“Story-Networks” of Livestock and Climate Change: Actors,Their Artifacts,and the Shaping of Urban Print Media |
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| Authors: | Keith Chun Leem Lee Joshua Peter Newell Jennifer Wolch Nicole Schneider Pascale Joassart-Marcelli |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of City and Regional Planning , University of California, Berkeley , Berkeley , California , USA;2. School of Natural Resources and Environment , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , Michigan , USA;3. College of Environmental Design , University of California, Berkeley , Berkeley , California , USA;4. Walk San Francisco , San Francisco , California , USA;5. Department of Geography , San Diego State University , San Diego , California , USA |
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| Abstract: | Despite widespread media coverage of livestock-related issues and growing scientific evidence linking meat production and climate change, systematic content analysis of this relationship in media coverage has been surprisingly minimal. In this article, we combine actor-network theory with framing theory to develop the basis for “story-networks”—networks of actants and artifacts that shape how a media report or “story” is framed. We coded livestock-related articles from a major U.S. newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, over the 1999–2010 period to understand how various actants and artifacts shaped different story-networks. Just 5% of all livestock articles addressed connections with climate change; these articles focused on technology, lifestyle, or policy. Distinctive story-networks characterized each category, framing the livestock–climate change linkage as an issue to be addressed through either technological innovation, individual lifestyle choices, or policy action. In each story-network type, varying configurations of actants and artifacts were involved, including the cattle themselves. |
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| Keywords: | actor-network theory (ANT) climate change framing theory livestock story-networks |
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