Role of Newspapers in Creating Awareness about Climate Change: A Comparative Study of English and Kannada Dailies

Abstract

Climate change can be coined as a change in the properties of the climate system over long periods of time, irrespective of causes. Globe is becoming warmer, rainfall is most unpredictable, gradual rise in sea level, and extreme weather events are more frequent and intense. The poor and marginalized, farmers are often most affected by climate variability and change in India. Bringing awareness about climate change among people is need of the hour. Mass media can reach the large audience. Present study is to analyze the role of newspapers in creating awareness about climate change and to know the rate of climate change issues in English and Kannda newspapers. The study was to compare the English and Kannda newspapers coverage of climate change. To know which language newspapers allocates more space for climate change issues. Content analysis method was adopted for this study. Two leading newspapers are taken for study, namely Deccan Herald and Samyukt Karnataka. Contents of both the newspapers of June, July and August months were analyzed. It is found that English newspapers give more coverage and space for climate change issues.