Climate change coverage in newspapers: A comparative study of The Hindu and The Times of India

Communicating climate change is one of the important functions of the mass media because it plays role in not only creating awareness among the public but it may also influence people take necessary actions to mitigate problems or to adopt to extreme conditions. Journalists have a special responsibility in communicating such a global issue. Climate change coverage in newspapers has to be done in both global and local context. Such an environmental issue needs to be communicated in a simplified manner for the better appreciation of the public. The study was conducted to understand the effectiveness of print medium in covering climate change news in Chennai with special reference to two English newspapers, The Hindu and The Times of India. Content analyses of these newspapers were done for a period of three months from November 2009 to January 2010 to study the number of articles being published and the importance given to climate change. The analysis of the climate change articles gave a clear insight into the coverage of climate change.