The environment in the headlines : Newspaper coverage of climate change and eutrophication in Finland

• Main Author: Lyytimäki, Jari
• Other Authors: Wibeck, Victoria, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Department of Environmental Sciences, Helsingin yliopisto, bio- ja ympäristötieteellinen tiedekunta, ympäristötieteiden laitos, Helsingfors universitet, bio- och miljövetenskapliga fakulteten, miljövetenskapliga institutionen, Tapio, Petri, Massa, Ilmo
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Helsingin yliopisto 2012
• Subjects: ympäristömuutos; ympäristöpolitiikka; Boreal Environment Research
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/37007

Media representations are an important part of the dynamics of contemporary socio-ecological systems. The media agenda influences and interacts with the public and the policy agenda and all of these are connected to the changes of the state of the environment. Partly as a result of media debate, some issues are considered serious environmental problems, some risks are amplified while others are attenuated, and some proposals for remedies are highlighted and others downplayed. Research on environmental media coverage has focused predominantly on the English-speaking industrialised countries. This thesis presents an analysis of Finnish environmental coverage, focusing on representations of climate change and eutrophication from 1990 2010. The main source of material is Helsingin Sanomat (HS), the most widely-read newspaper in Finland. The analysis adopts the perspective of contextual constructivism and the agenda-setting function of the mass media. Selected models describing the evolution of environmental coverage are applied within an interdisciplinary emphasis. The results show that the amount of newspaper content on eutrophication and climate change has generally increased, although both debates have been characterised by intense fluctuations. The volume of the coverage on climate change has been higher than that of eutrophication, especially since 2006. Eutrophication was highlighted most during the late 1990s while the peaks of climate coverage occurred between 2007 and 2009. Two key factors have shaped the coverage of eutrophication. First, the coverage is shaped by ecological factors, especially by the algal occurrences that are largely dependent on weather conditions. Second, the national algal monitoring and communication system run by environmental authorities has provided the media with easy-to-use data on the algal situation during the summertime. The peaks of climate coverage have been caused by an accumulation of several contributing factors. The two most important factors contributing to the ...