Hans Mathias Kepplinger Richard Lemke Communication in Conflicts: Instrumentalizing Fukushima Paper presented at the ICA conference London, 2013

Theory 1. „Mediatized conflicts“ are carried out via the mass media which step in between the opponents and the public. 2. In every conflict events occur that support the point of view of one or the other side. They are instrumental to their position. 3. The mass media exaggerate events consintant with the editorial line, the views of journalists („instrumental actualization“). 4. In mediated conflicts, both opponents and the media that share their views put events in the spotlight that support their position and weaken the position of the other side. 5. The instrumental actulization of events have an impact on the success of opponents in mediated conflicts.

National Backgrounds and Hypothesis 1. In contrast to France and the UK, since 1970 in Germany nuclear energy has been the object of a major mediated conflict. The situation in Switzerland has been influenced by the situation in Germany. 2. In all countries, the mass media have presented Fukushima according to the editorial line represented by journalists opinions in editorials. 3. The mass media in Germany have instrumentalized Fukushima in three ways: a) They have played up the earthquake, tsunami, especially the accident in Fukushima b) They have given Fukushima greater coverage c) They have presented Fukushima as typical for nuclear energy and as lesson for the national nuclear energy.

Method Quantitative content analysis of 27 national newspapers and magazines in Germany, Switzerland, France and the UK. Period under investigation: February 28th - April 10th in 2011. Types of categories: a) Major events (seaquake, tsunami, Fukushima) b) Events related to each major event – for example number of casualties c) Content of statements related to nuclear energy in Japan and elsewhere d) General slant of articles on nuclear energy (+/-2) e) Slant of statements about nuclear energy (+/-2) f) Content of pictures

Media examined Germany Switzerland France United Kingdom   Germany Switzerland France United Kingdom National daily newspapers Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, Handelsblatt, taz, Die Welt Tagesanzeiger, Neue Zürcher Zeitung Le Monde, Le Figaro Guardian, Times, Independent, Telegraph, Tabloid papers Bild Blick - The Sun Weekly newspapers and magazines Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, SPIEGEL, Focus Sonntagsblick, Weltwoche Le Point, Le Nouvelle Observateur Independent on Sunday, Observer, Sunday Telegraph Total 10 5 4 8 Included in the following analysis. Kepplinger/Lemke 2013

Data Analysis / Structure of Paper In the first part of the paper, the coverage of two comparable newspapers with different editorial lines (one liberal, one conservative) of each of the four countries will be compared. In the second part, the correlation between evaluative statements on nuclear energy in editorials and the presentation of evaluative statements in the news of all newspapers under investigation will be displayed.

Instrumental actualization of Fukushima: Results I Instrumental actualization of Fukushima: Emphasis given to a) the three major events (seaquake, tsunami, Fukushima) b) various aspects of Fukushima c) Relevance of Fukushima for national nuclear energy. - Comparison of two papers in each country -

Emphasis on the seaquake, tsunami and reactor accident - number of articles and images - Kepplinger/Lemke 2013

Emphasis on various aspects of the reactor accident - number of articles - Kepplinger/Lemke 2013

Thematization of domestic nuclear energy - number of articles dealing with “nuclear energy in own country” - Kepplinger/Lemke 2013

Instrumental actualization of Fukushima: Results II Instrumental actualization of Fukushima: Influence of journalists´ opinions on nuclear energy in editorials on a) emphasis given to domestic nuclear energy in the news b) presentation of evaluative statements of experts in the news c) presentation of evaluative statements of politicians in the news. - All newspapers, magazines under investigation which have published at least 4 statements of journalists and of experts/politicians -

Influence of journalist´s opinions on the presentation of Fukushima as relevant for domestic nuclear energy Percentage of articles mentioning domestic nuclear energy among all articles that mention Fukushima Regression: R2=.29; p<.05 Bias of statements by journalists in comments Based on data from all newspapers under investigation. Kepplinger/Lemke 2013

Influence of journalists´ opinions on the presentation of experts Bias of all expert statements in news R2=.54; p<.01 Bias of statements by journalists in comments Based on data from all newspapers under investigation. Kepplinger/Lemke 2013

Influence of journalists´ opinions on the presentation of politicians’ opinions Bias of all politicians’ statements in news R2=.57; p<.01 Bias of statements by journalists in comments Kepplinger/Lemke 2013 Based on data from all newspapers under investigation.

Summary & Conclusions In countries where a mediated conflict on nuclear energy existed prior to Fukushima, the media a) exaggerated the catastrophy through intensive coverage b) created a direct link between Fukushima and the established national conflic on nuclear energy. 2. In all countries the media printend mainly the opinions of experts and politicians in agreement the the editorial line. 3. Differences between the coverage of the Fukushima reactor accident cannot be explained by a) the nature of the event - the actual threat posed by domestic nuclear power stations - and b) news factors like geographical and cultural distance, economic ties etc. as they are nearly the same for all countries under investigation.

Summary & Conclusions 4. Because of the reasons mentioned, the only reasonable explanation is the influence of already existing attitudes opinions/frames. 5. Media coverage had a significant influence on the outcome of the mediated conflict in Germany (and Switzerland): perception of the situation and opinion of the population decisions of national governments: In Germany, three days after the accident Chancellor Merkel announced the temporary closure of seven nuclear plants. Three month later, the cabinet decided to phase out nuclear energy by 2022. In Switzerland, the government and parliament decided not to allow the construction of new nuclear plants. In France, the government decided to close down one old nuclear plant. In the UK, no political decision was made.

Extent of entire coverage in quality newspapers Germany Switzer-land France United Kingdom   SZ FAZ TA NZZ Monde Figaro Guar-dian Times Articles 256 457 249 248 235 163 113 99 State-ments 438 553 372 570 431 155 174 87 Images 105 98 60 54 72 63 86 83 Kepplinger/Lemke 2013

Influence of journalists´ opinions on news about nuclear energy I Bias of all statements in news Bias of statements by journalists in comments R2=.00; p=n.s. Based on data from all newspapers under investigation.

Influence of journalists´ opinions on news about nuclear energy II (Without two british and one swiss paper) Bias of all statements in news R2=.55; p<.01 Bias of statements by journalists in comments Based on data from all newspapers under investigation.