The role of the media in society cannot be overstated. Apart from their role in examining government actions and holding policy makers to account, the media are the main source of information on critical issues for the general public and climate change is one of them. Given the immense importance of the issues at stake for people and planet, this is the role that carries great responsibility. It is against this background that I am writing a thesis on the role of media in Malawi in fighting climate change.
Since many of these issues that concern the environment in general and climate change in particular are enormously complex and scientifically difficult to communicate, this study, therefore, seeks to provide perhaps one of the first analyses of media coverage of climate change in Malawi. In general terms, the study focuses on the framing of climate change and the sources of such frames in the Malawian media, specifically in newspapers. Specifically, it aims at assessing critically the extent to which the print media in Malawi have covered and framed the issue of climate change and how have they (the print media) assisted people understand this bloodcurdling issue.
From an analytical perspective, Malawi– as a developing country – is an ideal scenario to study climate change policy. This is because of the paradoxical context in which the country is situated, being one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, but also a country with an economy highly dependent on its natural resources and agriculture. Since the study will take a qualitative and analytical approach, it will draw heavily on desk research which involves a review of articles from the Malawi’s major newspapers namely The Nation, Daily Times, Weekend Nation, Malawi News, Sunday Times and Nation on Sunday of between January and June 2009.
SPECIFIC OBECTIVES
Specifically, the study aims at achieving the following objectives:
• Finding out if Malawians have been properly conscientized about the environment in general and climate change issues, problems and solutions in particular by the print media in Malawi.
• To analyze the content, style, language, pictures/illustrations used by the print media in Malawi.
• To make recommendations on how best information on climate change can be communicated to people in Malawi through the print media.
So I need different kinds of views from the general public. To what extent do you think and feel the Malawian media have assisted people understand the issue of climate change? Where do you think they have fallen short of and where do they need to polish up and focus on? Please forward the feedback to madise07@yahoo.com or marshalmadise@gmail.com or call me on +265995361882.
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