TITLE:
Forest-Climate Politics in Bangladesh’s Media Discourse in Comparison to Global Media Discourse
AUTHORS:
Md. Nazmus Sadath, Max Krott, Carsten Schusser
KEYWORDS:
Climate Change; Forest-Climate Discourse; Political Actor; Media Framing
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Forestry,
Vol.3 No.1,
January
22,
2013
ABSTRACT: Forest and climate issues are prominent within the policies and media in Bangladesh, as well as on the global level. In this study, media discourses from 1989 to 2010 from the “International Herald Tribune” and “The Daily Ittefaq” ofBangladeshare analyzed. Quantitative content analysis classifies 16 frames of the forest and climate issue and 17 political actors. Substantial differences between the forest and climate discourses of the national and international media have been discovered. The national print media reports that the forest is in a crisis due to climate change, whereas the international print media describes the forest as a solution opportunity to climate change. The hypothesis that the international media drives the national media discourse is rejected. The national media forest and climate discourse in Bangladesh began five years earlier than in the international media, and the different framing of the forest and climate issues can be explained by the influence of strong actors on both the national and international level. Journalists and politicians are the strongest influences in the national print media (The Daily Ittefaq) and primarily frame the discussion around the adverse impact of climate change on the forest inBangladesh, a country that faces potentially severe effects from climate change. By stressing that climate change has caused a forest crisis, the national media brings attention to a threat that they are not responsible for. Scientists, Non-Governmental Organizations and international organizations are the major voices in the international print media (International Herald Tribune). They shape the global forest and climate media discourse around the wider scope of forests’ role in climate change. International scientists and NGOs present themselves as problem solvers of climate change by framing the discussion around the mitigating role of the forests. These strategic arguments explain the differences in media discourse.