Abstract: This paper studies how major German online newspapers portrayed two prominent climate activist groups, Fridays for Future and Last Generation, during 2022 and 2023. Using frequency analysis and GPT-4, the authors examine whether articles communicate climate risks and solutions, how the two groups are characterized, and how coverage differs across newspapers. The study finds that many articles provide limited climate-context information, especially in reporting on Last Generation. Last Generation is also framed more negatively and as more disruptive or polarising than Fridays for Future, with right-leaning newspapers providing the least climate-context information and the most negative portrayals.

Read the published paper in Climatic Change