ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a brief introduction to climate change in Australia, in recognition that local contexts affect the content and character of climate change discussion. It explores Australian independent and alternative news media coverage of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly called COP21 or CMP11, held in Paris, France, from November 30 to December 12, 2015. News articles were collected from online independent news media sites in Australia: New Matilda, Crikey, Green Left Weekly and Independent Australia. The chapter also explores the distinctive motivations and intentions of the journalists and their publications, sourcing practices which prioritize groups marginal to Conference of the Parties (COP) debates proper and mainstream media coverage, and coverage of citizen action and explicit critique of governments and fossil fuel industries that contribute disproportionately to climate change. The journalists and their publications are connected both via their passionate belief in climate change and action and via circuits of climate change reporting and communication.
