Paper Title: A comparative study of frames and narratives identified within scientific press releases on ocean climate change and ocean plastic

Author(s) and Year: Aike N. Vonk, Mark Bos, Ionica Smeets, Erik van Sebille (2024)

Journal: Journal of Science Communication (Open Access)

TL;DR: This study examines how scientific institutions use frames and narratives when communicating ocean climate change and ocean plastic research in press releases. Ocean plastic pollution is often framed as a health issue with social responsibility, while ocean climate change is portrayed as a socio-economic problem with political responsibility. Ocean climate issues are found to be potentially less relatable and actionable for society. 

Why I chose this paper: With the ocean being an important environmental factor, I was drawn by this study because of the duality of ocean issues. I found it interesting to see how distinct scientific narratives shape the societal awareness of ocean climate change and plastic pollution.

Special note: This bite was translated by the author to Dutch on Linked In by Aike N. Vonk.

The Background

The Ocean Crisis

The ocean is crucial for life on Earth and it is in trouble—rising temperatures and increasing amounts of plastic threaten marine ecosystems. Public perception of these crises is partly shaped by science news on these topics, often based on press releases from scientific institutions. 

This paper is the first to look at differences in narratives and framing of ocean plastic pollution and ocean climate change. The study explores how these environmental issues are communicated to the public, which is crucial given that most people learn about science, including ocean science, from the media discourse. Understanding how frames and narratives are used to communicate the ocean crisis is important for motivating action on our changing ocean.

The Methods

Framing the Ocean

To analyze ocean science communication, the authors looked at 323 press releases (235 press releases on ocean climate change and 88 on ocean plastic) from EurekAlert!, a science news platform, published between 2017 and 2021. While the dataset was largely U.S.-dominated, the findings provide insights that are broadly applicable to the global science communication landscape, especially for ocean issues that are international by default.

Using a codebook, they categorized press release elements such as:

1. Actor roles: victims, villains, heroes, or issuers of warnings, played by scientists, institutions, society, etc.;
2. Tone: positive, negative, neutral, alarmist, fatalistic, excited, or passionate; and
3. Narrative style: dramatization, personalization, emotionalization, and stylistic devices (i.e., metaphors, analogies).

In addition to these elements, which define how a story is told, the researchers analyzed framing: a way of presenting information from a particular perspective and emphasizing certain aspects over others. To do so, the researchers looked at a set of frame variables that define the meaning of the text and shape a context in which ocean climate change or ocean plastic research can be interpreted. Specifically, frame variables define the problems, causes, evaluations, and solutions presented in press releases. For example, a press release on plastic pollution can include a problem frame variable highlighting marine life endangerment by plastic and a cause frame variable discussing improper disposal. In turn, frame variables form frames. Ocean plastic, for example, included a societal blame frame, formed by a causal variable society and a problem frame health.

The researchers combined quantitative coding (Principal Component Analysis) and qualitative interpretation, revealing 4 frames in ocean climate change communication and 5 frames in ocean plastic communication. Ocean climate framing included societal responsibility, political action, climate change opportunity, and socio-economic problem frames. Ocean plastic framing included dual problem, health problem, societal blame, societal responsibility, and scientific solution frames. Notably, both topics featured the societal responsibility frame. Clustering also revealed that frame variables of the societal responsibility frame in ocean climate change overlapped with the political action frame, absent from the ocean plastic discourse. 

The Results

Tales of Plastic and Climate

The authors discerned two trends in ocean science communication framing:

1. Plastic pollution was framed as a health issue with a focus on tangible biological consequences (i.e., effects on the ocean) and an emphasis on social responsibility; and
2. Ocean climate change was framed as a socio-economic issue with a focus on political responsibility, economic impacts, and large-scale environmental consequences that are less immediate.

The study revealed that press releases on ocean plastic focused more on solutions compared to the ones on climate change. The latter also seem to portray the changing climate as a standalone problem, while ocean plastic communications offered an interconnected view on these issues, discussing the relationship between the two. Focus on different issues – current biological problems for ocean plastic communication and environmental issues happening on larger time scales for ocean climate communication – made press releases on climate change more abstract and potentially more difficult for the public to grasp.

When it comes to narratives, most press releases on both topics contained personalization, referring to the scientists conducting the research. Stylistic devices and emotionalization were also common, while dramatization – meaning following a classical story structure with an introduction, middle, and plot instead of an inverted pyramid often used in journalism – was the least present. Tone-wise, the researchers observed a balance between positive, negative, excited, and neutral press releases – in other words, the absence of a dominant tone – all while the media seems to prefer negative and alarming stories.

The Impact 

Shaping Perception, Driving Action

The authors identified differences between ocean climate change and ocean plastic press releases: ocean climate change communication is more abstract, uses fewer frames, and offers fewer solutions, than ocean plastic communication. These differences may influence how the public perceives the urgency and seriousness of these crises—ultimately making ocean climate change feel less immediate and harder to relate to. Science communicators focusing on environmental issues should therefore aim for more accessible ocean communication focused on the role of society and human agency, as this can drive greater public engagement in addressing these problems.

Future research in ocean science communication could explore non-U.S.-dominated press releases, how framing affects public engagement and public understanding, and how narratives change when press releases are adapted for media coverage.

My key takeaway: this study highlights the role of narrative and framing in (ocean) science communication. By making science narratives relatable and actionable, communicators can better connect with their audiences and inspire action against topical problems like the ocean crisis.

Written by Mykyta ‘Nik’ Kliapets

Edited by Diego Ramírez Matín del Campo and Madeline Fisher 

Featured image credit: S M R at PixaHive (CC0 license from Creative Commons)