Toward a New Climate Rhetoric: Appropriating Authority, Mobilising Anger and Radical Politics to Activate the Alarmed Youth

Simple item page
aut.author.twitter@dominicpink
aut.embargoNoen_NZ
aut.thirdpc.containsNoen_NZ
dc.contributor.advisorSills-jones, Dafydd
dc.contributor.authorPink, Dominic
dc.date.accessioned2020-06-23T00:22:20Z
dc.date.available2020-06-23T00:22:20Z
dc.date.copyright2020
dc.date.issued2020
dc.date.updated2020-06-22T09:35:35Z
dc.description.abstractThe climate and ecological crises are the most urgent existential threats facing humanity. Creative communication approaches on this topic are required to counter the ideological constraints of mainstream news media and reticence of climate communicators. This exploratory research project aimed to develop a radical new rhetoric, imagining a youth-fronted web show–called ‘House on Fire’–targeted to young people alarmed by the crises. The aim was realised by merging popular ecological and leftist literature, appropriating the authority and legitimacy of the television news studio, and harnessing the emotional power of anger. Research-led practice was chosen to subjectively pursue this creative work, with a production phase incorporating screen-writing exercises, a pilot production to test different emotional frames, and a longer production which synthesised these frames. These productions took place in the AUT studio, utilising student volunteers as presenters and crew. Heuristic inquiry provided the framework to reflect upon the research and draw out core themes. Key findings which emerged from this, shared as stories from the production, included: the rhetorical force of anger as an emotional frame; no neutral exists in the studio space, and its conventions are inherently formal; it is possible to appropriate the studio for activist communication, however, technical constraints arise and diligent adaptations are necessary; the studio can be a space for conducting creative research. It is proposed that future research could develop this exploratory project as a web series for YouTube. It is suggested that activists should offer more complex and holistic communication approaches than mainstream news media and climate communicators, including centring anger as a frame and ascriptions of guilt in class-conscious rhetoric.en_NZ
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10292/13422
dc.language.isoenen_NZ
dc.publisherAuckland University of Technology
dc.rights.accessrightsOpenAccess
dc.subjectRadical politicsen_NZ
dc.subjectClimate communicationen_NZ
dc.subjectMedia criticismen_NZ
dc.subjectCreative practiceen_NZ
dc.subjectHeuristicsen_NZ
dc.subjectActivismen_NZ
dc.subjectScreen productionen_NZ
dc.subjectStudio experimenten_NZ
dc.subjectTelevision news studioen_NZ
dc.subjectEcologyen_NZ
dc.subjectEcosocialismen_NZ
dc.subjectEmotional messagingen_NZ
dc.subjectRhetoricen_NZ
dc.subjectYouth audienceen_NZ
dc.subjectEcological crisesen_NZ
dc.subjectPraxisen_NZ
dc.subjectClimate changeen_NZ
dc.titleToward a New Climate Rhetoric: Appropriating Authority, Mobilising Anger and Radical Politics to Activate the Alarmed Youthen_NZ
dc.typeExegesisen_NZ
thesis.degree.grantorAuckland University of Technology
thesis.degree.levelMasters Theses
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Communication Studiesen_NZ
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
DominicPink-Exegesis-Toward a new climate rhetoric.pdf
Size:
2.24 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Exegesis
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
897 B
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Masters Theses