英国主流媒体与政府在气候变化问题上的互动关系——以《经济学家》(1980—2013)为例

The Interaction between The Economist and the British Government on Climate Change( 1980—2013)

英国报业与政府的关系具有多重性,一方面,英国报业以独立性著称,在理论上不受政府的影响;另一方面,政府又很重视包括报业在内的媒体的作用,期望通过媒体让公众听到政府的声音。本文对《经济学家》1980年至2013年间有关气候变化报道的文本进行深入系统分析,探究该刊30多年来在气候变化问题上与英国政府的互动关系。研究显示,英国主流媒体《经济学家》虽然独立于政府,但并不影响其与政府在气候变化问题上达成共识。事实上,该刊以掌握大量第一手信息和较强的新闻专业性为优势,通过间接和隐性的方式为政府说话,甚至建言献策,在不同的时期,发挥了不同的作用。

This paper enquires about the interaction betw een British mainstream media and the British government on the issue of climate change. The Economist,a main voice for more than 170 years of Western liberalism,is selected as an object of study. Its reports about climate change during the period from 1980—2013 are investigated thoroughly to see w hether the government's voice on climate change is propagated through the journal. The study show s that The Economist,w hich enjoys a great advantage in having the first-hand information on climate change and originality of insight,to a great extent speaks for the government and even provides guidance on the policy-making process in the field ofclimate change in the UK. It has played a different role in different periods of time over the past 30 years or more.