Media representations of climate change in the argentinean press

Abstract

The media play an essential role in the construction of social reality and consequently knowledge of what is reported in the media is essential to understanding social attitudes towards significant issues such as climate change. The assumption here is that more and/or better information fosters a clearer understanding of ecological issues, environmental awareness in society, and contributes to a transformation of values, attitudes and behavior. Few authors focus on the role of journalism in the mass communication of climate change in Latin American countries; however, these countries are very important in international negotiations because they possess most of the natural reserves to be protected at this crucial time, the ‘‘post-Kyoto’’ stage. For these reasons, Argentina is chosen as the focus of this study.