Claims-making and framing in British newspaper coverage of the ‘Brent Spar' controversy

Environmental issues and risks do not ordinarily present themselves for public concern or political action. Like other social problems (such as poverty, crime and drug-abuse) they need to be identified and defined as such, and made visible in the public sphere or in public arenas before they can acquire the status of ‘social problems’ that the public should be concerned about, and toward which politicians and other decision-makers should direct attention, legislation and resources. The identification and construction of social problems depend crucially on claims-makers; indeed in the now classic articulation of a constructionist perspective on social problems, Spector and Kitsuse (1987:75) define ‘social problems as the activities of individuals or groups making assertions of grievances and claims with respect to some putative conditions’.