What do scientists say on climate change? A study of Indonesian newspapers

Scientists predict that Indonesia is likely to be one of the regions most affected by climate change. Although there are pressing concerns for the effects on Indonesia's biodiversity, the consequences of climate change are predicted to reach beyond the natural environment. Agriculture, industry, the health sector, politics and the social-economic sector, among others, are all likely to be impacted significantly by climate change in the coming years. The underlying theoretical assumption of the study is that it is of vital importance to know how the climate question has been understood and framed to assess how the general public will respond to lifestyle changes necessary for climate protection. This study examines the media coverage of climate change over one year in the Indonesian media, specifically the newspapers Kompas and Media Indonesia. Using a quantitative analysis as its central methodology, the study adopts two core frames to analyse all articles on climate change. The study found that the environmental and scientific frames were the dominant ones for news accounts of issue and that the scientific and governmental frames were the most prominent ones for individuals or organisations concerned with climate change issues. This study also found that the media tend to frame climate change news primarily for an Indonesian context.