28

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

Celebrity Blogs revisited

A content analysis applying

social media frameworkDr. Dev Vrat Singh*

Manisha Solanki**ABSTRACT

Blog is primarily meant to be a space for writing personal experiences in the form of a daily diary

or memoir. But as it happens to every technology, blog is used by different people for their unique

purposes. Studies world-over suggest that most of the common bloggers use it for self- expression,

networking and identity management. This paper argues that celebrities especially film stars,

directors, politicians do not use blogs in the traditional patterns. They utilize it as a subtle, refined

and luring tool of self-projection and publicity of profession-linked events and products. Moreover

the content of celebrity blogs is personal but promotional in nature. This way, to a certain extent

blogs seems to be a part of marketing strategy of celebrities. And this altogether new face of blogs

stands apart from the traditional image of personal memoir.

Introduction

New media has provided umpteen

opportunities to express and share personal

experiences across the world instantly and

efficiently. By creating a new virtual space it has

actually democratized public sphere as well as

changed the basic paradigms of the process of mass

communication by introducing the model of many-

to-many replacing the old some-to-many model.

Constantly growing number of blogs have

established the fact that these have been used by

millions for their very unique purposes. Behaviour

of internet consumers has been attracting scholars

for research since its inception and now social

media has actively involved millions of users by

providing a platform to all members of global

community on equal terms.

Celebrity is someone who gets media

attention and in certain circumstances shows an

extroverted personality. The term celeb is more

often used in the context of popular culture. The

status of celebrity is highly culture-specific,

fluctuating and directly related to audience choice

and media exposure. Some professions being highly

paid, having greater media exposure and difficult

to get into produce more celebrities. Since long,

celebrities have also jumped into the foray of social

media. The trend world over have proved blogs to

be powerful tool to express, communicate and share

own world of emotions. Some of the celebrity blogs

have huge fan followings.

This is what makes it a research worthy topic.

Besides this, celebrity blogs make frequent news

in Indian print media and are reacted upon

*Reader, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana (e-mail -

vrat.dev@gmail.com Contact: +919466774099)

** MC, Research Student Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana (e-

mail - manisha.hau@gmail.com Contact: +919991818919)

29

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

immediately by the readers. India's leading

newspapers, The Times of India and Dainik

Bhaskar, publish celebrity tweets on their editorial

page. Moreover former Minister of State for External

Affairs Shashi Tharoor created huge controversy

by tweeting on many political issues and earned

vast following on the net. On the other hand Blog

of India's biggest star Amitabh Bachchan

occasionally made news in media just because

some of his fans crossed the limits in commenting

on his personal life and family. Some celebrities

used their blogs very intelligently to create news

by giving their stand-point on various

contemporary issues.

Theoretical Paradigm

The social media is understood as a media

for social interaction using web-based technologies.

Social media has revolutionised the way we have

been interacting with our friends, family members,

colleagues and other peer group. In the form of

blogs, social networking sites (SNS) and micro

blogging sites like Tweeter and Buzz, social media

is now playing an important role in shaping our

self expression, networking, image perception etc.

A blog (shortened from Weblog) is an online diary,

or more specifically, 'frequently updated websites

where content (text, pictures, audio-video files etc.)

is posted on a regular basis and displayed in a

reverse chronological order.' Social exchange

theory explains human actions in terms of

negotiations of resources i.e. love status,

information, services, goods and money. Social

media are constructing new form of social groups.

New patterns of social communication are also

emerging out of it. According to social identity

theory, every individual is motivated to maintain

or achieve a positive social identity via joining or

leaving some social group. And in this process he

engages in a struggle for power, prestige and status.

Analysing blogs as a social media reveals various

social perspectives, in which wider issues like

formation and maintaining a group, creating social

identity, achieving and maintaining a particular

status, interaction levels, and mode of self

expression are to be discussed. Celebrity blogs have

huge number of fan followers who communicate

very frequently and tell us about the status and

popularity of famous people.

The Blog Story

Since a very silent beginning in 1997 blogs

are constantly gaining popularity among their users.

The launch of Blogger.com in August 1999 also

helped make blogs more popular. In America, blogs

were talked about a lot after the terrorist attack on

World Trade Tower. However the increasing size

of blogosphere has been affected by the advent of

social networking sites and micro blogging sites.

According to technorati.com, there were around 70

million blogs in April 2007. But the popularity of

blogs among teenagers decreased during 2007-10.

According to the Pew Internet and American Life

Project Report only half as many online teens work

on their own blog as did in 2006, whereas adults

age 18 to 33 have also seen a modest decline. This

development has a direct link to the growing

popularity of social network sites, though older

generation is now blogging more and this trend in

the west has ensured an overall increase in the

number of bloggers. According to Blog Pulse data

the number of blogs world over has increased to

152 million and most popular sites providing blog

facilities to the common users are bloggers.com and

wordpress.com.

Recent Nielsen research shows that use of

30

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

social media is also impacting other internet habits.

According to the findings 'consumption of social

media decreases email use.' Studies have revealed

that blogs, SNS and micro-blogs are not the

substitutes for each other but they have their unique

usability and existence despite temporary fluctuation

in the popularity. The basic idea behind blog was

to provide the common user a website free of cost

which can be updated frequently without any

hassle. Whereas Face book and Orkut is for

networking purpose and micro-blogs like Tweeter

is for instant views, reactions or swift messaging.

We tweet very frequently, but when share it on the

SNS it takes more depth and detailing whereas in

case of blogging we organise and consolidate our

views before posting.

Literature Review

During last one decade lots of studies have

been conducted on blogs. Many scholars studied

blogs as a tool of journalism in the framework of

citizen journalism discourse. Some have done case

studies of blogs just to find out what is the nature

of content. Herring et al. found that more than 70

percent blogs can be classified as a personal journal,

recording the individuals' daily life event, thoughts

and feelings. Researchers found that blogs are an

excellent collection of personal experiences and

bloggers are mentioning even their sexual and

romantic relationships. Some researches tried to find

out about the motivational reasons behind creating

a blog. For example Li noted that men create blogs

for information purpose and women are more

interested in self-expression. Many scholars have

tried to find out about why people blog? The main

motivational factors found were self expression,

networking and identity management. As opposed

to the general belief that people want to interact

with others, some studies have revealed that self

expression is the more dominant driving force

among bloggers. As blogging gives mental

satisfaction and helps in understanding self in a

better way. Fullwood et al. did an extensive study

about the blog purpose, language of blog, tone of

blog and emoticons. Whereas no study related to

the celebrity blogs and blogs as a social media was

found as such.

Broad Objectives

To analyze the nature of content of blogs

written by Indian celebrities in terms of purpose,

motivational aspects, language, visuals and its

usages. Besides these, the broad analysis was also

related to the style and format of celebrity blogs

and interaction between the bloggers and its

followers.

Research Questions

l What is the purpose of blogs maintained by

celebrities?

l What is the nature of content of celebrity's

blogs?

l What are the features of style of celebrity's

blogs?

l What is the quantity of feedback from the

blog readers/followers?

l What is the nature of language used by

celebrities in their blogs?

l Do celebrities share video and audio with

their followers?

l Do celebrities' blogs provide the facilities of

hyperlinks to another websites?

l What is the nature and quantity of visuals in

celebrity blogs?

l What are basic colour preferences in celebrity

blogs?

31

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

Method

A priori content analysis was conducted of

total 100 blogs written by Indian celebrities

belonging to various sectors of life i.e. film,

television, sports, politics, academics, society,

culture, etc. The selection of blogs was not on the

basis of popularity according to the rating websites

like alexa.com as most popular blogs may not

necessarily be celebrity blogs. An extensive list of

Indian celebrities was prepared and checked one-

by-one for whether a celeb was having blog or not.

In many cases blogs were maintained in the name

of celebrity but owner was a fan of the celebrity.

Some popular persons had their full- fledged

website but those were not included in the sample.

