Environmental risk in media discourses: theoretical and methodological approaches

Abstract

The article addresses theoretical and methodological principles in analysing media discourses on environmental and technogenic risks. Namely, the article presents a conceptual background of a study (with the MEDIA acronym) conducted within the framework of the research project RINOVA (‘Public Risk Perceptions and communication in the Knowledge Society’). The MEDIA research aims at description, analysis and understanding of the content and contexts of public risk communication. The research primarily deals with three types of environmental and technogenic risks: nuclear energy, climate change and GMO. The theoretical principles include theories of social constructionism and agenda-setting. The research methodology is based on the principles of discourse analysis and presupposes the usage of methods of document analysis, purposeful sampling, qualitative and quantitative content analysis, as well as the inductive logic of building of analytic categories. Empirical research results are discussed in the subsequent articles of the journal.