderson, 1997); meanwhile, images of industry utilizing natural resources for

73 communal or personal benefit (e.g. energy independence, jobs, financial wealth) encourage resource exploitation while silencing or co-opting preservationist discourses

(Jensen, 2012; Remillard, 2011). Thus scholars encourage researchers to move beyond binary constitutions to consider what underlying ideological motivations encourage such constructions in the first place (Braun and Wainwright, 2001).

Furthermore, Murphy (2011) argues that mediated storylines matter because it is via entertainment media that taken-for-granted assumptions about “natural” relationships occur, and moreover, that seemingly innocuous entertainment media reinforce a

Promethean (i.e. extractive, consumptive) view of the environment. Finally, the environment as an intertextual communicates taken-for-granted relationships between humans and the environment via diverse sources such as greeting cards, film, board games, and advertising (Meister and Japp, 2002). In addition to discourses expressing human dominance, scholars argue that media texts also represent the environment as something apart from our daily lives, something “out there” humans go consume, rather than emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between humanity and the environment (DeLuca and Demo, 2000; Meister and Japp, 2002; Murphy, 2011;

Remillard, 2011).

Murphy (2011) further observes that mediated environmental messages are often contradictory, and the “greening” of the entertainment mediascape is the most contradictory phenomenon of all. Many popular culture texts include preservationist themes—e.g. Superman quoting Thoreau in comic books, or films like Wall-E and The

Lorax promoting environmental awareness and stewardship. However, the consumption- driven advertisements and messages occurring in conjunction with these texts leave

74 consumers with mixed messages—e.g. Mazda’s Lorax campaign encourages consumption of fossil fuels and other materials, while reinforcing dependency on single- family vehicles (Murphy, 2011; see also Cronon, 1996). Remillard (2011) also observes environmental ambiguity in his study of National Geographic’s photo-representations of

Canada’s Alberta Oil Sands. Of the 21 images comprising the photo-essay, nine emphasize environmental transformation from pristine wilderness to industrial landscape, five illustrate individual, social, and economic benefits of oil extraction, four highlight technological development, three chronicle negative health and social impacts on local populations, and one photo emphasizes the current need for oil. In short, scholars argue that media deliver conflicting messages concerning both the natural world, and what actions the public ought to take in relation to it.

Although the division between “entertainment” and “news” is arguably thin

(Fairclough, 1995), the news media discursively constitute nature as well. Organizations with divergent goals, e.g., ExxonMobil and Greenpeace, both utilize news media’s penchant toward shocking or dramatic footage by attracting media attention with high publicity events (Anderson, 1997; Remillard, 2011). Scholars also note that news media’s extensive coverage of natural disasters rarely connects the increasing severity of weather to anthropogenic-induced climate change, and further notes a general lack of climate coverage in United States news media (Good, 2008; Lockwood, 2011). Good (2008) frames her analysis within the context of Herman and Chomsky’s (1988) Media

Propaganda Model—which postulates that media in capitalistic societies uphold the status-quo of consumerism by producing news favorable to economic and political elites—and finds that newspapers in the United States, versus Canadian or international

75 papers tend to 1) discuss climate change or global warming approximately 30 percent less often; 2) prefer the term “global warming” to “climate change,” because global warming is more contestable; and 3) frame climate change with “greenhouse gasses” as opposed to

“fossil fuels.” Greenhouse gases, some of which are naturally occurring, e.g., methane from cattle, are less threatening to the oil industry than condemning “fossil fuels,” which are more human-use centered. (Good, 2008)

These findings are consistent with Lockwood’s (2011) observation that a “key feature of media coverage around the issue [climate change]” is a tendency to frame the matter as a “non-problem” (p. 48). Even this, however, may be changing due to increasing pressure on news outlets to connect climate change to human consumption of fossil fuels, gradually moving the debate from “is climate changing” to “what will be the effects of an already changing climate” (Good, 2008, p. 248). Nevertheless, numerous scholars note powerful interests’ inclination to frame fossil fuel extraction in a neoliberal context—e.g. maintaining standards of living, job creation, financial gain—hinder environmental advocates’ efforts to alter potentially harmful or destructive environmental practices (Coll, 2012; Good, 2008; Remillard, 2011).

This chapter, thus far, has included some empirical findings within the context of an overall . The following sections outline other relevant scholarship relating to this dissertation. Forthcoming topics include empirical literature relating to material discursive outcomes, discursive strategies on the part of power, new media’s complex relationship with traditional media, and an overview of neoliberalism. Although the neoliberal section was not included in this dissertation initial proposal, emergent and

76 pervasive neoliberal themes necessitate a review of pertinent scholarship prior to discussing neoliberally-themed results in Chapter Five.

Related Scholarship

Empirical scholarship pertaining to material manifestations of discourse is multi- faceted. Gee (2005), for instance, emphasizes outcomes related to performance—e.g. individuals choose how to dress, what to listen to, or what to watch to demonstrate belonging to a certain discourse. Other studies point out that powerful discourses perpetuate themselves intertextually. For example, powerful colonial discourses exist materially via a plethora of texts—including postcards, souvenirs, maps, paintings, travel guides, and history books (Guntarik, 2009). Or, the BBC intertextually constructs the idyllic countryside via television shows like Postman Pat, which also exist as DVDs, toys, clothing, and other commodities (Horton, 2008). Finally, advertisements intertextually reinforce one another visually, textually, and even sonically so that consumers seamlessly associate images, words, and sounds with particular brands

(Goldman and Papson, 2011). Or, scholars highlight discursive silences in both traditional and new media as providing implicit justification for various actions—e.g. when maps symbolically erase indigenous peoples, and represent spaces as empty in justifying fossil fuel extraction (Daley, 2000; Hodgins and Thompson, 2011). In similar fashion Google Earth maps and websites giving voice and visibility otherwise silent or under-represented events frame people and places as dependent on western intervention for solutions (Ewalt, 2011). The remainder of this section discusses findings pertaining to strategies of power in crafting discourse, and results from studies further highlighting the complex relationship between new and traditional media.

77 Strategies of Power

Scholars highlight the material outcomes of discursive constitution, with numerous authors calling attention to the constitutive, often ideologically-driven, power of naming. Research shows that the power to name is part of a greater power to control the terms of debate and definition, molding what the public “knows” about, and how the public acts towards, given phenomena (deGoede, 1996; Fairclough, 1992). For example, colonial place often replace indigenous place names, even though the indigenous name came first, thus silencing alternative interpretations of events and culture (Berg and

Kearns, 1996; Guntarik, 2009; Rossiter and Wood, 2005; Tuan, 1991). Similarly, naming environmental features as “swamps” or “wetlands” partially dictate how we think about, and act toward, these material objects. In years past, governments paid landowners to drain unproductive “swamps,” while today those same governments preserve environmentally significant “wetlands” (Dryzek, 1997; Murphy, 2011). Likewise, oil extraction in Alberta occurs in “oil” or “tar” sands. Supporters of “oil” sands development contest critics’ use of “tar” sands, arguing that the latter definition

“scornfully demonize[s] it as ‘dirty oil,’ as if it were some kind of devil’s brew and not that sweet, golden syrup coming from the ” (Sweeny, 2010, p. 162). Indeed, scholars suggest examining metaphors and names as a means of understanding the constitution of objects (Dryzek, 1997; Murphy, 2011). For example, metaphorically connecting Alberta’s Oil/Tar Sands to Mordor—the dystopic hellscape from Tolkin’s

Lord of the Rings trilogy—creates a particular, ideologically-driven association (Sweeny,

2010).

78 Closely related to naming is the phenomenon of discursive co-optation, which incorporates counter-discursive rhetoric into messages emanating from established platforms of power. For example, Jensen’s (2012) study of oil extraction in Norway interrogates oil companies’ strategic adaptation of phrases such as “drilling for the environment” as a method of swaying Norwegian public opinion in favor of increased drilling by equating oil extraction with environmental stewardship (p. 32). Discursive co- optation also manifests in environmental discourse, especially within Dryzek’s (1997) discourse of sustainable development. This particular discourse asks individuals to act in environmentally responsible ways, but is rooted in consumerism (e.g. purchasing hybrid cars, or LED lights). Marketers of “green” products establish themselves as

“environmentally concerned, responsible neighbors supporting local communities” by co- opting discourses of environmentalism when, arguably, the production and consumption of “green” products does little to counter environmental damage (Goldman and Papson,

2011, p. 13).

Discursive co-optation is one part of a broader hegemonic strategy utilized by some powerful actors in influencing public opinion. Sponsorship of cultural events is another method of aligning corporate interests and passions with those of viewers or community members (Burnes, 2013; Murphee and Aucoin, 2010). Similarly, corporate public relations offices might increase attention on select global issues, while ignoring others. For instance, a former ExxonMobil CEO argued that “the most pressing environmental problems of the developing nations are related to poverty, not global climate change. Addressing these problems will require economic growth, and that will necessitate increasing, not curtailing, the use of fossil fuels” (Coll, 2012, p. 82). In this

79 example ExxonMobil simultaneously expresses concern and sympathy toward developing nations and humanitarian causes, while proposing a financially beneficial solution.

Powerful organizations also negotiate for public approval by using media. This includes the aforementioned sponsorship and other public relations opportunities, but also by using traditional journalism’s proclivity for expert sources (discussed above). For example, following the 2002 Prestige oil tanker spill Anderson and Marhadour (2007) found elite actors such as politicians and oil industry spokespeople figured more prevalently than other groups in media coverage. Meanwhile, Murphee and Aucoin

(2010) argue that Mobil Oil’s landmark 1970s public relations campaign—part of which involved making industry experts (e.g. petroleum engineers, scientists) available for talk shows and other media appearances—successfully countered negative and factually inaccurate (from Mobil’s perspective) discourses found in mainstream media (Murphee and Aucoin, 2010). Murphee and Aucoin (2010) summarize literature gauging the material outcome of Mobil Oil’s campaign, and found their public relations strategies favorably altered media coverage of Mobil Oil, and also personified the company by giving the corporation a likable personality. Scholars contend that public relations strategies and “experts” working on behalf of ideologically-driven organizations often result in a media product which presents complex issues in simplistic, binary terms, pitting experts in favor of an issue against experts against that issue, and at times producing a false sense of equivalency between positions (Lockwood, 2011; Sovacool,

2008; Taibi, 2014).

80 The following section highlights scholarship demonstrating new media’s potential to act as a discursive alternative to traditional media. However, as noted above, examples in the forthcoming section also demonstrate the complex intermingling between new and traditional media.

New Media Complexity

Examples of resistant, self-representative, and/or counter-hegemonic discourses online include new media’s incorporation of citizen knowledge within the spheres of news and current events. Anderson and Marhadour’s (2007) analysis of media coverage following the 2002 Prestige oil tanker spill included numerous websites—initiated by both protest groups and more established environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the International Fund for Animal Welfare—displaying information either ignored by traditional media, or censored by institutional officials (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007).

Other examples include social networking and blogs’ roles in circumventing government control in places like China and North Africa (Bird, 2011; Chiluwa, 2012); environmental blogs challenging taken-for-granted patterns of consumption while championing alternative ways of living (e.g., off the grid) (Murphy, 2011); and minority groups in the

United Kingdom using blogs, chat rooms, and other computer mediated communication to build and share their own cyber community independent of dominant representations

(Parker and Song, 2009). All these examples highlight an oft-cited benefit to new media: the circumvention of established structures of power, representation, and distribution, thus allowing direct communication to audiences and communities (Atkinson and

Rosatti, 2009; Chanan, 2005).

81 Hyper-local citizen news blogs are indicative of new-media potential. Though these blogs—sometimes focusing on a city, town, or specific neighborhood—receive scant attention relative to traditional media websites, scholars argue that hyper-local citizen blogs make better “watchdogs” than traditional journalism. This is due, in part, to blogs’ coverage of local issues that traditional media once covered, but now ignore due to cost-cutting measures and dwindling staff (Fanselow, 2009; Marchi, 2012; Viall, 2009).

Furthermore, hyper-local citizen blogs foster not only a sense of virtual community, but also build community in a more traditional, physical sense, “at the level of real geographic localities” (Chanan, 2005, p. 140; see also Denkus and Esser, 2013;

Fanselow, 2009). The Pew Research Center (2013) notes that local TV viewership declined by over six percent from the previous year, due in part to local TV news’ rejection of local political content in favor of weather, traffic, sports, crime, and business news—material easily accessible via other means. Due to traditional journalism’s dismissal of (expensive) investigative reporting in favor of (inexpensive) lifestyle material, dissatisfied news consumers migrate to the blogs and other online news sources

(Fanselow, 2009; Leung and Huang, 2007; Marchi, 2012; Pew Research Center, 2013).

However, scholars also advocate caution regarding Web-based production.

Beyond theoretical work viewing Web-based texts as exploitive of audience labor, empirical studies criticize blogs and citizen-based journalism as new sites for traditional methods of content control. Although citizen inclusion, prominence, and production has risen since the advent of Web 2.0, the content of citizen production—characterized as more tabloid content than news—remains a point of contention (De Keyser and

Raeymaeckers, 2012). Örnebring (2008), for instance, argues that UGC on traditional

82 journalism sites mirrors blog content, in that the material produced is more pop-culture and personal than news, leaving the impression that news organizations refuse to cede control of actual “news” to others. Wardle and Williams (2010) organizational study of

UGC in BBC newsrooms found that, ultimately, the ensconced discursive formation of

“journalism” impedes greater cooperation between journalist and lay citizen in news production. Their study further notes that “audience content”—e.g. audience-submitted footage/photos, stories, and experiences—and “audience comment”—e.g. audience posts to comment sections of BBC news stories—are the most common forms of UGC, with more collaborative endeavors lagging behind.

Scholars study the complex relationship between social media and journalistic norms as well. Denskus and Esser (2013) observe Twitter’s tendency to perpetuate existing power structures and priorities. Conversely, Lasorsa, et al.’s (2012) study of journalists on Twitter found that the medium alters some journalistic standards. For example, 43 percent of journalists studied offered some form of opinion via Twitter—a break from the standard of objectivity. Furthermore, Lasorsa, et al., (2012) find that journalists “shared their gatekeeping role to some extent by including postings from others in their microblogs” (p. 28). However, many of the re-tweets simply circulated material from other elite—e.g. national newspapers or network—journalists, again failing to incorporate material from the lay public. Alternately, Marchi’s (2012) study finds that social media outlets such as Facebook, and opinion-based programs such as The Daily

Show or The O’Reilly Factor, meet young news consumers’ needs better than “objective” traditional journalism. Marchi (2012) further notes that news posted to social media allows “teens to engage with news in a more complex way than possible with traditional

83 news formats . . . online comments exposed them to a variety of opinions that helped them form their own opinions on issues” (p. 253). Thus on one hand, social media uphold certain journalistic norms—e.g. citizen exclusion from meaningful news production— while challenging others—e.g. objectivity.

Prior to concluding, this chapter elaborates upon neoliberalism, which represents an emergent, prevalent, and somewhat unexpected theme within this dissertation’s results

(see Chapter Five). Furthermore, given scholarly critiques constructing the media industry as serving capitalist, commercial interests, concluding this chapter by discussing neoliberal discourse is appropriate (Chomsky, 1997; Gerhards and Schäfer, 2010;

Lockwood, 2011).

Neoliberalism

This section presents literature that was not part of this dissertation’s original proposal, but is being included due to neoliberalism’s presence across media texts analyzed for this project (see Chapter Five). Springer (2012) argues that a “rupture” exists in current scholarship between structural/Marxist, and poststructural/Foucauldian conceptions of neoliberalism. The former articulates neoliberalism as an exploitive, top- down restoration of class power (e.g. Harvey, 2005). Conversely, some poststructural scholars approach neoliberalism through Foucault’s lens of , which among other things argues 1) that governments operate rationally, but not always oppressively, in working toward some specific end (Lemke, 2000; Springer, 2012); and

2) “governing” is not limited to political and elite actors, but rather includes individual self-governance, and institutions governing affairs of others independent of political rationale (Lemke, 2000). To harmonize these seemingly disparate viewpoints, this

84 dissertation follows Springer (2012) in conceptualizing neoliberalism as a dialectic discourse of currently recognizable elements, aware of both material structure and potential for change, but privileging neither. Furthermore, this dissertation identifies neoliberalism’s “recognizable elements” by drawing upon frequently cited scholars such as Harvey, Peck, and Tickell.

Scholars note a relationship between power, neoliberal rhetoric and material outcome, writing that neoliberalism—like discourse in general—possesses a “self- actualizing quality” and capacity to make itself true (Peck and Tickell, 2002, p. 382).

Scholars further argue that, like discourse, neoliberalism is an evolving process, universal in neither form nor effect, which produces resistance based on myriad cultural and historical contingencies (Harvey, 2005; Peck and Tickell, 2002). The end result is a view of neoliberalism which synthesizes complementary elements between and poststructuralism in that “materiality and discourse become integral, where one cannot exist without the other. It is precisely this understanding of discourse that points to a similarity between poststructuralism and Marxian political economy approaches and their shared concern for power relations” (Springer, 2012, p. 143, emphasis added).

Although the emergence and manifestations of neoliberalism differ based on historic, geographic, and cultural factors, scholars observe numerous, relatively stable characteristics of neoliberalism (Peck and Tickell, 2002). For instance, Peck (2001) writes that neoliberalism purges “obstacles to the functioning of ‘free markets’” in its privileging of individualism, self-sufficiency, and competitiveness while simultaneously dismantling collective initiatives and social transfer programs (p. 445). Neoliberalism furthermore “prioritizes market forces over state intervention . . . [rooted] in the free-

85 market advocacy of economists such as Hayek and Friedman” (Garland and Harper,

2012, p. 415; see also Peck and Tickell, 2002). Harvey (2005) defines the neoliberal state as an “apparatus whose fundamental mission [is] to facilitate conditions for profitable capital accumulation on the part of both domestic and foreign capital” (p. 7). Despite decidedly anti-statist rhetoric, neoliberal practice often diverges from neoliberal theory as adherents nevertheless require a powerful, intact state to achieve its goals (Harvey, 2005;

Kamat, 2004; Peck, 2001; Peck and Tickell, 2002; Tickell and Peck, 2003).

Neoliberalism’s emphasis on free markets, individualism, deregulation, and privatization contrasts with the earlier socio-economic paradigm of Keynesianism which promoted a strong social safety net and public ownership of select industries and utilities (Garland and Harper, 2012; Harvey, 2005; Peck, 2001; Peck and Tickell, 2002; Tickell and Peck,

2003).

Neoliberalism evolved in three transformative phases: the proto-neoliberal phase, the roll-back phase, and finally the roll-out phase (Peck, 2001; Peck and Tickell, 2002;

Tickell and Peck, 2003). The first phase—proto-neoliberalism—finds its origin in works from Adam Smith and David Ricardo, and gaining traction with the Mont Pélérin Society following World War II (Tickell and Peck, 2003). The Society’s founding statement laments the perceived loss of human dignity, freedom, and society’s declining faith in

“private property and the competitive market” (Harvey, 2005, p. 20). What scholars now understand as neoliberalism was little more than a utopian, fringe philosophy vis-à-vis the dominant Keynesian thinking of the day (Peck and Tickell, 2002; Tickell and Peck,

2003). However, neoliberal adherents attained positions within key academic institutions—especially at the University of Chicago—while also gaining influence

86 among Republican politicians and powerful think tanks—e.g. the Cato Institute (Harvey,

2005; Peck and Tickell, 2002). Emergent, yet peripheral, neoliberal post-war rhetoric in the United States argued that prevailing policies of big government and high taxes

(Keynesianism) would destroy the American Dream of advancement through hard work, with Americans looking to government for “handouts” (Samuel, 2012, p. 44). Even though the American Dream of the 1930s, “was . . . not about getting rich, owning a piece of property, working for oneself, or some other later interpretation” (Samuel, 2012, p.

14), the American Dream transitioned from the collective “we” to the individualist “me” during the Reagan administration.

The next phase—roll-back neoliberalism—represents the period in which neoliberal discourse attained material existence—a materiality realized in the “rolling back” of Keynesian social programs, and corresponding emphasis on “freedom, entrepreneurial expansion . . . tax cuts . . . and shrinking government” (Peck and Tickell,

2002, p. 390). It is partially via hegemonic political discourses that neoliberalism became a material reality, as citizens democratically elected politicians and voted for policies in violation—from Harvey’s (2005) perspective—of their own collective self-interest.

Neoliberalism’s ascendance may also be attributed to material factors which left

Keynesianism open to critique, including urban cores impoverished by suburban expansion, over-extended social safety programs, expanding public employment, high , the 1970s , and growing economic recession both globally and in the United States (Harvey, 2005).

Neoliberalism’s appeal may also be explained in differentiating between

Gramsci’s notions of “common sense” and “good sense” (Harvey, 2005). The former sees

87 neoliberal hegemony co-opting deeply rooted cultural discourses and traditions; the latter requires rational discussion of current issues. Therefore “common sense’s” reliance on taken-for-granted apprehensions of the world potentially silences other realities (Harvey,

2005). This occurs in various contexts, e.g. long-held cultural concerns over political corruption contributed to neoliberalism’s rise in the global south (Bedirhanoğlu, 2007).

Meanwhile, in the United States discourses of freedom, individuality, and an increasingly consumption-driven understanding of the American Dream help explain neoliberal appeal

(Harvey, 2005; Naylor, 1988; Samuel, 2012).

Contrary to arguments stating that neoliberalism’s embrace of market-friendly, individualistic policy represents a logical or unavoidable reaction to the social welfare of

Keynesianism (Peck and Tickell, 2002); and contrary to the conventional wisdom that neoliberalism represents the triumph of capital over a weakening, or “rolled back” federal state; scholars argue instead that the neoliberal state has become “differently powerful” and expansionist—e.g. in the self-conscious construction of markets in traditionally unprofitable areas such as health programs and literacy (Harvey, 2005; Kamat, 2004;

Peck, 2001; Peck and Tickell, 2002). The “differently powerful,” burgeoning neoliberal state is characterized as roll-out neoliberalism (Peck and Tickell, 2002; Tickell and Peck,

2003). Thus scholars point out that current neoliberal practice is not coherent with neoliberalism’s opposition to federal state intervention (Harvey, 2005; Peck and Tickell,

2002).

Conclusion to Chapter Three

Chapter Two began by broadly outlining discourse and media, and then transitioning into discussing core theoretical elements of discourse—namely power, truth

88 regimes, discursive formations, and intertextuality. This study follows Foucalult’s

(1995/1975) understanding of power as a disciplining, “hidden” phenomenon rather than an explicitly oppressive force. Truth regimes are the historically and culturally-contextual means by which discourses are accepted as true (Hall, 1997; Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005).

Discursive formations, defined by Foucault (2010/1972) as “regularities” among statements are understood as rules governing production of discourse, allowing certain things to be said but not others (Fairclough, 1992). Finally, intertextuality points toward the multiplicity of platforms via which discourse is distributed, and also partially explains the dominance of some discourses over others (Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005).

