ABSTRACT

Australian media reporting of climate change and renewable energy, along with public perceptions of the science and solutions of climate change, have shifted in ways that have increased pressure on politicians and policy makers. With the promotion of renewable energy central to ending Australia's heavy reliance on fossil fuels, it is critical to understand how this complex intersection of media and politics is evolving with regard to Australia's renewable energy options. Therefore, this paper examines Australian newspaper reporting of a pivotal moment in Australia's renewable energy discourse: the Australian Government's announcement, in March 2017 to expand the seventy-year-old Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme (known as Snowy 2.0), which marked a turning point in conservative energy policy. Qualitative content analysis reveals that, while political discourse delimited newspaper narratives, the sentiment of the framing was most strongly associated with the partisan alignment of the publishing organization. Regional influences also had a minor association with the framing of renewable energy. Through close analysis of this decisive moment in Australian media's political representation of renewable energy, this paper offers insights that can be used to inform media strategies for renewable energy policy in Australia, and to track changes in framing over time.

摘要

澳大利亚媒体对气候变化和可再生能源的报道，以及公众对气候变化科学和解决方案的看法发生了转变，给政治家和政策制定者带来了更大的压力。随着可再生能源的推广对于结束澳大利亚对化石燃料的严重依赖至关重要，了解媒体和政治的复杂交叉点在澳大利亚的可再生能源选择方面是如何演变的至关重要。因此，本文考察了澳大利亚报纸对澳大利亚可再生能源话语中关键时刻的报道：澳大利亚政府于 2017 年 3 月宣布扩大已有 70 年历史的雪山水电计划（称为雪山 2.0），这标志着一个转折点在保守的能源政策中。定性内容分析表明，虽然政治话语界定了报纸的叙述，但框架的情绪与出版组织的党派结盟最密切相关。区域影响也与可再生能源的框架有轻微关联。通过仔细分析澳大利亚媒体对可再生能源的政治代表的这一决定性时刻，本文提供的见解可用于为澳大利亚可再生能源政策的媒体战略提供信息，并跟踪框架随时间的变化。