Each blog was studied independently in its

entirety. A code-book was framed to record the data

according to various categories relating to format,

language, style, purpose etc. A sample of total six

months was selected in the year of 2010 on the

alternate basis i.e. January, March, May, July,

September and November. Celebrities were divided

mainly into ten categories i.e. Politicians , film &

television stars, film directors, media persons

(editors, journalists, columnists and radio &

television anchors), sports personalities, social

activists, business men (Industrialists and CEO),

bureaucrats, writers and academicians,

miscellaneous. Categories of the purpose of blog

were based upon the earlier studies and research

articles relating to the motivational theories. In fact,

many researchers in the field of psychology have

done extensive work to find out the motivational

factors responsible for blog writing.

Operational Parameters

Unlike older variables - self expression,

networking and identity management five new

factors called diary, publicity/advertising, sharing

views/information; emotional outlet and mix were

designed after a pilot study of 20 celebrity blogs.

The variable networking was removed because after

the popularity of Face book blogs are no more used

as a main medium for networking. Over all nature

of content was also coded into three categories i.e.

personal (content based on personal and intimate

experiences), professional (content related to

professional activities and issues) and mixed. Style

and format of blogs was analysed on the basis of

three categories; ordinary, stylish and extra

ordinary. Whereas, language was coded in the

categories; Hindi, English, Hinglish and any other.

Hinglish is defined as a mixture of Hindi and

English irrespective of any script. Language was

also analysed on the basis of its nature - formal,

semi-formal and informal. Informal category is

where the language consists of incomplete

sentences, frequent abbreviations, casual

expression, net speak and emoticons.

Basically it is a quantitative study therefore

most of the data has been collected in the form of

numbers. To code the data about the style and

format of the blog three primary colours used in

the blog were noted on the code-sheet and later it

was totalled. Manually, month-wise number of posts

of each blog was noted along with the feedback

from its followers or readers. Number of visuals

was also counted month-wise to reach the

conclusion about the level of usage of visuals in

blogs.

32

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

Analysis and Discussion

Since the concept of celebrity is wide enough

to include all fields of society, study covered all

celebrities related to various strata of life at the

national level. But it was found that only a few

number of politicians, bureaucrats and sports

personalities have blogs. Whereas film personalities,

journalists and writers have a significant presence

in the blogosphere.

Purpose

Originally the purpose of blog was to provide

a space for diary. That is why, it is presumed that

the overall content of blogs would be in the

traditional form of a journal based on personal

experiences and views. In contrast to the established

fact, this study suggests that celebrities more

specifically politicians, film actors, directors, artists

and writers use blogs as a tool of publicity and

advertising. They use the blog to promote their

ideology, film, books, paintings, party etc.

Interestingly, in 66 percent blogs the content was

found round any personal achievement and

creation. While, total 28 percent blogs came directly

in the category of publicity/ advertisement and

providing information. However, it is important to

mention that celebrity bloggers write in the format

of dialogue with the audience but end-up with some

information related to their product, event or idea.

However, journalists, writers and social

activists use blogging for expressing personal views

on contemporary issues. Famous Hindi writer Uday

Prakash has a very interesting blog which provides

a number of useful posts related to literature. One

can find poems, reviews, criticism, news, letters,

stills etc. Television journalist of NDTV, Ravish

Kumar owns blog named kasba, where one can find

critical features and articles on various issues. While

star radio anchor of Vividh Bharti, Yunus Khan is

very active blogger and runs a blog named

Radiovani. It showcases the happenings of the world

of radio and music mixed with personal

experiences. Arindam Choudhary and Chetan

Bhagat post the article already published in some

newspaper or magazines. This way they use blog

as aggregator of their writings. The content of only

30 percent blogs was found to be of personal nature

and major portion in this category was of

professional nature.

Style and Formt

Websites dedicated to the celebrity have not

been included in the sample. In some cases fans

have also maintained certain blogs in various

celebrity names. After a careful observation of the

blog content and owner name one may easily find

out whether the blog is written by the original

celebrity or not. In terms of style and format,

majority of the blogs-61 percent were found

ordinary, 28 percent stylish and only 11 percent

can be said to be extra ordinary. Bloggers use ready-

made template for designing the blog available in

blog providing sites. Some blogs were

exceptionally attractive in their colour combination,

text composition, font style and most of these extra-

ordinary blogs seemed to be designed by

professionals. For example the blog of Amitabh

Bachchan has a unique royal look in black and

white colour combination with still and hand written

text.

In the process of data coding three primary

colours used in each blog were noted down on the

basis of quantity of their use. For example, if black

was the most prominent colour used it was noted

33

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

in the number one column and second and third

most prominent colour was in respective columns.

Later on all values of number one, two and three

were totalled separately for final data. Study

revealed that black, blue, grey, white colours were

the most frequently used by bloggers and on the

second number came pink, yellow and green. The

reason behind using black and blue may have been

to give a royal look. According to aesthetic

explanation of colour usage, white, black and dark

blue background of the text increases the ease of

readers if the text colour is in contrast.

Language

In the matter of language used in blogs by

celebrities, study revealed that in total 72 percent

blogs english was used for content writing. Hindi

is not a bloggers language except in the blogs of

Hindi writers, journalists and some politicians as

only in 8 blogs it was used. On the other hand,

hinglish is more fashionably used by celebrities

especially by film celebs and bloggers targeted at

contemporary youth. For example, Chetan Bhagat

and Arindam Choudhary use language full of

abbreviations, slangs, SMS words just to connect

to the generation next. While in 6 percent blogs

posts were found in hindi as well as english

intermittently. Study also suggests that the nature

of language used in celebrity blogs is more or less

formal as the data shows language was formal in

40 percent, semiformal in 42 percent and informal

in 18 percent blogs.

Visual Input

Only text-based blogs tend to be boring, so

celebrities use visual input extensively. Total 80

blogs were using visuals of self, events, book,

painting, movie poster, logo of company, sketch or

cartoons of self etc. Some bloggers post more than

one still in one post. Data explain that 2110 visuals

were present in 3510 posts (60 averages per post).

In 46 percent blogs, video links were given by the

celebrities. Some have uploaded their own videos

of some programme or show on video sharing site

YouTube and a link was provided to the blog

readers, whereas audio links ware provided only

in 14 percent blogs. Nowadays social networking

sites and audio-video sharing websites play a very

important role in aggregating the content into wider

audience. Celebrities have used this facility by

giving links to Face book (66), Twitter (58),

YouTube (32), Orkut (8) and others (40).

Feedback

As discussed earlier, celebrities do not write

blogs for maintaining an online diary or memoir;

they have a very specific target to achieve from

blogging. Audience's feedback is all the more

important for any celebrity blogger. Popularity of a

blog can be judged on the basis of clicks its gets

and followers it has but during the coding process

total number of monthly feedback comments were

counted to find out what is the level of active

feedback from its audience. Study revealed that the

total 3510 posts got 129966 comments (average

37 per post). There is a correlation between number

of blogs post and number of feedback received.

The regular the post the more the comments.

In the matter of feedback, Amitabh

Bachchan's blog came on the top, as it got a total

76618 comments for total 203 blog posts during

six month samples (377 averages per post). He

posts almost daily, sometimes twice or thrice also.

On an average he got 12769 comments monthly.

Comments come then across the world. Some fans

34

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

comment 5to 6 times a day. Content of the blog

shows some worship him like a deity or god.

Following is one example of a follower who wrote

six different and long letters.

Devang joshi 4 LIFE IS AMITABH

BACHCHAN says:

February 20, 2011 at 1:01 am

DEAR PAPA, BHAGWAN, PAA.

TODAY MENE AAPKI OFFICE ME CALL

KIYA OR AAP KI OFFICE ME MERA APMAN

KIYA GAYA.

Prabhu me kitne dino se aap ko milne k liye

koshis kar raha tha us ke liye me aap ki office

me call karta hu to aap ki office k helper muje

kehte he ki 5 din bad, 4 din bad call karo to

me unki baat maan kar 4 din ya 5 din k baad

call karta hu par aaj mene call kiya to aap k

office k helper ko me jese hi apna name batata

hu to vo mera phone utha kar reciver niche

rakh ke phone chalu rakhte he par me jab

hello hello karta hu to koi jawab nahi deta

he or is tarah mera apman karte he.