Following from Chapter Two, this chapter focused more specifically on discourse as it relates to media. Scholars argue that traditional news media produce authoritative narratives, with truth based on journalistic practices of objectivity and reliance on elite/authoritative sources for information (Gerhards and Schäfer, 2010; Lockwood,

2011; Sovacool, 2008; Wall, 2005). Traditional media is also characterized by limited user/consumer access, with content produced by members of a recognizable professional caste of journalists (Reese, et al., 2007). Because traditional news media texts are closed and rely on elite voices, generally at the expense of public debate, traditional media are said to reinforce dominant ideologies while acting as hegemonic platforms of power

(Chomsky, 1997; Fairclough, 1995; Gerhards and Schäfer, 2010; Lockwood, 2011).

Furthermore, traditional entertainment media are said to confuse consumers by simultaneously promoting—for example—environmental awareness and material consumption (Murphy, 2011). However, the extent to which conscious hegemonic

89 coercion occurs on the part of media producers is debatable (de Geode, 1996; Laughey,

2007; Murphy, 2011).

In contrast to traditional media, Wall (2005) defines new media are as an open, postmodern text in which anyone with an Internet connection is a potential content producer. Although relatively few Web users avail themselves of new media’s productive capacity (van Dijck, 2009), early research into online media recognized the medium’s potential to both counter and uphold dominant ideologies—at once providing a space for self-representation and community building on the part of traditionally marginalized groups, while also reinforcing dominant practices of consumption, leisure, and individualism (Mitra and Watts, 2002; Warf and Grimes, 1997). Criticisms of new media include the lack of original reporting, and hyperlinking to “mainstream” media texts

(Reese, et al., 2007; Wall, 2005). Scholars also caution that new media discourse amplifies echo chambers of congruent opinion (Sunstein, 2007), while serving as a site of unpaid audience labor and exploitation (Fisher, 2012; Örnebring, 2008; van Dijck, 2009,

2012). This prompts researchers to question the counter-discursive potential of blogs, seeing the medium as amplifying, rather than challenging, traditional media’s—and by extension elite—voice and power (Kenix, 2009). However, blogs and other new media also disseminate material ignored, overlooked, or deliberately censored by institutional power (Anderson and Marhadour; Carlson, 2007; Kaye, 2010; Kaye and Johnson, 2011;

Reese, et al, 2007). Although the discursive spheres of traditional and new media are growing less distinct (Jenkins, 2006), the above review indicates that different discursive formations exist between the two mediums, potentially resulting in different knowledges and potential actions.

90 Nature and the environment are constituted via discourse just like other objects and subjects. Dryzek (1997) observes a range of prevalent discourses concerning the environment, while other scholars focus on binary construction of nature as tending toward a romantic or extractive view of the natural world (DeLuca and Demo, 2000;

Hodgins and Thompson, 2011; Remillard, 2011). Other scholarship moves beyond binaries, arguing that underlying discourses of capitalism and consumption constitute nature as a thing with use value, a thing to be consumed or possessed (DeLuca and

Demo, 2000; Hodgins and Thompson, 2011; Ghose, 2011; Meister and Japp, 2002;

Morton, 2007). This is consistent with Dryzek’s (1997) observation that the majority of prevalent environmental discourses accept capitalism, and human superiority over nature as “natural” conditions.

Concerns driving this research revolve around media’s constitutive power and ability to produce knowledge. Investigating these matters requires analysis of media texts, paying careful attention to what types of knowledge such texts produce, how that knowledge is upheld as true, whose voices are heard and silenced in media texts, who potentially benefits from these media texts, and ultimately what actions are possible or impossible, based on “traditional” and “new” mediated knowledge. All of these issues inform the central question guiding this which is whether or not, in the current media environment, discursive texts vary across different forms of media. The next chapter discusses the methodological approach to addressing this question.

91 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THIS RESEARCH

This chapter focuses on methodological considerations and processes necessary in analyzing mediated discourse. In a general sense the goal of this study is to analyze discourse in a dynamic, currently unfolding context, across a range of media. This chapter presents this study’s procedural guidelines in the following order: first, some brief comments on discourse analysis relative to other methods of inquiry; second, a review of two divergent perspectives within discourse analysis—namely structural and poststructural discourse analysis; third, this chapter examines suggested procedures relating to the successful execution of discourse analysis; fourth, a brief discussion of source material often utilized in discourse analysis; finally, rationales behind specific source material proposed for this project. These sources include the local radio program

Energy Matters, a selection of articles from the New York Times, a selection of articles from the environmental blog Grist, and finally an aggregation of articles from the Bakken

Watch Facebook Page.

Given that this dissertation investigates the intersections of media, power, and knowledge construction, discourse analysis’ sensitivity to these constructs make it an ideal method of inquiry. Discourse analysis differs from more traditional textual analyses in that discourse analysis explores not only what is said, but the rules governing the production and expression of some statements over others, as well as the “outcomes of discourse in terms of actions, perceptions, or attitudes rather than . . . simply the analysis of statements/texts” (Waitt, 2005, p. 164). Perhaps most importantly, McGregor (2003) argues that discourse analysis uncovers the methods by which dominant social forces construct a reality that meets their interests. Questions of power are generally absent from

92 quantitative content analysis. Furthermore, in discourse analysis, both data sources and coding categories are emergent and open to change as the project evolves, rather than pre-determined and quantifiable. Before moving forward to discuss procedures and proposed data sources, the following section reviews differences between structural and poststructural discourse analysis.

Structural and Poststructural Discourse Analysis

Two dominant methodological approaches to discourse are structural and poststructural discourse analysis (Foucault, 2012/1972; Jensen, 2012). Fairclough (1992) notes “a major contrast” between structural discourse analysis and Foucault’s poststructural, “more abstract approach” (p. 37). Structural discourse analysis focuses on vocabulary and grammar in revealing socially constructed knowledges, ideologies, and value judgments (Chilwua, 2012; Eriksson, 2008). This is achieved by interrogating linguistic features such as presupposition and nominalization (Lou, 2010). For example, a print headline stating “the Dangers of Oil-by-Rail . . .” presupposes that oil-by-rail is dangerous in the first place. Similarly, agency-driven acts such as pricing commodities are nominalized (made noun-like) as naturally occurring things, rather than as deliberate, agency-driven actions (Fairclough, 1992, 1995). In both cases sensitivity to linguistic choices help uncover the taken-for-granted ideologies of text producers.

Conversely, poststructural discourse analysis is less attentive to micro-level linguistic structures and instead emphasizes the productive and institutional factors influencing what can be said, by whom, and to what effect (Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005). In the poststructural sense “discourse” moves beyond the level of sentences, writing, and speech to investigate power’s influence upon knowledge, texts, and other non-linguistic

93 “statements” such as maps, museums and other institutional settings, giving “precedence to the aggregate” rather than individual pieces (Jensen, 2012, p. 29). Poststructural discourse analysis goes beyond what is said to the “consequences” of the discursive constitution of subjects and relationships between objects (Berg and Kearns, 1996;

Goldman and Papson, 2011; Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005).

Structural and poststructural approaches are not mutually exclusive as scholars may largely apply one or the other of these approaches to their work, or, at times, a mix of these approaches. Fairclough (1992, 1995), for example, brings a social perspective to his linguistically-focused work when he examines not only what is said, and how, but also underlying questions of power, knowledge production, and the dialectic between structural restriction and individual agency in producing discourse.

Procedural Guidelines

If, as Waitt (2005) argues, “rigid, mechanical or formulated research is the antithesis of [poststructural] discourse analysis,” (p. 179), the question arises as to what kinds of procedural guidelines can be used to conduct discourse analysis? There is no common “blueprint” for conducting scholarship of this type (Fairclough, 1992, p. 225).

Discourse analysis’ relative lack of structure leads to Gill’s (2000) observation that “there are probably at least 57 varieties of discourse analysis . . .” (p. 173). However, scholars offer suggestions to researchers engaging in scholarship of this type. First it is suggested that researchers suspend taken-for-granted opinions and beliefs, and approach texts with fresh perspective (McGregor, 2003; Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005).

Additionally, McGregor (2003) writes that multiple, careful are an essential component of discourse analysis. After the initial reading for denotative context

94 and information, the analyst revisits the text, “[c]oming at it a second time with a critical eye . . . revisiting the text at different levels, raising questions about it, imagining how it could have been constructed differently” (McGregor, 2003, p. 4). Analysis of discursive artifacts involves a series of questions, including:

 who is the author;

 how does the author make claims to truth or authority;

 what positions are privileged, and which are silenced;

 does the text promote, or challenge, a common worldview or constitution;

 what entities are recognized;

 what knowledge results from the text;

 what relationships are assumed as natural;

 who are the agents, and what are their motives;

 what key metaphors or rhetorical devices act as persuasive/productive devices

(e.g. “swamp” versus “wetland”)? (Dryzek, 1997; Foucault, 2010/1972; Hall,

1997; Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005)

Sources Utilized in Discourse Analysis

Having identified general procedures and questions common within discourse analysis, this chapter now turns to questions surrounding source selection. A poststructural approach views nearly everything as a potential text (Foucault, 2010/1972;

Jensen, 2012). Scholarship on methodological approaches to discourse analysis suggests such research should engage a variety of intertextual sources. Depending upon the type of study, resource availability, and other considerations, discourse analysis may draw upon material ranging from visual representations, written material, spatial layout, museum 95 exhibits, , video recordings, non-verbal , archival documents, and , in an effort to identify discursive consistencies, or ruptures, across platforms

(Fairclough, 1992, 1995; Lou, 2010; McGregor, 2003; Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005).

Regardless of the material assessed, this type of analysis often benefits from material assumed to be counter-discursive in nature (Waitt, 2005).

In conjunction with these broad considerations, scholars have discussed a range of factors when considering narrowing their potential data sources. For instance, Fairclough

(1992) recommends that researchers ask associated parties what material they consider relevant—e.g. teachers, principals, and parents of school children may offer insight when researching school board policy. Another method of selecting relevant sources involves moments of crisis, when naturalized, taken-for-granted discursive practices become more noticeable, thus offering an opportunity to study how real-world problem solving is negotiated (Fairclough, 1992; Gill, 2000). This project is crisis-oriented in a variety of contexts. Dryzek (1997) writes that the “[e]nvironmental crisis arrived in the late 1960s” amid fear of resource shortage, and continued through the 1970s and 1980s amid nuclear disasters and oil spills (p. vii); also, climate change organizations such as 350.org commit themselves to solving the climate “crisis.” Finally, challenges in North Dakota’s Bakken region—including loss of community, industrial colonization, cost of living increases, inadequate infrastructure, and larger concerns surrounding environment and landscape— represent localized crises, and offer an occasion for analysis as discourse unfolds in a dynamic “boomtown” setting.

Another factor influencing source material involves the nature of the material, such as whether it is traditional or new, from a distant or local source, and so on. Hassid

96 (2012) writes that researchers should avoid examining traditional and new media in isolation from one another, because traditional media remain “potent forces” of public opinion formation (p. 214; see also Castree, 2014; Chomsky, 1997). With that in mind, both traditional and new media are included in this analysis.

Furthermore, scholars suggest sampling from both local/regional and geographically distant media (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Daley, 2000).

Local/regional media sources offer continuous coverage of major events, while national and international media’s coverage—often lacking local context—occurs only at ’s dramatic peak. However, local media coverage of controversial issues sometimes favors locally powerful interests; as such national media may offer a more detached perspective

(Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Daley, 2000).

As noted above, existing research debates the extent to which new media offer a substantial challenge to established discourses and power relations. This project represents a case study of new and traditional media content as these texts relate to fracking in North Dakota. Consistent with suggestions offered in extant literature, this case study utilized resources covering a range of resources along the new – traditional media continuum in answering this study’s research question. By taking a poststructural approach to discourse analysis, this study engaged with a greater volume and variety of texts in identifying common , produced knowledges, claims to truth, privileged positions, silenced viewpoints, and rules governing textual production.

Arguably, there is no more major phenomenon in North Dakota than fracking for oil and gas in the Bakken, and as such it is difficult to avoid Bakken and fracking discourses in media originating in, but also directed toward, North Dakota. Bearing the

97 above methodological guidelines in mind, this dissertation collected data from the following four resources. Each of the resources described below offered an opportunity to examine discursive power and knowledge construction via a case study of fracking in

North Dakota.

Traditional Media: The Talk Radio Program Energy Matters

Energy Matters airs on news/talk radio station AM 550 KFYR in Bismarck, North

Dakota, Tuesday afternoons between 3 and 5 PM. The program is simulcast on both an

FM translator within Bismarck, and also on an AM affiliate in Dickinson, North

Dakota—a city approximately 100 miles west of Bismarck—on AM 1460 KLTC

(Federal Communications Commission, 2013; KFYR, 2013).

Talk radio content is either overlooked, or simply not incorporated, in research of this type. While this may be due to a variety of factors, this form of media was incorporated for a variety of reasons: First, talk radio has existed for decades and continues to play a prominent role in public discussion of important issues (Crider, 2012).

Nationally, nearly 60 percent of adults cite in-dash AM/FM radio as their primary automotive audio format (Allaccess, 2013a). Outside the car, weekly web-based radio listening has nearly doubled since 2008 as online-capable smart phones become more ubiquitous (Allaccess, 2013a). While true that radio, like other traditional media outlets, does not command either the audience or revenue it did prior to the Web’s emergence, radio still reaches hundreds of millions of listeners weekly. In Bismarck KFYR represents the third-highest rated radio station among persons age 12 and older, and is the dominant news/talk station in the region (Allaccess, 2013b).

98 Recent trends toward nationally syndicated programming lead many to argue that local public spheres suffer as national owners (e.g., Clear Channel, Cumulus) reduce local staff in favor of cheaper, more entertaining, national content—thus mirroring trends observed by the Pew Research Center (2013; see also Hilliard and Keith, 2005). KFYR is owned by Clear Channel Communications, among the most criticized radio station owners with regard to localism. Contrary to research showing that the vast majority of small-market talk radio is nationally syndicated (Crider, 2012), Energy Matters represents a local/regional program discussing issues of importance to a local/regional audience. Furthermore Energy Matters’ presence in afternoon drive-time—a profitable, financially vital daypart for radio stations in which people often find themselves in the car—demonstrates the program’s perceived importance to both the radio station and the audience. Beyond the reasons already listed, Energy Matters is an attractive text for analysis for many reasons.

First, although the program is “a little oil centric due to what's occurring in ND . .

. the show works with gas, coal, wind, hydro and all things energy” (S. Bakken, personal communication, February 1, 2013). Thus Energy Matters theoretically includes discourses on fracking, but also alternatives to fracking, while placing fracking within a broader energy context. Second, Bismarck and Dickinson are in close proximity to fracking activity being, respectively, 230 and 130 miles from Williston—the “hub” of the

Bakken fracking industry. Fracking activity is gradually encroaching upon both Bismarck and Dickinson. Third, KFYR’s powerful primary signal, and simulcasting frequency in

Dickinson, means the program is available via terrestrial means, without cost, throughout

North Dakota. Indeed, KFYR boasts “the largest [daytime] land coverage area . . . of any

99 radio station in North America” covering nearly all of North Dakota, plus portions of six other states and three Canadian provinces (KFYR, 2013).

Fourth, Energy Matters content is easily accessed and recorded in real time via the station’s Webstream. Fifth, Energy Matters was—during the time of data collection— co-hosted by local radio personality Steve Bakken, and CEO of Bakken Energy Services,

Tim Fisher. Bakken Energy Services describes themselves as “a strategic alliance of experienced Bakken oil, gas, and municipal service companies teamed together to supply the oil and gas industry with Upstream and Midstream products and all other construction needs for private, state and federal” (Bakken Energy Services, n.d.). Bakken Energy

Services is also a primary sponsor of the program. Given discourse analysis’ sensitivity to power, hegemony and silence, Energy Matters represents an opportunity to study these theoretical elements within the context of a seemingly close relationship between a media outlet—charged by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with serving the public good—and an energy company, both with clear financial interests in the “energy matters” discussed on air.

Between January 1, 2014 and July 1, 2014, I randomly selected and recorded one two-hour program per month for analysis, resulting in nearly 15 total hours of Energy

Matters programming. I digitally recorded directly from KFYR’s webstream using

Audacity 1.3 freeware, saved each program as an Mp3 file, and transcribed each program for analysis.

Traditional Media: The New York Times

Although daily newspaper circulation and revenue dropped in 2012, and are considerably lower than they were even five years ago, the Newspaper Association of

100 America (NAA) notes that newspapers nonetheless continue to find new distributive and financial resources (Newspaper Association of America, 2014). For example, revenue streams from digital consulting and e-commerce are increasing, while online and mobile readership continues to grow. Nearly 70 percent of adults in the United States read newspaper content, and nearly 60 percent of United States adults age 18-24 consume newspaper content daily—either via terrestrial print distribution, online, or via mobile devices—with the latter’s readership rising nearly 60 percent between 2011 and 2012

(Newspaper Association of America, 2014).

The New York Times continues to wield influence despite lower print circulation and revenue compared to years past. The director of Yale University’s Project on Climate

Change Communication, Anthony Leiserowitz, recently said “[t]he Times is the thought leader and the agenda-setter, both globally and in the United States” (Sullivan, 2013, para. 7). The New York Times maintains its agenda-setting influence by embracing digital distribution, making the New York Times the first print outlet whose digital subscriptions outpaced traditional print circulation (Audit Bureau of Circulations, 2012). Digital subscriptions to the New York Times continue to grow, and add to the outlet’s status as the second-largest daily paper, and top Sunday paper, in the United States (Haughney,

2013). Overall, the New York Times Sunday circulation increased from just over 1.2 million in 2012 to over 2.3 million in 2013 (Byers, 2012; Haughney, 2013).

In addition to the New York Times’ agenda-setting function, its environmental and energy reporting is notable. Although the paper closed its environmental reporting desk, and shuttered the Green blog, the New York Times staff stated that the outlet would nevertheless “forge ahead with our aggressive reporting on environmental and energy

101 topics” (New York Times, 2013; Sullivan, 2013). However, Public Editor Margaret

Sullivan (2013) observed numerous trends in the New York Times’ environmental coverage since the Green blog shut down, including 1) an overall decrease in climate- and environment-related stories; 2) a decrease in “deep, enterprising coverage;” and 3) fewer overall reporters, who also lack guidance from a coordinating editor (para. 6). The

Times’ rationale for closing the blog centered upon low readership and cost-cutting, as the staff acknowledge, saying the Green blog’s demise “allow[s] us to direct production resources to other online projects” (New York Times, 2013, para. 1; Sullivan, 2013). The decision to shutter the Green blog and disband the environmental staff is arguably representative of Good’s (2008) contention that media in the United States avoid covering climate-related stories. The Times’ move also arguably substantiates Pew

Research Center (2013) data indicating that substantive news items fall by the wayside in favor of superficial lifestyle material. Although investigating the quantity and/or quality of New York Times environmental and energy discourse is beyond the purview of this research, the above rationale nevertheless shows the New York Times as a powerful agenda setter, and also as an outlet conscious of environmental and energy matters.

An initial LexisNexis Academic search for “Bakken,” between January 1, 2005, and June 30, 2014, yielded 317 results between the “newspapers” and “blogs” sub- categories within the New York Times source. After eliminating data of no relevance to the current study (e.g., a 1993 article quoting someone named “Bakken”), a total of 84 articles were selected for analysis. After one initial read-through, the researcher felt the text-only presentation of LexisNexis represented a disservice to the spirit of this research.

To that end, and in an effort to fully engage these texts use of multimedia and visual

102 representation (e.g. graphs, charts, see Braun and Wainwright, 2001), the researcher activated a digital subscription to the New York Times website. In addition to a multitude of photographs and graphs, four of the 84 articles included embedded video.

New Media: Grist

Grist, founded in 1999 by journalist Chip Giller, is an environmental blog headquartered in , Washington. The blog defines itself as a “source of intelligent, irreverent environmental news and commentary” whose goal is to “get people talking, thinking, and taking action” (Grist, 2014, para. 3; para. 4). Grist is an attractive data source for a number of reasons: First, Grist receives sufficient attention in the blogosphere to satisfy scholarly contentions that discourse must be seen to be effective

(Burgess, 2006; Parker and Song, 2009). According to Alexa (2014),2 Grist ranks as a top-5,000 website in the United States overall, with substantial traffic arriving at the site from Facebook and Google. Within the blogosphere, Grist ranks 79th on Technorati’s index of “Top 100” blogs, and number two among “green” blogs (Technorati, 2014).3

Thus, Grist may be characterized as a “focal point blog” capable of influencing public discourse, even among traditional media outlets (Sunstein, 2007, p. 143).

Second, Grist produced a large number of articles on North Dakota/Bakken. An initial search of the Grist website, from January 1, 2005, to June, 30, 2015, resulted in nearly 100 articles, 83 of which are included in this analysis. I printed the 83 articles directly from Grist’s website, in order of “relevance” according to the site’s search function. Only one article contained embedded video.

2 Alexa, an Amazon subsidiary, provides Web traffic data and other website statistics. 3 Technorati tracks blog influence and popularity by tracking categorization, site linking behavior, and other data. For more see http://technorati.com/what-is-technorati-authority 103 New Media: Bakken Watch Facebook Page

Discourse analysts should actively seek sources likely to produce counter- discourses (Waitt, 2005), thus this project included Bakken Watch’s Facebook page as an of study. Bakken Watch, as an organization, represents a voice of opposition to extractive industries in western North Dakota—one of Brown’s (2013) few resistant

“voices in the wilderness” (para. 52). Bakken Watch, started as a website in 2011 by folk musician Kris Kitko, “attract[ed] people who care about what’s going on here regarding oil extraction/fracking,” and provided a space for people to “tell their stories” (K. Kitko, personal communication, July 10, 2013). The website further describes Bakken Watch as

“a grassroots group of citizens concerned about oil and natural gas extraction in North

Dakota,” including residents living near drilling sites, fracking opponents, surface and mineral rights owners who favor increased regulation, oil workers, and curious residents from both North Dakota and around the United States. Bakken Watch claims no political affiliation, but opposes what the organization perceives as a conflict of interest between the state of North Dakota and the fossil fuel industry.

Although Bakken Watch’s website proves helpful in defining the organization, this study excluded the website as an object of study because it has fallen idle for an extended period of time. Kitko explained the website’s demise as stemming from both a lack of time on her part, and also the threat of violence. Kitko elaborated, writing “people have found that when they say anything less than positive about oil, they receive backlash. Some of the backlash has been threatening. As a result, very few people, if any, want to be associated by name with Bakken Watch. In addition, some people are involved

104 in lawsuits and have been advised to refrain from public comments” (K. Kitko, personal communication, July 10, 2013; see also Bump, 2012g; Gibson, 2012).

