[Commlist] Call for Papers: Framing Climate Change: Media Narratives, Public Perception and (Counter)Frames

Call for Papers: Framing Climate Change: Media Narratives, Public 
Perception and (Counter)Frames

Journal: Sociologia della Comunicazione (Special Issue n. 71/2026)

Deadline: November 30th 2025

Guest editors: Valentina Cappi (Department of Interpreting and 
Translation, University of Bologna), Paola Parmiggiani (Department of 
Sociology and Business Law, University of Bologna)

Languages: English or Italian

Full CfP here and below: 
https://journals.francoangeli.it/index.php/sc/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/3048 
<https://journals.francoangeli.it/index.php/sc/libraryFiles/downloadPublic/3048> 


Submit here: https://journals.francoangeli.it/index.php/sc 
<https://journals.francoangeli.it/index.php/sc>

No payment from the authors will be required.


Climate change communication has been called “the communication 
challenge of our century” (Priest 2016). Scientific evidence on the 
anthropogenic causes of the phenomenon and the implications for the 
habitability of the planet for living species has saturated scientific 
journals and institutional reports without generating to date, sustained 
public concern or policy action to address what is recognized as one of 
the major threats of our time (Lynas et al. 2021; IPCC 2023; WMO 2024).
Climate change is not only a scientific and environmental issue, but 
also a deeply social one. It is a social fact in its causes - the 
energy, food, and production systems underlying the ecological regime of 
capitalism (Moore 2016) -, in its effects - the multiplication of 
vulnerabilities and social inequalities, which goes hand in hand with 
ecosystems’ dissolution (De Sherbinin et al. 2019; Gerlak & Greene 2019) 
- and in its solutions, which require political will but, above all, a 
cultural transition of imagery and metaphors, as well as of techniques 
for inhabiting the world (Van Aken 2021).
The media are the main channels through which people construct their 
knowledge about climate change (Carvalho 2010; Schafer & Schlichting 
2014; Dudo & Atkinson 2017). Globally, television is the primary source 
of information on climate change, although social media are 
increasingly common gateways to the phenomenon, especially for young 
people (Newman et al. 2022; Pellegrini 2020). Narratives and 
representations of climate change can be traced in many genres and 
formats of media storytelling: from TV series to newspapers, from memes 
on Instagram to Netflix documentaries, from podcasts to videos on 
TikTok, from Facebook groups to advertisements, to different forms of 
social communication.
Through these and other channels, the public discourse around climate 
change accommodates information and misinformation, science and opinion, 
greenwashing and calls for action from political leaders, fossil 
industry representatives, scientists, ordinary citizens, activists, 
institutions, organizations, and social movements.
The means and ways through which climate change is framed in public 
narratives - through language, images, sounds, discourse, and 
communicative practices - help shape audiences’ understanding 
and emotional reaction, fostering or limiting political polarization and 
involvement in climate action (Whitmarsh et al. 2013). When dealing with 
climate change, an increase in citizens’ awareness does not 
automatically guarantee a significant change in their behavior in 
pro-social terms, however the role of framing processes (Goffman 1974; 
Entman 1993; Scheufele 1999; Schäfer & O'Neill 2017) in climate change 
media narratives and in the decoding by audiences appears crucial. 
People use the frames provided by the media as interpretive shortcuts, 
but they supplement these media representations with preexisting 
interpretations forged through personal experience, ideology, 
social identity, or conversations with others (Nisbet 2009). With 
reference to climate change, research on framing has been concerned - 
through multimodal approaches - with investigating how the negotiation 
between media frames and audience frames takes place; which frames are 
dominant and which are less ordinary in mainstream media narratives, in 
social media channels used by social movements, political leaders, or 
sustainability influencers, in popular culture (movies, TV 
series, documentaries, entertainment programs), in advertising, and 
in social communication, up to empirical research aimed at assessing the 
impact of exposing different audiences to different types of 
frames (DiFrancesco & Young 2011; Nisbet et al. 2013; Scannell & 
Gifford, 2013; O’Neill et al. 2015; Wolsko et al. 2016; Bolsen et al., 
2018; Spence & Pidgeon 2020; van Eck et al. 2020; Giaccardi et al. 2022; 
Chen et al. 2023; Guenther et al. 2023; Guenther et al. 2023b).
In Italy, research in this area is very recent (Beltrame et al. 2013; 
Ferrucci & Petersen 2018; Belotti & Bussoletti 2022; Imperatore & 
Frazzetta 2023; Biancalana & Landini 2024; Albanese & Graziano 2024; 
Osservatorio di Pavia 2024).
This call aims to systematize and expand this field of inquiry by 
exploring the multiple ways in which climate change is mediated in 
public discourse and analyzing how meanings around this phenomenon are 
constructed, contested, circulated, and received in different social 
contexts through the media and their usage practices. Who are the main 
voices in the climate change narrative in the current media ecosystem? 
How do they frame the phenomenon? How are legacy media discourses being 
flanked, contested, reframed, and evolving in the digital space? What 
frames seem most effective for engaging particular audiences? What are 
the limits of media narratives and practices in this area? What are 
the risks of a one-size-fits-all climate change narrative and what are 
the opportunities for using certain frames?

