Green Hydrogen in New Zealand Online News

Abstract

Due to its position as an emerging technology, one which remains largely in the innovation stage, green hydrogen’s scope in the Public view is largely unknown. With New Zealand investing heavily in the development of green hydrogen, the importance of public perception is only going to grow over the coming years. Using articles from New Zealand’s various online news sources, this talk uses a sociolinguistic framework to investigate the way green hydrogen is represented in New Zealand online media. By analyzing online articles through a combination of media analysis and critical discourse analysis, we can begin to understand the way green hydrogen is being framed within the discursive environment of New Zealand.

New technologies do not enter the public eye as isolated instances of innovation and are instead tied into a complex network of  larger discourses, political, economic, historical, scientific, and emotional. Critical discourse analysis allows us to consider how  these various contexts relate to both the creation and consumption of media surrounding green hydrogen. Using various  linguistic frameworks, such as positioning theory, and capital D discourse theory, articles can be deconstructed and related to the various larger narratives which surround green hydrogen, such as sustainability, economic stability, and energy independence.

Supervised by: Abbi Virens, Centre for Sustainability, Univerisity of Otago