A Comparative Analysis Of Online News Articles Media Essay

A Comparative Analysis Of Online News Articles Media Essay In European Union citizens are expected to take responsibility and actions to limit the threat of climate change as well as authorities or corporations. However, while only 36 percent of citizens in Lithuanian take personal action, 75 percent of British do. In light of framing as media effects theory media coverage can be considered as an explanation for different levels of personal contribution. Based on the latter assumption the online news content in Lithuania and the United Kingdom was investigated in terms of attribution of responsibility to citizens, authorities and industry/corporations. The findings showed that the use of the same frames varies by country and political preferences of media. However, the findings were not explicit enough to prove the one directional relationship between media content and individual level behavior, where media is perceived as having power upon individuals. Contrary, the results showed that social problems guide thematic choices of editorials a nd therefore individuals have impact on media. As a result, findings raised concerns that the notion of framing as an interactive process would more relevant than the assumption of framing as linear process. Introduction Today climate change is on political, media and individual agendas all across Europe. Political and legislative efforts prove that climate change mitigation is a priority for the European Union. Furthermore, citizens are expected to take responsibility and actions to limit the threat as well. Supranational survey Eurobarometer shows, 63 percent of Europeans say they have taken personal actions to combat climate change (European Commission, 2009). However, the EU as a body of 27 Member States is more diverse than one seeing aggregate level figures could think. For instance, while only 36 percent of citizens in Lithuanian take personal action, 75 percent of British do (European Commission, 2009). The topic of climate change not only has its thematic relevance, but as well scientific. In light of framing theory media coverage can be considered as an explanation for different levels of personal contribution to climate change mitigation among Lithuanians and British. To assess the influence of media portrayals of climate change on individuals, two research questions are developed: RQ1. To what extent do media frame climate change in terms of attribution of responsibility to industry and corporations, international and national authorities, and citizens themselves? RQ2. Does the attribution of responsibility to particular actor vary by country: the United Kingdom and Lithuania? To be more specific, I expect to find that Lithuanian media attribute responsibility to citizens more seldom compare to British media. Moreover, in media coverage in Lithuania attribution of responsibility to citizens should be less visible than attribution of responsibility to authorities or industry. Contrary, in British media attribution of responsibility to citizens shoul d more or equally visible compare to authorities and industry. The next chapter will provide theoretical framework on which the paper rests. It will be followed by the sections of method, results and discussion. Literature review Within the realm of social sciences, such as sociology, psychology, political science and political communication, studies of framing are common. In a way it explains why framing as a concept is rather â€Å"scattered†, as Entman once referred to it (Entman, 1993, p. 51). However, scientists of different disciplines share the perception that â€Å"the function of a frame is to help people organise the complexity of the world into meaningful categories† (Nickels, 2005, p. 21).