Prabhu me aap ko apne baap saman manta

hu or mere sath hi kyun esa karte he, prabhu

me aap ko baap or bhagwan manta hu to

mera apman kyun hota he, pls aap unhe kuch

mat kahiyega. Par dukh hota he ki me aap

ko milna chahta hu or mera apman kiya jata

he koi baat nahi me aap k liye apna apman

sahan kar sakta hu par me aap se mil k

rahunga or 5-6 din baad phone karunga fir

mera apman hoga to vo bhi sah lunga

DEVANG JOSHI

Some readers just comment on the content

of post while others love to say good morning and

good night only. Others celebrities, getting good

feedback, are Ram Gopal Varma, Shekhar Kapoor,

Chetan Bhagat, Shobha De, Arindam Chaudhuri and

Narendra Modi.

Key Findings

l Celebrities use blogs as tool of publicity and

advertising

l Content is informative but promotional in

place of personal memoir

l Visuals and videos are used to substantiate

promotional content extensively

l Very few bureaucrats, businessmen and sports

personalities own blogs

l Film personalities, journalists, writers have

sizable presence in the blogosphere

l Bollywood stars and media persons are active

bloggers

l Hindi is not a blog language except in blogs

by Hindi writers and journalists

l Popular bloggers use Hinglish language, a

mix of net speak and abbreviations

l Amitabh Bachchan is most regular celebrity

blogger with extensive feedback

l Feedback is more in the blogs with regular

blogs

l Feedback is negative as well as positive

l Black, grey, blue and white are the most

preferred colours in celebrity blogs

l More than half the blogs are ordinary in style

and format

35

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

References :

1. Lister Martin, Dovey Jon, Giddings Seth,

Grant Iain and Kelly Kieran (2009) : New

Media: A Critical Introduction' (second

edition) Routledge Publication, New York

2. Wallace P. (2001) : The psychology of the

Internet, Cambridge University Press

3. Bruns, Axel, and Joanne Jacobs, eds. Uses

of Blogs, Peter Lang, New York, 2006.

4. Kline, David; Burstein, Dan. Blogs : How the

Newest Media Revolution is Changing

Politics, Business, and Culture, Squibnocket

Partners, L.L.C., 2005.0

36

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

Environmental news reporting and

corporatized media in IndiaDr. Sony Jalarajan Raj*

Rohini Sreekumar**

ABSTRACT

Corporate mainstream Indian news media has deliberately sidelined environmental issues within

their news essence. As a third world priority for development journalism, Indian news media is

supposed to take initiative in developing environment as a strong beat in their day to day news

reporting. But corporate media organizations in India handle the beat with much delicacy and

flippancy. In fact, corporate environmental reporting, i.e., publicly available, stand-alone reports

issued voluntarily by companies on their environmental activities, captures major portion of

environmental reporting in Indian national newspapers and television channels. Going green,

hence, has become a viable route for financial and social stability and popularity. However, a

sharp contradiction can be witnessed in the regional media of India, precisely newspapers of

Kerala (the southernmost state of India), which have set their own agenda of making socially

responsible environmental journalism practices. Media in Kerala owns the status of a trend setter

in localized environmental reporting, making way for public participation and dialogue, ultimately

opening the way to a 'green public sphere'. This article aims at analyzing the status of Indian

environmental journalism when compared to its global counterparts as well as regional players.

It also examines the nuances between corporate and public service broadcasting in making

environment as a crucial point of discussion among public. The article relies on qualitative

methodology based on content and text analysis to reach the conclusion.

Introduction

Environment can be defined as 'involving the

total interactions of living things, physical systems

and the institutions of society', where, 'everything

is connected to everything else' (Schoenfeld; 1979).

When Silent Spring (Carson, 2002) conquered the

American literary market, it was actually setting the

stage for a new movement for environmental

protection, aimed at the hazardous impact of

chemical like DDT on environment. In the past few

decades the environment has gained prominence

in global news agendas (Everett, 1995; Anderson,

1997) helping to disseminate the information that

can assist in mobilizing the public. However, there

has been little increase in the number of journalists

assigned for this beat and minimal increase in the

*Lecturer in Journalism, School of Arts of Social Sciences, Monash University (e-mail : sonyjraj@gmail.com)

**Pursuing Ph.D. School of Arts & Social Sciences, Monash University (e-mail :luk4rohini@gmail.com)

37

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

amount of time and space devoted to it (Lamay,

Craig & Dennis, Everette; 1991). Journalists often

take for granted their own perception that society

is united (Hartley 1982) and share the same

perception when viewing certain issues. Hence

when examining the global commercialized media

and its relationship with environment, one can note

a number of negative or non-progressive changes

regarding the coverage of environmental issues

throughout the last three decades. Similarly, within

Indian Journalism there has been little tangible

acknowledgement or evidence of this global issue

occupying any significant presence within the

national news agency.

Corporate media organizations in India

handle the beat with much delicacy that limits

environmental journalism to the coverage of

individuals and their respective proclamations like

Medha Patkar and her 'Narmada Bachavo

Aandolan' (Save Narmada River Campaign/ NBA).

In fact, corporate environmental reporting, i.e.,

publicly available, the reports issued voluntarily by

companies on their environmental activities,

captures major portion of environmental reporting

in Indian national newspapers and television

channels. However, a sharp contradiction can be

witnessed in the regional media of India, precisely

newspapers of Kerala, which have set their own

agenda of producing a socially responsible

environmental journalism. Thus media in Kerala can

be classified as pioneers in the field of local Indian

environmental reporting, promotions, public

participation and dialogue, ultimately opening the

way to a 'green public sphere'. This article analyses

contemporary Indian environmental journalism and

compares it with its counterparts as regional players.

It also examines the concern within the news

agenda, difference between corporate and public

service broadcasting in discussing environment.

Indian Environmental Journalism - Facetious

Activism

In 1998, a tribal woman, Sumani Jogdi of

Orissa's Koraput district, came into public

recognition and appreciation in India through a

campaign against 'Bauxite mining' in her village.

In her words:

'If you want to do development works for

people like me, get me access to more forests.

I will collect more mohua flowers and earn

more. A steel industry will just displace me,

take away my forests and will give back few

days of daily wage jobs. That is not

development for me,' (As quoted in

Mahapatra; 2008).

Sumani's economic model for rural

development based on local ecology was in sharp

contrast to contemporary political discourse that

promotes investment as a method for raising the

living standard of the poor (Mahapatra; 2008).

Conflicts over natural resources have been catalyst

in emergence of environmental movement in India

and are linked with emotional reverence of

Mahathma Gandhi, who is acknowledged as the

'patron saint of environmental movements in India'

(Kalland & Persoon,; 1998). Rooted in Gandhian

ideologies, Chipko movement, based on India's

century old tradition of peasant resistance in defense

of forest rights, merged in the post-independence

era during 1974, when the peasants of Reni village

in Uttarkand prevented cutting trees by forming

human chains around tress and hugging them . It

displayed not only their zeal to protect their

livelihood (Heaslip; 2005), but their keen

38

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

dedication to conserve the perishing green

environment. The public's perception of what

constitutes the environment plays a crucial role in

how they recognize and respond to environmental

problems (Coyle et al. 2003). According to Guha

(1995), the relationship between colonialism and

ecological decline is neglected by most historians

of modern India who have focused more on the

social and political consequences of colonial rule.

As Karl Marx put it, the conversion of land that

was normally utilized by the poor to collect wood

or harvest food- a 'customary right of the poor'-

was transformed into a 'monopoly of the rich'(As

quoted in 'Collected Works' of Marx & Engels;

1975); movements like Chipko, Narmada Bachavo

Aandolan (N.B.A.), the fisherfolks' struggle in

Kerala, the forest movement in Jharkhand and

Madhya Pradesh, the Koel Karo and the Tehri

projects elucidate and well establish this fact. One

important factor is that the rural Indian is highly

dependent upon natural resources for their survival.

The most controversial and universally

recognized among them, Narmada Bachao

Andolan, was a social movement consisting of

people from different social and cultural strata like

tribals, farmers, environmentalists and human right

activists who have stood against the Sardar Sarovar

Dam being built across the Narmada River, Gujarat,

India. These kinds of developments directly hamper

a subsistence economy that is so prominent across

rural India. Thus the environmental movements in

different parts of the country have emerged from

conflict over the ecological resources needed for

the livelihood of the rural poor (Sharma, 2007).