Another Bakken bloger echoes the sometimes-contentious atmosphere in western

North Dakota Kitko describes, saying “the hate can be overwhelming. . . . Facebook has even gotten me a few death threats. Just last week someone threatened to knock my teeth out if I would only come down to a particular bar” (My Life In Williston, North Dakota, personal communication, July 7, 2013). Thus Bakken Watch now exists as a Facebook page via which the organization aggregates texts relevant, in some way, to Bakken activities. Although the Facebook site sacrifices the website’s personal narratives, Kitko extolls the anonymous safety Facebook provides as Bakken Watch volunteers aggregate information for page. As of this writing the Bakken Watch Facebook page has 1,638

“likes.” Consistent with hyperlinking tendencies observed in new media and blogging scholarship (Reese, et al., 2007; Wall, 2005), the majority of Bakken Watch’s Facebook posts came from other media outlets. This highlights another advantage the Facebook page offers vis-à-vis the Bakken Watch website: material aggregated on the Facebook page come from a diverse mix of media—local, traditional, blogs, “media of record” such as the Washington Post, and other geographically distant sources. Bakken Watch represents an opportunity to 1) expand the data corpus beyond the site itself, providing access to a multitude of sources and intertextual/multimedia material; 2) examine how

Bakken Watch uses these hyper-linked sources to discursively validate the organization’s perspective, while 3) taking into account various concerns regarding bias across these media sources—e.g. local media serving local interests (see Anderson and Marhadour,

2007; Daley, 2000).

105 Data collection from the Bakken Watch Facebook Page occurred randomly between January 1, 2014, and June 30, 2014. Bakken Watch Facebook page posts and hyperlinks were catalogued into individual documents containing a screen shot of the original Facebook post, date of the post, a copy of the hyperlink, and a copy of the hyperlinked story. Data collection ended on June 30th 1) because thematic saturation had been reached, and 2) to maintain consistency with this study’s other non-broadcast sources. In total, 108 texts were analyzed, nine of which contained video. Links containing audio or video were recorded in Audacity 1.3, and later transcribed, for analysis.

After collecting, transcribing, and initially examining the dataset, themes emerged. Some emergent themes corresponded with existing literature. For example, certain environmentally-themed texts exhibited characteristics consistent with what

Dryzek (1997) defined as Promethean or administrative rationalist discourse. Other environmentally-themed texts did not conform to any previously discussed discourses, but were consistent in (for example) their criticism of local state and industry’s environmental response. As my analytical themes became more apparent, I transcribed relevant quotes from articles into master documents. This resulted in a series of documents titled “neoliberal discourse,” “environmental discourse” and so on. I then printed the master documents and cut out each individual quote, placed them in envelopes according to theme and sub-theme (e.g. “neoliberal/local state,” “environmental/anti- fossil fuel). Next I emptied each envelope on my office floor, or desktop, grouped similar quotes together, arranged quotes and topics for flow, and generally “sketched” sections prior to actually writing anything down. This proved an immersive process, and enhanced

106 my understanding of both the topic and numerous textual inter-connections across the media sampled.

This chapter began by contrasting discourse analysis from other methods of analyzing media texts, arguing that discourse analysis’ sensitivity to rules governing textual production, and acknowledgement of power in knowledge creation distinguish the method from other methods of media analysis, e.g. textual analysis and content analysis.

This chapter then reviewed two approaches to discourse analysis: the structural approach which focuses on vocabulary and grammatical structure, and the poststructural approach which focuses less on language and more on how power and discursive formations result in particular types of truth and knowledge (Chilwua, 2012; Eriksson, 2008; Fairclough,

1992; Foucault, 2010/1972; Jensen, 2012). Next, this chapter reviewed procedural guidelines in the execution of discourse analysis, and posed numerous questions scholars suggest analysts ask of any text. This chapter then provided some contextual background on the Bakken region of North Dakota before proposing a series of media outlets from which this study collected data. Finally, this chapter reviewed the process by which the themes present in the results chapters took shape.

The forthcoming chapters constitute this study’s results chapters. Chapter Five includes results relating to neoliberal discourse, including critiques of neoliberal positions. Chapter Six includes environmentally-themed results. Finally, Chapter Seven situates the various media studied in this dissertation, and broadly considers what consumers “know” from these media via discursive presence, silence, and other theoretical elements discussed throughout Chapter Two and Chapter Three. Fairclough’s

(1992, 1995) conceptualization of discourse as dialectic underlies these results. As noted

107 above, apprehending discourse in such a way allows hegemony, ideology, structure, resistance, and change to coexist without privileging one construct over another.

108 CHAPTER 5: FRACKING, MEDIA, AND NEOLIBERAL DISCOURSE

This dissertation includes three results chapters, beginning with fracking, media, and neoliberal discourse (Chapter Five), and continuing with environmental discourse

(Chapter Six), and cross-media analysis (Chapter Seven). The current chapter proceeds as follows: first, I begin by reviewing economically themed examples. Then, this chapter reviews related themes concerning individual achievement, entrepreneurialism, neoliberal co-optation of frontier and pioneer discourses, and a general unwillingness to critique oil.

Next, this chapter presents examples relating to state (i.e. federal, national) and localized state (e.g. North Dakota government) oversight in the Bakken. These examples include neoliberal discourses constituting state regulation as unnecessary in light of industry best- practices and local state laws. Finally, this chapter summarizes texts which challenge, to varying degree, neoliberal discourses. Although the counter-discourses reviewed in this chapter do not represent a totalizing critique—i.e. capitalism, consumption, and related matters are not addressed—they nevertheless construct different realities concerning federal regulation, local state oversight, and collective (versus individual) concerns.

Economic Trends

This section begins with a discussion of how references to labor statistics represent a major component of fracking benefit in the Bakken. Energy Matters co-host

Steve Bakken speaks highly of North Dakota’s economy after a recent trip to Florida:

“I’m not quite sure why I came back other than the fact we’ve got all the jobs, the money, and all the forward thinking people here in North Dakota” (Energy Matters, 2014a).

Intertextual reinforcement of North Dakota’s robust job creation relative to other states is visually represented via graphs, such as those reproduced in Grist (see Figure 2).

109

Figure 2: Grist representing North Dakota's economy. © The Atlantic Monthly Group, 2013

Numerous political actors from the United States and also cite the employment benefits of fracking. For instance, former Premiere of Manitoba Gary Doer writes in the New York Times that building the Keystone XL pipeline would deliver

“stranded Bakken crude” to American refineries, while creating “20,000 direct and

118,000 indirect jobs” (Doer, 2011, p. 22A). In similar fashion, Canadian Counselor

General Jamshed Merchant tells Energy Matters listeners that the Bakken, as part of a broad North American energy partnership, “means jobs in Canada, it means jobs in the

United States” (Energy Matters, 2014d). North American energy is appealing because cheap domestic fuel could, according to the New York Times, “reduce the cost of shipping and manufacturing, trim heating and cooling bills, improve the auto market and provide

110 tens of thousands of new jobs” as North America becomes “a new Middle East”

(Mouawad, 2012, p. 1F).

U.S. Senator Hoeven (R-N.D.) ties job creation into broader neoliberal discourses of nationalism and private industry when discussing the Bakken:

[creating natural gas markets in Europe] creates jobs and economic growth in our

country, and helps them with security over there in Europe and helps them stand

up against what Russia’s doing [invading Ukraine]. . . . By approving this kind of

infrastructure [natural gas pipelines] we get the private industry, again this isn’t

government spending, this is private investment that grows the economy and

creates jobs, creates more energy, and is obviously not only a national security

issue for us but for Europe too. (Energy Matters, 2014d)

References to job growth even appear in media that seemingly oppose fracking. For example, Grist characterizes North Dakota’s economic situation and employment statistics as undeniably robust (Anderson, 2011). Grist further observes that Fargo and

Bismarck rank fourth and fifth, respectively, among the fastest growing metros in the country “due to workers flocking to high-paying jobs on the Bakken shale” (Andrews,

2014, para. 6). Also, Grist columnists mention North Dakota’s “record surplus and . . . miniscule unemployment rate,” (Cagle, 2013, para. 9); observe that “North Dakota is the country’s fastest growing state” (Bump, 2013a, para. 10); and cite an Atlantic article arguing that North Dakota’s economy and “stratospheric job creation numbers [make] even the next frothiest states look like they were suffering a post-Soviet-breakup depression” (Bump, 2013d, para. 3). References to Soviet economic circumstances, or

111 Others more generally, are classically neoliberal in their appeals to patriotic and nationalistic discourse (Harvey, 2005; see below).

References to low unemployment are common throughout Bakken discourse, particularly in the New York Times. For example, Carrns (2012) notes that Williston’s unemployment rate—one percent—is low even for North Dakota, and especially low compared to the (then) national rate of 8.3 percent. The New York Times visually represents Bakken job creation via photographs of nearly empty job placement offices

(see figure 3). Meanwhile, the New York Times ‘Economix’ blog dubs the state’s low unemployment “The North Dakota Miracle,” writing that

North Dakota has had the lowest unemployment in the country (or was tied for the

lowest unemployment rate in the country) every single month since July 2008. [ . .

. ] Why is North Dakota doing so well? For one of the same reasons Texas has

been doing well: oil.” (Rampell, 2011, para. 3)

112

Figure 3: Photograph representing low unemployment. © The New York Times Company, 2008

A subsequent post to Economix highlights the success associated with fracking as they relate to unemployment: “North Dakota is still a labor market standout, with only

3.2 percent unemployed, down from 3.6 a year ago. The state, fueled by an oil boom, also enjoyed the largest percentage increase in payroll employment over the year” (Rich,

2012, para. 4). Similarly, Marsh (2011, p. 3WK) writes in the New York Times:

If there is one state for the others to envy, it is North Dakota, with the lowest

unemployment rate in the nation—3.8 percent, amid a labor shortage—and a

comfortable cash surplus, thanks in part to a growing petroleum industry. It is the

only state that has not had a shortfall in the last four budget years.

References to job growth are connected to positive observations about money and wealth accumulation. For example, Grist contributor Tim McDonnell (2013) observes that the

113 Bakken oil boom keeps local businesses busy, and unemployment low, while simultaneously “minting a new class of oil wealth” (para. 3). The New York Times writes that incomes in oil-producing counties have “surged,” and North Dakota’s “general fund is flush with cash from new tax revenues” (Cohen, 2012, para. 12). The New York Times repeatedly references North Dakota’s budget surplus, even if the amount of reported surplus varies widely. For example, Davey (2008b) contrasts Minnesota’s $5.2 billion budget deficit with North Dakota’s $1.2 billion surplus. Brown (2013) points out that even though North Dakota’s oil production is small relative to places like , the Bakken is nevertheless responsible for the state’s $3.8 billion dollar surplus— however Eligon’s (2013b) piece from that same year cites a $1.6 billion dollar surplus.

References to job growth are linked to personal wealth, a recurrent theme in the

New York Times. The Bakken represents “a modern day . . . [f]ast food restaurants offer $300 signing bonuses for new employees, and jobs as gas station attendants can pay $50,000 a year. Workers flush with cash are snapping up A.T.V.s”

(Healy, 2013, p. 1A). Collins (2012) notes “Williston’s median income, which was under

$30,000 when the serious drilling started, has jumped to well over $50,000 a year” (p.

25A); while Sulzberger (2011) writes “[n]o other county [Mountrail] in the state has had a bigger jump in the number of households earning more than $100,000, which spiked to

21 percent from 6 percent during the last decade;” including local resident Lenin Dibble who “receives royalty checks of as much as $80,000 a month” (p. 10A). The article goes on to reference 1) a local bank in Stanley, North Dakota, with deposits increasing from

$43 million to $135 million; and 2) a local resident who spent years consolidating oil- leasing rights in the region, who says the sound of oil extraction is ''like music . . . [k]a-

114 ching, ka-ching, ka-ching'' (Sulzberger, 2011, p. 10A). Grist, citing a USA Today article discussing rural wealth, also notes “[s]mall-town prosperity is most noticeable in North

Dakota . . . [s]ix of the top 10 counties are above the state’s Bakken oil field” (Cagle,

2012, para. 5). Overall references to jobs and wealth are prevalent, while in-depth discussion of inflation, infrastructure, or the broader economic circumstances contributing to the national recession are relatively scant.

Absence of Critiques

Chip Brown (2013), writing for the New York Times Magazine observes “one of the more curious aspects” of the Bakken relative fracking sites in New York state is the near absence of opposition to oil development, which he terms “proverbial voices in the wilderness” (para. 52). In a subsequent post for The 6th Floor blog, Brown contends that oil development in the Bakken “represents a set of [local] opportunities in a land that has a long history of economic blight and distress,” thus the locals’ embrace of fracking has little to do with big-picture political outcomes such as energy independence (Nolan,

2013, para. 2). Whether the lack of oppositional voices stems from fear of retribution, as discussed in Chapter Four, North Dakota’s history of hardship and depopulation (Brown,

2013), the ephemeral nature of past oil booms (Sweet Crude Man Camp, 2013), or is emblematic of neoliberalism’s taken-for-granted construction of markets, industry, and growth as inherently good (Harvey, 2005), a theme emerging from these texts includes an unwillingness to criticize the oil industry.

For example, after a Bakken oil train explosion outside of Casselton, North

Dakota, state Republican Party Chairman Robert Harms suggests a “slow down” in drilling activity. Slowing down is not only at odds with neoliberalism’s “growth-first

115 approach” (Peck and Tickell, 2002, p. 394), but is politically dubious, as evidenced by fellow Republicans’ quick disavowal of such rhetoric (Nelson, 2014; Smith, N., 2014).

The Bakken Watch Facebook Page includes a Bismarck Tribune story quoting State

Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, who argues that North Dakota is powerless to regulate Bakken activity, saying, “the oil industry out West is going to maintain its own pace . . . you can’t slow it down or speed it up. It is what it is” (Smith, N., 2014, para. 8).

On the Bakken Watch Facebook Page, an article quotes Continental Resources CEO

Harold Hamm, who characterizes Harms’ comments as an “overreaction”, adding that the

Bakken is “not only the best thing for North Dakota . . . but also for our entire nation. . . .

[T]he world has been changed by the fact that we can produce energy of this quantity in

America today” (Dalrymple, 2014a, para. 5).

Statements from groups traditionally at odds with neoliberal ideology were predictable in their advocacy to slow drilling, but ultimately were supportive of fracking.

Don Morrison, who heads the Dakota Resource Council—a non-profit organization advocating clean air, clean water, and strict oil industry regulation (Dakota Resource

Council, 2014)—says in the New York Times “[w]e’re not in any way, shape or form against oil. The pace of development is the problem and the fact that there are laws on the books that are not being implemented to protect people’s water and land and livelihoods”

(Eligon, 2013b, p. 14A). State Democratic Party Executive Director Chad Oban expresses similar sentiments in a Bismarck Tribune article, appearing on the Bakken

Watch Facebook Page, saying he “believes the backlash to even verbally discussing moderation in energy development speaks to an ‘extreme turn’ within the GOP caucus”

116 before explicitly stating his party is “pro-growth, pro-development. We’re not talking about shutting anything down” (Smith, N., 2014, para. 22).

The unwillingness to critique Bakken activity is most evident on the radio program Energy Matters. One of many examples centers upon reports indicating that

Bakken oil is more volatile than other crudes, due to the presence of light hydrocarbons, e.g. propane (Dalrymple, 2014b; Horn, 2014a, 2014c; Robertson, 2013; Smith, H., 2014;

Upton, 2014a, 2014e). In this exchange—referencing explosive train derailments in both

North Dakota and Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, which killed 47 residents—co-hosts Steve

Bakken and Tim Fisher talk with petroleum engineer Charlotte Batson, simultaneously deflecting notions of Bakken oil volatility while shifting blame to both the rail industry and individual actors:

Charlotte Batson: I’m not a railcar expert, but what I understand from my rail

colleague experts is that there was some issue in the Canadian situation with

particular types of cars that should have been retrofitted and weren’t, or should

have been taken out of service . . . there’s a lot more to, you know, the fact that

these accidents have happened than just, ‘well [fracking’s] evil and let’s stop

doing it.’

[ . . . ]

Tim Fisher: [Lac-Mégantic] had really very little to do with the rail cars or the

[Bakken] oil—it had to do to the fact that an engineer left his post, and fire starts,

they put it out, the engines are shut off, and the brake systems go out, and the

thing slides downhill into a collision. North Dakota . . . Berkshire Hathaway

owning Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad have put very little money that I

117 see into communications. That . . . had very little to do with Bakken oil and had to

do with the fact that there was a grain car sitting on the track that they were on. So

it’s human error, human error, human error. (Energy Matters, 2014a)

Both Grist and blog posts appearing on the Bakken Watch Facebook Page question whether Bakken oil volatility stems from fracking chemicals (Adler, 2014a; Horn,

2014a). That scenario is unlikely, according to Batson:

I would be very skeptical . . . they [chemicals] make up only a very small

percentage overall of the volume of liquid. . . . I hear this every now and then

about how the chemicals that we are using are much more dangerous and those

kinds of things, and I really think that that’s a misinterpretation of the oil and gas

industry . . . the idea that what’s going on now is more dangerous than oil and gas

drilling and completion activities in the past is just, to me, a misconception.

(Energy Matters, 2014a)

Whereas Energy Matters applauds economic benefits, the program rarely discusses or critiques negative social impacts of oil activity (e.g. crime, drug use, violence, worker safety, human trafficking, infrastructure and housing inadequacies). Other media frame such matters as problematic (see below), but Energy Matters frames these occurrences as non-issues. Or, like oil volatility, as matters not worth worrying about. For example, co- host Tim Fisher expresses surprise that homicide is now the second leading cause of workplace death in North Dakota. Don Moseman, a director at the North Dakota Safety

Council, explains that workplace shootings represent “a growing problem” in the state.

Co-host Steve Bakken then jokes “Well, I haven’t shot Tim yet so I guess he’s probably

118 going to be OK [hosts and guest laugh, at which time Bakken moves on to discuss trucks and fleet vehicles]” (Energy Matters, 2014c).

In a later episode, public relations specialist for the North Dakota Association of

Counties, Donnell Presky, speaks to numerous “ripple effects” resulting from oil extraction, including rural communities’ increasing crime and resulting lack of jail space.

Co-host Steve Bakken agrees: “[T]hat’s one of the things we’re dealing with here in

Burleigh County [where Bismarck is located] . . . [is] whether or not to make that a local jail or a regional jail because of that extra growth that we’re experiencing out in the oil patch” (Energy Matters, 2014f, emphasis added). These final two examples demonstrate an apparent—arguably ideological—refusal to topically engage negative Bakken occurrences. This result is perhaps not surprising given the hosts’ personal (financial) interests in maintaining North Dakota’s robust oil industry. This result is also consistent with neoliberalism’s framing of negative associations or occurrences as “opportunities” for technological or private-industry innovation. Energy Matters achieves further resonance with neoliberal theory by associating negative consequences with the criminality and carelessness of individuals, not the structures and discourses which support certain actions over others. The next section discusses the theme of individualism in greater detail while also identifying instances of neoliberal discursive co-optation.

Construction of the Individual

The democratic appeal of neoliberalism stems, in part, from co-optation of culturally-specific ways of thinking, e.g., capitalizing on fears of corruption in the global

South (Bedirhanoğlu, 2007), or appealing to the notion of “freedom” in the United States

(Harvey, 2005). Like discourse more generally, these elements of neoliberalism need not

119 be objectively true to gain acceptance (Kamat, 2004). Many of the texts examined in this dataset reference the individualistic nature of American culture and American media, and the familiar mythologies of the American Dream and American frontier. For instance, the

New York Times notes that many references to the Bakken construct it as “a land . . . of opportunity, a ‘Kuwait on the prairie,’ where the American Dream is alive and well”

(Wilcox, Christenson, Popko, and Sargent, 2014, para. 1). Although appeals to the

American Dream or the American frontier often appear as historic or romantic, they can also be understood as part of a broader neoliberal construction that invariably returns to themes of jobs, wealth, and individual achievement.

Dorsey and Harlow (2003) write that “[i]n American mythology, the frontier heroes . . . [go forth] alone while fighting impossible odds” in achieving material well- being (p. 64). Within neoliberal discourse unemployment is always voluntary, thus those willing to work hard should theoretically have ready access to jobs and the American

Dream of self-actualization (Harvey, 2005; Samuel, 2012). These themes intertwine in some Bakken texts. For example, both the New York Times (Carns, 2012) and the Bakken

Watch Facebook Page, via the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Brown, 2014), highlight individuals (“heroes”) from around the country relocating to the North Dakota “frontier” following the economic downturn of 2008. From the New York Times:

[Bob Ripka, from Pine City, MN] heard talk around town about plentiful work

in North Dakota, where new drilling technologies are driving an oil boom .

. . Mr. Ripka is one of thousands of men with similar stories. They have

descended on Williston and its environs over the last two to three years, pulled

by the magnet of jobs created by an oil boom with the potential to make the

120 region one of the largest petroleum resources in the country, and pushed by

hope that a steady income can put their finances back on track. [ . . . ] As Mr.

Ripka says: “in this economy nowadays, you got to do what you got to do.”

(Carrns, 2012, p. 1F)

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune evokes romantic prairie imagery in an article going

“[b]ehind . . . gaudy numbers” in search of “dreamers and schemers, truck drivers and schoolteachers, frackers and land agents spread across the vast prairie” in North Dakota

(Brown, 2014, para. 3). Interviewees in this article include: 1) a rig worker from

Wyoming, who says the Bakken is “good for us workwise, and good for the country,” as a means of potentially ending dependence on foreign oil (para. 7); 2) a female concrete pourer from Washington state, who says being a woman in the Bakken is not as risky as some say; and 3) a music teacher from Minnesota who makes $50,000 per year, and although not monetarily wealthy is nevertheless happy sharing the gift of music with his

Bakken students (Brown, 2014).

Other examples build upon the individual and entrepreneurial aspects of the

American Dream and, relatedly, overcoming hardship to achieve individual success.

Themes of booms and busts are familiar in North Dakota (Danbom, 1988), and some entrepreneurs reference this phenomenon. For instance, the Bakken Watch Facebook

Page links to a Dickinson Press article highlighting the owner of a recently opened truck stop who expressed an initial reluctance to open based on prior boom/bust cycles

(Grandstrand, 2014). Entrepreneurial themes can also be found on the May 20, 2014 episode of Energy Matters. The program’s guests include various proprietors of oil-

121 related start-up companies. Co-host Tim Fisher draws upon the familiar neoliberal theme of self-sufficiency in framing the two-hour episode within a context of personal risk:

This conference [the 22nd annual Williston Basin Petroleum Conference] shows

that the flock comes together. We do not have group against group here. We do

not have a scarcity mentality. We do not take from the wealthy to give to the start-

up companies. Start-up companies, and there’s many of them here, I was one

three and a half years ago, I took my own money, my own risks, slept in my car,

did what it took to get here. . . . We take chances here. (Energy Matters, 2014f)

Fisher’s story parallels Bob Ripka’s (see above) in that people “do what they have to do” to overcome frontier hardship and succeed in the Bakken. This includes sleeping in cars, which one homeless worker describes—not at all ironically, in a New York Times video— as “livin’ the high life” because, unlike North Dakota’s pioneer settlers who “burned buffalo chips to keep warm,” his car has a heater (Sweet Crude Mancamp, 2013).

