This is the presentation Markus Rhomberg and I (both Zeppelin University) held at the ECREA 2014 in Lisbon. It is about a Content Analysis of the Two-Degree-Debate in the German News coverage from 2009 to 2014.

1. 1
Framing the Two-Degree Target
A Content Analysis of the Two-Degree-Debate in the German News coverage
from 2009 to 2014
ECREA 2014
Lisbon, Nov 12th, 2014
Jonas Kaiser
Chair of Political Communication
Zeppelin University
JonasKaiser
Markus Rhomberg
Chair of Political Communication
Zeppelin University
MarkusRhomberg
Project funded by the German
Federal Environment Agency

2. 2
Relevance
Two-Degree Target: a special aspect of the climate change issue
1) What is the Two-Degree Target?
| Goal of international climate policies which aims to prevent the
world warming beyond the limit of two degrees centigrade above
the pre-industrial average (Anderson and Bows, 2008)
| “guiding principle for mitigation efforts” (Meinshausen et al. 2009)

3. 3
Relevance
Two-Degree Target: a special aspect of the climate change issue
2) Relevance
| “Two-Degree emerged as a central element of international climate
policy“ (Shaw 2013, p.563)
| “has emerged nearly by chance, and it has evolved in a somewhat
contradictory fashion: policy makers have treated it as a scientific
result, scientists as a political issue” (Jaeger & Jaeger 2011).
| “Goal set by governments” (IPCC, Fifth Assessment Report, Nov
2014).

4. 4
Research Questions
Discourse Structure, Discourse Producers, Framing
RQ 1) Discourse Structure
| How is the discourse structured?
RQ 2) Discourse Producers
Central for this dimension is the concept of Standing (Ferree et al., 2002)
| Who is talking about the Two-Degree Target?
RQ 3) Framing
Frame as “a central organizing idea or story line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of
events. […] The frame suggests what the controversy is about, the essence of the
issue” (Gamson & Modigliani 1987: 143)
| How is the Two-Degree Target being framed?

5. 5
Methodological Approach
Strategy
1) 6 German daily newspaper & 4 weekly magazines (Print & Online)
| die tageszeitung, Die Welt, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,
Handelsblatt, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Bild
| Die Zeit, Focus, Der Spiegel, Stern
2) Time-Frame
| 01.12.2009 – 31.01.2014
| incl. COPs Copenhagen, Cancun, Durban, Doha, Warsaw,
Rio+20, 5. IPCC Assessment Report (WG 1)
3) Sample
| 1189 articles in general
| 899 with relevant Two-Degree-statement

6. 6
Methodological Approach
Combination of explorative approach and quantitative Frame-Analysis
1) Explorative-qualitative Analysis
| Goal: Identification of idea-elements (frames) from actor statements
| Sample 20% (Media Outlet, Date)
| Identification of 26 idea-elements, aggregated to 9 frames
| Identification of 140 different groups of actor, aggregated to 7
actor systems (e.g. Political, Scientific, Economic, Civil Society)
2) Quantitative Analysis
| Codebook (4 coders, Reliability κ paired bet. 0,4-0,9), incl. list of
actors
| Coded according formal criteria (eg. date, outlet, print/online, section)
and content (idea-element, evaluation, actors)
(cf. Gamson & Modigliani 1989; O‘Mahony & Schäfer 2005; Gerhards & Schäfer 2006)

7. 7
Findings
RQ1: Discourse Structure
1) General Findings and Timeline
sd
| Highest coverage during Copenhagen (Dec 2009: 340 articles), after
COP 15 coverage decreases (2009: 149), event-peaks
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Main Topic Sub Topic Mentioned Total

8. 8
Findings
RQ2: Discourse Producers
1) General
| Political actors are dominating the coverage over time (43,5%),
science (29,0), media (11,8), civil society (7,9, especially NGOs and
foundations), economy (6,3, esp. energy sector)
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Politics
Science
Civil Society
(n=1180)

9. 9
Findings
RQ2: Discourse Producers
2) Political system
| international organizations are the most important political actors
(UN, IPCC, EU)
| German parties are quite silent, especially factions in the parliament
| Inner-German debate is lead by executive bodies (Federal
Chancellery, Federal Ministry for the Environment)
3) Scientific system
| Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PiK) guides the
scientific debate in the media (31,0%)
| Almost exclusively climate scientists are allowed to talk

10. Findings
RQ3: Framing
What are the most frequent idea elements within the debate?
About 75% of all statements deal with the topic of
achievability!
Idea Element Per cent
In order to achieve the Two-Degree Target emissions have to be
limited
10 (n=1393)
21,0
It is necessary to achieve the Two Degree Target 13,1
The Two-Degree Target is only achievable if politics are showing more
7,3
commitment
It‘s barely possible to achieve the Two-Degree Target 6,7
The Two-Degree Target is a „real“ goal and thus a guideline 4,5

11. Findings
RQ3: Framing
Framing the achievability of the Two Degree Target:
It’s not so much a question of necessity but of possible
measures!
Necessity
Consequences of success
Consequences of failure
11
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Possibility
Measures
(n=1001)

12. | The Two-Degree Target is a side topic and even as such
steadily losing its prominence within the media’s reporting
sd
| What used to be a political issue slowly evolved to a
scientific one – but not because of more scientific but rather
due to less political involvement
sd
| The Two-Degree Target is an achievement discourse which
mostly deals with the question of how the Target can be
achieved and whether it is still possible
12
Conclusion In

13. 13
Thank You!
ECREA 2014
Lisbon, Nov 12th, 2014
Jonas Kaiser
Chair of Political Communication
Zeppelin University
JonasKaiser
Project funded by the German
Federal Environment Agency
Markus Rhomberg
Chair of Political Communication
Zeppelin University
MarkusRhomberg