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Climate change in the British press: the role of the visual

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  • N. W. Smith
  • H. Joffe

Abstract

The present investigation identifies the key images that British newspapers use to represent climate change risks. In doing so, it widens the scope of the burgeoning literature analysing textual content of climate change media information. This is particularly important given visual information's ability to arouse emotion, and the risk perception literature's increasing focus on the importance of affect in shaping risk perception. From a thematic analysis of newspaper images, three broad themes emerged: the impact of climate change, personification of climate change and representation of climate change in graphical form. In particular, the depiction of climate change as an issue affecting domestic populations rather than just other areas of the world brings the threat closer to home. Challenging the perception that climate change is still a long-term and future-orientated threat, visual images concretise the risk by providing viewers with tangible examples of climate change's impact.

Suggested Citation

  • N. W. Smith & H. Joffe, 2009. "Climate change in the British press: the role of the visual," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(5), pages 647-663, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jriskr:v:12:y:2009:i:5:p:647-663
    DOI: 10.1080/13669870802586512
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    Cited by:

    1. Saffron O’Neill, 2020. "More than meets the eye: a longitudinal analysis of climate change imagery in the print media," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 9-26, November.
    2. Giuseppe Crapa & Maria Elena Latino & Paolo Roma, 2024. "The performance of green communication across social media: Evidence from large‐scale retail industry in Italy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 493-513, January.
    3. Zijian Harrison Gong & Haoran Chu, 2022. "Seeing Risks or Solutions: Psychological Distance and Ecological Worldview Moderated the Effect of Disgust Images on Attention to Environmental Messages," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    4. Arjan Wardekker & Susanne Lorenz, 2019. "The visual framing of climate change impacts and adaptation in the IPCC assessment reports," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 273-292, September.
    5. Denise Voci, 2022. "Logos, Ethos, Pathos, Sustainabilitos? About the Role of Media Companies in Reaching Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-17, February.
    6. Richard D. Besel & Krista Burke & Vana Christos, 2017. "A life history approach to perceptions of global climate change risk: young adults’ experiences about impacts, causes, and solutions," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 61-75, January.
    7. Ran Duan & Adam Zwickle & Bruno Takahashi, 2017. "A construal-level perspective of climate change images in US newspapers," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 345-360, June.
    8. Nicholas Smith & Anthony Leiserowitz, 2012. "The Rise of Global Warming Skepticism: Exploring Affective Image Associations in the United States Over Time," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(6), pages 1021-1032, June.

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