IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v218y2025ics0040162525002483.html

How do politics, news media and the public frame the discourse on coal mining? Implications for the legitimacy, (de)stabilisation and transition of an industry regime

Author

Listed:
  • Gruenhagen, Jan Henrik
  • Cox, Stephen

Abstract

The use of coal for energy generation is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, adversely affecting the climate and attempts to achieve net zero. Yet coal mining is also an important pillar of national economies such as Australia, provoking a contested discourse about the legitimacy of coal mining. We conceptualise the framing of coal mining as reflecting legitimacy pressures through discourse and agenda setting in the economic and socio-political environment that may lead to changes in industry regimes. We thereby examine how coal mining is framed within different arenas of discourse, and how this framing has changed over time. Specifically, we apply natural language processing and topic modelling to analyse and compare a large amount of text data capturing parliamentary documents and debates, news media reports and debates in the broader public over a period of more than 30 years. Our findings reveal that the discourse on coal mining among policymakers is dominated by economic framing, as opposed to a strong socio-political framing in the broader public. This suggests a mismatch between how coal mining is viewed by policymakers focussing on economic benefits versus parts of the broader public raising concerns over environmental and climate issues. Framing of the discourse in news media is more balanced. Our analysis demonstrates that the framing of coal mining has remained remarkably consistent, overall suggesting continuous legitimacy and a relatively stable industry regime.

