Climate in the news: The British press and the discursive construction of the greenhouse effect.

The media have a crucial role in the production, reproduction and change of ideas and are a central marketplace of arguments for the public and political construction of climate change. The thesis aims to analyse the various representations of this complex issue in the British 'quality' press, more specifically in the Guardian, The Independent and The Times. Using an innovative framework for discourse analysis, the thesis deconstructs the ways the science and the politics of climate change were reported and debated in the press between 1985 and 1997. Critically reading media discourse in order to understand how the interpretations advanced by various social actors are amplified or challenged by newspapers, to shed light on to how scientific knowledge is presented to the public in the news and how this relates to value systems in the media, as well as to evaluate the role of the media in consolidating or contesting political options and ideological standings are the thesis' main goals. My analytical approach to discourse integrates various dimensions and tools of analysis, with highlight to discursive strategies and discursive effects, and ideological standpoints. Such framework has both a synchronic and diachronic scope. Discourse analysis indicates the existence of important differences between the three newspapers' depictions of climate change - they truly promoted alternative versions of reality. I suggest that such differences are associated to ideological cultures that are sustained by media institutions and by the individuals they give voice to (journalists and other contributors). In fact, together with the news medium, the author of the article seems to be a central factor explaining variations in the framing and portrayal of climate change. The thesis helps us know the extent to which the British 'quality' press legitimates certain political options, positions and values, or promotes a valuable critique of various alternatives