Pioneer and frontier themes also discursively link to higher education as administrators from Bismarck State College draw heavily upon pioneer themes, comparing incoming oil workers with 19th century pioneers, while also discussing new graduate programs for individuals in energy-related fields:

Monsignor Shea: We know that this is a pioneer moment for the state of North

Dakota. We know that there are all sorts of unprecedented things that are

happening, and that there needs to be a thoughtfulness about it, and a pioneer

spirit as well. I think of the sisters who came in 1878 to the prairies of North

Dakota. And they were true pioneer women of courage and boldness, and of

122 entrepreneurial acumen as well . . . that’s the type of thing we want to bring to

what’s happening in North Dakota. (Energy Matters, 2014g)

Having reviewed economic, uncritical, and individualistic neoliberal themes, this chapter continues by discussing both the state (i.e. federal) and the local state (e.g. North

Dakota). Although matters of the state and localized state are foundational, inter-related concepts within neoliberal theory, these themes were generally less explicit than the themes above. Put another way, this dataset gives the impression that jobs, economics, and individual wealth attainment represent matters of primary interest vis-à-vis the workings of the state. That said, political themes emerged as well.

The State

State regulation represents a frequent target of neoliberal critique. The radio program Energy Matters brings such matters to the fore more explicitly than other media sampled. For example, Energy Matters state-focused criticisms include 1) the federal ban on crude oil exports; 2) federal subsidies for “inefficient” renewable energy; and 3) fear that state regulatory actions encourage oil company divestment from North Dakota

(Energy Matters, 2014a; 2014c; 2014e).

Other state-related discourse involves federal rail regulations. For example, the

Bakken Watch Facebook Page includes a Reuters (2014) article explaining that shares of top Bakken producers “plunged . . . after the U.S. government said oil produced there

[North Dakota] may be extra flammable” (para. 1). Energy Matters co-host Steve Bakken argues that state regulation could potentially ruin North Dakota’s oil industry:

[W]hen I take a look at the rail car side of things, and you start looking at some of

the [federal] safety standards that have been talked about . . . you could

123 theoretically shut down the industry in North Dakota because implementing those

standards, when we do not have the capacity for the car knockers, for the upgrade

of those cars, or the build-out of enough of those cars, we could potentially shut

down oil development in North Dakota. (Energy Matters, 2014a)

Federal regulation inhibiting oil production also appears in the New York Times, where

Mouawad observes that the federal Transportation Department’s forthcoming rail car standards must consider “the proper timeline for phasing in the new cars. A timeline that is too quick would curtail shipments from the Bakken region” (Mouawad, 2014d; see also

Krauss and Wald, 2014 for similar depiction).

Although neoliberal theory and discourse criticize state regulation, scholars note that neoliberalism’s distrust or disavowal of state power is at odds with neoliberalim’s need for a “strong and if necessary coercive state” to create positive business climates

(Harvey, 2005, p. 21; see also Garland and Harper, 2012; Kamat, 2004; Peck, 2001; Peck and Tickell, 2002; Tickell and Peck, 2003). Neoliberalism is commonly discussed in terms of “deregulation,” but Garland and Harper (2012) prefer the term “re-regulatory” to describe the relationship between neoliberal policy and the state. This sort of ambiguity between neoliberal theory and practice is present within this project’s dataset. For example, the Energy Matters co-hosts criticize President Obama’s failure to fast-track liquid natural gas permits (Energy Matters, 2014a), while calling upon other federal actors for assistance. The following quote from program guest and North Dakota Public

Service Chairman Brian Kalk speaks to this point:

We need to contact our delegation—[United States] Senator Hoven, [United

States] Senator Hietkamp, [United States Representative] Congressman Kramer—

124 get them to put pressure on the EPA to not do what the president’s telling them to

do for executive order. We’ve got an EPA that’s one hundred percent committed

to shutting down our fossil fuel industry is what I think. (Energy Matters, 2014b)

In this Energy Matters example co-host Steve Bakken asks U.S. Senator Hoeven for “a little run-down of the Natural Gas Enhancement Act and some of the obstructions [said scornfully] that are involved with that;” to which Senator Hoeven replies:

We have companies—last week I met with . . . the CEO of , I met with

John Watson the CEO of Chevron, I met with Pete Tillman the CEO of Marathon.

These guys will put billions into LNG facilities, and they operate globally, and get

natural gas into that market if we can get them the authority to do it. . . . We’ve

got companies . . . that are more than willing to make the investment but we’ve

got to get ‘em the regulatory approval . . . that’s what the legislation . . . is all

about. (Energy Matters, 2014d)

In another example, Energy Matters (2014a) co-host Tim Fisher notes that President

Obama’s administration lacks a “how can we help you [the fossil fuel industry] type mentality.” It is a curious criticism given the Obama Whitehouse’s embrace of an “all of the above” energy plan, which includes fossil fuel development (Bump, 2012f; Klare,

2012). Nevertheless, advocates of neoliberalism regard state regulation as burdensome and, generally, something to avoid—at least with regard to the economy. In the neoliberal ideal regulatory power, to the extent to which it is advocated for at all, rests with the local state, in conjunction with industry self-policing in supporting communal and commercial needs. The following section provides examples constructing the local state and industry as advocates of North Dakota’s well-being.

125 The Localized State

The neoliberal rationale underlying localized state control stems in part from the idea that, contrary to inefficient or out of touch federal bureaucracies, state and local governments are better equipped to act quickly and reflexively toward their own specific needs (Dryzek, 1997; Kamat, 2004). Although some scholars debate the degree to which these trends of “devolution” or “localization” represent a retreat of federal government power (Peck, 2001; Peck and Tickell, 2002); or argue that state expenditures on business- friendly public investments—e.g. , or roads for oil trucks—represents misappropriation of communal funds (Dryzek, 1997; Harvey, 2005), “North Dakota-first” sentiments appear in numerous texts. For example, North Dakota Public Service

Commission (NDPSC) Chairman Brian Kalk speaks favorably of “state’s rights, state’s energy policy first,” as a means of combating an over-reaching EPA that is “trying to shut down our fossil fuels.” Energy Matters co-host Steve Bakken agrees, saying:

I always say if we take care of it ourselves here in North Dakota we’re gonna be

better off. Get ahead of the EPA, get ahead of the Bureau of Land Management or

whatever it may be, but when we take charge of things here in North Dakota

things seem to work out a little bit better. (Energy Matters, 2014e)

A major theme that emerges from these texts constitute local state regulations, combined with industry best-practice—e.g company safety training, pipeline maintenance—as an adequate means by which to overcome challenges in the Bakken. Continental Resources

CEO Harrold Hamm expresses this sentiment in the Washington Post, via Grist, implying the EPA and federal regulations intended to curb pollution are unnecessary:

126 Our air was polluted, and we cleaned it up. Our rivers were polluted, and we

cleaned them up. What’s going on with fracking? What’s the problem? There’s

not a problem. The regulatory aspects should be with the states . . . none of us

wants to pollute any of our water. If it meant not fracking another well, I wouldn’t

do it if it weren’t safe. (Bump, 2012c, para. 13)

Furthermore, two Energy Matters programs argue state offices and private industry proactively address various social concerns in the Bakken, including social services, housing development, worker safety, and allocation of state tax dollars for infrastructure projects (Energy Matters, 2014c, 2014f, 2014g). The following example demonstrates a desire for more state funding, and highlights contributions by private industry, thereby implying the combination is sufficient to meet growing needs:

Donnell Presky [North Dakota Association of Counties]: We are still seeing a

tremendous need for more oil money to be going out to oil country in western

North Dakota to make repairs and improvements on so many of those roads.

Three hundred million dollars was passed last session for roads . . . but there is

great need.

[ . . . ]

Tim Fisher: We talk about the need for roads, but I think what gets lost is the

tremendous amount of new roads that have been built, the amount of sacrifice that

has gone on out in that area. . . . The oil companies are pitching in on some of the

roads, especially on the reservation—there’s $23.8 million dollars that the oil

companies are giving to it—so it’s not a dire situation anymore. (Energy Matters,

2014f)

127 This dissertation’s literature review notes that dominant discourses are always open to critique (Murphy, 2011; Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005). Although neoliberal themes are present in the majority of media texts analyzed for this study, some media texts nevertheless challenge various neoliberal assertions outlined above. The next section summarizes these critiques.

Critiques of Neoliberalism

Media critiques of neoliberalism coalesce around two primary themes. The first points out inadequacies of industry best-practice, especially concerning oil-by-rail. The second questions local state government, noting both North Dakota’s apparent reluctance to regulate (i.e. punish) industry wrongdoing, and the state’s inability to mitigate social challenges in the Bakken.

Direct challenges to industry best-practice within the dataset occur mostly within the context of oil-by-rail, especially following a series of explosive derailments, including Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, which destroyed most of downtown and killed 47 people. Following that explosion the Canadian government found that Bakken crude is more likely than other crudes to explode in a derailment (Dalrymple, 2014b; Forum News

Service, 2014a; Horn, 2014a; Mouawad, 2014b). The Bakken Watch Facebook Page features numerous texts questioning industry trustworthiness. For example, DeSmogBlog argues that an oil permit requiring the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from Bakken oil represents “a tacit admission that the Bakken Shale oil . . . is prone to . .

. eruption” (Horn, 2014a, para. 9; see also Water Defense, 2013). Also, an embedded video on Toronto’s Globe and Mail website cites documents obtained from Enbridge

Pipelines (North Dakota), LLC, showing (explosive) hydrogen sulfide vapors at 24 times

128 the legal limit as further evidence of industry and local state failures to mitigate Bakken oil’s explosiveness (The Globe and Mail, 2013; Robertson, 2013).

Stories appearing in the New York Times also call industry trustworthiness into question. For example, “[m]any states, including New York, Oregon and Minnesota, and cities like Seattle” began requesting more detailed shipping information from railroads, requests which the rail industry resisted (Mouawad, 2014c, p. 1B). Federal authorities criticize industry for neglecting federal labeling guidelines and federal requests for detailed data regarding the volatility of Bakken crude, resulting in fines to Marathon Oil,

Whiting Oil and Gas, and Hess Corporation totaling $93,000 (Mouawad, 2014a).

Meanwhile, Ring of Fire radio host Mike Papantonio, via the Bakken Watch Facebook

Page, argues that these examples constitute an industry which prioritizes reaction above prevention, thereby “externaliz[ing] all the risk for the American people” (Bentley,

2014).

One final example, centering on rail cars, comes from the New York Times who note “[s]afety workers have warned for more than 20 years that the older tank cars . . . are prone to rupture in a derailment” (Krauss and Gabriel, 2014, p. 1B). Private investors and private industry, not the railroads themselves, typically own the cars, and their resistance to new regulations goes back many years (Hymas, 2014; Krauss and Gabriel, 2014).

Nevertheless U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said federal oversight may be required in the phasing out or retrofitting of rail tankers because “[t]he recent crash in

Lac-Megantic and explosion in North Dakota . . . are cause for serious concern’” (UPI,

2014, para. 3). Industry resistance notwithstanding the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials

Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued safety alerts, and also launched the Bakken Blitz

129 (Forum News Service, 2014a; Upton, 2013c, 2014c). Objectives of the Bakken Blitz were twofold. First, federal agents would perform unannounced inspections crude oil testing to assure proper classification prior to shipment (Forum News Service, 2014a); second, to properly label Bakken crude, thereby informing local governments and first responders that hazardous materials are present (Forum News Service, 2014a; Mouawad, 2014d;

Upton, 2013c). Although Grist characterizes maneuvers such as the emergency order and

Bakken Blitz as “a dash of regulatory tonic” (Upton, 2014e, para. 1), other commentators are less enthusiastic, as another Grist article states:

[From The Sightline Institute] oil trains get special treatment . . . if a jet plane has

a battery fire problem, regulators immediately pull it from service and will ground

the entire fleet . . . if an auto regularly bursts into flame upon impact, the feds

issue a recall and mandate retrofits (Hymas, 2014, para. 7).

The above examples challenge neoliberal assertions that industry self-policing provides for collective safety. Other media texts challenge neoliberal rhetoric advocating local state regulation. Topically these results circulate around North Dakota’s perceived unwillingness to regulate industry, and North Dakota’s inability to negotiate the social burdens brought about by the Bakken oil boom.

North Dakota’s reluctance to regulate industry stems, in part, from an alleged conflict of interest between state officials and the oil industry. For example, a two-part

New York Times exposé discusses, in part, the rapid approval of contentious drilling permits (Sontag, 2014). The author notes the approval’s timing coincides with numerous campaign contributions:

130 [T]he Exxon Mobil Corporation PAC contributed $600 to Mr. Dalrymple’s

[gubernatorial] campaign. On Dec. 12, Harold G. Hamm, chief executive of

Continental, gave $20,000. On Dec. 17, the Marathon Oil PAC gave $5,000. On

Dec. 21, the day after the mega-unit vote, for which he was present, Continental’s

Bismarck-based lawyer gave $5,000. On Dec. 27 Denbury Resources contributed

$5,000. All these companies held a working interest or lease ownership in the

Corral Creek mega-unit. . . . Over the campaign, Mr. Dalrymple would collect

over $93,000 from those with a direct interest in the mega-unit and a total of

about $550,000 from oil-related executives, lawyers and political action

committees. (Sontag, 2014, para. 81)

Former Bismarck Tribune editor-turned-blogger Jim Fuglie bluntly states, via the Bakken

Watch Facebook Page, that Governor Dalrymple’s “oil company buddies pumped almost

$450,000 into the Dalrymple campaign to keep him in office, so his staff can keep granting you exemptions from our flaring regulations—and to keep him from imposing new regulations” (Fuglie, 2014, para. 17).

North Dakota’s governor is not the only public official under scrutiny. The

Bakken Watch Facebook Page includes a meme criticizing Mineral Resources Director

Lynn Helms (see figure 4).

131

Figure 4: Bakken Watch Facebook Page critique of Lynn Helms

Grist writer John Upton (2014b) points out that Director Helms occupies a unique, dual position within North Dakota’s state hierarchy in that Helms is “the top oil regulator [who] also serves as a cheerleader for the oil industry” (para. 1). Both Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page cite Helms’ reluctance to fine multiple industrial actors, on the grounds that the fines may result in corporate divestment, as evidence that state regulators bend to industry demands (Bump, 2012b; Dalrymple, 2014d; Fuglie,

2014; Maddow, 2014; Sontag, 2014). For example, the Bismarck Tribune notes the illegal dumping of radioactive filter socks carried a potential fine of $800,000, which Helms reduced to $20,000 (Donovan, 2014).

Media also constitute North Dakota’s local oversight as incapable of mitigating various social impacts associated with the Bakken’s rapid development. This contrasts with overtly neoliberal examples in that social impacts represent actual problems worthy

132 of attention. For example, the New York Times questions whether the American Dream of success through hard work exists in the Bakken (Running on Fumes, 2013; Wilcox,

Christenson, Popko, Sargent, 2014). The article and video chronicle Jonnie, a 38-year old

Bakken truck driver from California. Background audio speaks to plentiful jobs and wealth in the Bakken, to which Jonnie says:

[S]o many people are hearing that this is the land of promise. Not even close. Not

even close. . . . All the people that are making all the money, the suits, they don’t

know what it’s like to be on the floor, to go to a truck stop and see a pregnant girl

living in a car with her boyfriend with a full-size frickin dog tied up outside . . .

I’m in the land of hell. (Running on Fumes, 2013, see figure 5)

Figure 5: Challenging discourses of wealth and prosperity. © The New York Times Company, 2014

133 Jonnie’s story gives voice the broader social challenge of expensive housing and homelessness. The Bakken Watch Facebook Page includes a story citing the three-fold increase in western North Dakota homelessness resulting from Bakken activity (Ellis,

2013). Executive director of McKenzie County Job Development Authority Gene Veeder says people are moving to the area—presumably based on media discourse portraying the region as an economic oasis—thinking “there’s money here, but now there are people outside asking for money—there are definitely people stranded here” (Ellis, 2013; see also Davey, 2008a; Running on Fumes, 2013). Intermingling with these texts are media accounts from Grist and the New York Times chronicling state grants running out of money for schools and airport improvements (Nowatzki, 2014), and funding challenges for social and health care services (Associated Press, 2014; Bump, 2013a; Elligon, 2013a;

Richmond, 2013).

North Dakota’s inability to improve worker safety was another theme within Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page (Climate Desk, 2012; Hilzik, 2014; Johnston,

2014; McDonnell, 2014; West and McDonnell, 2012). Following an AFL-CIO worker safety report the Bakken Watch Facebook Page links to a story stating that North Dakota’s overall worker death rate has more than doubled since 2007, meaning “the state had the highest rate of worker fatalities in the nation—17.7 per

100,000 workers, or more than five times the national average”; but within the oil, gas, and construction industries North Dakota had a

fatality rate of a stunning 104 per 100,000 workers . . . more than six times the

national rate for oil and gas . . . the fatality rate in the state’s construction sector,

134 which is also driven by the oil boom, was 97.4 per 100,000, almost 10 times the

national rate of 9.9. (Hiltzik, 2014, para. 2)

These texts cite a combination of inexperienced workers, start-up drilling companies with insufficient safety standards, and budget cuts to federal organizations such as the

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as reasons for North Dakota’s increase in worker fatalities (Johnston, 2014; Hilztik, 2014; McDonnell, 2014). However, a lengthy feature appearing on the Bakken Watch Facebook Page, via Al Jazeera

America, also names North Dakota politicians as complicit in these matters, saying that blaming oil companies:

misses the real problem, which lies squarely with elected officials. . . . [S]tate

legislators have enacted laws that place a low value on human life. The value is so

low that it makes no economic sense for employers to invest in worker safety. In

North Dakota, preventing accidents costs much more than paying of the families

of dead workers. (Johnston, 2014, para. 5, 7)

Taken in concert these examples, according to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, (2014), amount to an industry “riding roughshod” over the state of North Dakota, resulting in “a type of governance that is usually called anarchy. Corporate anarchy” (see figure 6).

135

Figure 6: Perceived misplacement of North Dakota priorities. © NBC Universal, 2014

Conclusion to Chapter Five

This chapter identified results within a neoliberal framework. Beginning with examples constructing knowledges of economic prosperity, growth, financial gain, and other individualistic discourses, this chapter also identified instances of neoliberal co- optation of pioneer and frontier discourses. This chapter also included texts demonstrating an absence of critique of fracking in the Bakken. Finally, this chapter included results relating to state and localized state oversight in the Bakken. These examples included neoliberal arguments that federal oversight is unnecessary in light of industry self-policing and local state laws. Relatedly, this chapter reviewed texts which critiqued neoliberal constructions of the state and local state. Although the counter- discourses reviewed in this chapter do not represent a totalizing critique of neoliberalism, fracking, or the benefits associated with the oil boom, they nonetheless articulate a different view of federal regulation, local state oversight, industry trustworthiness, and 136 collective (versus individual) concerns while topically giving voice to matters marginalized by programs such as Energy Matters.

The critiques leveled toward neoliberalism were, however, silent on many fronts.

The primary counter-argument involved the role of the state, and ignored other taken-for- granted pillars of neoliberalism including private versus public ownership (e.g. utilities), material possession, and consumption. This served to reinforce neoliberal ideology arguing that growth in all its various forms is noteworthy—even in a green blog like

Grist (e.g. Bump, 2013a; 2013d; McDonnell, 2013). Notable reinforcements of wealth, jobs, and material possession include comparing the Bakken to “a modern day gold rush”

(Healy, 2013, p. 1A); or “a new Middle East” of energy production (Mouawad, 2012, p.

1F); while celebrating the “North Dakota Miracle” (Rampell, 2011, para. 1) of job creation that makes other places “look like . . . a post-Soviet breakup depression” (Bump,

2013d, para. 3).

Also absent from neoliberal critique were the elites and experts so frequently drawn upon to advance neoliberal positions. This is particularly evident in contrast with mediums such as Energy Matters. That program provided a discursive platform from which industry practitioners, scientific experts (e.g. petroleum engineer Charlotte

Batson), and local state elites (e.g. Public Service Chair Brian Kalk, Senator Hoeven) articulated broadly neoliberal, specifically pro-Bakken-development, discourses. Their various first-hand experiences and expertise read as authoritative, especially relative to the dearth of such discourse from sources critical of Bakken development. Chapter Five, then, constructs a portrait of individuals generally motivated by economic opportunity in a place that is booming and open for business. The intersection of neoliberally-minded

137 industry and state elites, appeals to culturally accepted norms of growth, and the lukewarm nature of counter-arguments resulted in the presence of neoliberal themes—to varying degree—across all media sampled.

Moving forward, this dissertation moves from neoliberal discourses to themes constituting human relations with the environment. Chapter Six contains some topical overlap with the current chapter, i.e. oil-by-rail not only demonstrates the inadequacies of industry best-practice and local state regulation, but also provides a basis for discourses espousing environmental stewardship. Two primary environmental discourses are present in the forthcoming results—Promethean and administrative rationalism. Promethean discourse dovetails closely with neoliberal apprehensions of the world, while administrative rationalism roughly coincides with more Keynesian approaches to regulation. These themes, among others, are discussed in greater detail below.

138 CHAPTER 6: ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOURSE

While the previous chapter discussed fracking within the political context of neoliberalism, the current chapter analyzes fracking through the lens of environmental discourses. Promethean discourse emerges as the most dominant environmental framework in these results. As noted in the literature review, Promethean discourse promotes limitless resource extraction, while also celebrating humanity’s technological problem-solving capacity (Dryzek, 1997). Although Promethean worldviews predate neoliberalism—the former ascending during the industrial revolution, the latter in the late

20th century—Murphy (2011) argues that “neoliberal philosophy” has “resuscitated and globally supercharged” Prometheanism (p. 226). Furthermore, both Promethean and neoliberal philosophy eschew federal oversight in favor of market freedom, except in cases where federal oversight opens or improves markets, i.e. the “differently powerful” state (Harvey, 2005; Kamat, 2004; Murphy, 2011; Peck, 2001; Peck and Tickell, 2002).

Conversely, the most distinct discourse of environmental concern evident in the texts analyzed is administrative rationalism, which constructs bureaucratic state experts

(e.g. the US Forest Service, EPA), rather than individual citizens, as the primary actors in environmental matters (Dryzek, 1997). The primary means by which the state acts is through regulation, which Dryzek (1997) argues is particularly contentious in the United

States, especially relative to more cooperative state/industry regulatory approaches to the environment in countries like Sweden and . Administrative rationalist discourse intertwines politically with Keynesian economic models which, although not “inherently

‘green,’ . . . nevertheless carried with it a sense of state oversight that could be mobilized

139 to restrict commercial interests’ misuses and abuses of natural resources” (Murphy, 2011, p. 224-225).

