Media and Climate Change: Four Long-standing Research Challenges Revisited

This paper suggests some further avenues of empirical and theoretical investigation for media research on climate change. “Old” suggestions, whose significance, as we see it, needs to be further reinforced, are included, as are “new” ones, which we hope will generate innovative research questions. In order to integrate the analysis with knowledge generated by media research at large, we revisit four research challenges that media scholars have long grappled with in the investigation of journalism: (1) the discursive challenge, i.e. the production, content and reception of media discourse; (2) the interdisciplinary challenge, i.e. how media research might engage in productive collaboration with other disciplines; (3) the international challenge, i.e. how to achieve a more diverse and complex understanding of news reporting globally; and (4) the practical challenge, i.e. how to reduce the theory–practice divide in media research.     

Sentiment analysis of the Twitter response to Netflix's Our Planet documentary

The role of nature documentaries in shaping public attitudes and behavior toward conservation and wildlife issues is unclear. We analyzed the emotional content of over 2 million tweets related to Our Planet, a major nature documentary released on Netflix, with dictionary and rule-based automatic sentiment analysis. We also compared the sentiment associated with species mentioned in Our Planet and a set of control species with similar features but not mentioned in the documentary. Tweets were largely negative in sentiment at the time of release of the series. This effect was primarily linked to the highly skewed distributions of retweets and, in particular, to a single negatively valenced and massively retweeted tweet (>150,000 retweets). Species mentioned in Our Planet were associated with more negative sentiment than the control species, and this effect coincided with a short period following the airing of the series. Our results are consistent with a general negativity bias in cultural transmission and document the difficulty of evoking positive sentiment, on social media and elsewhere, in response to environmental problems.     

Official sources,news outlets,or search engines? Rumour validation on social media during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma

This study, based on data collected from a representative sample of adults in the United States, explores the social cognitive variables that motivated Americans to validate rumours on social media about Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, both of which struck in August/September 2017. The results indicate that risk perception and negative emotions are positively related to systematic processing of relevant risk information, and that systematic processing is significantly related to rumour validation through search engines such as Google. In contrast, trust in information about the hurricane is significantly related to validation through official sources, such as FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), and major news outlets such as The New York Times. Trust in information is also significantly related to systematic processing of risk information. The findings of this study suggest that ordinary citizens may be motivated to validate rumours on social media, which is an increasingly important issue in contemporary societies.     

Effects of nutrients on Microcystis growth more easily forming bloom

Different nutrient media experimentally were N, P and Fe-limited conditions and a serial of diluted BGll media. The cell change of morphology and life history, cell number, cell color and cell area of Microcystis were analyzed quantitatively. First, the effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and iron depletion were distinctively different. Phosphorus and iron depletion caused more special division cells,slowly growth increasing, the easier change of bigger cell area. Second, the nitrogen and iron depletion could make the color of alga from green to brown. Finally, according to the resource competition and Monod equation, Microcystis kinetics of phosphorus and iron were also examined. Ks and μmax of phosphorus absorption were 0.0352 μmol/L, 0.493 d^-1 respectively; iron absorption: 0.00323 μmol/L, 0.483d^-1. In a word, some evidences of the Microcystis bloom dominance in certain nutrient conditions were indicated in the experiments. The dominances were determined as the reviving under the adverse circumstances through the special division, the various nitrogen resources,and the lower kinetics of phosphorus and iron than that of most of other algae. The conclusions provided the scientific basis for preventing and managing Microcystis bloom in freshwater.     

滤料中重金属迁移特性及其在BAF中的应用

以含重金属的干污泥为添加剂,自行研制出生物滤料,并以此滤料为对象进行浸出试验研究.结果表明,在浸出时间为24 h和30 d时,Cd、Cr、Cu和Pb在pH=1时浸出量最大,当pH≥3时,Cd、Cr、Cu和Pb的浸出量迅速下降,说明强酸性条件是影响重金属迁移特性的重要因素.XRD分析表明,原料中的重金属经过一系列的物相转化和反应过程,固定在Si—O等玻璃结构网格中,在晶体结构中以Pb₂O(CrO₄)、CdSiO₃、CuO等稳定的形态存在;在曝气生物滤池（BAF）中应用自制滤料进行脱氮（同步硝化反硝化）效能研究,当原水C/N为11.5和25.5左右时,对NH⁺₄-N和TN的去除率可分别达到85.5%、90.3%、46.6%和49.6%,高于江西陶粒、广州陶粒和山西活性炭的去除率;试验结果对重金属固化、迁移特性机理研究和自制滤料广泛应用有进一步促进作用.     

组合型生态浮床的动态水质净化特性

研究开发了一种由水生植物、水生动物及微生物膜构建的组合型浮床生态系统.通过中试研究,考察了该浮床对富营养化湖泊水体在动态条件下的净化效果.结果表明,水体交换时间为7d时TN、TP、高锰酸盐指数的去除率分别为53 .8%、86 .0%和35 .4%.污染物的直接净化主体为人工介质和水生植物单元,但在生态浮床中引入河蚬增加水生动物单元,通过食物链的“加环"作用,提高了颗粒性有机物的可溶化和无机化（氨化）以及可生化性,改善了植物吸收以及人工介质单元生物膜中微生物的基质条件,促进微生物的生长和活性,提高了浮床的净化效果.     