Hence, 1970s can be considered as the genesis of

a serious environmental movement as well as a

radical culture of eco-reporting when journalists

successfully challenged the conventional policies

of the advocates of large scale development in India

(Shah, & Shah, 2008).

Later on, in 1985, the country witnessed a

drastic environmental and human disaster in the

form of Bhopal gas tragedy. The world's worst

industrial catastrophe occurred on December, 1984

at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide

plant in Bhopal, India due to a leak of methyl

isocyanate gas and other chemicals from the plant,

which resulted in death toll of 20,000 and more

than six hundred thousand still suffering its burden.

This incident can be viewed as the first

instance when Indian journalism seriously and

responsibly covered an environmental cause, giving

developments of rescue information. However, as

days passed, the coverage only comes during

anniversaries each year on the people who lost their

lives and those who are wailing on the demise of

their dear ones. 25 years after the incident, the

dramatic verdict was announced, eight people were

convicted for the world's worst industrial disaster

and sentenced to two years in prison. One of them

died during the course of trial and the other seven

accused were granted bail. Media, with tooth and

nail, celebrated the arrival of a sensational news

item.

'Twenty-five years have passed since that

night of terror and death in Bhopal, which

saw a cloud of deadly gases explode out of a

faulty tank in a pesticide factory and silently

spread into the homes of sleeping people"

(Times of India, 2009)

"Bhopal gas tragedy: 26 years after, skeletons

of the past haunts the survivors' (Business

Standard, 2010)

39

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

'Those who advocate environmental causes

were branded as the people who want to keep

India backward, significant initiatives in wild

life protection, social forestry, soil

management, resource management,

alternative energy, etc., undertaken by

voluntary organisations throughout the

country during this time were poorly

reported.' (Shah & Shah, 2008).

India has the largest number of poor in the

world and poverty in India is primarily

environment-driven. Thus environmental

journalism, in India is dominated by issues

surrounding poverty (Mahapatra, 2010). While, for

developed western countries environment is a

luxury at the time of economic stability, for Asian

countries issues surrounding development take

precedence. Hence eco-reporting go hand in hand

with journalism. Pillmann (2000) posits that

environmental communication can be seen as a link

process between the source and the recipients, but

the nature of communication depending on the

social and cultural situation of a particular country.

India enjoys a mass culture, where the major source

of information is from newspapers.

They (newspapers) grew because

entrepreneurs detected a growing hunger for

information among ever-widening sections of

India's people, who were potential consumers

as well as newspaper readers. (Jeffrey; 2000)

But how far newspapers have been

successful in being a responsible arbitrator is

debatable. Anderson (1997) opines that

environmental news today is characterized by three

factors; first, it is event-centered, i.e. it is associated

with the coverage of dramatic events like any

natural disasters like earthquake, or accidents like

oil spills. Second, environmental news is visually-

oriented, so the more dramatic the images, the more

likely its publicity. Since environmental problems

take a long time to develop, they do not fit into 24

hour news cycles. Therefore, it is crucial that there

is a consistent coverage of environmental issues to

keep the public informed about problems that pose

a long term threat. This is the third factor that

Anderson proposed.

On 27th August 2008, 'The Times of India'

published a news story- 'NCA okays building piers

on Narmada Dam'- claiming the source as 'Narmada

Control Authority', who was supposed to render this

'news' earlier that month. In the next line, it was

added that 'but this would happen only after

clearance from NCA's two sub groups: for

environment and for resettlement and rehabilitation'.

Contradictively, the next day, a news story appeared

in 'The Hindu', with a headline, 'Narmada authority

no to raising dam height (The Hindu, 28 August

2008). The news reported that 'the NCA in its

meeting chaired by Water Resources Secretary, U

N Panjiyar decided that no permission would be

given until Rehabilitation and Resettlement sub

group and the Environmental sub groups were

consulted'.

Another pseudo green concern can be

witnessed if we evaluate the contents of newspapers

on June 5 2011 which is supposed to be the World

Environmental Day, the day media compete to get

more advertisements and thereby more revenue.

Hindustan Times in Mumbai turned all their

headlines into green, a novel way of demonstrating

their green concern (Sharma; 2011).

Journalism plays a crucial role in the progress

of a nation without the risk of any ecological or

environmental degradation, by regularly reporting

40

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

on these issues (Vincent & Mahesh; 2007).

Unfortunately, in recent years, at an international

level, there have been a significant reduction in

journalistic eco services; for instance, CNN slashed

their entire science, technology, and environment

reporting unit in 2009 (Boykoff; 2010). As far as

India is concerned, the state-owned electronic media

corporation 'Prasar Bharati', which governs-

Doordarshan (TV) and All India Radio prefers

largely to ignore controversial environmental

issues. But they do promote 3-minutes

advertisement campaigns against pollution or the

odd programme on wildlife and the - general state

of the environment. Doordarshan does on occasion

hold discussions on crucial issues like dam

construction, developmental or forest policies, but

the debates are rather dreary, and usually telecast

outside of prime time. Ecology therefore is being

perceived as a responsibility of the Government,

not so much of people and civic society. Anil

Agarwal, a noted environmentalist and founder of

the environment magazine 'Down To Earth',

remarked that:

"Economic liberalization has become a

perfect excuse for government to cover up

environmental problems'. Because the

powerful middle class is the chief beneficiary

of the boom and has been trying hard to push

aside environmental concerns as stumbling

blocks" (As quoted in Mahapatra, R; 2010).

Success stories that centre on the role of

communities in achieving desirable change in

environmental concerns are either not covered or

given little priority (CMS Research Study, 2003).

A study conducted by the Centre for Media Studies

(CMS) in 2003 concluded that the environment

receives minimal coverage compared to politics and

entertainment, with The Times of India (the highest

circulated English newspaper) attaining the first

place in the list with a meager rate of 6.82%. The

graph clearly shows that, as time passed, Indian

newspapers become conscious of the

indispensability in allotting more space for

environmental news coverage. In 2007 the total

news stories printed by the four English dailies

(Times of India, The Hindu, Hindustan Times,

Indian Express) in India were only less than 100,

whereas in 2009 it became more than 650 news

stories in an year. Even the most trendy and

corporatized The Times of India too was compelled

to publish more than 100 news stories on

environment in a year, exclusively. Often

environmental issues receive media coverage only

in the context of politics, natural disasters, extreme

weather abnormalities or eye-catching activist

action (Shah, 2008). The news media's sensational

approach to environmental issues demonstrates a

persistent pattern throughout the last twenty years.

Reports on environmentalism thrive on dramatic

events, where the 'good' and the 'bad' parties are

pitched against each other in a frenzy of attention

grabbing (Anderson, 1997). For instance, THE

GREENATHON a first of its kind 24-hour nonstop

programming urging Indian citizens to take a

pledge towards a greener tomorrow initiated by

NDTV, became popular through its star

extravaganza. The CMS study revealed that

environmental issues comprise only 0.35 percent

of news in popular Indian news channels (see

Appendix- Figure -1). Despite all its constraints,

the press in India is completely free to criticize state-

sponsored policies, plans and projects: it can, and

regularly does, criticise any government project that

it believes goes against the interests of the

environment. Social protest groups have

41

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

recognized the importance of gaining access to

media to help raise awareness for their causes and

mobilize supporters (Corbett, 1998)

At this juncture, it becomes important to

discuss the achievements of two ground breaking

environmental media and their respective reporters.

i. Down To Earth - A Path towards

Responsible Journalism

'Down to Earth' a science and environment

magazine is the only mainstream media that is

exclusively on environmental issues and became

the icon of a responsible environmental journalism

in India. Perhaps, the success of the magazine can

be attributed to Anil Agarwal, its first editor who

recognized the futility of trading off the needs of

people and the environment against each other.