The remaining environmental themes relating to these two most prevalent discourses are difficult to classify based on existing environmental literature, but two notable themes emerge. First, numerous texts, especially those appearing on the Bakken

Watch Facebook Page and Grist, use environmental accidents (e.g. oil or fracking fluid spill) to frame corporate criticism. These texts seemingly exist only to constitute the fossil fuel industry as poor environmental stewards, and are as much political/ideological as they are environmental. Broadly, this theme follows Goldman and Papson’s (2011) observation that media coverage foregoes structural critique in focusing “on a few bad apples,” which appeals to “populist sentiments about punishing the rascals who done wrong” (p. 10). The second emergent theme involves texts constituting a reality beyond fossil fuels, either by suggesting robust transition to renewable energy or by providing examples of renewable energy as a viable alternative.

This chapter proceeds as follows: first, it discusses the most prevalent environmental themes from the texts analyzed, namely Promethean discourse’s construction of limitless resources and human ingenuity (Dryzek, 1997). Next, this chapter reviews examples of administrative rationalism, highlighting instances of contentious regulation and constitutions of state action (Dryzek, 1997). Then, this chapter examines ideologically motivated texts which use environmental frames to discredit the fossil fuel industry and its supporters. Finally, this chapter provides examples of texts which argue against the ongoing dependence upon fossil fuels. Albeit small, this category nevertheless contains the strongest counter-discourses to continuing fossil fuel use,

140 including fracking. This chapter begins by reviewing the first salient aspect of

Promethean environmental discourse—the denial of limits.

Promethean Cornucopia and the Denial of Limits

Promethean discourse naturalizes what Dryzek (1997) calls a “cornucopian” view of limitless growth. This theme, at times, adopts a religious tone. Scholars note that

Christianity differs from eastern religions in its explicit distinction between humans and the bountiful environment created for their use (Remillard, 2011; White, 2003). It is perhaps not surprising that Promethean approaches find support among conservative

Christian politicians within the United States. For example, Oklahoma Senator James

Inhofe cites Biblical scripture promising an endless harvest as evidence that anthropomorphic climate change is a hoax (Tashman, 2012). This logic follows in other examples, including a Grist article citing former Representative Michelle Bachmann’s opinion that oil represents a “wonderful treasure trove of energy that God has given us in this country’” (Laskow, 2011, para. 1). Meanwhile, U.S. Representative Kevin Cramer,

R-ND, says that, in his view “it would be immoral to leave it [oil and natural gas] there

[in the ground]. . . God put it there for us,” (Northey and Quinones, 2012, para. 1).

That said, Promethean constructions of limitless resource in non-religious contexts are more common. For example, Grist writer Philip Bump cites a Washington

Post interview with Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm, who melds Promethean discourses of cornucopia and technology saying:

There are two separate camps . . . [o]ne of them is that the oil and gas resource is

very scarce and running out; that glass is not half full; that it is drying up. And the

other [camp] being one of abundance and what’s really here. . . . The one of

141 scarcity, that’s just wrong. It’s been overtaken basically by the technology that’s

gone on with horizontal drilling.” (Hamm, in Bump, 2012c. para. 9)

Similarly, Nathan Myhrvold notes that domestic natural gas reserves are “so vast” a resource that domestic supply could last “for a century at current rates of gas consumption” (Miller, 2012, para. 7). The most common expression of abundance occurs within the context of natural gas. New York Times national business and energy correspondent Clifford Krauss writes extensively on natural gas, quantifying the vastness of natural gas reserves in the Bakken within the context of “wasteful” gas flaring. For example, he repeatedly notes that North Dakota flares 30 percent of its natural gas, or

“more than 100 million cubic feet . . . enough to heat half a million homes for a day”

(Krauss, 2011, p. 1A). He returns to the flaring issue in 2013, noting that North Dakota flares enough gas to “heat a million homes” (Krauss, 2013b. p. 1B). Krauss further reiterates the vastness of Bakken gas reserves by referencing the “blazing oil well flares” visible from space which “illuminate the plains of western North Dakota more brilliantly than Minneapolis hundreds of miles away” (2013b, p. 1B; see also Krauss, 2011; figure

7).

142

Figure 7: Flaring from space. © Al Jazeera America LLC, 2014

Although Krauss does contextualize flaring as a wasteful contributor to global climate change, his writing for the New York Times is characteristically Promethean in that he 1) reiterates resource vastness, and 2) constitutes growth in fossil-fuel-related industries, e.g. pipelines, as the only solution to flaring. Arguments of this sort echo other calls for industrial and market growth. For instance, North Dakota PSC Chairman Brian

Kalk says “the only way to stop the flaring is two things: one is you have to develop the pipeline infrastructure, and the second thing is you have to have somebody have a use for the gas” (Energy Matters, 2014e). Toward that end the state of North Dakota calls “for stricter regulations requiring producers to create gas-capture plans before filing for a drilling permit,” thereby improving “the percentage of gas captured to 85 percent, from

70 percent, and to as much as 90 percent in six years. . . . This would be accomplished by constructing pipelines and processing plants” (Krauss, 2014, p. 1B, emphasis added).

143 Other texts communicate resource abundance by citing industrial-scale uses for natural gas. For example, G.E. Oil and Gas marketing executive John Westerheide says that increasing natural gas use in “high horsepower” applications like heavy duty trucking, oil rigs, and trains, will increase prices and make the resource more financially attractive to collect rather than flare (Krauss, 2013b, also see below). Prairie Companies and North Dakota LNG CEO Pat Hughes cites natural gas as a cost-effective alternative to other fossil fuels, which the Energy Matters co-hosts contextualize in a financially beneficial and nationalistic framework:

Pat Hughes: We’re confident that we can save twenty plus percent of the diesel

bill.

Steve Bakken: What does that mean to a farmer, or a rancher, or a trucking

company?

Tim Fisher: I’ll tell you who it makes a difference to also, Steve, it makes a

difference to the mother of four who has her husband still over in Afghanistan

that’s going to buy some food because it brings everything down.

Steve Bakken: Absolutely.

Pat Hughes: This is a wonderful opportunity. There’s so much gas and so much

resource here, and Governor Dalrymple said it best the other day: value added

energy. It was big in agriculture, North Dakota’s a leader in it, and I think that

what you’re seeing is industry bringing solutions to the current needs. This isn’t

regulatory. This is people with economic interests that are bringing solutions that

make sense. (Energy Matters, 2014f, emphasis added)

144 The cornucopian construction of limitlessness in the Bakken extends to other nationalistic themes, including this example from Energy Matters which discursively celebrates the

Bakken’s contribution to American trade:

Steve Bakken: Tim, did you know that America’s trade deficit shrunk to its lowest

level in four years in November of this past year? Did you know that?

Tim Fisher: You know I did, and while [trails off….laughing….]

Steve Bakken: But did you know the reason for that, Tim?

Tim Fisher: [faux-contemplating] Could it be—could it be the fact that our

number one export is now refined fuels?

Steve Bakken: Why yes it could.

Tim Fisher: Woohoohoo!

Steve Bakken: Increased domestic oil and natural gas production, and lower U.S.

imports. Thank you, fracking! (Energy Matters, 2014a)

North Dakota representative Vicky Steiner speaks to the longevity of the current shale energy boom, while also making a nationalistic, cornucopian argument, in recounting a conversation with Mississippi’s governor, saying “the opportunities we have here [in

North Dakota] impact the entire world, and I think he’s right because actually our country’s a rising energy power. And so that’s changing opportunities for our great grandchildren right now” (Energy Matters, 2014g).

Energy Matters also assumes that development from fracking will continue via their discussions of local and regional growth—e.g. expanding rail facilities in Montana and North Dakota to accommodate Bakken oil; and regional excitement associated with the Bakken’s positive influence on housing prices in Rapid City, South Dakota

145 (approximately 330 miles south of Williston). Finally, University of Mary business school dean John Warford says the Bakken’s longevity serves as partial rationale for the school’s physical and academic expansion into energy-specific areas:

We heard Lynn Helms [Director, North Dakota Department of Mineral

Resources] make his presentation—this is a five generational energy play out

there, and so the University of Mary took that information about the long term

impact of energy on the community. . . . we like to respond to the needs of what

the students are, to the needs of what the businesses are . . . if they want their

employees that have BA degrees to be challenged for an MS in say energy

management or masters of science in business and energy management or project

management to improve their skill set, we’ve got something for them as well.

(Energy Matters, 2014g, emphasis added)

The results outlined above variously express a sense of limitlessness and opportunity in the Bakken, whether in the form of resource amount, resource application, or ancillary resource benefit, all of which stem from fracking and resource extraction. Another hallmark of Promethean discourse is its adherents’ faith in human ingenuity and technology. Prometheans rarely acknowledge “problems” in the Bakken, but instead view

“challenges” as opportunities for innovation. This represents a notable link between

Promethean environmental discourse and neoliberal political discourse, as discussed in

Chapter Five.

Promethean Technology

Anthropologist Larry Naylor (1988) observes that American culture possesses “a strong belief in technology,” and also “a faith that it [technology] will always be able to

146 solve problems, even those it creates” (p. 58). Vice President for Statoil A. Lance

Langford says problems like natural gas flaring, i.e. a problem of the energy sector’s own creation, represent opportunities for technological innovation (Krauss, 2013b). Within this dissertation’s dataset Energy Matters stands out as particularly emblematic in their naturalizing of Promethean discourse’s embrace of technology. This phenomenon manifests via the programs’ inclusion of technologically-themed guests and resulting . For example, the program co-hosts discuss oil field technology with

Johnson Control, who market the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) control system. This system remote monitors various well pad, drilling, and storage tank processes. Co-host Tim Fisher speaks to the technology’s “cool” factor in comparing a multi-screened SCADA control room to NASA, while Jim Hague from Johnson Control quips “this is where I wanna watch the SuperBowl!” (Energy Matters, 2014a). Fisher later compliments the technological sophistication of the oil industry, saying “look at the data that’s used right now . . . they know exactly where that well head is, or that drill bit when they’re drilling . . . they plan their routes now in picking up oil now the way UPS does” (Energy Matters, 2014a). Hague elaborates on SCADA’s other benefits:

[L]et’s say . . . an individual truck driver / maintenance worker goes out on a site .

. . he can put his ID badge in front of a card reader, and if it’s a truck driver and

that’s the guy who’s supposed to be there, we know he should be there for about

45 minutes. If he hasn’t scanned himself out in 45 minutes, we can alert folks that

we have an overdue trucker, and they can take a video camera, pan over, see that

the guy isn’t layin on the ground, that he’s workin on somethin, or whatever the

situation is. . . . [I]nstead of having one person watch 50 video cameras, we can

147 have one person watching 5,000 video cameras, we’ll alert them when A) there’s

activity, or B) when somebody’s overdue and they can focus their efforts where

they need to be. (Energy Matters, 2014a).

Another example of Promethean discourse’s emphasis on technology-as-problem-solver, also from Energy Matters, involves a caller asking North Dakota PSC Chairman Brian

Kalk about current investments in fossil fuels relative to emerging renewable energy technologies. Chairman Kalk redirects the caller away from renewable energy, steering the conversation back toward technological innovation within the fossil fuel industry:

Jeff Cook [caller/listener]: I’m curious what’s his [Chairman Kalk’s] take on 50

years out, or 100 years out, with technology advancements that are coming online

right now. What happens to the investment of the nuclear power plant, or the coal

power plant, and how do we get the people who have invested that money to

make an orderly transition into new technology of energy production such as

renewable energy . . .?

Brian Kalk: we [PSC] don’t make energy policy but by defacto I think a lot of our

decisions become energy policy . . . I don’t see any movement in North Dakota

that’ll increase the renewable goal. . . . I would say is that our existing coal fleet—

the companies and the PSC will encourage to keep those going as long as we can.

. . . We’re gonna still have some nuclear plants in the mix, we’re gonna have coal,

new coal, probably be CO2 to capture it for oil recovery I think—I think it’s fine

to capture it for that. I think gas, we’re gonna have some baseload. But I think the

things like solar and some of those things, you might see the southern states

148 bringing investments, but I don’t see that stuff ever coming into North Dakota.

(Energy Matters, 2014b)

Finally, the April 15th episode of Energy Matters (2014e) includes a discussion with

Chuck Davis of TMD Technologies, a company using microbial bio-filters to treat high- salinity flowback, and other waste material containing low levels of radioactivity. This technology, according to its inventor, can remediate a spill site up to ten times faster than conventional technologies.

This final example connects to this chapter’s next section in that Davis describes his product as environmentally friendly. Although Promethean discourse does not recognize the environment per se—viewing the world external to humans as little more than raw material for human use (Dryzek, 1997)—results in the forthcoming section do express some sense of environmental consciousness, if only to deflect enviro-centric criticism or reassure consumers that the Bakken is safe. The following section examines results which co-opt messages of environmental stewardship into broader discourses of industrial expansion.

Promethean Co-Optation of Environmental Concern

In similar fashion to neoliberal discourses co-opting cultural of freedom, frontier, and the American Dream, results in this section, all from the Energy Matters radio program, advocate industrial growth, but contextualize these matters within the language of environmental stewardship. For example, Canadian Consul General Jamshed

Merchant advocates for pipeline expansion, in part, by noting that pipelines “are the most reliable, the safest, the lowest, most energy efficient way of transporting large quantifies oil from point A to point B” (Energy Matters, 2014d).

149 A later episode of Energy Matters includes a discussion with Tony Straquadine of

Alliance Pipeline. Co-host Tim Fisher compliments Alliance Pipeline, first for the amount of money they contribute to the national economy, and second for doing it safely.

Tony echoes Consular Merchant, saying that pipelines are the safest way to transport energy, and the company’s “main [pipe]line’s been in the ground for 14 years here in the state of North Dakota operating safely and efficiently.” Co-host Steve Bakken later reiterates the sentiment, saying “your company . . . like you said 14 years here in North

Dakota, of safety, quality” while also noting other benefits like taking “trucks off the road in North Dakota, that’s getting rid of some of the flaring in North Dakota. Is there a bad story to pipelines” (Energy Matters, 2014f)?

Technological advancement in waterless fracking, and fracking chemicals, also contribute to Promethean environmental co-optation, as this Energy Matters exchange between co-host Steve Bakken and petroleum engineer Charlotte Batson demonstrates:

Steve Bakken: I wanna talk a little bit about that new technology. . . . You hear

the talk about waterless fracking, you hear the talk about CO2, and then you start

throwing the environmental side into that. When I look at the big picture we’re at

a CO2 deficit in this country right now.

Charlotte Batson: . . . there’s a number of technologies that can be brought to bear

for waterless hydraulic fracturing. . . . It makes so much sense because with, for

example, a propane gel you pump that down there, and pressure up, and do all the

cracking and all of that, and then it gets . . . produced out with the oil and gas and

the other hydrocarbons and you sell it like the rest of the product, and so it’s

really the most environmentally friendly. In addition to the fact of all the

150 retrofitting of rigs and generators and all of that for natural gas so that there’s

much less flaring . . . the environmental improvements that have been made are

just staggering. It’s just crazy. And so when you combine that with the fact that in

using natural gas for electricity generation instead of coal, carbon emissions in the

United States are down to at least a twenty year low. I feel like these people that

[point to] this or that imperfection in these technologies are really just nit-picking

. . . they’re throwing the baby out with the bathwater. (Energy Matters, 2014a,

emphasis added)

Finally, in a topical departure, co-host Tim Fisher discusses photography with David

Killingsworth of Saf-T Compliance:

Tim Fisher: I am gonna change gears just a little bit here—you do quite a bit on

Facebook and you take a lot of photographs of North Dakota. Why?

David Killingsworth: Everybody sees the negative side of the Bakken and what

we have goin[g] here in North Dakota. . . . I wanna bring out the beauty. I want

people to see what North Dakota and the Bakken really is. You know, it’s easy to

smear black paint on the oil field for destroying the environment. The Bakken and

the oil field up here now—we call it the new oilfield. There’s more beauty to it,

there’s more compliance, there’s more environmental safety. I want people to see

that, understand that’s what we have up here. (Energy Matters, 2014c; figure 8)

151

Figure 8: The "new oilfield," via Saf T Compliance International's Facebook page

The preceding review of Promethean discourse constituted the Bakken as a limitless cornucopia of physical resource, ancillary benefit (e.g. trade revenue, robust housing markets), technological innovation, and finally the above section provided examples of Promethean discourse co-opting environmental concern. Next, this chapter focuses on discourses constructing the environment as worthy of some consideration beyond extraction. Some texts in the forthcoming sections express this sentiment more strongly than others. These more environmentally-focused sections begin with texts embodying administrative rationalist discourse.

Administrative Rationalism

Administrative rationalism privileges institutional expertise and federal state intervention over individual citizen action in solving environmental problems because citizens lack expertise, and are largely detached from decisions which impact them

152 (Dryzek, 1997; see also Castree, 2014; Meister and Japp, 2002). Other notable features of administrative rationalism include 1) the contentious nature of regulation between the state and industry; 2) capitalism is taken-for-granted, and must be protected, thus the state must carefully assess the degree to which it will regulate industry for fear of capital divestment; 3) administrative rationalism’s bureaucratic (i.e. inefficient) nature, and its tendency to shift responsibility from one administrative office to another, make this discourse especially vulnerable to individualistic Promethean/neoliberal discourses

(Dryzek, 1997).

This section begins with the concept of adversarial regulation—i.e. federal laws forcing industry to become better environmental caretakers. Chapter Five included results which constituted industry as operating independent from local state regulation—or, in

Rachel Maddow’s (2014) words, industry is “riding roughshod” over the people of North

Dakota. The forthcoming examples are similar in tone, but differ in their explicit constitution of the environment as worth protecting. A letter to the Dickinson Press, appearing on the Bakken Watch Facebook Page, states North Dakota was once a strong environmental regulator:

[I]n the 1970s . . . with help from the Rural Electric Cooperatives, [North Dakota]

passed some of the toughest strip mine reclamation laws in the country. We did so

over the vociferous objections of the national coal industry but, with knowledge,

land was worth saving, clean air and heritage was worth protecting. (Dorgan,

2014, para. 12)

153 Natural gas flaring is one particularly salient environmental topic within which the administrative rationalist theme of contentious regulation occurs. DeSmogBlog, via the

Bakken Watch Facebook Page, writes:

Flaring in North Dakota hit 36% in December, a new record. This means that

more than 1/3 of all natural gas produced in the state is going up in smoke, at the

same time as consumers around the country are seeing price spikes from natural

gas in this cold winter, along with actual shortages of propane in many places.

(Horn, 2014b, para. 5; also see Bump, 2013e; Krauss, 2011)

DeSmogBlog, via the Bakken Watch Facebook Page, quotes a New York Times article

(Krauss, 2011) in which the lead operator of a Whiting Petroleum gas-processing plant says “I’ll tell you why people flare: It’s cheap. Pipelines are expensive: You have to maintain them. You need permits to build them. They are a pain” (Horn, 2014b, para. 24; see also Bump, 2013e; Energy Matters 2014d, 2014f). The rapid rate of production decline many Bakken wells experience within the first five years contributes to natural gas flaring—oil companies rush to drill as many wells, and as much oil, as possible, because oil is the more valuable commodity (Bump, 2013f; Klare, 2012). Grist, the

Bakken Watch Facebook Page, and the New York Times note that flaring reduction is one

Bakken occurrence on which environmentalists and extraction-minded Prometheans agree—the former because of climate change, the latter because they lose royalty payments (Bump, 2013e; Horn, 2014b; Krauss, 2013a; Upton, 2014b).

Flaring’s solution, according to DeSmogBlog, is federal “regulation that forces the industry to curtail flaring once and for all is the only way squelch the flaring issue”

(Horn, 2014b, para. 18, emphasis added). Meanwhile, Grist notes a federal carbon tax as

154 another possible solution (Adler, 2014b). Regardless, Grist argues in favor of federal oversight because no one:

is naïve enough to think that gas companies can simply be trusted to do this

[curtail flaring] out of the goodness of their hearts. The EPA . . . has the

authority and the obligation under the Clean Air Act to require gas well

operators to adopt these measures. (Adler, 2014c, para. 14, emphasis added)

Texts arguing for federal environmental intervention in the Bakken coexist with texts explaining why federal intervention may be unlikely. Writing for Grist, Michael Klare

(2012) echoes Harvey’s (2005) contention that in the neoliberal age socially liberal politicians, fearful of appearing unfriendly to industry, especially in election years, are simply unlikely to regulate. Dryzek (1997) describes the fear of divestment as another impediment to federal action within the confines of administrative rationalist discourse.

Jim Fuglie, the retired newspaper editor-turn-blogger whose work frequently appears on the Bakken Watch Facebook Page, argues that corporate divestment in response to environmental regulation represents a hegemonic myth the fossil fuel industry initializes, and the local media repeat:

First, I’m pissed off at Conoco-Phillips, WPX Energy, Whiting Petroleum,

Continental Resources, and the North Dakota Petroleum Council. They’re the

ones whining about the discussion of restricting their ability to flare natural gas

instead of capturing it. Most North Dakota daily papers reported on it this week.

Oil companies are threatening to pull out of North Dakota and take their drilling

rigs elsewhere if we try to regulate them. Cripes sake, western North Dakota is lit

155 up like a centenarian’s birthday cake—from space it looks like New York City.

(Fuglie, 2014, para. 2)

Fuglie then quotes from a Forum News Service story which states “[i]mposing broad limits on drilling permits and production as a means to curb flaring is unnecessary and could force oil companies and third-party investors to think twice about doing business in

North Dakota’s Bakken and Three Forks oil formations” (Fuglie, 2014, para. 3). Fuglie then cites the same Forum News Service story, which discusses a recent Industrial

Commission meeting where Whiting Petroleum argues:

“Curtailments are not the answer. That cuts into our cash flow and the economics

of each well we drill. That could prompt companies to decide to invest

elsewhere.” (Translation: our enormous profits are way more important than your

stupid clean air.) . . . Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out of the

state, boys. Just pick up your toys and go home. (Fuglie, 2014, para. 6)

Finally, some texts are indicative of administrative rationalism in their articulation of bureaucratic ineffectiveness (Dryzek, 1997). One context in which Grist and the New

York Times observe this theme is pipeline safety and oversight (Frosch, 2013; Smyth,

2013). Following a Tesoro pipeline leak North Dakota’s Department of Mineral

Resources director Lynn Helms exonerates Tesoro because their pipeline was rural, and thus under federal jurisdiction of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety

Administration (PHMSA) (Upton, 2013e). The New York Times, speaking with North

Dakota Department of Health state geologist Kris Roberts, implies federal policy is to blame because PHMSA requirements “emphasize the protection of environmentally sensitive areas and population centers, leaving more isolated sections of pipeline [e.g.

156 Tesoro’s North Dakota pipeline] monitored less stringently” (Frosch, 2013, para. 16A).

Following criticism of North Dakota’s handling of the pipeline leak, North Dakota Health

Department head David Glatt said his office acted properly because the spill was out of his jurisdiction (Killrough, 2014; Upton, 2013e).