 From this perspective, authors are invited to submit original articles 
based on critical theoretical applications and both qualitative and 
quantitative empirical approaches regarding - but not limited to - the 
following topics:

- Framing strategies in climate change communication and media uses in 
this field.
- Dominant and minor frames in legacy media and public discourse.
- The role of social media in shaping climate narratives.
- Activists and counter-movements’ framing (e.g., climate justice, 
denialism, eco-anxiety). - Frame of institutional communication and 
social communication.
- Audiences’ frames.
- Framing in popular culture and audiovisual media.
- Reception of media narratives of climate change.
- Polarization of audiences and the role of media frames.
- Discursive and media strategies of audience engagement towards the 
climate issue.
- Methodological innovations in climate change framing research.
- Climate crisis frames and consumption.
- Framing and reframing of the climate crisis in political debate.
- The construction of alternative frames between misinformation, 
mistrust, entrenched behavior and knowledge seeking through innovative 
practices.

Authors interested in submitting a contribution are invited to send an 
original article of up to 45,000 characters (including spaces, including 
bibliography), in Italian or English, by November 30, 2025 to the 
editors of the issue at (valentina.cappi3 /at/ unibo.it) 
<mailto:(valentina.cappi3 /at/ unibo.it)> and (paola.parmiggiani /at/ unibo.it) 
<mailto:(paola.parmiggiani /at/ unibo.it)> and for information to the Editors 
(Roberta Bartoletti (roberta.bartoletti2 /at/ unibo.it) 
<mailto:(roberta.bartoletti2 /at/ unibo.it)>) and the editorial staff of the 
Journal (Stefania Antonioni (stefania.antonioni /at/ uniurb.it) 
<mailto:(stefania.antonioni /at/ uniurb.it)>).

Authors are invited to contact the issue editors for a preliminary 
assessment of the relevance of the article they intend to submit, 
anticipating an extended abstract.

Articles must be concurrently uploaded to the Journal’s platform, along 
with an abstract in Italian and English of 600-750 characters and an 
author profile of 300-500 characters.

For editing the article, please refer to the editorial rules 
downloadable from the journal’s website:

https://static.francoangeli.it/fa-contenuti/riviste/nr/sc-norme_en.pdf 
<https://static.francoangeli.it/fa-contenuti/riviste/nr/sc-norme_en.pdf>
page5image1710973872 page5image1710974176 page5image1710974480 
page5image1710974784 page5image1710975088
In the selection, preference will be given to proposals that propose an 
advancement of knowledge and elements of innovativeness in the current 
scientific debate, in terms of theory, methodology or empirical evidence.

Articles will be double-blind refereed and publication will be subject 
to the outcome of the evaluation. A maximum of 7 articles will be published.

For more information:

https://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/sommario.aspx?IDRivista=52&lingua=EN 
<https://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/sommario.aspx?IDRivista=52&lingua=EN>



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