Before stepping into editorship, he served as

science correspondent in Hindustan Times. He

founded the Centre for Science and Environment

in 1980 to further his quest for research in

environmental issues and dilemmas. Hoots' editorial

(2002) describes him:-

'He had the ability to make linkages between

society and environment, governance and

environment, science and issues of people's

health and people's livelihood. He chose to

create a research institution and a magazine

to provide ballast to his journalistic crusade,

found the funding for these institutions, and

made the two a joint launch pad for research-

based campaigns that neither policy makers,

nor industry, nor thinking citizens could

ignore.'(The Hoot; 2002)

Two years before, Centre for Science and

Environment, undertook a scientific testing of

endosulphan residues in the environment and

human blood in Padre Village in Kasargode district

of Kerala, the result of which revealed consciously

high levels of the chemical. The issue was covered

by major national newspapers and television

channels. After the publication of the study, the state

government of Kerala banned the further aerial

spraying of endosulphan (Centre for Science and

Environment official Website). The magazine

covered issues from pollution and climate change

to price crisis of agro products and wild life

depletion. Their news report on the status of Indian

tigers, which are facing depletion at a higher rate,

led to the formation of the Tiger Task Force.

Consequently, the news paved the way for the

inquiry and evaluation of all the national parks and

wild life sanctuaries in India. Hence Down To Earth

is supposed to be like a campaign, but a more liberal

way of passing credible information to the society,

which in turn can make people realize and activate

them in conserving environment in what all ways

they can.

"Inspired reporting, grounded in solid

research, making scientific data

comprehensible to the general public is an

essential tool in our efforts to care for the

earth and our health. As our world grows

both more interconnected, and more

fragmented at the same time, we must

constantly struggle to understand the larger

picture, and good journalism can provide the

lens through which we acquire that critical

understanding,"(As quoted in The Hoot,

2002)

Agarwal also brought his own style of

influencing politics, through a combination of

scholarly work, acerbic journalism and careful

political campaigning. His reports on The State of

42

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

India's Environment, written with colleagues at the

CSE in 1982, challenged the elitist basis of

environmentalism, and sought to portray the

environment as a political problem partly reflecting

international and class-based divisions of power and

wealth (Baviskar, 2002)

ii. The Hindu and Sainath- A perfect 'eco-duo'

The Hindu has already set the stage for a

responsible journalism, in the past through its

coverage of the Bhopal tragedy. Its environmental

coverage is never limited to mere press releases or

official declarations, and, like Down to Earth, The

Hindu too has proved its genuineness towards

environmental concerns through its in depth reports.

"A HEARTENING development in the West is

the increased clout of the ``Green'' parties

who are part of decision-makers. The fact

that there is a move to go slow or even phase

out nuclear power stations is a welcome

development. The ``Greenpeace'' movement

is gathering strength, though everyone may

not approve of its methods to prove a point.

It is a cat and mouse game being enacted in

several countries where the environmental

activists are keeping a close watch on the

moves of the business houses which seem to

spring surprises." (The Hindu, 01 May 2001)

"The universal drive for higher incomes in

the face of mounting environmental

destruction has heightened the expressed

tension between fast growth and

environmental protection. The perception of

a trade-off between the two goals rests on

the view often held - wrongly - that

environmental protection, not environmental

degradation, is the obstacle to rapid growth.

The reality, however, is that it will not be

possible to sustain high growth in the coming

years without environmental care." (The

Hindu, 10 Feb, 2011)

It was through Sainath, the rural affairs editor

of The Hindu, that farmer suicide in Indian villages

received national prominence. Sainath condemned

that the media's attention is shifting from news to

glossy entertainment stuff, and consumerism and

commercialisation is gaining prominence in the

newspaper, thus excluding the real poor. Cockburn

(2005) quoted him saying,

"I felt that if the Indian press was covering

the top 5 per cent, I should cover the bottom

5 per cent."

The soul of a journalist is identified and

portrayed by Sainath through his quest to bring forth

the issue of farmer suicide to the public domain.

He proved that a newspaper is the best platform to

bring revolutions in society; and it did bring some

positive steps from government officials regarding

drought, famer suicide and poverty. When the

Indian administration was unaware of the suicide

toll of farmers in the country, Sainath kept its record

with evidence.

'When businessmen from Aurangabad in the

backward Marathwada region bought 150

Mercedes Benz luxury cars worth Rs. 65 crore

at one go in October, it grabbed media

attention The value of the Mercedes deal

equals the annual income of tens of

thousands of rural Marathwada households.

And countless farmers in Maharashtra

struggle to get any loans from formal sources

of credit. It took roughly a decade and tens

of thousands of suicides before Indian

43

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

farmers got loans at 7 per cent interest -

many, in theory only.' (Sainath, 2010)

The State (Maharashtra) saw 4,453 farmers'

suicides that year, over a quarter of the all-

India total of 17,060The suicides in

Maharashtra mark an increase of 527 over

the 2005 figure. This was four and a half times

bigger than that in Andhra Pradesh, the next

worst-hit State, which saw a rise of 117 farm

suicides over 2005' (Sainath, 2008)

Boykoff (2010) claims that Indian English

language national newspaper coverage of climate

change has risen sharply in the past 18 months.

This may be the result of the so called 'tap-dancing'

between media and environment (Castells, 2004).

The two groups caught in an ongoing dance that

changes tempo quickly and involve improvisation

from both partners (Hutchins & Lester, 2006). It is

the media that serves as the primary and hotly

contested communicative interface - the structuring

intermediary- between environmentalists and

developers as they compete for public awareness

and approval. The media is more than a site for

environmental action; it plays a significant role in

shaping debate and influencing outcomes. It is here

that representations are determined; images softened

or distorted, and power granted or denied (Hutchins,

& Lester, 2006).

Grounded on Earth: The Kerala Model of

Environmental Journalism

Development experts have debated for years

about the "Kerala Model" of development, for

applying this model in other Indian states or even

other countries (STWR website, 2008). According

to the United Nations Development Program's

Human Development Index, since 1998 India is

constantly placed between 124 and 128 among 175

countries (ibid.; 2008). But Kerala stands unique

among the Indian states with a consistently higher

level (precisely twice that of the national rate) of

human development comparable with that of many

advanced countries but with a much lower per

capita income (Parayil, 1996).

The environment has long been a priority in

Kerala which holds a primeval outlook, regarding

ecology; even the construction models - Vasthu,

folk culture and philosophy is deeply responsive

to nature. This state has a long list of eco-movement

like Silent Valley Movement, Save Pooyamkutty

agitation, Pampa Action Plan, Rain water harvesting

campaign, Plachimada agitation against Coco Cola,

Movement against ground water exploitation in

Perumatti at Palakkad by Pepsi Co., Save Kuttanadu

Campaign, Mathrubhumi SEED Campaign (student

empowerment for environmental development) etc,

and many of this movement got catalyzed by

various media institutions of the state. However it

was only in 2006 that an independent administrative

department for environmental issues was created

and a 'Working Group on Environment' (WGE) was

established.

Because of its typical geographical features,

consisting of lush hills, forest, farm land etc, it

gradually became a highly desired tourist

destination, and consequently, tourism is a major

source of income in Kerala (Department of Tourism,

2000). Even though this shift in the status of the

state brought huge income, it had its own ecological

drawbacks. Great swathes of its land being taken

up by marshy backwaters, tea plantations, rice

paddies and lofty mountains, the diversity of plant

and animal life found in Kerala is seriously under

threat from the rapid growth of tourism.

44

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

Uncontrolled and indiscriminate mining of river

beds for 'sand' which is one of the unavoidable

elements in the construction sector has lead to the

death of the rivers which are in fact the life line of

the state. Its uniqueness includes a highly conscious

population with an imbibed intense media

consumerism. Keralites are often quoted as 'news

hungry' (Ajayan, 2010); the prime factor of which

is the highest literacy rate it enjoys (91%). When

the climate change and pollution, the global

environmental problems, and the dam controversies

best exemplified by the Narmada Valley Project,

form the majority of environmental news in national

newspapers and media (Gokhale, 2001), localized

environmental problems like land reforms, water

conservation, and public oriented environmental

campaigns reign in Malayalam media. The

vernacular media imbibes this spirit and the mass

psyche even after renaissance is responsive to

movements.

