Biochar in the British print news media : an analysis of promissory discourse and the creation of expectations about carbon removal
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
| Veröffentlicht in: | Science as culture. - 1998. - 33(2024), 3 vom: 05., Seite 392-416 |
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| 1. Verfasser: | |
| Weitere Verfasser: | , , |
| Format: | Online-Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2024
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| Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk: | Science as culture |
| Schlagworte: | News Biochar greenhouse gas removal hyberbole media promissory discourse rhetorical analysis |
| Zusammenfassung: | © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Biochar is amongst a growing suite of approaches developed to address the climate crisis by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; yet public awareness of biochar is low. In this situation, mass-media reporting plays an important role in making an issue public and in creating expectations about its risks and benefits. In British broadsheet newspapers, a promissory, future-oriented discourse on biochar has emerged that is rhetorically configured through, for example, evaluative adjectives, verbs, hyperbole, and allusions to literary and cultural symbols that confer a sense of mystique. Biochar is promoted as an almost magical fix, based on its ability to soak up and store carbon, improve soil health, increase crops yields, and reduce pollutants. Conversely, some of the possible negative aspects of biochar are couched in the form of sarcasm and parody, while others are made invisible. This sets biochar up as a moral good that the public ought to accept, rather than opening up a public debate about its risks and benefits. Engaging in a fine-grained rhetorical analysis of the way promises about biochar are constructed expands the methodological and empirical repertoire of the sociology of expectations and, in future, can be applied to the analysis of other emerging climate change technologies, especially those relating to carbon removal |
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| Beschreibung: | Date Revised 07.09.2024 published: Electronic-eCollection Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 0950-5431 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/09505431.2023.2285057 |