The journalistic treatment of environmental issues in the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat - an analytical study

Abstract

  This research aims to identify the methods used by the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat in addressing environmental issues and how these issues are presented to the public. The researcher used the survey method in this study to analyze the content of the environmental issues raised by the newspaper, how they were addressed, and the journalistic techniques used to present these issues. The researcher used a content analysis form and then defined the categories of analysis. The study yielded results for the period covered by the researcher, from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025, regarding environmental issues in the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. The research problem emerged with the following main question: How did the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper address environmental issues? The researcher reached a number of conclusions, most notably: the newspaper's interest in global news in the first place, followed by regional news. This is consistent with the fact that it was founded in Europe and continued with the approach of global news coverage, especially since environmental issues are linked to global climate changes. Also, the newspaper relied primarily on reports because of their comprehensiveness in presenting data and information related to environmental news. Through observation, it became clear that the newspaper used the warning style and alerted to the danger of climate fluctuations that affect the climatic environment of the Middle East region.