The Silent Valley is an 'ecological island' with

a relatively undisturbed evolutionary history of at

least 50 million years manifested in a high degree

of floral and faunal endemism and rare, endangered

and new biological species (Surendran, 2004). In

1973 the valley became the focal point of a protest

when the Kerala State Electricity Board decided to

implement the Silent Valley Hydro-Electric Project

(SVHEP) centered on a dam across the

Kunthipuzha River that could flood 8.3 km of

virgin rainforest. In 1983, the then Prime Minister

of India, Indira Gandhi, decided to abandon the

project and on November 15 the Silent Valley

forests were declared as a National Park. In Kerala,

it was the first instance when newspapers addressed

environmental concern as a serious issue. It can be

said as a silent literary environmental protest since

Kerala Saasthra Sahitya Parishat and poets like

Sugathakumari, whose poem 'Marathinu Stuthi'

(Ode to a Tree) became a symbol for the protest

from the intellectual community, made the protest

more lively and helped to arouse public opinion

(Mohan, 2004).

Unlike in USA, UK and rest of India,

newspaper circulation is soaring in Kerala despite

the severe competition put forward by the television

channel clutter (Rajendran, 2010). While, India

reached the level of 40 newspapers for thousand

populations in the year 2000, Kerala had achieved

it in 1960 (Jeffrey, 2000). Kerala's high health,

education and material well being have contributed

to the high level of awareness amongst its

population in regards to environmental issues. Mass

media coverage of environmental issues in Kerala

has activated a highly energised and participatory

culture amongst Keralities in regards to

environmental issues. Former Kerala Minister for

Forests Mr. Binoy Viswam, for one, has appreciated

the contribution of the media in creating popular

awareness of the need to protect and improve the

environment. In an interview published in the online

edition of The Hindu on the occasion of the 25th

anniversary of the Silent Valley Movement in

December 2009, Mr. Viswam rightly called attention

to the fact that one of the most important positive

changes in social attitudes during the half century

following the formation of Kerala was the growth

in environmental consciousness. Communication,

both mass and interpersonal, holds the key to

improvement in public understanding of

environmental problems (Stamm, et al, 2000).

Mediated communication is one method for

enhancing public knowledge and understanding.

Such an assertion is justified considering signs of

45

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

people's dependence on the media for information

about the environment and sustainability as

proposed by the media dependency theory (Ball-

Rokeach and DeFleur, 1976).

Mathrubhumi, a regional daily of India,

demonstrated their green responsibility through the

'Plachimada issue' (an investigative report against

Coca Cola). After availing license from local

council, Perumatty Grama Panchayat, Coco-cola

began its business in Plachimada, Kerala, where

people were already struggling for water.

Mathrubhumi refused to run any advertisements for

Coca-Cola and the company's other brand names

like Mirinda, 7 Up, Sprite, Fanta, Kinley Soda,

Thums Up (Cockburn, 2005). They did this, despite

the obvious financial losses of such action incurred.

As Ryan, (1991) argues, 'all environmental

reporting, balanced or not, is advocacy, because it

raises awareness of these issues' (p. 95). Such an

advocacy journalism can be witnessed in Malayala

Manorama (the highest circulating newspaper in

Kerala) through their ambitious innovative

communication campaign in 2004 - 'Palathulli

Peruvellam' - aimed at raising awareness among

the people of Kerala on the importance of water

conservation and rainwater harvesting. It was a

creative campaign comprising road shows, video-

photo exhibitions, seminars and media publicity. It

conveyed effectively to 1.4 million people that

water conservation and rain water harvesting are

the solutions to drought and water scarcity in Kerala.

It was no wonder that it was awarded the 2005

IPDC-UNESCO Prize for Rural Communication. In

fact, Mortensen (2000: 26) observes that although

the public had the most trust in scientists when it

concerns environmental issues, 'they very often get

their information from the media, rather than

accepted scientific sources.' On the other hand,

people are likely to be exposed to sustainability and

environmental issues through the daily course of

listening to or reading the news and consequently

become reliant on the media for such information.

The activism of these newspapers go in hand

with Amit Sankar, the managing director of

Discovery channels who suggested that newspapers

need to concentrate on educating the lay persons

in creating an interest in environment.

'I feel that the age group of 14-20, consisting

of students, young professionals is the most

receptive. They are open to new ideas yet are

very idealistic and when they become

decision makers, their decisions will surely

be more environment friendly The only

means of creating greater awareness among

people is by involving them, convincing them

about the importance of issues and finally

educating them so that they can take care of

their immediate environs.' (In Karnik, 2001)

Apart from newspapers, television channels

(among more than 15 mainstream channels, 4 are

exclusive news channels) too express their green

concern in a participatory and innovative way. The

Kerala affiliate of Doordarshan Kendra is playing

a crucial role in eco-reporting. 'Green Kerala

Express' - the first and unique social reality show

in Indian television under the initiative of the

Ministry of Local Self Government and Suchitwa

Mission, aims to find the greenest village.

"Green Kerala Express is unique in that it re-

designs a very popular television genre for

developmental and social communication"

(Sajan, 2010).

The program followed a unique method of

46

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

rendering, where, like a travelogue, the anchors of

the show travel in a bicycle (a sustainable, non-

pollutant, and a tool for sustainable growth and

development) within a village or panchayat,

covering all Local Self Governments (LSGs). The

CDIT production team interview prominent persons

and laymen of all LSGs, familiarize with the

historical, social and economic condition of it, and

make two short films- one its cultural and historical

background and the other its developmental model-

which is then short listed to the final round. The

final selected LSGs are evaluated by a five member

panel based on screening of films, clarifying and

interviewing the representatives of respective LSGs,

as part of the reality show. The success of the

program greatly lies in its sustainable model of

localized developmental and environmental models,

which dwell deep into the issues of public

participation and dedication, ultimately taking this

localized issue into the global concern of pollution

and climate change.

Noting positive media effects, many have

associated the enhanced level of public knowledge

and awareness about environmental issues with

media coverage (Bowman and Hanaford 1977;

Howson and Cleasby 1996; Huckle 1995;

O'Riordan 1995; Sharma 2000; UNESCO-UNEP

1990).

'Since the emergence and rise of the modern

environmental movement in the 1960s, the

mass media have been a central public arena

for publicizing environmental issues and for

contesting claims, arguments and opinions

about our use and abuse of the environment.'

(Hansen, 2011)

The campaigns undertaken by newspapers

in Kerala are a great step towards linking society

with environmental issues. This is particularly

important as the causes and long-term effects of

environmental problems lie beyond personal

experience, as in the case of water conservation or

forestation. To connect a single observation with a

general problem is the outcome of an interpretation

process, in which media come into play (Arlt, et al,

2011). Kerala media has been particularly successful

in making environmental problems 'apparent' and

defined as problems through communication within

a social frame of reference (Luhmann, 1989).

Atwater (1988) noted that audiences rely on the

media for information about environmental issues,

because they rarely have direct access to related

information, and they have little or no direct

experiences with related issues. Gooch (1995)

opined:

'Many environmental problems cannot be

personally experienced - they are either too

distant, or cannot be directly seen, tasted or

smelt.'

Therefore, the mass media, as a

communicator of information to the public plays a

significant role in the distribution of knowledge

(Lance et al., 2003; Nerb and Spada, 2001).

Pillmann (2000) posits that environment

communication encompasses environment

education, environment politics and social

participation, and only then the foundation for a

sustainable association between people and

environment can be maintained. But sensationalism

is a threat to environmental reporting in any country.

Galtung and Ruge (1965, p. 62), have argued that

enduring values such as the "conventions of

newsworthiness" by which media organizations

evaluate the saleability of information or make a

selection of information that will be transformed

47

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

into news are based on the ability of a newspaper

to return a profit. Judging from the spate of

environmental issues now appearing in the Indian

press, environment is news whose time has come.

In effect, environment is entirely political - simply

because almost every issue concerns certain socio-

economic interests and their manipulation (Balaram,

1992).

Conclusion

The control of natural resources, the false

developmental policies of the government, the

marginalization of the tribal and other

underprivileged groups and environmental

degradation are the root causes of emergence of

the environmental movements in India. But how

far Indian media has been successful in portraying

these issues is a major matter of concern. The

release of the Oscar winning documentary An

Inconvenient Truth and the active participation of

Indians on a global level to highlight climate change

as well as the role of Dr. R.K. Pachauri in winning

the Nobel prize for the IPCC has initiated a new

era in Indian environmental journalism (Shah &

Shah; 2008).

