‘Mitigation is global, adaptation is local’: An assessment of the framing of climate change in Nigerian and South African newspapers

The economic impact of climate change, especially in Africa, is tremendous. As Africans battle with severe weather conditions like floods and droughts, their limited infrastructure is overstretched and, in most cases, cannot withstand the impact. The rains are flooding cities in Nigeria as drought ravages cities in South Africa. When events like these occur, people look to the media for information, and studies have shown that the media can influence public perception of climate change through the way they frame the issue. Using the issue-specific frames of mitigation and adaptation, this study analysed Nigerian and South African newspapers’ coverage of climate change. The study spanned 9 months (January-September 2018), and the online editions of The Punch, Leadership, Mail & Guardian and News Everyday were content-analysed quantitatively using tables and frequencies, and qualitatively, using verbatim quotes. A total of 90 stories were obtained from the four newspapers, with the straight news format as the most used story genre. The major sources of news stories on climate change were the reporters, followed by experts/private individuals. The adaptation frame was the most used, showing that the African media understands the need to mobilise citizens locally for a collective fight against climate change.