The preceding section identified texts consistent with Dryzek’s (1997) administrative rationalist discourse. Embodied within the above texts were the administrative rationalist themes of 1) contentious federal regulation as a forcible means of procuring industry acquiescence; 2) fear of divestment resulting from stronger federal regulation; and 3) bureaucratic inefficiency in handling environmentally damaging occurrences such as burst oil pipelines. Moving forward, the next section highlights additional themes pertaining to environmental harm. These results do not conform to

“named” environmental discourses discussed elsewhere. Rather, they proceed from

Goldman and Papson’s (2011) observation that media often blame individuals and organizations for accidents, rather than question underlying structural matters.

Blaming Industry and the Local State

Results in this section perceive various outcomes of Bakken activity as environmentally harmful, and are broadly emblematic of Goldman and Papson’s (2011) contention that media coverage focuses “on a few bad apples,” in an appeal to “populist sentiments about punishing the rascals who done wrong,” rather than critiquing structural factors (p. 10). Although the environment is a prominent topic within this section, it frames what appears to be these texts’ primary impetus: to constitute industry and the local state as poor overseers of the environment, i.e. these texts read as ideological as much as environmental. Nevertheless, these results challenge Promethean assumptions

157 that the environment does not matter, exists solely for human consumption, or that environmental challenges, to the degree they acknowledge them, are under control.

Topically the majority of texts comprising this section involve oil spills and releases of oil-related materials such as flowback. Large-scale pipeline spills such as

Enbridge’s one million gallon spill in Michigan are rare in the Bakken (Bump, 2012e).

However, an oil spill on a Tioga, North Dakota, wheat farm focused texts from Grist and the New York Times on Tesoro, whose pipeline leaked approximately 20,000 barrels of oil (Associated Press, 2013; Frosch, 2013; Killough, 2014; Upton, 2013d). The New York

Times notes that landowners, not pipeline owners, typically discover leaks (Frosch,

2013). The same story also cites Wilderness Society pipeline expert and civil engineer

Louis Epstein’s estimate that Tesoro’s pipeline was probably leaking for weeks, based on the puncture’s diameter and amount of oil released (Frosch, 2013). Similarly, Grist quotes John Amos of Skytruth, who says “it was a 6” pipeline with a garden-hose-sized hole. By the time it was discovered, the oil had spread over 7.3 acres” (Smyth, 2013, para. 4).

These examples not only construct Tesoro as negligent in a significant release of oil but, as the New York Times notes, also call into question industry assurances “that they can detect and shut off these spills in . . . minutes, when they actually go on for days” (Frosch, 2013, p. 16A; see also Killrough, 2014). Subsequent articles in both Grist and the New York Times criticize Tesoro for not sharing results of recent pipeline safety tests with the state of North Dakota, and also for using the pipeline after discovering possible “anomalies” within those test results (Associated Press, 2013; Upton, 2013e).

158 Articles appearing on Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page point out that oil spills are actually more common than the public are generally aware, again constituting the oil industry as placing profit above environmental stewardship:

Tip your 10-gallon hat to the gas and oil guys. The booming industry spilled 26

million gallons of oil, fracking fluid, fracking wastewater, and other toxic

substances during 7,662 accidents in just 15 states last year. . . . It’s called

economic development, right? (Upton, 2014f, para. 1, 7)

Soraghan (2014) writes in Environment and Energy Publishing, via the Bakken Watch

Facebook Page, that oil spills of higher frequency and greater volume occur in the

“booming Bakken Shale. North Dakota . . . saw spills jump 42 percent even though the average number of rigs working in the state dropped by 8 percent” (para. 6). Grist further notes that “North Dakota is leaking like a sieve” having “recorded 139 pipeline leaks that spilled a total of 735 barrels of oil. In 2012 there were 153 pipeline leaks that spilled 495 barrels of oil” (Upton, 2013f, para. 1, 3). Meanwhile, Grist’s Philip Bump

(2012b) sarcastically ridicules two waste disposal companies, caught illegally dumping raw sewage in fields, as indicative of oil company diversification and innovation—in how they pollute the landscape. “The energy industry,” Grist explicitly states, “can’t be trusted to do anything safely” (Upton, 2013a, para. 14).

Secrecy among local state agencies and industry was another theme within these results, especially at Grist. John Upton (2013e, 2013f) notes that North Dakota has no laws requiring public notification of oil and wastewater spills. Additionally, Grist writer

Holly Richmond (2014) cites Climate Progress’ characterization of everyone—industry, state, and federal—as complicit in oil spill under-reporting, writing “thousands of high

159 priority fracking wells had gone uninspected by the Bureau of Land Management in recent years,” while “300 oil spills went unreported in North Dakota in the previous two years” (para.4). Grist further notes that “fracking companies, oil pipeline owners, and state officials have been keeping information about hundreds of spills secret for years”

(Upton, 2013f, para. 1).

As with previously cited results, environmental criticism is not limited to industry. Writers across this dissertation’s dataset broadly constitute the state of North

Dakota as an inadequate regulator in environmental matters (e.g. Bump, 2012a). Instead of blaming the fossil fuel industry for the severe oil spill in their wheat field, the property owners, speaking to the New York Times, were critical of North Dakota’s nonexistent contingency plan, and furthermore accused the state of using their oil spill to test best- practices for future accidents (Killough, 2014). Meanwhile, in a Dickinson Press article appearing via the Bakken Watch Facebook Page, local politicians question whether the severity of state fines and penalties is enough to discourage illegal dumping of radioactive filter socks (Dalrymple, 2014c). The Bakken Watch Facebook Page also includes a story from KX4 TVnews (Bismarck, ND) in which a county emergency manager says illegal filter sock dumping is just one of many problems western North

Dakota has with industry: “I would say it is hands down the worst, but we got a lot of other problems out there . . . [it’s] just one view of illegal shortcuts that are being taken across the entire oil industry” (Schatz, 2014, para. 24; see also Bakken Watch Facebook

Page articles from Dalrymple, 2014c; Forum News Service, 2014b; Lymn, 2014;

Postmedia News, 2014; Taylor, 2014). Despite the state attorney general’s promise to

“bring criminal and civil actions . . . [to] those who blatantly disregard rules designed to

160 protect the environment and keep our citizens safe,” the Bakken Watch Facebook Page points out that some trucking companies, who are guilty of illegally dumping wastewater in fields, have been operating illegally in the state for six years (Dalrymple, 2014d, para.

7).

The above results identify instances in which media use environmentally destructive events such as oil spills and illegal dumping of industrial waste as a means of discrediting both the fossil fuel industry and (perceived) lax local regulation. While it is generally positive that media, as the fourth estate, illuminate such practices they arguably represent the superficial assigning of blame, as opposed to more substantive, structural critique (Goldman and Papson, 2011). Results in this section demonstrate a level of frustration from residents and local officials, but as Chapter Five noted, explicit anti- fossil fuel discourse is rare as interested parties argue for more responsible fracking. The following section concludes this chapter by noting instances of stronger counter- discourse, some of which constitute a world beyond fossil fuels.

Beyond Fossil Fuels

Previously cited results indicate that the topical minutia of Bakken discourse often revolves around levels of regulation, how to safely transport oil, or how to curtail flaring, but do not voice the possibility that fossil fuels should remain in the ground. In other words, extraction is taken-for-granted. For example, Coalition for Environmentally

Responsible Economics spokesperson Andrew Logan suggests, via the Bakken Watch

Facebook Page, that slowing down and developing “resource[s] in a thoughtful and deliberate way,” is acceptable (Horn, 2014b, para. 28; see also Nelson, 2014; Smith, N.,

2014). Meanwhile Dorgan’s previously cited letter to the Dickinson Press, again via the

161 Bakken Watch Facebook Page, argues “[w]e can regulate, drill, and create jobs, economic prosperity” but need “adequate protections” to do so (2014, para. 17). The debate surrounds regulation of fracking, not the practice itself.

Texts within this section argue that no level of regulation can merge opposing discourses of fracking practice and environmental stewardship into a singular, workable reality (Environment America, 2014; Upton, 2013a, 2014a). In an Environment America

(2014) Youtube video, posted to the Bakken Watch Facebook Page, former executive vice president for Mobil Oil Lou Allstadt says fracking is “inherently risky”

(Environment America, 2014). Meanwhile Grist’s John Upton (2014a, para. 15) writes:

Oil is going to spill, explode, and pollute, regardless of whether it’s moved by

train or pipeline. So it would be a shame if this conversation skips over the big

question: whether we should continue this dangerous drilling boom in an era of

climate change, electric vehicles, and increasingly affordable renewables.

The Bakken Watch Facebook Page includes an op-ed from retired University of Southern

Illinois geography professor Dr. David Christensen, who challenges the industry claim that fracking’s long history is synonymous with safety. He writes that equating modern fracking and horizontal drilling to the decades-old practice of “fracking at the bottom of bore holes” is a false equivalency (para. 5; also see Manthos, 2013). Christensen continues, arguing that the mere existence of modern fracking technology, and the economic windfall that comes with it, does not necessitate its use because “[fracking] puts the health, well-being and survival of the human species and our accumulated civilization at risk. (Humans also invented nuclear bombs but must not use them for similar reasons!)” (Christensen, 2014, para. 12).

162 Christensen’s concern over the “survival of . . . accumulated civilization” presumably relates to climate change. Grist advances the climate theme, critiquing a classically neoliberal Wall Street Journal article extolling the “new golden age” of jobs, economic prosperity, and energy independence of fracking. From an environmental perspective Grist notes the “golden age” of oil means:

[W]e would be burning vast quantities of the dirtiest energy on the planet with

truly disastrous consequences. That truth is this: There is just one possible golden

age for U.S. (or any other kind of) energy, and it would be based on a major push

to produce breakthroughs in climate-friendly renewable, especially wind, solar,

geothermal, wave, and tidal power. Otherwise the only ‘golden’ sight around is

likely to be the sun on an even hotter, even dirtier, ever more extreme planet.

(Klare, 2012, para. 27)

Other authors pick up on the renewable energy theme as well, but these texts were extremely few in number. Present examples include Grist contributor and co-founder of the Energy Action Coalition Billy Parish’s (2010) article. First Parish expresses demoralization at coal’s seemingly intractable foothold in North Dakota, especially relative to his desire for a more communal and sustainable (i.e. fossil fuel-free) existence:

I had a vision of the Great Plains transformed: buffalo roaming across great tracts

of tallgrass prairie studded with wind farms that powered the whole Midwest.

Tribal communities, farmers and ranchers and young people all working together

to develop an economy that could sustain the people and restore the land. (Parish,

2010, para. 1)

163 After leaving the North Dakota, Parish expresses shock upon learning of completion of a

115.5 megawatt, co-op owned wind farm, saying, “I almost couldn’t believe my eyes.

This . . . project will be the largest wind project entirely owned by a consumer cooperative, AND IT WAS COMPLETED IN JUST 4 MONTHS!!” (Parish, 2010, para.

3, emphasis original). An article appearing on the Bakken Watch Facebook Page tells of a large solar power array under construction by Geronimo Energy, which will provide electricity to customers in Minnesota (Shaffer, 2013). These examples provide rare, but tangible, evidence that renewable energy is viable at some scale, and also seem to contradict arguments made by North Dakota’s public service chair (see above) stating solar is impractical in the upper Midwest (Energy Matters, 2014b).

The Bakken Watch Facebook Page also includes an article from the Guardian’s

Earth Insight blog arguing that “fossil fuels . . . ain’t the answer. The time to ween off was yesterday” (Amhed, 2014, para. 19). The article directly challenges Promethean assertions of limitlessness by citing a recent (2014) International Energy Agency (IEA) report. The report revises the agency’s previous prediction that United States oil production would out-pace Saudi Arabia by 2020. Instead, the new report states that

United States production will decline after 2020. Amhed (2014) cites the IEA’s chief economist who says Europe risks “the lights going off” (para. 15). Amhed (2014) continues, writing that to keep the lights on means “$48 trillion of new investment . . . and it’s far from clear that investing in increasingly expensive unconventional oil and gas is going to cut it, without serious impacts on the global economy” (para. 16). Finally,

Amhed (2014) cites the IEA recommendation that, contrary to regulatory discussions in

164 North Dakota arguing for stricter oversight of fossil fuel extraction, regulators should instead insist on renewable energy investment and overall increases in energy efficiency.

Finally, New York Times environmental reporter Elizabeth Rosenthal (2013) writes one of the more comprehensive texts looking beyond fossil fuel use. She begins by questioning the taken-for-granted “mantra, repeated on TV ads and in political debates” that the United States has no choice but to rely on fossil fuels (para. 2). She cites reports from the National Research Council that improving efficiency in cars could halve consumption levels, and also cites a Stanford study arguing that New York State “could easily produce the power it needs from wind, solar and water power by 2030” (para. 6).

The challenge, according to the study’s lead author, is not technical or economic, but political and social in summoning “the will to do it” (para. 7).

Conclusion to Chapter Six

This chapter discussed fracking through an environmental lens. The most common results in this chapter were classified as Promethean, characterized by overt resource extraction, denial that those resources have limits, celebration of ancillary outcomes of resource extraction (i.e. personal wealth, national economic prosperity), and faith in human technological problem-solving (Dryzek, 1997). Murphy (2011) argues that

“neoliberal philosophy” has “resuscitated and globally supercharged” Prometheanism (p.

226), therefore these results are not surprising given the preponderance of neoliberal discourse reviewed in Chapter Five

Conversely, this chapter also identified discourses expressing various degrees of environmental concern. The most apparent of these discourses was administrative rationalism, characterized by contentious regulatory relationships between state and

165 industry actors, bureaucratic inefficiency, and primary actors consisting of state experts

(e.g. the US Forest Service, EPA), rather than individual citizens. Administrative rationalist discourse shares some characteristics with Keynesian economic models in that neither are “inherently ‘green,’ . . . [but] nevertheless carried with it a sense of state oversight that could be mobilized to restrict commercial interests’ misuses and abuses of natural resources” (Murphy, 2011, p. 224-225). Murphy’s statement captures the general theme of these environmental counter-discourses—the priority is safe, regulated fracking, not an end to fracking.

Two other themes emerged in Chapter Six. The first proceed from Goldman and

Papson’s (2011) observation that media often blame individuals and organizations for wrongdoing, rather than engage in more substantial, structural counter-discourse. These texts, which appeared predominantly on the Bakken Watch Facebook Page and Grist, framed industry and local state criticism via environmentally destructive accidents, especially oil spills. Arguably, these texts primarily exist as a means to construct the fossil fuel industry as environmentally irresponsible, and are as much political/ideological as they are environmental. The second, buy very rare, theme identified texts which looked beyond fossil fuel extraction toward renewable energy.

In many ways Chapter Six mirrors Chapter Five with regard to construction of truth, silences, and natural relationships. Experts and political elites weave themes of technology, resource cornucopia, and (hegemonic) environmental concern into their overly Promethean discourse of Bakken extraction. The Administrative Rationalist discourse articulated a more central role for state regulation in Bakken activity, but extraction was still assumed. Among those few texts which argued against extraction,

166 only two cited authoritative experts or institutions—Amhed’s (2014) summary of an

International Energy Agency report, and Rosenthal’s (2013) piece in the New York Times cited research from the National Research Center and Stanford University—and only one contributor, geography professor David Christensen (2014), drew on personal expertise.

No climate scientists were present in these anti-fracking texts, and anecdotal evidence from residents was also quite sparse (Fuglie, 2014; Gibson, 2013; Royte, 2012 being exceptions). The overall reality constructed is one in which extraction is naturalized, human dominance over nature is re-asserted, but debate arose over which institutional agents (i.e. industry or state) are best suited to oversee extraction.

The next chapter discusses relevant observations among the four media comprising the dataset. After examining each media source in turn, I argue that Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page both exhibit an epistemic dependence upon traditional, mainstream media (Castree, 2014). This dependence results in a topical homogeneity which not only limits their counter-discursive potential, but produces numerous silences.

167 CHAPTER 7: CROSS-MEDIA ANALYSIS

The results presented in previous chapters identified instances of neoliberal and environmentally-themed discourse from across the dataset used for this dissertation. The current chapter shifts focus to the media themselves, as the central question driving this dissertation is whether or not differences exist between “traditional” and “new” media discourse. This chapter discusses observations based upon the four media sources sampled for this dissertation, moving from Energy Matters, to the New York Times and

Grist, and finally the Bakken Watch Facebook Page. These source-specific reviews draw upon scholarship assessed in Chapter Three, which outlined characteristics common to traditional and new media, in assessing each source.

After this initial discussion, I argue that the new media analyzed in this dissertation operate in a state of epistemic (knowledge) inter-dependency with other media, many of which are traditional mainstream outlets. This dependency results in 1) a topical homogeneity which limits the counter-discursive potential of Grist and the

Bakken Watch Facebook Page; and 2) silences relating to renewable energy, traditionally marginalized groups, and citizen agency.

Energy Matters

Energy Matters exists somewhat apart from the other three media samples.

Energy Matters represents the singular broadcast outlet under consideration, and further distinguishes itself from other media in the program’s complete, yet predictable, advocacy for fracking, and demonizing of federal oversight. As this dissertation’s analysis progressed, topical and thematic inter-relationships between the New York

Times, Grist, and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page presented themselves clearly, which

168 further reinforced Energy Matters peripheral status vis-à-vis other sources. Energy

Matters never deviated from its easily recognized neoliberal/Promethean rhetoric; thus, according to Thompson’s (1995) definition of power—the ability to act toward one’s own interests—Energy Matters represents a potent merging of discursive power and ideological self-interest in crafting a very specific vision of oil, what oil does, and consequences of life without oil and gas extraction.

In some ways Energy Matters embodies characteristics of traditional media outlined in Chapter Three. For example, each program utilizes industry and political elite guests, with only two lay-citizen/listener callers in over 14 hours of content. The guests on Energy Matters present listeners with a different topical knowledge relative to other media sampled. For example, various private-sector guests discuss technological innovations and logistic nuances involved in the Bakken oilfields. Although these discourses represent commercial self-interest in the Bakken, and construct a favorable fracking reality, they nevertheless provide a level of detail, access, and “behind the scenes” insight not found in the other three media. Energy Matters expert guests include the program hosts, who qualify as experts in their own right because 1) in general, talk radio listeners regard hosts as authoritative (Lee, 2007); and 2) specifically, both hosts work in the energy industry—Steve Bakken as a consultant, and Tim Fisher as owner of

Bakken Energy Services (see Chapter Four).

The program hosts and their expertise highlight a particularly salient way in which Energy Matters deviates from traditional media—namely the program’s extreme lack of objectivity. On the one hand, Energy Matters is emblematic of talk radio’s move away from objectivity in favor of more opinionated material. Scholars trace this

169 phenomenon to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) elimination of the

Fairness Doctrine in the 1980s, thereby allowing radio stations to air explicitly opinionated programs which “exhibit clear and strong biases” (Lee, 2007, p. 80; see also

Dori-Hacohen, 2012). In this sense Energy Matters discourse mirrors characteristics often associated with blogs in that both are subjective, and in this case both hosts rely in part on first-hand knowledge in establishing credibility.

A related deviation from typically “objective” traditional media centers on personal disclosure. For example, print journalists typically disclose personal affiliations or conflicts of interest. Such disclosures were inconsistent on Energy Matters. Chapter

Four notes co-host Tim Fisher owns Bakken Energy Service and thus works closely with, and has a personal interest in guests and businesses tied to the oil industry. Fisher speaks candidly about these matters at times, but just as often does not inform the audience of conflicting interest. For example, on the January 14, 2014 episode, Fisher never discloses that he co-owns Tuscaloosa Energy Services (headquartered in Mississippi) with program guest Charlotte Batson (see Chapter Five); on the February 4th episode Fisher does not reveal that Saf-T Compliance’s David Killingsworth is a partner in Bakken Energy

Service. Finally, co-host Steve Bakken never reveals his employment for program co- sponsor Larson Engineering4 (Energy Matters, 2014h). A critical reading of Energy

Matters could classify the hosts’ self-interest as propagandistic (Garland and Harper,

2012; Harvey, 2005).

4 Bakken left Energy Matters for full-time employment at Larson Engineering, a position he held in a part- time capacity during his tenure as Energy Matters co-host. 170 The most frequent discursive omission on Energy Matters is that of renewable energy, which ties into the theme of given the self-interest both hosts hold in the oil industry. The program’s stated mission of discussing “all things energy” (Steve

Bakken, personal communication February 1, 2013), makes this silence somewhat unexpected. In the 14-plus hours of program material, there are three brief mentions of wind energy, despite the fact that wind energy represents a significant source of electric and economic generation. North Dakota generates 12 percent of its power from wind

(Great Plains Energy Corridor, 2014), and North Dakota is “home to 137 clean energy businesses and 2,112 clean energy jobs” including wind turbine manufacturing

(Anderson, 2011; see also Davey, 2008b). The only mention of solar energy is when the

Public Service Commissioner declares he does not see “that stuff ever coming into North

Dakota” (Energy Matters, 2014b, see pp. 146-147).

Another propagandistic feature of Energy Matters discourse is the program’s tone. Some guests, such as Public Service Commissioner Brian Kalk, make frequent appearances on the program. Other guests, such as Monsignor Shea from the University of Mary, sound like personal friends of the hosts. The friendly exchanges—due to appearance frequency, personal acquaintance, and/or strategic/ideological alliance— make for engaging, conversational talk radio. However, the congenial tone also results in a blog-like echo-chamber of like-minded opinion. No difficult questions are asked, and no scheduled guests challenge the program’s conventional neoliberal/Promethean wisdom.

A final observation relates to Energy Matters rhetorical strategy of personalizing the Bakken. In contrast to environmental discourses expressing concern over abstract,

171 distant, or generally un-relatable matters such as climate change (Cox, 2013, see below),

Energy Matters personalizes the Bakken by discussing fracked energy which heats your home, or makes your groceries cheaper by reducing transportation costs (Energy Matters,

2014f). At times these examples read as hyperbolic. Co-host Tim Fisher, for instance, argues that “attacking” the fossil fuel industry will:

kill more people than if they keep things going the way they are. Why? Very

simple: when you raise energy costs . . . you could have rolling blackouts. You

have rolling blackouts, old people freeze in the winter, and air conditioning

goes away in the summer. You start having higher costs, you have less money in

your back pocket. Moms are less likely to take their children in for medical. They

have less food. Poorer health care. Less child care. Less shelter. Seniors are not

gonna get their meds. (Energy Matters, 2014e)

The reality constructed is one-sided, however, as Energy Matters assumes that fossil fuels are the singular means by which society grows, prospers, meets energy and medical needs, and sustains American standards of (consumptive) living. The program further implies that any available alternative to fracking threatens the American Dream and freedom itself.

