Graduation Date
Spring 2019
Document Type
Project
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in English, emphasis in Literary & Cultural Studies
Committee Chair Name
Janelle Adsit
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Deidre Pike
Second Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Subject Categories
English
Abstract
This project analyses digital and broadcast news media coverage of the Fourth National Climate Assessment in order to get a sense of ethos constructions in climate communication. The project provides a comparative rhetorical analysis of a range of online print news stories, and two broadcast segments, while coding and categorizing the different authority figures cited or appealed to. By categorizing figures of authority and analyzing the results through a lens of epistemic injustice, and with a more ecological approach to ethos, the findings suggest a need for more expansive and inclusive representations of climate change in mainstream media. The results suggest that ethos in climate communication is frequently framed in binaries, particularly that of the scientific establishment versus the current political establishment. By illuminating these binaries, the analysis points to omissions and other rhetorical failings that exclude the testimony and epistemologies of a wider and more diverse range of people—specifically focusing on marginalized communities, climate refugees, and environmental justice advocates. As the project’s findings show, there is a need to reshape and reconceptualize ethos in these spaces to be more reflective of a range of social and cultural perspectives that have bearing on our collective understanding of the problem, and which are crucial to collective solutions moving forward.
Citation Style
MLA
Recommended Citation
Rohlin, Dakota Mr., "Ethos in climate change communication: Analyzing digital and broadcast news coverage of the fourth national climate assessment" (2019). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 278.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/278