Cultural Cognition and Media Polarization in the U.S. Climate Change Debate

• In Event: Framing the Environment

Abstract

In this study, I integrate the theoretical frameworks of cultural cognition and media framing to address how culturally consistent or antagonistic cues appear with different frames of reference. In so doing, I rely on quantitative content analysis as well as qualitative discourse analysis to examine how cultural worldviews relate to news media frames. By examining politically slanted media coverage of climate change in the U.S. from 2011 to 2014, I show the prominence of frames and cultural appeals across media outlets, as well as demonstrate that specific cultural appeals are more likely to appear with specific frames of reference. I conclude by discussing the implications of these findings within the context of science communication and media effects research.

Author

• Todd Paul Newman, American U