Framing the Climate Crisis: Media Bias in California Wildfire 2025 Reporting

Abstract

The present study investigates the media framing of environmental and climate change issues, with a specific focus on the coverage of the 2025 California wildfires.Employing a content analysis methodology,it examines news articles from the digital editions of The New York Times(typically characterized as left-leaning)and Fox News(generally considered right-leaning).The analysis identifies recurring patterns related to tone, emotional language, attribution of causality, proposed solutions, allocation of blame, and representations of governmental response.The findings indicate that The New York Times predominantly frames the wildfires within the broader context of climate accountability and systemic governance failures.In contrast,Fox News frequently employs more sensationalist rhetoric,attributes the fires primarily to natural causes, and demonstrates a comparatively limited focus on long-term mitigation strategies.These results underscore the influential role of media framing in shaping public discourse on climate change and emphasize the importance of balanced, objective, and evidence-based environmental journalism.

Keywords: media framing, Environmental journalism, Thematic Framing, Episodic Framing, Media Bias