Reporting on young climate activism: How journalistic multimodal choices on television can delegitimise disruptive dissent

Abstract

The effects of climate change and the significant transformations it demands will disproportionally impact young people. Recognising young climate activists as pivotal contributors to the climate debate is essential for fostering inclusive political dialogue. This study employs multimodal critical discourse analysis to examine a 17-minute reportage on young climate activism in Portugal. Our objective is to examine journalists’ role in promoting political agonism by: (1) ensuring the visibility of alternative political visions advocated by young activists, and (2) validating diverse voices and proposals for change, thereby granting them political legitimacy. Through analysing the editorial choices that foster interactions among actors, discourses and modes, such as text, image, and talk, we find that television coverage adopted a critical perspective that worked to differentiate the dutiful activist and the disruptive one. By favouring certain means of social action and by privileging the epistemic authority of certain actors, the examined reportage challenged the political legitimacy of young activists that call for deeper social changes. In doing so, it constrained discussion on alternative pathways for change and transformation, and failed to create—or indeed endorse—a comprehensive and inclusive climate debate.