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Media Issue Crystallization: The Case of Microplastic in Denmark

Environmental Communication 2021 7 citations

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This study examined how Danish news media constructed and framed microplastic pollution as an emerging environmental issue, analyzing the process by which a complex scientific problem becomes a public concern. Media framing of microplastics influences public awareness and political action on plastic pollution.

The purpose of this study is to explore news media constructions of the emergence of a wicked problem. The study takes as its point of departure, the environmental issue of microplastic, which has recently received increased interest from academia as well as popular media due to its controversial nature. Utilizing dialectical theory as a framework, Danish news media provide the basis for a qualitative inductive analysis that explores the issue crystallization process of microplastics. As a result, a general model of this process is developed, which can be used to understand the dynamic interrelated conditions of media constructions of a wicked environmental issue. More specifically, the model highlights the key dialectical themes that drive the issue demarcation process.

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