O papel da imprensa na consciencialização sobre as mudanças climáticas em Moçambique: estudo da cobertura jornalística do Notícias e O País

Abstract

Climate change has emerged as a current crisis that threatens both the country and the world, due to its adverse impacts on human and animal life and the environment. In Mozambique, these changes are a particular cause for concern, evidenced by the devastating effects they are having on people's lives, exemplified by recent events such as cyclones Idai and Keneth (2019) and Freddy (2023). These events, due to their dangerous nature, magnify the urgency of dealing with the problem. In this context, the importance of news coverage is highlighted as a crucial element in the dissemination of information that encourages communities to tackle the climate crisis. This study aims to analyze the role played by the newspapers “Notícias” and “O País” in raising awareness of the climate problem in Mozambique. The methodological approach involves a semantic analysis of articles published between July 1 and December 31, 2019. It also includes a survey to analyze the reception of the news. The starting question is: how does news coverage contribute to raising awareness of climate change among the Mozambican population? The study is based on the theories of framing, agenda-setting and social representation. The results reveal a predominant emphasis on political and economic approaches. In this context, there is a lack of more in-depth reports that offer information geared to the context of Mozambican society. Readers were unaware of the news and had little impact on it. This finding points to the need for more comprehensive and contextualized journalistic coverage, capable of providing a more complete understanding of the implications of Climate Change in the Mozambican reality