Climate Change Coverage could take a Slice from the Women’s March

When the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a new climate change report (three years in the making) last Monday, the lack of public outrage was as it often has been, underwhelming (Nisbet, 2009).

There were not millions of people on the street protesting against the governments and corporations fueling the rapid deterioration of our planet and climate.

How is it the inauguration of a controversial president mobilizes thousands of counter-protesters in the US, but when we are made aware for the millionth time that our planet is “dying” from our action, we don’t feel inspired to go and protest in support of this problem?

Source: Wikipedia – 2017 Women’s March

How is it the media can play a mobilizing role in one situation but doesn’t in the other?

International headlines filled screens on Monday claiming, “We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN” (The Guardian) and “Climate alarm: UN report warns time quickly running out” (Al Jazeera).

When reading these headlines it becomes clear there are, in line with Van Gorp (2007), “frame sponsors” behind the headlines convicting the media to cover this issue according to their frame. In this case, the UN is instrumentalizing the media to try to make the public understand how dire the deteriorating state of the planet really is, and that is clearly our doing!

The fear is palpable and I have to be honest, such headlines make me want to close my laptop, close my eyes and hide.

Source: Inside Climate News: Jeremy Potter/NOAA

Valuable suggestions for a successful protest

When discussing the reasons for the success of the women’s march in her blog “Too Large to Ignore: How to Make the Largest Protest in US History,”

Nikki Gommers highlights, the power of frames and how their ability to mobilize people is undeniable (see full Blog).

So, is the fear mongering framing of climate change actually immobilizing people rather than calling them to action?

Based on Nicolini & Hansen (2018), Nikki suggests two frames adopted by the media from the women’s March initiative that could be relevant for the media coverage of climate change and specifically, the recent publication by the IPCC.

Activation and Solidarity

The activation frame spoke to individuals and called them to support change from grassroots up and the women felt by going on the streets they could each make a difference (Nicolini & Hansen, 2018). There are not enough activation frames in climate change articles because the problem is often framed as vast, ungraspable for the individual and often leads to responses such as “I, by myself, can’t make a difference anyways” (Nisbet, 2009).

The solidarity frame, coined by Nikki as the most powerful media frame covering the Women’s March, is even more complex in the case of climate change coverage. Articles connected to solidarity discussed unifying communities and emphasized the importance of voices heard (Nicolini & Hansen,2018), a difficult endeavor when publics still believe that climate change is not relevant for them or caused by them on an individual level.

Despite these difficulties, I believe that Nikki’s suggestions for mobilizing frames can be useful for PR professional and journalists covering climate change because they foster grassroots activations and individual solidarity that can lead to a bigger protest movement that is direly needed!

About the Author Nathalie Enderle is a master student of communication science at the University of Amsterdam. Currently enrolled in the Public Relations elective she aims to embed creative writing into an academic environment through blog posts for PR professionals.

References

Nicolini, K. M., & Hansen, S. S. (2018). Framing the Women’s March on Washington: Media coverage and organizational messaging alignment. Public Relations Review, 44(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2017.12.005

Nisbet, M. C. (2009) Communicating Climate Change: Why Frames Matter for Public Engagement. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 51:2, 12-23, DOI: 10.3200/ENVT.51.2.12-23

Van Gorp, B. (2007). The Constructionist Approach to Framing: Bringing Culture Back In. Journal of Communication, 57(1), 60–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-9916.2007.00329.x