Abstract
Climate change is by some scholars labelled a “wicked problem”, with no single problem definition and hence no ultimate solution. Such wickedness makes climate change policy-making dependent on complex networks of actors with specific interests and resources, so-called ‘policy networks’. From the perspective of policy networks, in this chapter we compare voice representation in the IPCC AR5 coverage across three countries, Australia, France and Japan. Understanding who is selected by media to speak about climate change assists in building knowledge of how media operate in climate policy networks. Our aim was to understand how news coverage is constructed in local political cultures, but also to address questions about the media’s role in the complex nexus of science–policy–media networks in different countries. To conclude, based on the findings and our analysis, we suggest that a new role of broker-journalism would aid navigation of the heavily politicised and ideologically driven discourse about climate change.
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Notes
- 1.
It is important to note here that we all have different epistemological and disciplinary backgrounds, thus the analysis of our respective national contexts is framed in slightly different ways: Comby/Cloteau (field theory/Bourdieu), Asayama (science & technology studies) and Lidberg/Chubb (journalism and policy studies). While these are different perspectives with somewhat different theoretical underpinnings (in relation to the conscious-rationality of actors, for instance), what we have in common is a focus on the complexity of networked relations that form the actual infrastructure of power and bargaining in political decision-making.
- 2.
We must acknowledge our debt to Dmitry Yagodin for his assistance analyzing “voice representation” in each country.
- 3.
In Table 8.5 there is a relatively high percentage of “no voice” stories both in France and Japan, compared to Australia. This may reflect the different journalistic practices in France and Japan, where it is more common to use unnamed news sources in reporting on political events.
- 4.
It is worth noting that “business” voices were commonly limited in all three countries – this is perhaps because relevant stories in the IPCC AR5 coverage focused more on science and climate change impacts rather than its economics, hence leaving less opportunity for business actors to speak.
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Asayama, S., Lidberg, J., Cloteau, A., Comby, JB., Chubb, P. (2017). Who Captures the Voice of the Climate? Policy Networks and the Political Role of Media in Australia, France and Japan. In: Kunelius, R., Eide, E., Tegelberg, M., Yagodin, D. (eds) Media and Global Climate Knowledge. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52321-1_8
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