The Australian Mainstream Media’s Portrayal of Youth Climate Activism and Dissent

Jacob Micah Cowan; Peta Dzidic; Elizabeth Newnham

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.19.2.04

Authors

Jacob Micah Cowan Curtin University, Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7441-9566
Peta Dzidic Curtin University, Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8608-3825
Elizabeth Newnham Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, USA; Curtin University, Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5042-108X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.19.2.04

Keywords:

Climate Change, Climate Activism, Youth Activism, Media Framing, Dissent, Active Citizenship

Abstract

The March 2019 School Strikes 4 Climate, predominantly organized by young students, garnered widespread and polarizing media coverage. We aimed to identify how Australian mainstream print news media portrays youth involvement and dissent within climate action movements. A qualitative media framing analysis was conducted to determine how youth climate activists and dissent were presented during the first large-scale youth climate protests in Australia. Australian newspaper articles and opinion pieces (N = 101) were identified via ProQuest and screened. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted in NVivo12. Findings were assessed through a typology of dissent to determine how different forms of dissent were represented in the Australian print news media. The framing of dissent in Australian media coverage was varied, with news articles being more likely to prioritize the voices of young people, while opinion pieces resorted to fear-mongering rhetoric that critiqued and invalidated their agency. Protestors used combinations of dutiful and disruptive dissent to advocate for climate action, with the latter being more effective for challenging systemic drivers of climate change.

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Author Biographies

Jacob Micah Cowan, Curtin University, Australia

Jacob Micah Cowan graduated from Curtin University with a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) with Honors. Currently pursuing postgraduate studies through a Master of Research (Psychology) and completing a thesis on the representation of youth climate movements and dissent in mainstream media

Peta Dzidic, Curtin University, Australia

Peta Dzidic is a Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Psychology at the School of Population Health at Curtin University, a Program Lead at the Curtin enAble Institute, and a Curtin Gender Research Champion.

Elizabeth Newnham, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, USA; Curtin University, Australia

Elizabeth Newnham is a Senior Lecturer at the Curtin University School of Population Health, Program Lead for the enAble Institute, and an FXB Fellow at Harvard University.

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