Making Progress? Reproducing Hegemony Through Discourses of “Sustainable Development” in the Australian News Media

While numerous studies have investigated discourses of “sustainable development” in a variety of institutional and academic contexts, media discourses on this issue have remained largely unexamined. But considering the intertwined nature of media and society, the construction of sustainable development in the news may be an important factor shaping future ecological and social outcomes. Proceeding from the thesis that the news is a site in which hegemony may be reproduced, this paper critically analyses discourses used to construct sustainable development in news texts published over the 10-year period 2004–2013 across the eight most widely circulated newspapers in Australia. The findings show that sustainable development news is confined to a narrow range of discourses that largely serve to perpetuate the status quo, which is broadly consistent with the media hegemony thesis. Finally, I discuss the implications of these findings, propose possible explanations, and explore avenues for future research.     

填料床处理污染河水的冬季运行特性

对冬季填料床处理滇池流域污染河水进行了试验研究。结果表明：通过相关性分析可知,在2～6℃时,废砖块中微生物活性较低,温度回升后,微生物活性也随之增强;2～12℃时,废混凝土/沸石/煤渣组合生物量高,耗氧速率大且较为稳定,COD去除率保持在50%左右。降温期（5～12℃）时,废砖块对TN、NH⁺₄-N和DTP去除率最高,平均可达64.5%、64.7%和69.7%;低温期（2～6℃）时,废混凝土/沸石/煤渣组合对NH⁺₄-N、TN的去除率能达到56.4%～75.1%、56.5%～63.0%,大石子/小石子/煤渣组合削减DTP负荷量达到了2.1 g/(m²·d)。废砖块和大石子/小石子/煤渣组合分别适合在低负荷和高负荷下运行。综上所述,在整个试验过程中（2～12℃）,废混凝土/沸石/煤渣组合表现出了对COD、N和DTP去除率相对稳定的特征,是冬季处理滇池流域污染河水的适宜填料。     

滤布滤池强化处理城市二级出水中试研究

采用滤布滤池对南方某城市污水处理厂二级出水进行强化处理中试研究,以达到中水回用的目的。实验选用氯化铁(FeCl₃)、聚合氯化铝铁（PAFC）和聚合氯化铝（PAC）作为强化滤布滤池除磷效果的混凝剂。当不投加混凝剂时,滤布滤池对TP和COD的平均去除率为28.76%和8%,其中TP的去除效果受进水水质影响较大;当投加氯化铁、聚合氯化铝铁与聚合氯化铝强化滤布滤池时,滤布滤池对TP的平均去除率分别为63.58%、60.13%和66.94%,TP去除效果受进水水质影响较小;对SS的平均去除率分别为70.7%、64.3%和49.1%;对COD平均去除率分别为17.7%、26.3%和27.7%。滤布滤池对TN和NH₃-N去除效果不稳定。     

Environmental effects of heavy metals derived from the e-waste recycling activities in China: A systematic review

As the world’s leading manufacturing country, China has become the largest dumping ground for e-waste, resulting in serious pollution of heavy metals in China. This study reviews recent studies on environmental effects of heavy metals from the e-waste recycling sites in China, especially Taizhou, Guiyu, and Longtang. The intensive uncontrolled processing of e-waste in China has resulted in the release of large amounts of heavy metals in the local environment, and caused high concentrations of metals to be present in the surrounding air, dust, soils, sediments and plants. Though the pollution of many heavy metals was investigated in the relevant researches, the four kinds of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Cd and Cr) from e-waste recycling processes attracted more attention. The exceedance of various national and international standards imposed negative effects to the environment, which made the local residents face with the serious heavy metal exposure. In order to protect the environment and human health, there is an urgent need to control and monitor the informal e-waste recycling operations.     

Media and bushfires: A community perspective of the media during the Grampians Fires 2006

This paper examines the ways residents in the Grampians area in the Australian state of Victoria used their local and their state and national based media before, during and after the 2006 bushfires (wildfires). The researchers were particularly concerned to understand how residents evaluated media sources as trustworthy and credible in relation to bushfire warnings and information about the fires delivered in the media.

Analysis of data derived from two separate focus group sessions conducted by the researchers reveals four main themes. (1) The media are perceived as part of a broader information gathering process. (2) Local knowledge is the most important aspect in broadcast information. (3) Members of small communities can feel disenfranchised and resentful of the media when media coverage focuses on larger towns, and (4) the effects of media reporting, including specific warnings, are both immediate and long lasting.

