There is strong evidence that a meat and dairy-based diet is a very important contributor to climate change. However, the correlation between the production and consumption of livestock and anthropogenic climate change has received minimal media coverage. The literature for English-speaking countries shows a sort of media blind spot for meat in that the news media barely address, or do not address, the responsibility of individuals' dietary choices with regard to this issue. In this paper, we provide data for press coverage in Southern Europe from a sample of the top 10 Spanish and Italian newspapers for a seven-year period (2006-2013). Data from our samples correlate with the previous literature. However, data also show that there are meaningful differences between both countries and that their alleged Mediterranean dietary cultural background makes no difference in terms of ethical and dietary sensitivity.
Numerous studies to date have interrogated United States (US) think tanks-and their networks-involved in climate change countermovement (CCM). Comparatively in Europe (EU), research has been lacking. This investigation therefore attends to that gap. We conducted a frame analysis on eight most prominent contrarian think tanks in six countries and four languages in Europe over 24 years . We found that there has been consistent contrarian framing through think tanks in the EU regarding climate change. Yet, we found a proliferation of contrarian outputs particularly in recent years. This uptick in quantity correlates with increases in CCM activities in the US. Our content analyses showed that well-worn climate change counter-frames spread by US CCM organizations were consistently circulated by European organizations as well. Moreover, we found that, as in the US, neoliberal ideological stances stood out as the most frequently taken up by contrarian think tanks in Europe. As such, we documented that CCM tropes and activities have flowed strongly between US and EU countries.
Critical and communication studies have traditionally neglected the oppression conducted by humans towards other animals. However, our (mis)treatment of other animals is the result of public consent supported by a morally speciesist-anthropocentric system of values. Speciesism or anthroparchy, as much as any other mainstream ideologies, feed the media and at the same time are perpetuated by them. The goal of this paper is to remedy this neglect by introducing the subdiscipline of Critical Animal and Media Studies (CAMS). CAMS takes inspiration both from critical animal studies, which is so far the most consolidated critical field of research in the social sciences addressing our exploitation of other animals, and the normative-moral stance rooted in the cornerstones of traditional critical media studies. The authors argue that the CAMS approach is an unavoidable step forward for critical media and communication studies to engage with the expanded circle of concerns of contemporary ethical thinking. IntroductionTo set the stage for the intersection of 'animal' issues within the historically anthropocentric field of media and communication studies, we must consider that this field has been in a constant evolution since its birth in the first half of the 20 th Century, when scholars from the political sciences, psychology, and sociology first theorised the development of social communication models. From then on, the field has adapted to the changing cultural and technological environment that goes from mass communication to new media and social media. Regardless of the permanent shift in which the field is immersed, there is a shared belief that this area of research addresses both a 'societal' and a 'cultural' phenomenon since the media is part of the structure of society and at the same time the messages disseminated through its communication activities are an important aspect of culture (McQuail, 2010: 80). This field covers a wide number of disciplines (including journalism, advertising, public relations, film studies, telecommunications, ICTs, social psychology, linguistics and semantics, amongst others) and has traditionally been aimed at the understanding of the production, processing and effects of 'the symbolic interaction process between human subjects' that are mediated by a communication technology' (Fuchs, 2011: 75). However, not all approaches to media and communication involve a critical stance, that is to say not all of them look analytically at the power relations involved in the processes of communication. The critical stance actually embodied a radical change in perspective after the earlier functionalist and administrative approaches. Critical communication and media studies are primarily characterized by a moral stance that focuses on the analysis of how communication and media contribute to domination and inequality in capitalistic societies. In such an approach, the Critical animal and media studies European Journal of Communication
This article analyzes the inputs and constituencies (funding, founders, trustees, and experts) of the most influential group of think tanks in Spain during the great recession (2008-2015) in order to assess how far these think tanks were connected to other interest groups providing support for neoliberal policies. The aim of the article is to advance knowledge on think tank theory and it addresses three research goals: (a) assessing how far Spanish think tanks are affected by political clientelism and financialization, (b) identifying those actors who direct Spanish think tanks and collaborate with them, and (c) assessing the think tanks’ connections with international lobbying networks. Our results show that the think tanks studied are consistently related to three types of actor—political, economic, and academic—while also maintaining strong ties with the media. In this regard, their main traits are a pluralism biased toward right and center-left stances, state and party clientelism, the financial and political instrumentalization of party tanks, and the superior ability of conservative tanks to build network coalitions.
Recent developments in the ideology of speciesism (meaning bias against members of other animal species) within the media deserve analysis. Such discussion is important because speciesism is a major ethical concern. Nonhuman animals suffer massive harm within the industrial farming complex, confined throughout their lives and a high proportion killed while still infants or juveniles. The joint efforts of material institutions, cultural narratives and embodied affects conceal this from the public. As research on this topic is scarce, this study aims to provide tools to improve the quality of journalism regarding ethical issues that concern our relationship with nonhuman animals. We hope to help to formulate an emerging critical animal studies perspective on journalism studies. This article explores the role of news media in constructing perceptions of nonhumans used for food and their treatment. We compare 60 articles from The New York Times (United States) and El País (Spain) over a two-year time frame (2011-2013) using a critical discourse analysis. Our results show that, while both newspapers play a major role in concealing the nonhumans' cruel reality, a distinction can be drawn between the crude speciesism of El País and the camouflaged, more deceptive style of The New York Times.
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