AN ANALYSIS OF ISSUE SALIENCE. ATTRIBUTE FRAMING, AND THEMATIC PRIORITIZATION OF DAWN NEWS ON CLIMATE CHANGE (2025–2026)

Abstract

The current research aims to analyze the editorial policy of Dawn, the oldest and most influential English language newspaper of Pakistan on climate change from the 2025 to 2026 period using agenda-setting theory (McCombs & Shaw, 1972) and systematic quantitative content analysis. The study follows the two-stage process of first level agenda-setting (agenda salience) and second level agenda-setting (attribute salience) and examines 247 climate-related items from the print and digital editions of Dawn. The content analysis is carried out using a structured coding instrument which is measured as (i) frequency of publication and level of prominence; (ii) issue attributes and thematic categories; (iii) typology of sources; (iv) tonal orientation; and (v) framing the solutions. The results show that Dawn proactively establishes and maintains a high salience climate agenda, in which climate change is featured on the front page, in the lead editorial position, and as a feature supplement. At the attribute level, Dawn portrays climate change mainly as a governance and policy problem (32.4%), climate justice and vulnerability problem (21.9%), a scientific and development problem (17.8%), and international diplomacy and finance problem (15.4%). The second level agenda show a definite shift from community resilience to state accountability and from governmental failure to structural transformation. The institutionalization of the 'Breathe Pakistan' in late 2024 also helped to increase climate salience scores in 2025-2026 and added an unprecedented element of solution-advocacy to Dawn's agenda-setting power. The study's findings are relevant to the agenda-setting scholarship in the Global South press contexts, as well as in the research on the role of elite press institutions in implementing their editorial policy by prioritizing issues and composing attributes.