This article has given a brief overview of

Indian environmental journalism, particularly

within the relatively small state of Kerala. It has

examined the contemporary Indian media's

coverage of environmental issues. Exploring the

history of developmental journalism and third world

priorities, the article had highlighted the failures of

the Indian media in promoting the environment as

a major issue of concern. The global media's

advancing commercialization led to the

environmental agenda being effectively marketed,

adhering to the capitalist values of the ruling

conglomerates. This naturally moved to national

media, both newspaper and television. For a country

like India, which has a fast growing population and

economy, there is a strong need to endorse

humanitarian value and environment awareness in

news production. When national media followed

global hegemony in issues to the environment,

regional media set forth a new model of

environmental journalism that located the issues and

initiated environmental friendly activities. News

media must open up further vistas to explore the

new globalised practice of environmental journalism

and the failure of such a socially responsible practice

in gaining global recognition and mention. Since

the world's most dominant business follows the

creed of capitalism instead of conforming to its huge

responsibility to the global community, it is unlikely

that the global media will transform the differing

interests of nations, businesses, ideologies into an

environmentally conscious unity. At this juncture,

regional media need to take up the responsibility

of a green societal transformation. Apprehension

of the adverse impact of global warming and climate

change on agriculture and water availability has

brought in a new dimension. This is where the

Indian news media, which has done credible job

so far covering climate change issues, needs to raise

both the qualitative and quantitative levels of their

efforts - with help from scientists and other experts

(Viswanathan, 2010).

WWF (2009) put forward certain

recommendations for Indian journalists, i.e., their

need to understand that environmentalism and

conservation go beyond animals and plants. These

issues involve aspects related to international

relations, politics, economics, trade, sociology,

social development, and education. The prominent

environmental stories need and will only be the

result of a closer cooperation between Indian

48

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

journalists with government and non-governmental

organizations, communities, lobbying groups, as

well as concerned citizens. A greater awareness

among audiences will emerge only after journalists

give wildlife/forestry issues the weight and

importance they deserve. Revamping should be

done in the entire curriculum of journalism courses

to give as much weightage to environmental

reporting as other specialized reporting, by

correlating science with communication.

References :

1. Acharya, K and Noronha, F (eds.). The Green

Pen: Environmental Journalism in India and

South Asia. 2010, New Delhi, Thousand

Oaks, London: Sage Publications

2. Agarwal, A. and Narain, S. Global warming

in an unequal world: a case of environmental

colonialism. 1991, Centre for Science and

Environment, New Delhi

3. Ajayan (2010). 'News Hungry Kerala to Get

a Dozen More Television Channels'.

LiveMint.com 13 September 2010. Retrieved

from http://www.livemint.com/2010/09/

13232038 on 22 August 2010

4. Atwater, T. 'Reader Interest in Environmental

News'. Newspaper Research Journal, 1988,

Vol. 10, pp 31-38.

5. Bowman, J.S. and Hanaford, K. (1977) 'Mass

media and the environment since Earth day'.

Journalism Quarterly Vol. 57 Issue no. (1),

pp. 160-165.

6. Boykoff, M. (2010). 'Indian media

representations of climate change in a

threatened journalistic ecosystem'. Climate

Change, Vol.99, pp 17-25

7. Carson, R Silent Spring, 2002, Houghton

Mifflin Harcourt.

8. Castells, M. The Power of Identity, 2nd ed.

2004, Oxford: Blackwell.

9. Centre for Media Studies (CMS) Research

Study (2003). Trends of Environmental news

in National Dailies. Retrieved from http://

cmsenvis.cmsindia.org on 7 October 2010

10. Centre for Science and Environment (2003).

SC bans Endosulfan; Order to be effective

till ICMR submits report. Retrieved from

http://www.cseindia.org/content/sc-bans-

endosulfan-order-be-effective-till-icmr-

submits-report on 06 October 2010.

11. Craig, G. (2007). 'Aotearoa New Zealand

Environmental Groups and news media

Relations'. Australian Journal of

Communication. Vol.34, Issue no. (1), pp 55-

70

12. Endosulfan pesticide victims: Different

figures, Similar lies? (2011). Voice of

Keralam, 7 January 2011. Retrieved from

http://voiceofkeralam.blogspot.com/2011/01/

on 04 April 2011

13. Gokhale, V (1991). The Indian Media's

Response to Global Media. News Media in a

Shrinking World, Encounter 90'. Retrieved

from http://www.veenago.com/nonfiction/

Indian_Media_Envrio_Issues.pdf

14. Guha, R., The unquiet woods: Ecological

change and peasant resistance in the

Himalayas, 1990, Berkeley, University of

California Press.

15. Hansen, A. (2011). 'Communication, media

and environment: Towards reconnecting

49

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

research on the production, content and

social implications of environmental

Communication'. The International

Communication Gazette. Vol.72, Issue no. (1-

2), pp 7-25

16. Mahapatra, R (2010). 'Environmental

Journalism at the Time of Economic

Liberalisation' In Acharya, K and Noronha,

F (eds). The Green Pen: Environmental

Journalism in India and South Asia. New

Delhi, Thousand Oaks, London: Sage

Publications.

17. Marx, K and Frederick, E (1975-2001).

Collected Works, volume 1-49, Lawrence and

Wishart, London.

18. Parayil, G (2008). Narmada authority no to

raising dam height. The Hindu, 28 August

2008

19. Sainath, P (2008). 17060 farm suicides in one

year. The Hindu, 31 Jan 2008

20. Sainath, P (2010). Of Luxury Cars and Lowly

Tractors. The Hindu 27 December 2010

21. Shah, I.K and Shah, H (2008). 'Environmental

Journalism: Concept and Scope in India'.

Indian Journal of Science Communication.

Vol.7, Issue no. 2, pp. 25-30

22. Shah, R (2008). NCA Okays Building Piers

on Narmada Dam. Times of India 27 August

2008

23. Varma, S (2009). Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

Endless Nightmare. Times of India, 03

December 2009 Retrieved from http://

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bhopal-

Gas-Tragedy-Endless-nightmare/articleshow/

5294330.cms on 12 December 2010

24. Vincent, S and Mahesh, A (2007).

'Journalism: The Practise and the Potential'.

In Rajan, Nalini, 21st Century Journalism in

India. New Delhi: Sage

25. Viswanathan, S (2010). Growing Awareness

about Environment. The Hindu 28 June 2010

26. Workshop on NREGA and Media Advocacy:

December 2009. Retrieved from http://

the t ransformingword .wordpress .com/

category/media-and-environmental-action/

on 12 December 2010

50

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

Appendix I

Figure 1 : Media coverage of environmental issues in Major Indian news channels

Source:- CMS ENVIS Research Study http://cmsenvis.cmsindia.org/resources/mediaanalysis.pdf

51

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

Research Methodology of

Mapping PerceptionsNeemo Dhar*

ABSTRACT

Media has a great influence on perceptions whereas reverse is also true. Media reporting is

guided by general opinion or the view point and the general acceptance of news content by

audiences which in turn is based on audience's convictions and beliefs. This is a symbiotic

relationship as media influences perceptions and image of an organization thereby influencing

the stakeholder's behavior and acceptance. Similarly perceptions get influenced and formed by

media reports. This relationship, if not managed with timely communication, interventions and

corrective measures in consonance with the needs and aspirations of stakeholders, can create a

vicious cycle of sentiments, convictions and beliefs and an image of the organization far away

from reality and to an extent where perceptions will be believed and will determine stakeholder's

response and behavior. The present paper deals with the case study of Delhi Development Authority

i.e. DDA which has a huge public interface but despite having done tremendous work in Delhi,

the response of stakeholders and Media is totally different and is led by the common perceptions

of the organization and not by reality.

Introduction

Perception in literal sense is the response to

stimuli and combining of sensations into

recognition or impression. It is thus the first

impression of an object, process, personality or an

organization. Perception though it appears to be a

common term, is difficult to comprehend or

understand and thus is elusive. Organisational

perception is the first impression about an

organization which may be true or not but if allowed

to continue it becomes an opinion leading to an

image and determines the behavior of stakeholders

and media. It also shapes the opinion of opinion

makers which in turn adds to the perception and

trends in media reporting. Perception of an

organization depends on:

1. Actual work done and timely communicated

through various modes of communication.