The New York Times

Based on the norms of objectivity, reliance upon expert/elite sources, little citizen input, and authoritative discourse outlined in Chapter Three, the New York Times is almost quintessentially traditional. For instance, the majority of New York Times texts within this dataset adhere to traditional journalism’s tenet of objectivity to a much greater degree than other media sampled. On the one hand, objectivity manifests as personal

172 detachment, rather than presenting equal sides to a story (Anderson, 1997). For example,

Sontag (2014) has no identifiable ties to North Dakota, and also makes no effort to

“balance” her exposé of lax local regulation as partial rationale for increased regulatory safeguards. Similarly, the frequent appearance of Bakken discourse within business- related sections of the New York Times discursively connects fossil fuels with economic prosperity. Both instances represent a broader journalistic practice to tell an objectively true, if incomplete, story emphasizing a certain group of facts over others (Darling-Wolf and Mendelson, 2008). However, binary “pro” and “con” constructions of balanced objectivity are also present in many New York Times texts. The objective nature of New

York Times articles makes underlying ideologies or biases more difficult to detect, especially in texts utilizing binary oppositions. Finally, like other traditional media, the

New York Times relies exclusively upon elite and expert sources, and includes citizens only as contextual or reactionary subjects, rather than as textual co-creators or agents in their own affairs (Fairclough, 1995; Wardle and Williams, 2010).

Another way the New York Times deviates from traditional media characteristics outlined in Chapter Three is in its use of Web-based multimedia such as video, and more frequently, extensive photo galleries and graphic representations of data. That said, the

New York Times multimedia offerings read as structurally limited. For example, discourse aggregators such as the Bakken Watch Facebook Page disseminate different types of visual discourse—e.g. memes and other obviously subjective or controversial images.

The types of photographs and graphics appearing on the New York Times website do not differ in tone from what one expects in the print edition. Thus it seems “legacy” or

“objective” outlets like the New York Times limit their production to structurally

173 allowable material. Regardless, the New York Times surpasses the other media sampled in terms of visual volume.

Also worth noting is the format of some New York Times articles. Sontag’s (2014) piece utilizes the Creatavist online publishing platform. Creatavist publishing allows for seamless integration of video, photos, graphs, and text. Thus, where online publishing once relied upon embedded YouTube videos, or opening new windows for photo galleries, Cratavist allows presentation of these various elements in top-to-bottom fashion. This signifies the perceived importance of online presentation to the New York

Times, and also—given the extent to which the platform is appearing throughout both professional and amateur web publishing—a probable next step in online media presentation.5

Finally, these results indicate that the New York Times maintains its status as an agenda-setting medium (Chomsky, 1997). It is not possible to objectively assess the extent of its agenda-setting function, but the New York Times serves as the basis for various Grist blog posts. For example, Grist writers Eve Andrews (2014) and Susie Cagle

(2013) draw upon a New York Times summary of American financial mobility, which notes that fossil fuel extraction zones offer greater opportunity than other regions.

Furthermore, New York Times exposés —e.g. “North Dakota Went Boom” (Brown,

2013), “Where Oil and Politics Mix” (Sontag, 2014)—spurred many “cost/benefit” discussions from local North Dakota media, organizations such as the Dakota Resource

Council, local state offices, and their associated social media pages.

5 https://www.creatavist.com/ 174 The New York Times agenda setting function, and the related matter of topical homogeneity among the New York Times, Grist, and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page, is discussed in greater detail below. Save for the volume and presentation of multimedia texts, the New York Times reads as traditional in form and context, especially with regard to the journalistic standard of objectivity. Although objective presentation makes underlying ideologies or biases more difficult to detect, the New York Times nevertheless reproduces implicitly consumptive and capitalistic discourses, constructing fracking as taken-for-granted but requiring more stringent federal oversight. The following section transitions from traditional media in reviewing Grist—a new media source which could, according to conventional wisdom and the various scholars cited in Chapter Three, robustly and subjectively challenge the status quo.

Grist

Like the New York Times, Grist advocates federal regulation, but diverges in its construction of an ideal reality of less, fracking and greater environmental awareness.

However, as a “new” media, Grist does not produce a particularly strong structural counter-discourse, nor does it utilize new media tools outlined in Chapter Three. For example, Grist’s multimedia inclusions are minimal. Instead, most articles followed a similar pattern: headline, stock photo, and article text, some of which include graphic representations of article data. A very few photographs juxtapose pristine nature and industrial extraction (Remillard, 2011). Most photographs include no, or minimal, caption. Furthermore, most photographs were stock photos of industrial equipment, while some correspond with news media’s penchant for shocking subject matter—e.g. oil

175 soaked birds or explosive oil-train fireballs—while still other photographs were cynical and/or humorous (see figure 9).

Figure 9: Grist visually represents North Dakota government secrecy

Another notable new media characteristic absent from Grist is that of lay knowledge and self-representation (De Keyser and Raeymaeckers, 2012; Wall, 2005).

Citizens co-create meaning within the comment sections, but had no identifiable role in producing the primary texts. Occasions of citizen inclusion mirror that of more traditional media outlets in that the lay public represent voices of emotion or reaction, not production (Fairclough, 1995). Furthermore, and equally surprising given new media’s egalitarian potential, traditionally marginalized voices found little representation in Grist.

For example, only one article focused on Native American/First Nation relations to the

Bakken, and even then the preponderance of article text originates in Toronto-, New

York-, and Minneapolis-based newspapers (Adler, 2013). Grist’s lack of voice diversity also manifests in the staff writers themselves. For example, Philip Bump and John Upton

176 wrote 16 and 17, respectively, articles and thus comprise nearly half the Grist dataset.

Thus, like traditional journalism, both writers appear to work a beat.

One clearly identifiable blog characteristic within the Grist dataset is that of hyperlinking to both internal and external sources. The majority of external hyperlinks take readers to traditional, mainstream media texts, presumably as a means of establishing credibility. Although this tendency is common among blogs, the extent to which Grist quotes at length from external sources is significant. Grist utilizes a mix of national media—e.g. the New York Times, Reuters, the Associated Press, and regional/local media—e.g. Wisconsin Public Radio, the Bismarck Tribune, and the Fargo

Forum—as the basis for their articles. This tendency is relevant because Grist effectively extends the voice of these already powerful media and their expert sources, while including no original reporting of their own (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Kenix,

2009).

Grist does exhibit a limited capacity toward more diverse viewpoints than either

Energy Matters or the New York Times. The primary means by which Grist achieved this was via hyperlinks to alternative media. For example, Richmond’s (2014) summary of a leaking oil well cites Climate Progress—the Center for American Progress’ climate blog;

Upton (2014d) cites OnEarth—a publication of the National Resource Defense

Council—in his story chronicling dust and pollution; Hymas (2014) cites the Sightline

Institute—a regional sustainability group—in a story outlining Warren Buffett’s role in oil-by-rail. Grist links to alternative sources considerably less often than to traditional, mainstream outlets, however.

177 Finally, Grist’s reliance upon hyperlinking runs contrary to scholars who argue that blogs cover events ignored or under-reported by traditional media (Anderson and

Marhadour, 2007; Kaye 2010, Kaye and Johnson, 2011). Arguably, without traditional media texts Grist could not exist because—within this dataset—the outlet engages in no original reporting. Rather, Grist reacts to texts already present in the public sphere, which their staff writers then strategically and predictably transform (Fairclough, 1992; Ott and

Walter, 2000). In that sense Grist offers a slightly different perspective than the original texts they draw upon. But, the degree to which they cover stories other outlets ignore, or augment hyperlinked articles with new information, is debatable. Ultimately, the reality

Grist constructs of fracking is overwhelmingly negative, and their staff’s re- contextualization of existing texts highlights various misdeeds of power. But, Grist offers no alternatives to fracking, and no substantial challenge to power or structure. The next section reviews the Bakken Watch Facebook Page, which in many respects represents ideological opposition to Energy Matters.

Bakken Watch Facebook Page

Like Energy Matters, the Bakken Watch Facebook Page produces a clearly identifiable ideology—the former constructs fracking as a cornucopia of wealth and plenty, the latter constructs fracking within the context of danger, community destruction, and environmental degradation. The Bakken Watch Facebook Page achieves this by excluding stories of wealth and prosperity in favor of texts highlighting the myriad negative consequences of fracking. As outlets assumed to be generally counter- discursive, the Bakken Watch Facebook Page differs from Grist in three primary ways: first, the Bakken Watch Facebook Page does not self-consciously transform the texts they

178 draw upon; second, the Bakken Watch Facebook Page draws upon a wider variety of texts; third the Bakken Watch Facebook Page aggregates fracking texts that do not directly relate to the Bakken, but nevertheless constitute fracking as dangerous, thereby exemplifying what Castree (2014) identifies as an “environmental myth.”

The first notable difference between Grist and Bakken Watch Facebook Page includes treatment of source material. As noted above, Grist frequently transforms linked texts by quoting source material at length, and then predictably re-contextualizing that material with a few sentences, or a final paragraph, of original material. The Bakken

Watch Facebook Page often includes a summary quote direct from the linked story as a means of drawing attention to (perceived) relevant information, rather than a transformation. While both Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page rely on previously produced texts, the aggregating function of the latter allows these texts to both stand on their own, and also work collectively in shaping particular Bakken and fracking realities. Put another way, the ideology of the Bakken Watch organization is reflected in their textual choices, not in their transformations and re-contextualization. The selective aggregation of texts mirrors, somewhat, the journalistic practice of selecting details and facts for story inclusion—arguably resulting in a present, but understated, ideology.

A second, related, divergence involves the variety of texts drawn upon.

Traditional media comprise approximately half of the Bakken Watch Facebook Page posts analyzed in this dissertation, mostly from local newspapers such as the Williston

Herald and Dickinson Press. In this sense social media aggregators operate similarly to some blogs in driving web traffic to traditional sites of media power and expert opinion.

However, the Bakken Watch Facebook Page aggregates a greater number of alternative

179 texts than Grist, including environmental blogs (e.g. DeSmogBlog, Treehugger),

Facebook pages and status updates from like-minded groups (e.g. No Fracking Way

Turtle Mountain Tribe; Bakken Watch FB Page, 2014d), and personal blogs (e.g. Jim

Fuglie’s The Prairie Blog). Although the larger environmental blogs noted above contain little citizen voice, these other outlets drawn upon by Bakken Watch Facebook Page include examples of first-hand accounts and user-produced photographs which—contrary to Grist’s blog discourse—establish credibility via their anti-mainstream status and personal experience (e.g. Feil, 2012; Troutman, 2013).

The Bakken Watch Facebook Page also utilizes more diverse visual texts than other media sampled for this dissertation. As argued above, the New York Times volume of visual media is noteworthy, but predictable in that it mirrors what one would expect in the print edition; Grist includes little visual media beyond graphs. Clearly the Bakken

Watch Facebook Page has no control over material contained in hyperlinked articles, but their presence on Facebook allows for image “sharing.” The Bakken Watch Facebook

Page’s visual departure is particularly evident with regard to memes. Some memes mirror other discourses from the New York Times and Grist in communicating the need for enhanced regulatory oversight, especially within the context of political corruption

(see figure 10).

180

Figure 10: Theodore Roosevelt "argues" for oversight

Other memes capture the environmental ambiguity present throughout this dissertation’s dataset (see below). For example, Figure 11 visually speaks to a romantic environmentalism (Dryzek, 1997), while textually rationalizing neoliberal/Promethean discourses of industrial expansion.

181

Figure 11: Communicating enviro/industrial tension

And, some images directly counter the short-term economic benefits of fracking by arguing for long-term environmental stewardship (see figure 12).

182

Figure 12: A counter-economic visual argument

Theoretically Grist’s on-line distribution allows inclusion of critical memes, and hyperlinks to personal blogs, but these sorts of texts may not possess the transformative potential or credibility of more “established” traditional and mainstream texts. Another possible explanation may be found in the continuing perception of mainstream, traditional media credibility, i.e. Grist requires these sorts of texts as the basis for their counter-arguments. Or, because Grist’s founder is a former journalist, it is possible that some structural elements of traditional journalism underpin editorial decisions pertaining to textual inclusion/exclusion.

Finally, a third relevant factor singular to the Bakken Watch Facebook Page dataset represents what Castree (2014) calls environmental myth defined, in part, as regionally specific occurrences coming to represent more a general discourse or universal truth. For Castree, environmental myths are widely held, but lack a scientifically

183 verifiable evidence base to support their claims. Given fracking’s recent emergence to public consciousness, relative lack of extant science examining the phenomenon, and controversial nature, the practice arguably qualifies. Environmental myth manifests on the Bakken Watch Facebook Page via the site’s implicit link between fracking in North

Dakota and negative outcomes in other geographic locations. For instance, one blog post appearing on Barnett Shale Hell discusses water contamination in Texas (Feil, 2012); posts in Energy Wire (Soraghan, 2013) and ZME Science (Andrei, 2013) discuss earthquakes in Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. The Bakken Watch Facebook Page also aggregates articles highlighting pipeline explosions in China (PennEnergy, 2013) and

Houston (Phillips, 2013), and air pollution resulting from natural gas compressors in

Idaho (Prentice, 2014).

Constructing the environmental myth of fracking danger via inclusion of these texts reads, on the one hand, as alerting the public to potential hazards perhaps ignored by more traditional, mainstream outlets. On the other hand, one could read the inclusion of such texts as a purely ideological maneuver designed to construct a specific version of fracking reality by implying that similar events could happen in the Bakken, while creating a sort of mental short cut between fracking and people’s fear of potential disaster. Interestingly, fracking proponents employ similar, but opposite, logic when they argue that the unique geologies of Bakken frack sites render negative occurrences elsewhere as irrelevant (Gibson, 2013; Ruggles, 2012). Regardless, the Bakken Watch

Facebook Page reads as the ideological counter-weight to the bold neoliberal discourse found on Energy Matters in the former’s seemingly conscious effort to aggregate negative fracking and Bakken articles. Thus, the Bakken Watch Facebook Page

184 constructs a reality in which fracking ruins communities and nature. Even so, the counter- discourse put forth by the Bakken Watch Facebook Page, like Grist, and indeed the totality of media sampled for this dissertation, fails to substantially critique underlying structures of consumption, or offer any workable alternatives to fossil fuel dependence.

This chapter now discusses the topical homogeneity arising from the new media’s dependence upon traditional, mainstream texts.

Topical Homogeneity

Having singularly reviewed each media outlet, this chapter now considers this dissertation’s dataset holistically. Here I argue that Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook

Page exist in a state of epistemic (knowledge) dependence with other, mostly traditional mainstream, media. The subsequent state of topical homogeneity limits the potential for deeper, structural counter-discourse, and results in numerous discursive silences.

Castree (2014) argues that, given the complexity of modern existence, the lay- public exists in a state of epistemic dependence with various knowledge communities of experts, ranging from medical professionals to building contractors. Castree (2014) further notes that journalism, as an epistemic community of knowledge disseminators, mediates between the lay public and other epistemic communities—e.g. a news story quoting registered dietitians on the subject of nutrition—thus the lay public exists in a state of epistemic dependence upon the media. Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook

Page exhibit a parallel dependence on traditional media—they lack the resources, expertise, or motivation to construct original knowledge. Dependence on the part of the

Bakken Watch Facebook Page is not surprising, as the act of aggregation largely precludes self-authorship, save for the occasional status update or caption contextualizing

185 a story. And, though dependent, the Bakken Watch Facebook Page struck a greater balance between blogs, alternative news outlets, and traditional media than Grist. Grist’s dependence on other media, although consistent with blog characteristics cited in Chapter

Three, is still somewhat surprising given the outlet’s cache of staff writers, many of whom are former journalists.

The result of new media’s dependence is one of topical homogeneity, i.e. the vast majority of texts within this dataset circulate around a very few salient topics— Energy

Matters being something of an exception. Notable topics across the New York Times,

Grist, and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page include oil-by-rail, natural gas flaring, social impacts such as crime and high rent, and various neoliberal texts pertaining to wealth, jobs, and economics. Although there is some among outlets—for example, Grist devotes more space to oil spills and anti-Keystone XL Pipeline discourse, while the New York Times tends to highlight economics or individuals—the overarching result is a dataset caught up in the minutia of relevant, but ultimately non-disruptive

Bakken narratives. This has numerous implications.

These results call into question—within the context of this case study—the counter-discursive potential of blogs like Grist, and social media aggregators such as the

Bakken Watch Facebook Page, as both new media outlets’ discourse is limited by what other outlets produce, i.e. new media does not have “permission” to speak until the

Associated Press or New York Times speak first. Neither the Bakken Watch Facebook

Page nor Grist significantly augment the texts they aggregate or link to. Grist, via their intertextual transformation, does re-contextualize some of the neoliberal material they link to. However, these transformations often read as trite and superficial, perhaps as part

186 of Grist’s stated mission to avoid “sanctimonious” environmental discourse by not taking themselves “too seriously” (Grist, 2014). Or, following Castree (2014), outlets such as

Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page may consciously remain within generally mainstream conversations, lest they risk being “too alternative” and thus alienate themselves “entirely from the social mainstream” (p. 216, emphasis original).

Overall these results speak to the continuing agenda-setting function of legacy media such as the New York Times, and traditional media in general (Chomsky, 1997;

Reese, et al., 2007; Wall, 2005). Perhaps most importantly the limited topical presences result in tepid counter-discourses at the expense of more substantial critique, evidenced by numerous silences within this dissertation’s dataset including citizen agency, renewable energy, and resource consumption.

Discursive Silences

The silences under review are consistent across this dissertation’s dataset, and begin by discussing citizen constructions. With few exceptions, neoliberal results construct individual actors as hard-working, industrious people who relocate to North

Dakota from other parts of the country for jobs. These individuals endure hardship—e.g. sleeping in a car, or living in a mancamp away from their family—in pursuing the

American Dream. Other stories center upon the American Dreams of well-paid employment or entrepreneurialism. The circumstances behind North Dakota’s mass emigration remain silent. There are passing references to poor economies in other states, and many texts exalt North Dakota’s economy where migrants often find jobs upon arrival. However, these celebratory texts never contextualize or critique the “North

187 Dakota miracle” (Rampell, 2011, para. 1) within the structural economic collapse of

2008.

Alternately, citizens appear as victims of accidents, causes of train derailments, or as unwilling partners in oil extraction—i.e. surface owners who must acquiesce to drilling on behalf of those with mineral rights. In these cases, citizens appear as powerless. The impression emerging from this dataset is that citizen agents may either 1) achieve some individualistic, entrepreneurial version of the American Dream in North Dakota; or 2) be a victim of rapid expansion, industry abuse, or political graft. Furthermore, this dissertation’s dataset generally constructs the state as the only body capable of mitigating or rectifying victimization. Indeed, the most present conflict emerging from this dissertation centers on the state, regulation, and which institutional actors are best situated to manage the Bakken. These results contrast with constructions of citizen activism and agency from sources external to this dissertation—e.g. Naomi Klein’s

(2014) This Changes Everything—which constitutes citizens, especially Native activists in Canada and the western United States, as powerful agents in fighting fossil fuel extraction, pipeline and industrial infrastructure expansion, or perceived environmental degradation. The absence of citizen agency was unexpected, especially among the new media sampled for this dissertation.

Another unforeseen silence from new media sources are those of climate change and renewable energy. This silence is relevant because the lay public depends on media for knowledge and, relatedly, prompts toward action. Therefore, outlets vehemently constructing negative realities of fracking might logically include some sense of viable alternatives to the fossil fuel status quo. Cox (2013) notes media’s systemic difficulty in

188 making environmental matters salient and relevant to the public because “many environmental problems are both complex and unobtrusive—that is, they are remote— it’s not easy to link their relevance concretely to our lives” (p. 149, emphasis original).

Energy Matters excels at making a future without fossil fuels personal, obtrusive, and frightening (see above). Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page provide no substantial counter-discourse to neoliberal/Promethean rhetoric. They speak of climate change and renewable energy in the abstract, but per Cox, fail to concretely link renewable energy to anti-fracking discourses. For example, Grist’s John Upton writes that easing “off from the whole oil and gas drilling thing” (2013b, para. 12) and “just leaving the filthy stuff in the ground” (2013g, para. 13) makes environmental sense, but what is the energy alternative, i.e. how then does one get to work? On that point this dataset is silent.

It is not a surprising silence on Energy Matters given that outlet’s ideological stance—climate change is not a concern, and continued extraction represents the only logical road forward. New York Times energy correspondent Clifford Krauss constitutes climate change as concerning, but paradoxically argues in favor of natural gas and pipeline expansion as a solution. One mention of renewable energy occurs within the

New York Times sample (Rosenthal, 2013). Grist published one article—depicting rapid construction of a 115.5 megawatt windfarm in North Dakota—showing that renewable energy is a working, present entity in the state (Parish, 2010). Finally, the Bakken Watch

Facebook Page linked to one solar energy article from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper. Perhaps this dissertation’s media samples consider the topics of fracking, renewable energy, and climate change unrelated, or best addressed separately. However,

189 climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe (2015) argues that “[c]limate change isn’t one issue in isolation . . . [it] is part and parcel of all the challenges we already confront today.”

Considering this dissertation from Hayhoe’s perspective makes these omissions all the more apparent.

The reality this dataset implicitly, and universally, constructs, regardless of fracking or regulatory stance, is one of life continuing on as normal for consumers of these texts. In this particular context the dataset constructs a reality parallel with what scholars identify as sustainable development. Sustainable development is almost purely rhetorical in that it offers no policy suggestions, advocates no changes beyond individual actions such as recycling or buying green products, and provides no concrete alternatives to current practice beyond vague articulations of cleaner, greener products and energy, effectively constructing a reality which requires no difficult alterations in lifestyle

(Castree, 2001; Dryzek, 1997).

Energy Matters’ adherence to neoliberal/Promethean discourses of cornucopian wealth and resource precludes any notion of change, save for less federal intervention, so this particular silence, again, is not surprising (Dryzek, 1997). Nor does the New York

Times address these matters in any significant manner, minus advocacy of federal safety regulations. The Bakken Watch Facebook Page includes some memes (see above) constructing consumption as negative, but these texts are sparse relative to articles constituting the fracking industry in a negative light. The explicit discourse from both the

Bakken Watch Facebook Page and Grist essentially constructs fracking, and those who support it, as dreadful. But, as noted above, they offer no concrete energy alternatives.

Finally, no texts in this dataset explicitly argue toward consumption reduction, or re-

190 working capitalism into a more distributive, egalitarian model capable of combating carbon emissions and climate injustice.

This silence is particularly salient right now given contentious discussions occurring in other discursive spaces. For example, Naomi Klein’s recent book This

Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (2014) identifies neoliberal free trade, roll-back environmental regulation, and the resources necessary to maintain consumptive western, i.e. American, lifestyles as primary factors in both climate change and global injustice. This type of discourse advocates a less-impactful relationship with nature by reducing consumption and increasing use of renewable energy. The environmental group

Transition Milwaukee further argues that the “belief that energy sources such as wind, solar, and biofuels can replace oil, natural gas, and coal” represents a denial of reality, and that fighting climate change requires that “rich industrial nations . . . reduce current levels of consumption to levels few are prepared to consider” (Lindberg, 2014, para 10,

26).

Alternately, political blogger and international development practitioner Till

Bruckner (2015) writes on the Huffington Post that those of Klein’s are living in a “self-righteous fairy tale” blaming “a sinister capitalist cabal of corrupt politicians, shadowy lobbying groups, and Big Bad Oil” for our current climate woes (para 16).

