Navigating the Landscape of Media Coverage on Environmental Topics

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Coverage of environmental issues -

Readers often remember negative news more vividly and also pay more attention to it. Many media outlets publish negative news to grab more eyeballs.
                               
Newspapers place a high emphasis on news related to politics, entertainment, and sports. However, when it comes to reporting on environmental issues, it is given relatively little attention. Due to the low priority given to environmental matters, environmental issues are not discussed as often. But as situations are changing and the severe effects are visible of global warming, the media is turning its eye towards it.


  • First-page coverage: According to several newspapers, very few of them have made environmental issues its main headline. The news are mostly related to extreme heatwaves in India. There are very few instances in which environmental issues will appear on the first page. The environmental stories usually appear on the second or third page, or as an anchor story.
  • Detailed Coverage- The issue has not been thoroughly investigated in most cases, and only the facts and basic outline about it are being reported. The environmental issues does not have in-depth or investigative reporting.

Type of Reporting-

The news is usually reported after the incident has occurred. There has been no proactive reporting about the environmental issues so that the readers can be conscious of the growing environmental crisis. So far, there has been very few articles on how the environmental crisis can be reduced. The major spotlight is on "Climate Change". Other issues related to the environment are still not given importance.

For example: A few days back, there was news: 'Delhi water crisis: Atishi warns of chaos, alleges Haryana blocking supply from Munak Canal. - This report mentions how the water crisis in Delhi is getting worse. This news has been printed because the present government is working towards its restoration. So, if there is any kind of government intervention in environmental issues the news gets printed. In order to run their businesses, the media has been polarized so that they favor one government over another.

Example 2 - Why India didn’t have the ‘climate election’ it needed, even amid a lethal heatwave.
In this news, the real issue was the drastic climate change that is causing a severe impact. But at the same time, India was contesting its elections. Somehow, climate change has always become a matter of politics.



These were just two examples but in most of the cases, the news report is how the government is working towards the welfare of the environment. On the other hand, the government has very little funding for eco protection, they are giving permission to cut down the forest, and to build the roads and even encroachments are happening at a large scale. Who gives this private sector the permission to do so? Definitely the government. In April and May, the newspaper mostly covered the heatwave issues throughout the country.

Hence, it is understandable that the media is extremely biased when they are not trying to raise concerns but rather want to portray the government in a positive light.

Coverage in Different Newspapers-

  • Times of India- The Times of India emphasizes environmental issues more than the Indian Express. In this newspaper, however, environmental issues are generally related to man-animal conflict, environmental activism, Gir lions, crocodiles, cheetahs, climate change and pollution. The man-animal conflict, mostly involving lions, has dominated the news coverage 90% of the time. Moreover, the government funds their preservation since Asiatic lions are found only in Gujarat, and nowhere else. There have been reports of major rivers like the Sabarmati, Narmada, and Vishwamitri as well.
  • Indian Express- Very few environment-related issues have been covered. There has been very much less importance given to them, maybe because of the page size restrictions. The areas of their interest were Climate Change, Pollution, Stubble Burning, and Encroachments.
  • Tribune and Hindustan Times - These two newspapers have actively reported on environmental issues. A section of the Tribune Newspaper allows locals to complain about issues such as garbage on the roads, cows eating plastic, drainage problems, etc. Newspapers write about these types of issues in order to create an awareness that these areas of the city are becoming unclean, and there is a need for cleanliness. At the local, national, and international levels, Tribune has covered these types of issues.
  • Hindu - The newspaper has covered environmental issues at the national levels covering main Indian rivers like the Yamuna. In their reporting, they have covered how the development is harming the environment: ' Why are hydropower projects in the Himalayan risky?' but not frequently we can see the environmental issues being reported.
  • In addition, there are newspapers like Mint, Free Journal Press, Business line, Pioneer, Ahmedabad Mirror, Bangalore Mirror that have very little reporting related to the environment. But whenever there has been an article, they have unique stories to present.
But overall, there is a need to cover more issues related to the environment as it is the only source to directly reach the public and create awareness.

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