2. Inadequate work done leading to public cry.

3. Proper delivery of services.

4. Proper Public Interface and Consumer

Satisfaction.

All the four components need to be managed

in a proper and balanced fashion and if there is

deficient or mismanagement of any one of the

components the perceptions go haywire leading to

reporting and media hype quite contrary to the

reality.

In this paper, study has been done of crisis

situation in DDA and the trends of media reporting

based on popular perceptions. The Delhi

Development Authority was founded in 1957 and

has completed about 53 years of its existence. It is

the sole development agency entrusted with the

planning and development of the city of Delhi. It

*Commissioner [Public Relations] Delhi Development Authority, New Delhi (e-mail ID: neemodhar@gmail.com)

52

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

has so far, developed/provided shelter to more than

a million people and also provided facilities like

residential, recreational infrastructural and greens

to the people of Delhi.

Development Authority comes in contact

with almost every citizen of Delhi directly or

indirectly. Though DDA has done tremendous

work, it is always viewed as a very lethargic

Government Organisation and its working is

associated only with the development of houses.

Methodology

After doing the review of literature, wherein

the components of media and perception have been

researched, the crisis situation faced by DDA during

Housing Scheme, 2008 was studied by studying

the news paper reports. A total of 300 clippings

published from 16th August, 2008 to 30th of

October, 2009 that is during the floating of the

scheme and its final clearance given by various

investigating agencies were analysed. Trends in

reporting by linking them to the information

disseminated by DDA through press releases,

conferences and one to one interaction were

followed and analysed. The newspapers which

were followed up were (1) The Times of India (2)

Hindustan Times (3) Dainik Jagran (4) Nav Bharat

Times (5) Hindustan Hindi (6) Punjab Kesari (7)

The Hindu (8) The Pioneer.

Details of the Scheme

Delhi Development Authority announced a

housing scheme on 16th of August, 2008. The

scheme had an USP as "affordable housing" as the

houses offered under the scheme were about 40

percent less in cost as compared to the market rate

of the flats in the city. For launching the scheme

DDA held a press briefing on 14th August, 2008.

The announcement was reported in all the

newspapers and all the newspapers projected the

difference in cost in the market rate and DDA rate.

All the banks in the city announced schemes

towards financing of registration money, which was

Rs. 1.50 lakh per application. Due to the low cost

of the flats, it was a gamble for any one as one had

to pay Rs.5000/- to get loan of Rs.1.50 lakhs

towards the registration money and later could sell

the house at a premium. As per DDA record, about

six lakhs applications were received for 5238 flats.

In the conditions of allotment contained in

brochure given to applicants DDA had mentioned

that the scrutiny of documents and the authenticity

of the documents submitted with the application,

will be done only for successful applicants as it was

not possible for it to scrutinize all the applications

before the draw. After the announcement of the

scheme, reports of middlemen manipulating and

applying on behalf of Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes i.e. reserve category, which had

a priority reservation of 17%, appeared in various

newspapers. This as per reports was to corner the

flats which could be allotted to the Scheduled Castes

and Scheduled Tribes as their probability of getting

the flats, due to reservation, was high. As a reaction

to the reports, DDA communicated through

advertisements that no one should go to a

middleman as draw will be totally transparent. The

draw was held on 16th of December, 2008 and

results were displayed on the website and also

communicated through advertisements in National

Dailies. Within 15 days of the draw, there were

allegations of rigging of the draw in the media.

Allegations of double allotments, allegations of

rigging of the draw and allotting flats to SC & ST

applicants, who were non-existent or not aware of

53

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

such an application preferred in their name, kept

on being reported in all the newspaper from 22nd

December, 2008 to 3rd January 2009. All papers

alleged a very big scam. Calculations of the scam,

calculations of the money involved, news of

property deals, allegations on duplicate numbers

etc kept on being reported continuously in almost

all newspapers. DDA did not communicate anything

till 3rd of January.

DDA through a press conference on 4th

January, 2009 rebutted the issue. All the allegations

leveled through newspapers were explained point

by point. A brief of the process of the draw, point

by point explanation of various allegations was

given and reported live on many channels but with

a slant. The reporting in the newspapers was also

slated and not positive and it appeared that no

newspaper believed what DDA communicated and

kept on reporting various spiced stories about the

alleged scam along with DDA clarifications.

As per records in DDA, an enquiry was

ordered by the Government and the software of the

draw was sent for testing. The enquiry was held by

Economic Offences Wing and the software was

checked by NIC and CDAC. Public Interest

Litigation was also filed. DDA remained in the

news during the pendency of enquiry and stories

repeating earlier allegations and reporting

involvement of different officers and people kept

on being published. Though DDA during this

period, kept on communicating with its

stakeholders with clarifications etc., but it did not

have the desired effect.

The report from the agency entrusted with

the checking of the software and the Economic

Offences Wing, was received in October, 2009;

High Court also cleared the draw setting aside the

entire allegation and DDA was given a clean chit.

The news about no irregularity was hardly given

coverage.

Analysis

The perceptions about the draw which had

started in a small way at the beginning of the draw

and which were as per the existing perceptions of

DDA were not checked in time and thus became a

very strong belief /thought with all stakeholders.

Therefore, any clarification at a later date i.e. after

a lapse of 15 days on 3rd January, 2010 did not

have the desired results and were reported with

disbelief. The prevailing perceptions were

reinforced when the key-personnel in the

Government, despite denials from DDA, ordered

conducting an enquiry etc. The opposition also

started demanding resignation of Minister etc and

the draw remained in the news and even in

Parliament for quite some time generating interest

and perceptions. So strong was the opinion formed

that reality communicated had no effect firstly

because of the prevailing perception and secondly

due to delayed communication by DDA. DDA did

not communicate till 3rd January thereby allowing

allegations to settle and reinforcing the already

prevailing perceptions.

Conclusion

The conclusion which can be drawn after

analyzing reports is that media led by perceptions,

reinforced by competitiveness amongst the media

to sell more news based on popular public opinion

perceived a scam, sold its news, further reinforcing

the perceptions. The basic reason for it has been

that the perception of DDA right from beginning

of draw has not been very positive so the

stakeholders listened to the media and newspapers

54

July-September 2011

Media Mimansa

and paid no heed to DDA clarifications. The situation

was aggravated and perceptions turned into

conviction and belief when enquiry was ordered

and software seized for testing. Secondly the

communication from DDA was not timely thereby

de-establishing the communication component of

perception formation. It created an imbalance as

media was feeding the stakeholders but DDA

remained mum till 3rd January, 2009.

Therefore, perceptions if not linked to reality

need to be checked in time through effective

communication strategies and confidence building

measures otherwise the perceptions become

sentiments and convictions which are like hard

boiled eggs difficult to change. As the behavior of

stakeholders and acceptance of the policies and

programmes of any organization depends on

perceptions they need to be managed through

effective and timely communication.

References

1. K.J. Macbarry (Ed) Mass Communications

(London: Cline Bringley 1972) P.18 Headly

Read, Communication L Methods for All

Media (Chicago: University Illinois Pres

1972)

2. Sunanda Arya, Mass Media & Public

Opinion in India Printwell Publishers.

3. Joshua Meyrowits, "Images of Media:

Hidden Ferment and Harmony - in the field"

Journal of Communication 43 (1993) 55-67

4. Joseph T. Klapper. The Effect of Mass

Communication eds. 1. Desola Pool and other

(Chicago: Rand McNally 1973) PP 141-152

5. S.H. Venkatramani, All the Different Images-

Corporate Communications, Starling

Publishers Pvt. Ltd.

6. S. Ganesh, Lectures on Mass Communication

India Publishers & Distributors.

7. Peter B. Warr. Christopher, The perception

of People and Events (John Wiley & Sons).

8. Journal of Psychological Research,

Department of Psychology, University of

Bielefield, Germany.

9. Dharmendra Singh Adhyayan, Mass

Communication and Social Development,

Publishers and Distributors Delhi - 110094

10. The Effect of Brand Image & Public Relations,

Perceptions and Customer Loyalty.

International Journal of Management 25.2

(2008)