Climate Change and Media
COMM 200, Section 1
Introduction to Communication studies
Rhetoric/Media paper
March 27, 2013
Climate Change
Many people would agree that climate change exists and human activity is causing it. Others believe that climate change is simply a conspiracy theory. Whether people believe that climate change is occurring or that it does not exist, the topic itself is popular among society. Public communication channels such as Internet, TV, radio, magazines, books, and newspapers are responsible for communicating messages on climate change. Throughout this paper I will analyze ways media portrays climate change by using theories in dramatism and rhetoric. The effectiveness of messages is closely connected to the type of communication channel that is used. All communication channels target a specific group, such as children or adults. It is important to keep in mind that media uses many techniques to persuade an audience to believe certain things.
There are tons of artifacts on climate change, many which are created to steer someone’s opinion towards the pro side or the con side. I chose two images from ASA, the UK’s independent regulator for advertising across all media. The two images depict nursery rhymes that most of us are familiar with, such as the Jack and Jill rhyme and the Rub-a-dub-dub rhyme. UK Government Act on CO2 campaign released a new version of these two nursery rhymes focusing on climate change. One began: “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. There was none as extreme weather due to climate change had caused a drought.” The second read: “Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub - a necessary course of action due to flash flooding caused by climate change”. (Refer to Appendix A) The organization that published the nursery rhymes used identification. According to Griffin identification is the recognized common ground between speaker and audience (pg.300). The organization itself in this case is the speaker and purposely used
Introduction to Communication studies
Rhetoric/Media paper
March 27, 2013
Climate Change
Many people would agree that climate change exists and human activity is causing it. Others believe that climate change is simply a conspiracy theory. Whether people believe that climate change is occurring or that it does not exist, the topic itself is popular among society. Public communication channels such as Internet, TV, radio, magazines, books, and newspapers are responsible for communicating messages on climate change. Throughout this paper I will analyze ways media portrays climate change by using theories in dramatism and rhetoric. The effectiveness of messages is closely connected to the type of communication channel that is used. All communication channels target a specific group, such as children or adults. It is important to keep in mind that media uses many techniques to persuade an audience to believe certain things.
There are tons of artifacts on climate change, many which are created to steer someone’s opinion towards the pro side or the con side. I chose two images from ASA, the UK’s independent regulator for advertising across all media. The two images depict nursery rhymes that most of us are familiar with, such as the Jack and Jill rhyme and the Rub-a-dub-dub rhyme. UK Government Act on CO2 campaign released a new version of these two nursery rhymes focusing on climate change. One began: “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. There was none as extreme weather due to climate change had caused a drought.” The second read: “Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub - a necessary course of action due to flash flooding caused by climate change”. (Refer to Appendix A) The organization that published the nursery rhymes used identification. According to Griffin identification is the recognized common ground between speaker and audience (pg.300). The organization itself in this case is the speaker and purposely used
Cited: ASA. (2010, March 17). Advertising Standards Authority. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from ASA: http://www.asa.org.uk Griffin, E. (2011). A first look at Communication Theory. New York, NY: McGrraw-Hill . Revoir, P. (2010, March 18). Mail online. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from Dailymail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article