ABSTRACT
Images of nature and the environment extend far beyond news media reporting. As indicated at the end of the previous chapter, the ‘success’ of environmental claims in the news media will often depend on the extent
to which such claims engage or resonate with deeper cultural images, beliefs and perceptions. This chapter therefore focuses on research on the kind of deeper-lying cultural and interpretive packages which can be seen to inform media and public images of nature, the environment and environmental issues. Drawing on studies of a range of popular media genres the chapter will show how deep-seated cultural narratives have reflected, and in turn shaped, particular ideological interpretations of nature and the environment, including changing dominant interpretations of the environment as either an object of control and exploitation or as something to be protected.
