Beaton, William David, authorChamp, Joseph, advisorBenson, Delwin, committee memberJacobsen, Jaime, committee memberKnobloch, Katherine, committee member2021-09-062021-09-062021https://hdl.handle.net/10217/233721The Iron Range of northeast Minnesota became home to modern environmental controversies when logging and mining companies founded small communities there in the late 1800s. Ever since, news media have consistently engaged in public discourse regarding the management of the region's world-renowned natural resources, such as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Lake Superior (Searle, 1979; Paddock, 2001). But today, as state and federal governments consider approving a new, potentially environmentally risky copper-nickel mining industry, local news sources are under-equipped to produce coverage that can adequately communicate the complex legal, cultural, and scientific processes involved (Kojola, 2018; 2019; Phadke, 2018). Therefore, this master's thesis uses a novel combination of qualitative research approaches — including a hermeneutic reading of 680 newspaper articles and an actor-network theory (ANT) controversy cartography (CC) analysis — to map the associations and arguments of journalists, stakeholders, and policymakers and provide them with a reference resource they may use to inform their coverage and decision-making moving forward. Ultimately, this study conveys the complicated nature of the controversy, describes patterns of polarization apparent in sampled news coverage, and establishes a platform to empower future academic research, journalistic application, and public deliberation.born digitalmasters thesesengCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.copper-nickel miningactor-network theoryjournalism studiesText