Framing of climate change messages in print media: a qualitative content analysis of selected newspapers in Kenya from 2013-2017

Abstract

Despite the enormity of the climate change issue, the level of awareness of climate change issues and impact is low across the country. Most Kenyans feel they lack basic information to enable them cope with climate change. Since most people do not research environmental issues first-hand, they rely on the media to act as both researcher and presenter of information. This study therefore explored the textual and visual frames that have been used in climate change messages by selected print media in Kenya in a bid to understand how media framing impacts audiences‘ engagement and responses to climate change information. Specifically, the study sought to answer the following questions: What are the trends in how the selected newspapers cover climate change? How has the visual imagery on climate change been framed in the selected newspapers? What are the textual frames used in the selected newspapers? This study was guided by the Agenda Setting and the framing theories. It adopted a qualitative research approach premised on the relativist- interpretivist paradigm. Two newspapers (The Standard and Daily Nation) were purposively sampled due to their wide circulation and coverage. The study sample was selected from all the newspaper published between January 2013 and December 2017. This period represented two years before and two years after the launch of the Ministry of Environments‘ public communication strategy in 2015. The strategy laid emphasis on liaising with the media to communicate environmental issues. A total of 127 articles from The Standard and 119 articles from the Daily Nation that carried stories on climate change were analysed. A Content analysis guide was used to collect the data. The data was then analysed using frame analysis based on frames derived from the research questions. The study findings indicated that the majority of the articles in both newspapers were opinion pieces; climate change was not a major beat in both newspapers and the authors were not consistent; framing was mainly shaped by sources, climate change was framed as an immediate challenge, caused by them (developed countries) and affecting us (developing countries), whose solutions and actions were mainly attributed to ̳big‘ actors (international bodies/governments) alienating the individual citizens. Most of the imagery used in the selected articles had no connection to climate change. Those that did depicted individuals based on their social class (elites- power positions, middle class- infrastructural impacts, poor- impacts on livelihoods). There is a major disparity between the problem (enormous) and the solutions (small individualized actions) which can lead to low self-efficacy. An alarmist tone is mainly used in depicting climate change. The attribution of causes and solutions of climate change to others removes responsibility from citizens leading to inaction. Framing of climate change messages still alienates the individual and communities from active engagement and action. The media can engage in constructive communication using relatable frames and frames that promote self- efficacy to boost climate change engagement and policy making.