Research Symposium

BIO

Michaela Galligan is a first-year student at Florida State University with a major in political science and a minor in communications. She is from Clearwater, Florida and has a strong passion for political and media research and one day hopes to have a career in political media and correspondence.

Reassessing How Media Cover Climate Change and the Environment

Abstract

Over the past 30 years, polarization regarding environmental issues has reflected growing political divisions between U.S. political parties. Beliefs regarding climate change have become a marker of political affiliation, with generalizations made concerning conservative or liberal perspectives. Past media studies work have demonstrated that conservative media is more likely to be on the opposing spectrum when tailoring towards the environment compared to liberal or mainstream media. Yet, there is no answer to the degree to which they differ or reach a consensus. This leads to important implications for members of society, specifically environmental communication scholars who search for methods to grow public support for significant issues such as climate change. Additionally, providing a better understanding of the phenomena of how environmental support remains high despite conflicting opinions from media coverage. In this study, we hand code transcripts between 1990 and 2021 based on various key variables to assess the tonality of news coverage (e.g. CNN and Fox News). Key variables include whether media coverage addresses the issue on a factual or opinionated basis and the overall support level demonstrated throughout the transcript regarding specific environmental issues. Exploring the frames of how partisan-leaning media targets its viewers’ opinions is crucial to overcoming confirmation bias, as well as revealing effective communication strategies for politicians and educators alike to increase support for political action on environmental issues.  

Keywords: political science