The World Without Us. A CDA of News Media Discourse on the Impact of COVID-19 on the Environment in the UK

Antonella Napolitano

doi:10.6093/2035-8504/10558

Antonella Napolitano University Napoli L’Orientale

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6093/2035-8504/10558

Keywords: climate change, COVID-19, news discourse, critical discourse analysis, frame discourse, risk

Abstract

Government policies during the COVID-19 pandemic have drastically altered patterns of energy demand around the world. Many international borders have been closed and populations have been confined to their homes, which has reduced transport and changed consumption patterns. A decrease in CO2 emissions and pollution has thus been recorded during forced confinements. This has offered a glimpse of how the world might look like with a drastic reduction of human impact. The present paper explores how facts are framed in news discourse and investigates the recontextualization of the environmental issue in news media. The study analyses a collection of news articles about the consequences of coronavirus on the environment published on the websites of the major news channels in the UK, namely BBC News and Sky News. This CDA investigation studies how the UK news outlets re-mediated scientific knowledge about climate change to emphasise or minimise the positive consequences of confinement on the planet.

Author Biography

Antonella Napolitano, University Napoli L’Orientale

Antonella Napolitano is Associate Professor in English Language and Translation at the University Napoli L’Orientale. Her research activity has centred on the field of ESP theory and applications, professional and institutional discourse, the language of advertising, legal English, identity-building and gender studies. She has conducted research on institutional and corporate communication in traditional and new media, with a focus on enviromental and populist discourse. She was also Chair of the Equal Opportunities Committee of the University of Sannio.