Reporting Antarctica: how the news media frames Antarctic science in a changing climate

For the majority, Antarctica is a mysterious frozen continent: a place of science and international collaboration; and a symbol of fears about global warming. But from where do these ideas generate and who decides the terms of reference for the publics’ understanding of Antarctic science? The role of news media has been largely overlooked in scholarship, which seeks to understand public engagement with, and understanding of, the Antarctic region. This is a significant gap in research, given that the news media is the public’s main source of information about science. As images of calving icebergs and collapsing ice shelves become more commonplace on news feeds, news media’s role in framing key issues such as climate change deserves exploration. Using the Australian news media as a case study, data collected from Australian online news media outlets over a recent 12-month period will be analysed to identify prominent frames and voices in news discourse related to Antarctic science. The data will be considered in light of existing scholarship which examines the role of journalists as gatekeepers of science stories and the politicisation of science. This presentation argues that exploring journalistic representations of Antarctica science has the potential to challenge assumptions about the role of news media and scientists in communicating issues such as climate change.