US Media Coverage of the Cancún Climate Change Conference

Bibliographic Data

ID7944724
AuthorsJules Boykoff (0000-0002-6313-0684, Pacific University, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume45
Issue2
Pages251-258
Publication date2012-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePS Political Science & Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-0965 • E-ISSN: 1537-5935
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s104909651100206x
OpenAlexW2327378658
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited19

Much was at stake at the 2010 United Nations climate change conference in Cancún, Mexico. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was being challenged by the world's two largest greenhouse gas emitters, China and the United States, after these countries reached a tenuous backroom deal one year earlier in Copenhagen. Meanwhile, scientific studies were warning of serious and severe climate change. This article analyzes newspaper articles and television segments from the US media that appeared during the timeframe of the Cancún conference, focusing on two key facets of coverage that continue to be important as negotiations proceed: the economic impacts and opportunities that climate change creates and the role that China plays in negotiations. I also examine which sources were allowed through the news gates and which ones were marginalized. I find that the US media discussed economic opportunities more frequently than economic impacts and that the media treated China in an even-handed way. Established political actors dominated coverage, followed by representatives of nongovernmental organizations and the business community. Meanwhile, grassroots activists and indigenous voices were marginalized

China · Climate change · Economic growth · Economics · Grassroots · Kyoto Protocol · Negotiation · Newspaper · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy

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