Suggested Citation

  • Gruenhagen, Jan Henrik & Cox, Stephen, 2025. "How do politics, news media and the public frame the discourse on coal mining? Implications for the legitimacy, (de)stabilisation and transition of an industry regime," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:218:y:2025:i:c:s0040162525002483
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2025.124217
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162525002483
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2025.124217?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kar, Arpan Kumar & Dwivedi, Yogesh K., 2020. "Theory building with big data-driven research – Moving away from the “What” towards the “Why”," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    2. Brauers, Hanna & Oei, Pao-Yu & Walk, Paula, 2020. "Comparing coal phase-out pathways: The United Kingdom’s and Germany’s diverging transitions," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 37, pages 238-253.
    3. Trencher, Gregory & Healy, Noel & Hasegawa, Koichi & Asuka, Jusen, 2019. "Discursive resistance to phasing out coal-fired electricity: Narratives in Japan's coal regime," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 782-796.
    4. Michael Lazarus & Harro van Asselt, 2018. "Fossil fuel supply and climate policy: exploring the road less taken," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 1-13, September.
    5. Geels, Frank W., 2014. "Reconceptualising the co-evolution of firms-in-industries and their environments: Developing an inter-disciplinary Triple Embeddedness Framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 261-277.
    6. Sharma, Gagan Deep & Verma, Mahesh & Taheri, Babak & Chopra, Ritika & Parihar, Jaya Singh, 2023. "Socio-economic aspects of hydrogen energy: An integrative review," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    7. Dehler-Holland, Joris & Schumacher, Kira & Fichtner, Wolf, 2021. "Topic Modeling Uncovers Shifts in Media Framing of the German Renewable Energy Act," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 2(1).
    8. Brauers, Hanna & Oei, Pao-Yu, 2020. "The political economy of coal in Poland: Drivers and barriers for a shift away from fossil fuels," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    9. Weiss, Daniel & Nemeczek, Fabian, 2021. "A text-based monitoring tool for the legitimacy and guidance of technological innovation systems," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    10. Markard, Jochen & Wirth, Steffen & Truffer, Bernhard, 2016. "Institutional dynamics and technology legitimacy – A framework and a case study on biogas technology," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 330-344.
    11. Binyet, Emmanuel & Hsu, Hsin-Wei, 2024. "Decarbonization strategies and achieving net-zero by 2050 in Taiwan: A study of independent power grid region," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    12. Leticia Canal Vieira & Mariolina Longo & Matteo Mura, 2022. "Will the regime ever break? Assessing socio-political and economic pressures to climate action and European oil majors’ response (2005-2019)," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 488-501, April.
    13. Penna, Caetano C.R. & Geels, Frank W., 2012. "Multi-dimensional struggles in the greening of industry: A dialectic issue lifecycle model and case study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 79(6), pages 999-1020.
    14. Turnheim, Bruno & Geels, Frank W., 2012. "Regime destabilisation as the flipside of energy transitions: Lessons from the history of the British coal industry (1913–1997)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 35-49.
    15. Lehotský, Lukáš & Černoch, Filip & Osička, Jan & Ocelík, Petr, 2019. "When climate change is missing: Media discourse on coal mining in the Czech Republic," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 774-786.
    16. Brauers, Hanna & Oei, Pao-Yu, 2020. "The political economy of coal in Poland: Drivers and barriers for a shift away from fossil fuels," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 144.
    17. Diluiso, Francesca & Walk, Paula & Manych, Niccolò & Cerutti, Nicola & Chipiga, Vladislav & Workman, Annabelle & Ayas, Ceren & Cui, Ryna Yiyun & Cui, Diyang & Song, Kaihui & Banisch, Lucy A. & Moretti, 2021. "Coal transitions—part 1: a systematic map and review of case study learnings from regional, national, and local coal phase-out experiences," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 16(11).
    18. Peter Christoff & Robyn Eckersley, 2021. "Convergent evolution: framework climate legislation in Australia," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(9), pages 1190-1204, October.
    19. Roman Stutzer & Adrian Rinscheid & Thiago D. Oliveira & Pedro Mendes Loureiro & Aya Kachi & Mert Duygan, 2021. "Black coal, thin ice: the discursive legitimisation of Australian coal in the age of climate change," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, December.
    20. Karoliina Isoaho & Jochen Markard, 2020. "The Politics of Technology Decline: Discursive Struggles over Coal Phase‐Out in the UK," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 37(3), pages 342-368, May.
    21. Geels, Frank W., 2010. "Ontologies, socio-technical transitions (to sustainability), and the multi-level perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 495-510, May.
    22. Jeon, Eunji & Yoon, Naeun & Sohn, So Young, 2023. "Exploring new digital therapeutics technologies for psychiatric disorders using BERTopic and PatentSBERTa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PA).
    23. Dehler-Holland, Joris & Okoh, Marvin & Keles, Dogan, 2022. "Assessing technology legitimacy with topic models and sentiment analysis – The case of wind power in Germany," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    24. Michael Lounsbury & Mary Ann Glynn, 2001. "Cultural entrepreneurship: stories, legitimacy, and the acquisition of resources," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 545-564, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gruenhagen, Jan Henrik & Terrill, Janice & Cox, Stephen, 2025. "Igniting sparks for the transition of a coal mining region: The role of firm- and system-level agency to innovate, diversify and create new growth paths in a regional innovation system," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Faber, Hugo, 2023. "How does falling incumbent profitability affect energy policy discourse? The discursive construction of nuclear phaseouts and insufficient capacity as a threat in Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    2. Karoliina Isoaho & Jochen Markard, 2020. "The Politics of Technology Decline: Discursive Struggles over Coal Phase‐Out in the UK," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 37(3), pages 342-368, May.
    3. Jarosław Kaczmarek, 2022. "The Balance of Outlays and Effects of Restructuring Hard Coal Mining Companies in Terms of Energy Policy of Poland PEP 2040," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-30, March.
    4. Daniel Rosenbloom & Adrian Rinscheid, 2020. "Deliberate decline: An emerging frontier for the study and practice of decarbonization," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(6), November.
    5. Upham, Dr Paul & Sovacool, Prof Benjamin & Ghosh, Dr Bipashyee, 2022. "Just transitions for industrial decarbonisation: A framework for innovation, participation, and justice," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    6. Mäkitie, Tuukka & Normann, Håkon E. & Thune, Taran M. & Sraml Gonzalez, Jakoba, 2019. "The green flings: Norwegian oil and gas industry’s engagement in offshore wind power," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 269-279.
    7. Geels, Frank W. & Ayoub, Martina, 2023. "A socio-technical transition perspective on positive tipping points in climate change mitigation: Analysing seven interacting feedback loops in offshore wind and electric vehicles acceleration," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    8. Kriechbaum, Michael & Posch, Alfred & Hauswiesner, Angelika, 2021. "Hype cycles during socio-technical transitions: The dynamics of collective expectations about renewable energy in Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    9. Matthias Kroll & Kjell Kühne, 2024. "“Climate Bailout”: a new tool for central banks to limit the financial risk resulting from climate change," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 217-232, March.
    10. Ličková, Vladimíra & Ocelík, Petr & Koďousková, Hedvika, 2025. "Coal discourse in India: Good governance as a panacea for India’s energy future?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    11. Mariusz Pyra, 2023. "Simulation of the Progress of the Decarbonization Process in Poland’s Road Transport Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-21, June.
    12. Sylwia Mrozowska & Jan A. Wendt & Krzysztof Tomaszewski, 2021. "The Challenges of Poland’s Energy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-22, December.
    13. Nauro Campos & Flavia Ginefra & Angelo Martelli & Alessio Terzi & Nauro F. Campos, 2026. "Institutions and Climate Change," CESifo Working Paper Series 12490, CESifo.
    14. Dehler-Holland, Joris & Okoh, Marvin & Keles, Dogan, 2022. "Assessing technology legitimacy with topic models and sentiment analysis – The case of wind power in Germany," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    15. Weiss, Daniel & Nemeczek, Fabian, 2021. "A text-based monitoring tool for the legitimacy and guidance of technological innovation systems," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    16. Geels, Frank W., 2020. "Micro-foundations of the multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions: Developing a multi-dimensional model of agency through crossovers between social constructivism, evolutionary economics and neo-institutional theory," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    17. Joanna Krzywda & Dariusz Krzywda & Armenia Androniceanu, 2021. "Managing the Energy Transition through Discourse. The Case of Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-23, October.
    18. Dehler-Holland, Joris, 2025. "From virtuous to vicious cycles – towards a life cycle model of technology deployment policies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(7).
    19. Kühne, Kjell & Bartsch, Nils & Tate, Ryan Driskell & Higson, Julia & Habet, André, 2022. "“Carbon Bombs” - Mapping key fossil fuel projects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    20. Schneider, Nina & Rinscheid, Adrian, 2024. "The (de-)construction of technology legitimacy: Contending storylines surrounding wind energy in Austria and Switzerland," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:218:y:2025:i:c:s0040162525002483. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.