HOW ARE PUBLIC SPHERES TRANSNATIONAL? COMPARING NEWS AND SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS DURING THE MADRID CLIMATE TALKS

Abstract

In this study, we explore two parallel but related networks of discourse that arose during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations of 2019 in Madrid: one produced by news media coverage of the talks; the other by Twitter users who shared news content about the talks. As these networks disseminated information about the UNFCCC’s 25th Conference of the Parties (COP25), we see them as key channels of communication for a potentially transnational public sphere of dialogue and dissent, even if the existence or efficacy of such a transnational sphere is a matter of great debate (Fraser, 2007). Our aim is to compare the internal (within network) and external (across networks) homogeneity and homogeneity of these two networks in terms of structure (e.g., language, geographic groups, etc.), dominant topics, and sentiments. We find that a potential for the emergence of transnational public spheres lies in contradictory currents of homogeneity and heterogeneity in transnational networks related to 1) the social capital of certain actors; 2) institutional infrastructures such as U.N. processes; 3) media ownership structures; 4) different cultural practices.