The paper explores some of the tensions that result from the ways rural residents use and distinguish between local/regional and metropolitan and out-of-state bushfire information; and it encourages better use of the local/regional media to increase community safety and awareness in relation to bushfire mitigation, preparedness and crisis management issues before, during and after the fires. It is suggested that risk communications professionals need to understand that when mediated risk-related communications are provided, a key evaluative criterion is whether or not those media and the messages represent and reflect local knowledge.     

The Circulation of Climate Change Denial Online: Rhetorical and Networking Strategies on Facebook

This study uses a topical, rhetorical approach to analyze how climate change denial circulates online through the 25 most popular posts on the Watts Up With That and the Global Warming Policy Forum Facebook pages. These groups adopt the appearance of credibility through reposting and hyperlinking, thus establishing a supportive, networked space among other skeptical sites, while distancing readers from original sources of scientific information. Visitors use a variety of rhetorical strategies to echo posts’ main themes and to discredit alternative viewpoints. Differences between the topoi and rhetorical strategies of WUWT and the GWPF show that the climate change denial community is multifaceted and makes use of social media affordances to craft the appearance of legitimacy. This project contributes to our knowledge of how scientific information is co-opted, manipulated, and circulated in online spaces and how online features shape environmental discourse practices.     

Does Oil and Goodwill Mix?: Examining the Oil and Gas Industry’s Impact on Stakeholder Engagement on Facebook

The present study explores how oil and gas companies use Facebook to communicate about community-supporting initiatives and engage stakeholders. Drawing from the company–cause fit and social interactivity literature, we examined the type of message and the language used in company Facebook posts to elicit stakeholder engagement, as measured by the number of likes, shares, and comments. We content analyzed 953 Facebook posts from 12 companies featured on Oil & Gas Journal’s top 50-company list. The results showed that, although oil and gas companies are posting about their CSR-related efforts on Facebook, their lack of two-way messaging and interactive language use are not effectively engaging stakeholders. In terms of theory, this study advances company–cause fit and interactive studies by applying them to the oil and gas industry. In terms of practice, the results highlight the importance of using diverse messaging and interactive language when utilizing Facebook to engage stakeholders.     

Media Access and Political Efficacy in the Eco-politics of Climate Change: Canadian National News and Mediated Policy Networks

We use a discourse network analysis approach to answer two questions about national news coverage of climate change policy debate in Canada during the period 2006–2010. First, what is the media visibility of actors relevant to policy development and advocacy on climate change? Second, given the political and economic context of climate policy-making in Canada, does greater or lesser media visibility reflect effectiveness in climate policy advocacy? Multiple interpretive frameworks characterize Canadian political discourse about climate change, with fragmentation between the federal government, opposition political parties, provincial governments, and environmental organizations. Contrary to expectations, environmental organizations had high levels of media visibility while the relative invisibility of fossil fuel corporations was notable in the media coverage of Canadian climate discussions. Our findings challenge optimistic accounts of the relationship between media power and political power, and suggest that media power does not necessarily translate to political efficacy.     

A Missed Opportunity?: NOAA’s Use of Social Media to Communicate Climate Science

In the current media landscape, organizations often communicate about science directly with publics through online channels rather than relying on journalist gatekeepers. Online platforms present organizations with the opportunity to participate in two-way communication in order to increase engagement with science. The present study examined how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) utilizes social media to interact with publics. Results suggest that NOAA does not fully utilize the dialogic potential of social media, which could enhance both the public’s science literacy and trust in science regarding climate change specifically. This study informs how public relations theory may complement science communication theory and practice as deficit model-thinking transitions to contemporary approaches for public engagement with science.     

Climate Engagement in a Digital Age: Exploring the Drivers of Participation in Climate Discourse Online in the Context of COP21

Various scholars underscore the importance of public engagement with climate change to successfully respond to the challenges of global warming. However, although online media provide various new opportunities to actively engage in climate discourse so far very little is known about the drivers of this form of engagement. Against this background, this study tested a theoretical model on the effects of media and interpersonal communication on participation in climate discourse online using data from a representative online survey of German citizens (n?=?1392) carried out while COP21. Overall, the results show that receiving information on climate change from social media (social networks, Twitter, blogs), active information seeking online and interpersonal conversations about COP21 strongly encourage participation in climate discourse online. Moreover, results provide relevant insights on the role of interest in climate politics, personal issue relevance and climate scepticism as preconditions of communication effects.