The paper in question will focus on Canadian environmental policies in the political field, especially those concerned with climate change. Environmental policies have remained a very delicate and important part of Canadian policy for a long period of time. This is because they tend to affect the domestic and international wellbeing of the country and as such must be handled with extreme caution. This is reflected in the themes associated with the academic sources used for this paper, which will be in the first section. The body of the paper is divided into seven sections. The first four sections have to do with the main themes discussed in the academic sources, and how these themes are stated in the newspaper articles. That is, if they are covered in the articles or not. The third section examines if the newspaper articles include academic or historical facts. Next, the paper shows the extent to which academic arguments are portrayed in the articles –that is, overstating or understating academic arguments. The last section gives a summary of the paper, evaluating media coverage on environmental issues.
When referring to environmental issues in terms of politics, it is important to note that such issues not only affect politics, but also have an effect on the social and economic aspects of a country, especially its people. The main goal of this research paper is to assess the media coverage of environmental issues in Canadian politics. This refers to how the Canadian media tends to frame such issues and how informed the coverage of such issues are. In order to do this, this paper is going to use four different academic readings as well as two newspapers, namely: the National Post and the Globe and Mail to evaluate the quality of such coverage.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The three domestic variables
3. Climate policy integration: Canadian federal and provincial levels
4. Canadian federal and provincial revenue sharing
5. North American Policy regime: US - Canada climate policies
6. Historical and Academic context of newspaper articles
7. Portrayal of academic arguments in newspaper articles
8. Conclusion
9. Bibliography
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This research paper aims to evaluate the quality of Canadian media coverage regarding environmental issues, specifically focusing on climate change policies. It investigates how the Canadian press frames these political issues and compares this reporting against established academic perspectives to identify biases, such as the overstatement or understatement of specific policy arguments.
- The role of "three domestic variables" (electoral incentives, normative ideas, institutional context) in climate policy formation.
- The challenges of integrating climate policy across federal and provincial jurisdictions.
- Economic implications of revenue sharing and joint occupancy of the carbon tax base.
- The influence of North American policy regimes and international cooperation between Canada and the US.
- Media representation of scientific and historical context in environmental journalism.
Excerpt from the Book
7. Portrayal of academic arguments in newspaper articles
From the overall analysis of the articles and academic reading, it is safe to say that there are traces of understatement of academic arguments. When talking about public opinion, the articles make note of the consequences of climate change policy to the public –including job losses (as seen in Jason Fekete’s article). It however understate how the public influences climate policies, that is what will happen to policies when public opinion is for or against them, and how involved the public are in climate policies. Thus, the articles only talk about the consequences, while forgetting public knowledge and impact on such policies. As such, it only mentions one aspect of public opinion –consequences –while giving no attention to how the public can influence climate policies. Another example is when John Robson (March 14, 2016) states in his article that Canadians may change how they feel about carbon taxes when they realize that it is simple a tax grab (increasing government revenue through taxes). The article however fails to show how the public could react to such a realization –except by lowering support. Thus, the articles understate the academic argument of public opinion.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the research goal of assessing Canadian media coverage of environmental politics by comparing journalistic articles with academic sources.
2. The three domestic variables: Discusses how electoral incentives, normative ideas, and institutional frameworks determine a country's climate change policy position.
3. Climate policy integration: Canadian federal and provincial levels: Examines the challenges and potential conflicts arising from the fragmented nature of federal and provincial climate initiatives.
4. Canadian federal and provincial revenue sharing: Analyzes the economic obstacles regarding carbon tax implementation and the necessity of revenue distribution between government levels.
5. North American Policy regime: US - Canada climate policies: Evaluates the impact of bilateral cooperation and continental strategies on domestic climate policy development.
6. Historical and Academic context of newspaper articles: Reviews the extent to which media reports incorporate scientific facts and historical precedents to inform the public.
7. Portrayal of academic arguments in newspaper articles: Critiques the media for inconsistently framing academic arguments, noting a tendency to overstate or understate key policy issues.
8. Conclusion: Synthesizes the findings and provides an evaluative rating of the current state of Canadian environmental media coverage.
Keywords
Climate change, Canada, Media coverage, Carbon pricing, Environmental policy, Federal-provincial relations, Kyoto protocol, Public opinion, Domestic variables, Greenhouse gas emissions, Revenue sharing, North American policy regime, Policy integration, Environmental politics, Journalism
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper evaluates how Canadian media outlets, such as the National Post and the Globe and Mail, report on climate change policies compared to academic insights.
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
Key themes include the integration of federal and provincial policies, the economic implications of carbon taxes, the "three domestic variables" of policy-making, and the influence of international cooperation.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to assess the quality of media framing and determine if journalists accurately represent academic arguments regarding environmental policy.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The author uses a qualitative content analysis approach, comparing four academic readings with selected newspaper articles to identify trends like understatement or overstatement of policy impacts.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The body analyzes the interplay between politics and environment, specifically looking at how public opinion, institutional capacity, and federal-provincial conflicts are presented to the public.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include climate change, carbon pricing, media coverage, environmental policy, and federal-provincial relations.
How does the author define the "three domestic variables"?
Drawing on Kathryn Harrison, the author defines these as electoral incentives, normative and causal ideas, and the institutional context of the political system.
What is the author's conclusion regarding the quality of media coverage?
The author concludes that while coverage is better than average (scoring 7/10), it suffers from biases where certain aspects of policy are emphasized while others are ignored or understated.
How does the "North American policy regime" influence Canadian policy?
It highlights the importance of US-Canada cooperation, though the author notes that the media fails to detail the specific market mechanisms involved in this cooperation.
- Quote paper
- Mary Fiagbe (Author), 2016, Media Coverage of Environmental Issues in Canada. Arguments, discussion, historical background, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/355920