异质性企业环境责任与碳绩效的关系研究：媒体关注和环境规制的联合调节效应

“双碳”愿景下微观企业层面的环境责任受到更多关注。本文运用Python获取2014—2019年中国A股上市工业企业数据,分析了异质性企业环境责任对碳绩效的影响,探讨了媒体关注和环境规制在其中的联合调节效应。研究表明：履行前瞻型环境责任和反应型环境责任均对企业碳绩效有显著的增进作用;媒体关注可以正向调节前瞻型企业环境责任和碳绩效的关系,但在反应型企业环境责任与碳绩效间的调节作用不显著。进一步研究发现：环境规制与媒体关注在反应型企业环境责任和碳绩效间产生正向联合调节作用,而在前瞻型环境责任与碳绩效间的联合调节作用不显著。研究结果支持了政府和媒体对企业环境责任的正式和非正式治理效果,进而提高了企业碳绩效的作用逻辑,拓展了对企业碳绩效影响因素以及异质性企业环境责任的理论研究,将环境治理他治和自治相结合,为多元环境治理主体协同联动推进“双碳”目标顺利实现提供新思路和参考证据。     

The impact of retail beverage service training and social host laws on adolescents' DUI rates in San Diego County,California

Introduction: Driving under the influence (DUI) citations are still a serious concern among drivers aged 16–20 years and have been shown to be related to increased risk of fatal and nonfatal crashes. A battery of laws and policies has been enacted to address this concern. Though numerous studies have evaluated these policies, there is still a need for comprehensive policy evaluations that take into account a variety of contextual factors. Previous effort by this research team examined the impact of 20 minimum legal drinking age–21 laws in the state of California, as they impacted alcohol-related crash rates among drivers under 21 years of age while at the same time accounting for alcohol and gas taxes, unemployment rates, sex distribution among drivers, and sobriety checkpoints. The current research seeks to expand this evaluation to the county level (San Diego County). More specifically, we evaluate the impact of measures subject to county control such as retail beverage service (RBS) laws and social host (SH) laws, as well as media coverage, city employment, alcohol outlet density, number of sworn officers, alcohol consumption, and taxation policies, to determine the most effective point of intervention for communities seeking to reduce underage DUI citations.

Methods: Annual DUI citation data (2000 to 2013), RBS and SH policies, and city-wide demographic, economic, and environmental information were collected and applied to each of the 20 cities in San Diego County, California. A structural equation model was fit to estimate the relative contribution of the variables of interest to DUI citation rates.

Results: Alcohol consumption and alcohol outlet density both demonstrated a significant increase in DUI rates, whereas RBS laws, SH laws, alcohol tax rates, media clusters, gas tax rates, and unemployment rates demonstrated significant decreases in DUI rates.

Conclusions: At the county level, although RBS laws, SH laws, and media efforts were found to contribute to a significant reduction in DUI rates, the largest significant contributors to reducing DUI rates were alcohol and gas taxation rates. Policy makers interested in reducing DUI rates among teenagers should examine these variables within their specific communities and consider conducting community-specific research to determine the best way to do so. Future efforts should be made to develop models that represent specific communities who are interested in reducing DUI rates among drivers aged 16–20 years.     

Using Nonprofit Narratives and News Media Framing to Depict Air Pollution in Delhi,India

How is the air pollution issue in Delhi framed by the news media and narrated by nonprofit organizations? To study news media framing, we employed an inductive approach based on automated text coding of news coverage of the issue. To study nonprofit organization narrations, a deductive approach guided by the Narrative Policy Framework was used to focus on the stories told via online documents as found on nonprofit websites. The findings confirm existing theory and empirical research regarding the leading causes and effects of air pollution; however, perceptions are mixed regarding the government’s ability to implement policy. The combined deductive and inductive approaches provide a systematic and multi-method research study for understanding perceptions of air pollution in one of the largest cities in the world. The result is a depiction of the priorities that influence public opinions, political decisions, and eventually public policies.     

The Anti-Fracking Movement in Ireland: Perspectives from the Media and Activists

This article explores social mobilization in the controversy over hydraulic fracturing (i.e. “fracking”) in Ireland from the perspectives of agenda setting in national and local Irish newspapers as well as framing by anti-fracking activists and journalists. We analysed all articles referencing hydraulic fracturing (and related terms) from 11 Irish national newspapers and 128 Irish local newspapers from April 2013 to April 2014, and interviewed 19 journalists, activists, and government officials affiliated with fracking issues in Ireland. Based on the analytical salience and resonance across prominent empirical themes in conjunction with theoretical insights, we conclude that social mobilization against fracking in Ireland is challenged by a frame war on the credibility of activists, diverse economic interests across national and local scales, and the need for procedural legitimacy in the contribution of science. In conclusion, this research demonstrates the importance of agenda setting and framing in structuring the capacity for social mobilization.