Global Journalism in Global Crises. A Cross-National Comparison of Climate Change Framing Surrounding the 2009 Copenhagen Summit.

This research analyzes the framing of climate change in both developed and developing countries. It has been argued that global action is needed to effectively mitigate climate change and that global journalism is vital to initiate global action. However, since it has also been argued that the prevalence of global journalism lacks empirical evidence, this research proceeds from a qualitative content analysis to research the context and content in which global journalism is most prevalent. It does so analyzing the coverage of the 2009 Copenhagen Summit in quality newspapers in the Netherlands, Belgium, Bolivia and Venezuela. December 2009 was chosen as the time frame is which coverage was analyzed. Guided by theories on global journalism and framing, this paper shows how global journalism is emerging in the framing of climate change. This research shows that journalists are more likely to frame global news in terms of responsibility or conflict, while news about ecological consequences or the emphasis on moral prescriptions is most likely to be framed with a global outlook on reality. Furthermore, it shows how media coverage is still to a high degree influenced by its national context.