Logically if there were no demand for oil, the market would not supply it (Bruckner,

2015; Revkin, 2013). His argument concludes that wealthy western nations must confront their consumptive habits, but pragmatically global leaders and industry must “figure out how we can leave 20 trillion dollars’ worth of carbon in the ground without ruining the

191 global economy, putting out the lights, and sending millions of people back into poverty”

(para 18).

The recently published Ecomodernist Manifesto (2015) argues that human society is on the cusp of a potentially great period, assuming “that humans use their growing social, economic, and technological powers to make life better for people, stabilize the climate, and protect the natural world” (p. 6). The manifesto further argues that humanity must look beyond harmony with nature, and instead de-couple from nature, congregate in efficient urban areas, and utilize fossil fuels as necessary until such time when solar and nuclear power are capable of meeting our (ever increasing) needs. The discursive roadmaps outlined here present quite different interpretations of how humanity should progress. These nuances are absent from the fracking discourses reviewed for this dissertation, but are arguably integral pieces to broader discussions of energy use and environmental stewardship, of which fracking is a part.

Conclusion to Chapter Seven

The results presented in Chapter Seven focused specifically on media sampled for this dissertation, as the central question behind this project asks whether or not discursive differences exist between “traditional” and “new” media. This chapter included relevant characteristics within the four media samples, drawing on scholarship assessed in Chapter

Three, which outlined expected characteristics among traditional and new media.

Findings included Energy Matters guests—consisting exclusively of industry practitioners, state regulators, and federal politicians—contribution to topically diverse texts relative to other media sampled. Energy Matters’ peripheral status vis-à-vis other

192 media also manifested in their unequivocal reproduction of neoliberal/Promethean discourse.

After reviewing the New York Times, Grist, and the Bakken Watch Facebook

Page in turn, I argued that the new media sampled for this dissertation—Grist and the

Bakken Watch Facebook Page—exhibited a type of epistemic dependence on other, generally traditional, mainstream, media (Castree, 2014). This limited new media’s counter-discursive potential as Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page coalesced with the New York Times into topical homogeneity, with the preponderance of texts making issues such as oil-by-rail, natural gas flaring, and various social struggles visible.

Next, I argued that by making a limited number of topics visible these media silenced other discursive possibilities. Silences included citizen agency in overcoming unwelcome

Bakken occurrences, alternate constructions of citizen relocation to the Bakken, and renewable energy. The following chapter concludes this dissertation by reviewing previous chapters and commenting on this dissertation’s primary research question.

193 CHAPTER 8: REVIEW AND CONCLUSION

This dissertation set out to investigate what media consumers “know” about fracking in North Dakota’s Bakken region. The introductory chapter established fracking as a decades-old technology which, due to recent innovations in horizontal drilling technology, and the global scarcity of more traditional oil deposits, has seen rapid deployment in recent years (Halliburton, 2013a; Montgomery and Smith, 2010; Shell

South Africa, n.d.). Public consciousness and mediated representations of fracking grew in step, including journalistic scrutiny (Russ, 2012), feature films such as Promised Land, and celebrity anti-fracking groups such as Artists Against Fracking (Wolfgang, 2012).

The introductory chapter continued, noting that North Dakota’s history of oil exploration began approximately 100 years ago, and has cycled through numerous cycles of boom and bust (Dalrymple, 2012; Robinson, 1995/1966). The introduction noted this dissertation’s merit by pointing out not only the controversial nature of fracking in general, but also by noting various social and infrastructure strains in North Dakota oil country. Many of these strains—increased crime and cost of living, decreased availability of social services—are consistent with those experienced by other fossil fuel boomtowns

(Seydlitz and Laska, 1993). Further rationale for this study stemmed from fracking’s contested nature, with both proponents and opponents citing myriad, often selective,

“truths” and “facts” which often contrast one another. A final rationale behind this study included the opportunity to examine “traditional” and “new” media in a dynamic case study which, within the broad context of anthropogenic climate change and continued fossil fuel use, had implications beyond media studies.

194 Chapter Two elaborated upon media’s relationship with discourse, noting that media represents a powerful institutional site of discourse, and further noting media discourse’s role in actively constituting reality, rather than passively reflecting an objective reality (Castree, 2014; Fairclough, 1992; Hall, 1997; Silverblatt, 2004; Waitt,

2005). Chapter Two further differentiated between structural approaches to discourse— those which analyze grammatical rules and structure—and the more abstract poststructural approach—which investigates how power constitutes and influences knowledge, and interrogate rules establishing what can be said by whom (Castree, 2001,

2014; Foucault, 2010/1972; Hall, 1997; Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005). Of particular interest to this study were rules governing discourses produced by traditional and new media, how those texts establish truth or credibility, which knowledge(s) they make visible, and which themes remain silent.

Chapter Three moved beyond broadly theoretical literature, and reviewed relevant scholarship specific to media. Although media is not the singular source of institutional power/knowledge, media’s omnipresence, intertextual distribution, and speed make a potent site of knowledge production (Anderson, 1997; Hall; 1997; Murphy,

2011; Thompson, 1995). Rose (2001) further argued that media, like other institutions,

“deploy a rhetoric of realism,” often leading to uncritical acceptance of knowledge and information (p. 186). Other factors which make uncritical acceptance of mediated messages more likely include lack of expertise and distance—either physical or conceptual—from mediated representations (Anderson and Marhadour, 2007; Castree,

2014; Goldman and Papson, 2011; Meister and Japp, 2002; Murphy, 2011; Sovacool,

2008).

195 Chapter Three also reviewed scholarship specific to traditional media. Relative to newer Web-based media production, traditional news media—e.g. print, broadcast—offer few opportunities for citizen engagement, rely on elite/expert sources for information, and often construct an objective, singular reality (Daley, 2000; Deluca and Demo, 2000;

Gerhards and Schäfer, 2010; Lockwood, 2011; Sovacool, 2008). In 1997 argued that elite outlets—e.g. the New York Times, or broadcast network news—represent the agenda setting news media. Castree (2014) recently argued that these outlets still represent the most powerful disseminators of knowledge within the mediascape. Chapter

Three then explored literature related to new media. Contrary to traditional media, new media theoretically offer anyone with Web access a voice within mediated public sphere.

Often new media producers operate independent of professional status (De Keyser and

Raeymaeckers, 2012; Wall, 2005). Of particular interest to this dissertation was the blog, which scholars argue not only grants voice to the traditionally marginalized but also covers information and events ignored by traditional media (Anderson and Marhadour,

2007; Bird, 2011; Kenix, 2009). Chapter Three also reviewed scholarship critical of power’s seepage into online spaces, especially surrounding audience labor and exploitation (e.g. Shimpach, 2005; van Dijck, 2012).

Chapter Three concluded by reviewing scholarship pertaining to media’s social construction of the environment. Some scholars articulated a nuanced understanding of environmental discourse. For instance, Dryzek (1997) identified nine distinct environmental discourses, while Cronon (1996) identified seven. Other scholars argued that media construct the environment as a resource/romantic binary (DeLuca and Demo,

2000; Hodgins and Thompson, 2011; Remillard, 2011). Still other scholars argued that

196 myriad discourses of consumption underpin the preponderance of environmental discourse (Cronon, 1996; Ghose, 2011; McCarthy, 2008; Thompson, 2011).

Chapter Four outlined the methodological approach to this dissertation. Among other things, Chapter Four further distinguished between structural and poststructural approaches to discourse analysis, and reviewed a series of procedural guidelines scholars suggest when approaching research of this type. Chapter Four also elaborated upon appropriate sources for poststructural discourse analysis. Texts often considered for poststructural discourse analysis may consist of a wide variety of material, including conversation, entertainment media, maps and other graphic representations of place, charts and other graphic representations of data, museum exhibits, and mediated news

(Fairclough, 1992, 1995; Foucault, 2010/1972; Jensen, 2012; Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005).

The data collected for this dissertation came from four sources, which represented a mix of traditional, new, local, and national media: Energy Matters, a local radio program originating in Bismarck, North Dakota; the New York Times, cited as an agenda setting medium (Chomsky, 1997; Sullivan, 2013); Grist, a widely linked-to green blog; and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page, a social media aggregator of texts from across the traditional-new and local-national spectrum. All told this dissertation analyzed 275 individual articles: 84 from the New York Times, 83 from Grist, 108 from the Bakken

Watch Facebook Page, and over 14 hours of audio from Energy Matters’ live web stream.

Analysis resulted in the emergence of three results chapters. Chapter Five cited examples of neoliberal discourse. Discourse across this dissertation’s dataset constructed

North Dakota as an economic juggernaut of job and wealth creation, though such

197 constructions were observed with greater frequency in Energy Matters and the New York

Times. Beyond economics other neoliberal themes emerged, including a general lack of

Bakken critique, construction of individuals and their motives, the role of the state, and localized state oversight. Chapter Five continued, reviewing texts from Grist, the Bakken

Watch Facebook Page, and also the New York Times, advocating stronger federal oversight. Rachel Maddow’s (2014) contention that the oil industry is “riding roughshod” over North Dakota’s citizens captured the counter-discursive push-back against neoliberalism’s argument that local state policy, combined with industry self-policing, represent adequate regulatory forms.

Chapter Six shifted from neoliberal discourses to results centered upon the environment. Two dominant environmental discourses emerged: Promethean and administrative rationalism (Dryzek, 1997). The environment, as constructed by

Promethean approaches, is little more than a source of raw materials for human use and technological transformation (Dryzek, 1997). Although Dryzek (1997) argues that

Promethean environmental discourse emerged simultaneously with the industrial revolution, Murphy (2011) submits that neoliberalism’s market-first replacement of

Keynesian regulatory structure has “resuscitated and globally supercharged”

Prometheanism (p. 226). Although Energy Matters represented the most unambiguous manifestation of Promethean discourse, very few texts explicitly suggested leaving

Bakken oil in the ground.

More common counter-discourses to Prometheanism centered upon the federal state and calls to protect the environment through enhanced regulation, and were characterized as administrative rationalist in nature (Dryzek, 1997). Dryzek (1997) argues

198 that administrative rationalism places the capacity to act with expert and elite bureaucratic offices of government, not with individual citizens, and further that the regulatory relationship between the state and industry is contentious. This theme played out consistently throughout these results. Other environmental discourses did not conform to “named” discourses. One oft-observed theme was the demonization of industry and the local state, which occurred almost exclusively in new media samples.

Finally, a very few texts constituted a reality beyond fossil fuels.

The final results chapter, Chapter Seven, focused on the media outlets sampled for this dissertation, and noted relevant characteristics among Energy Matters, the New York

Times, Grist, and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page. In Chapter Seven I argued that

Energy Matters was emblematic of talk radio’s gradual departure from “objective” or

“balanced” programming in favor of opinionated discourse, thus the program mirrored blog characteristics more than traditional media characteristics. That said, the program mimicked observed traits of traditional media given the program’s guest list of industry experts and political elites. I further argued that Energy Matters represented a peripheral discourse relative to the other media sampled because 1) the program presents as propagandistic due to the hosts’ employment in the energy industry, and their acquiescence to industry guests; and 2) the frequent appearance of industry practitioners and state regulators represented a topical departure from other media.

After particulars among other media were noted, the New York Times’, and traditional media more generally, agenda-setting function for Grist and the Bakken Watch

Facebook Page was discussed. Put another way, the new media sampled in this dissertation exist in a state of epistemic dependence with traditional, mainstream media

199 (Castree, 2014). Their dependence resulted in a topical homogeneity across the media sampled—save, in some cases, for Energy Matters—with the preponderance of texts focused on oil-by-rail, natural gas flaring, social challenges in the Bakken oil field, and how to best resolve these myriad concerns. The overwhelming presence of these topics silenced other possible topics, including renewable energy, citizen agency, and resource consumption. Chapter Seven concluded by noting discursive spaces in which this database’s silences are more visible.

Project Execution and Discursive Differences

This dissertation represents one researcher’s interpretation, yet a genuine attempt at dispassionate analysis of emergent themes within a textual dataset. Analysts are instructed to suspend previously held beliefs and approach texts from a fresh perspective

(McGregor, 2003; Rose, 2001; Waitt, 2005), which has proved difficult at times. Oil, and its various manifestations, are inescapable in North Dakota. Those in Fargo, Grand Forks, and other cities on North Dakota’s eastern periphery undoubtedly experience the Bakken differently from those living in the heart of oil country—more analytical object than lived experience.

Analytical opportunities abound around Fargo, including the Bakken Boom!

Artists Respond to the North Dakota Oil Rush exhibit at the Plans Art Museum, and also via sponsored discussions of Bakken-related books such as Lisa Westberg Peters

Fractured Land: The Price of Inheriting Oil. Less analytical, but more immediate Bakken presences include oil trains. A significant portion of this dissertation was written in an office at North Dakota State University, which sits approximately half a mile from train tracks loaded, daily, with volatile Bakken crude. Reading articles critical of lax state and

200 industry responses to explosive oil while said oil passes by my office, in front of my car, or through downtown is, admittedly, a curious state of affairs. On the one hand, I benefit from oil extraction in the form of gasoline, low taxes, and a robust retirement plan funded by a state flush in oil tax revenue. On the other hand, and assuming the majority of climate scientists are correct, these benefits come at increasing cost to the climate.

Indeed, even those with little intellectual interest, or geographic proximity, to the Bakken are one unfortunately placed or timed derailment away from disaster. Or perhaps the anxiety I experience is as much a hyperbolic social construction as anything. Bakken engagement became less intellectual exercise and more existential concern during my oil- train encounters (see figure 13). Nevertheless, continual immersion in Bakken themes— be they artistic or potentially incendiary—brought a requisite topical focus to this dissertation.

Figure 13: Distant oil-by-rail accidents seem closer during some morning commutes

201 In answering this dissertation’s question as to how discursive differences structure both traditional and new media texts, I argue that it depends on the level at which consumers engage these texts. Superficially, the answer is yes. The media sampled were mostly consistent with structural expectations—Grist is subjective and detests fracking, the New York Times is detached but offers more depth than the blog, Energy Matters is consistent with current standards of politically conservative, neoliberal talk radio, and the

Bakken Watch Facebook Page’s dislike of fracking is evident via the texts they aggregate. The above results show new media samples from Grist and the Bakken Watch

Facebook Page constitute very different fracking realities compared to Energy Matters, and even the New York Times. And, superficially, neoliberal constructions of federal regulations as detrimental are challenged to varying degree by the New York Times, Grist, and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page. Tension between regulation and laissez-faire economic expansion and accumulation proved the most contentious and persistent theme within these texts, played out topically in stories of train derailments, environmental damage, and housing shortages.

However, stepping back and considering what these texts do not say reveals an echo chamber of silences among all media sampled. New media’s epistemic dependence upon traditional and legacy media such as the New York Times results in a failure to challenge taken-for-granted realities of capitalist consumption and energy use. In many ways these results mirror scholarly observations stating “‘neoliberalism’—rather than capitalism per se—[is] the ultimate target of critique” thus producing criticism characterized as a “tepidly agonized hankering after a long-gone ‘fairer’, ‘more democratic’ capitalism” (Garland and Harper, 2012, p. 414, emphasis original). In short,

202 with few exceptions, the new media sampled for this dissertation do not put forth structural ideas substantially different from traditional media.

The above examples indicate that these discussions occur within other discursive spaces, but Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page—within the context of this case study—demonize corporate and political actors, rather than engage in more substantive critique. Were these outlets not reliant upon the topical agenda set by traditional, mainstream media outlets perhaps this would not be the case. The result is an ambiguous counter-discourse which simultaneously constitutes fracking, and its proponents, as detestable, but provides no sense of alternatives, no alternate path forward, no call to action (beyond despising fossil fuels). There is little sense of citizen agency, and these texts implicitly give the impression that life shall continue on as normal. This matters within the context of Castree’s (2014) epistemic dependence—the lay public relies upon media for knowledge and, relatedly, cues regarding appropriate action. It is in this sense that these counter-discourses offer little substance.

Final Thoughts and Path Forward

Through poststructural discourse analysis of fracking in North Dakota’s Bakken region, I considered theoretical questions of fracking discourse and mediated knowledge production. Specifically, I asked whether “traditional” media produced different knowledges than “new” media. This was achieved by analyzing a broad spectrum of

Bakken-related texts, emanating from diverse sources including local radio (Energy

Matters), a locally-focused Facebook page (Bakken Watch Facebook Page), a national agenda-setting medium (the New York Times) and a widely read environmental blog

(Grist). North Dakota was chosen, in part, due to my proximity to Bakken activity,

203 familiarity with the state, and potential to immerse myself in the topic. More generally,

North Dakota proved an appropriate subject because fracking’s rapid emergence and lack of existing infrastructure led to quick prosperity, and unique challenges—both industrial and social. These challenges contribute to what some would call a period of crisis in

North Dakota which, Fairclough (1992) argues, represents an ideal time to study discourse, knowledge construction, and subsequent actions taken.

Relatively little resistance to fracking was found in this study. Energy Matters minimized or ignored social challenges associated with oil extraction, while the New

York Times, Grist, and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page all, to varying degree, made social challenges more visible. Generally, new media constructed fracking as having negative environmental and social consequences by highlighting perceived industry and local state mismanagement (e.g. oil spills, oil-by-rail accidents). However, no media provided any sense that fracking in the Bakken will cease, and no media conveyed any sense of lifestyle change or energy alternative to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels.

The main point of contention among the media sampled was not whether fracking should or will occur, but rather what type of fracking is best. The explicit neoliberal/Promethean discourse of Energy Matters suggested that industry-driven extraction free of state intervention was best. The New York Times, Grist, and the Bakken

Watch Facebook Page all, again to varying degree, argued that a safer, more regulated fracking was best. These results therefore maintain—even if begrudgingly and implicitly in the case of Grist and the Bakken Watch Facebook Page—dominant discourses of extraction and human dominance over the environment. This result was self-evident in neoliberal/Promethean discourses drawing upon culturally ensconced themes of

204 technology, individual achievement, scientific expertise, and professional experience

(Dryzek, 1997; Murphy, 2011; Remillard, 2011). The lack of corresponding counter- discourse was somewhat surprising, especially considering the wealth of potential sources (e.g. climate scientists, anti-extraction groups, local grassroots organizations) pro-environment/anti-fracking mediums like Grist could draw upon.

From a theoretical perspective this study used fracking as a lens to study the intersection of mediated discourse, ideology, power, and (implicitly) the material outcomes thereof. Various articles address media, neoliberalism, environmental discourse, and new media’s potential to challenge power, but very few bring these themes together into a singular, empirical case study (see Murphy, 2011). Based on these results it seems clear that neoliberal/Promethean political/environmental ideologies have become generally accepted—at least in the United States—to the point that themes of entrepreneurialism, job creation, and wealth appeared throughout these texts, even in an ideologically-opposed blog like Grist. These results also indicate that the relationship between knowledge and elite political, commercial, and media institutions remains strong, especially in the New York Times and Energy Matters, as these mediums drew upon such sources with great frequency; meanwhile, Grist and the Bakken Watch

Facebook Page amplified existing elite and expert institutional discourse from traditional media rather than drawing upon alternative knowledge communities.

Relatedly, the media sampled for this study overwhelmingly support the idea that power and agency reside within institutions, not individuals—a somewhat surprising outcome given the egalitarian, community-building potential of blogs and social media

(Fanselow, 2009; Mitra and Watts, 2002; Viall, 2009; Wall, 2005). Corporate

205 institutional power is expressed in stories which construct citizens as powerless to stop fracking on their land (Gibson, 2013; Royte, 2012), or as victims of industrial mismanagement and incompetent state mitigation (Frosch, 2013; Killough, 2014; Upton,

2013d). Institutional state power is reinforced via repeated calls for federal intervention in fracking-related matters. The taken-for-granted narratives of extraction, individual wealth, nature-as-resource, and institutional power/problem-solving empirically suggest that, based on this case study, dominant ways of thinking and doing face little challenge in the Bakken.

But, as Murphy (2011) reminds us, powerful discourses are not impregnable discourses. Dorgan’s (2014) letter to the editor demonstrates that regulatory currents may shift from generally more- or less-regulated models (e.g. Keynesianism and neoliberalism) in North Dakota, but fossil fuel extraction remains a given. If climate change—and the various, inter-related discourses and practices which contribute to it— represents a threat to humanity, scholarship geared toward discursive change and visibility seems the most logical path forward for this research. Here the relationship between institutional media, knowledge production, and material outcomes can play a significant role in constructing a reality beyond fossil fuels.

This line of research may include inter-regional analysis to better understand what local factors contribute to fracking’s embrace (e.g. North Dakota), or fracking’s prohibition (e.g. Vermont, New York). Such an analysis might also consider how to best utilize social media and citizen involvement toward that end, while facilitating a better understanding of how fringe discourses become more visible and capable of broader influence. Rather than focusing on “traditional” or “new” media, studying objective and

206 subjective media may be fruitful. Marchi (2012) reports that younger media consumers prefer an element of subjectivity in their news, as it not only establishes the author/outlet’s position at the outset, but provides media consumers a point from which to form opinions of their own. This study’s results indicate explicit, identifiable ideologies present throughout the media sampled, with the exception of the New York Times whose ideological stance was generally implied. Such research might also help differentiate between “editorial commentary” (e.g. Grist) and “propaganda” (e.g. Energy Matters).

Regardless, MediaClimate6 contributor and university professor Elisabeth Eide (2015) argues that environmental journalism, and media more generally, must move beyond

“doom and gloom” stories of climate catastrophe, and connect seemingly disparate climate-related topics within a context of solution-based narratives.

I similarly argued that the media sampled for this dissertation failed to adequately connect fracking with broader discourses of consumption and climate change.

Furthermore, the texts analyzed for this research are almost totally devoid of solutions, choosing instead to dwell on (admittedly relevant) problems and the (numerous) misdeeds of power. Although this study’s results embody some unfavorable “doom and gloom” characteristics as outlined by Eide (2015), this line of research is poised to continue. As of this writing fracking still sits at the intersection of institutional power, established practice, public interest, ideological motivation, and mediated representation not only in the Bakken, but globally. Equally emergent are texts constructing citizens as powerful actors within solution-based narratives (e.g. Naomi Klein’s This Changes

Everything), and organizational/institutional discourses imagining a more symbiotic, or at

6 www.mediaclimate.net 207 least less impactful, human/environment relationship (e.g. the Post Carbon Institute;

Transition US, Pope Francis’ recent Ecumenical). These counter-discourses remain largely fringe discourses vis-à-vis more mainstream texts, though Klein’s book was a

New York Times best-seller, and Pope Francis commands significant media attention by virtue of his position. Perhaps more importantly for this line of research: these discourses sit in direct opposition to dominant neoliberal/Promethean ideology, practice, and self- interest. It is at moments of crisis and schism that, Fairclough (1992) argues, hegemonic power is forced to negotiate resistance, and change can occur. Fracking therefore represents an emerging, and likely contentious, topic of scholarly and environmental interest.

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