environmental trends in news channels 2009 13

nvironmental Trends in News

Channels 2009-13

Published by:CMS ENVIS Centre on Environment and Media

ENVIroNMENtal trENdS IN NEw

S ChaNNElS 2009 – 13

DisclamerAlthough every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this publication, CMS assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, which arise from the information received from other sources. Neither does it take any liability for any damage resulting from the use of Information contained herein.

Published byCMS ENVIS Centre on Environment and Media, New Delhi

Compiled and Edited by Anand A Jha, ENVIS Co-ordinator

Yamini Verma (PhD), Programme Officer (Information Management)

Prabhakar Kumar, Cordinator (CMS Media Lab)

Anil Kumar Pandey, Research Executive (CMS Media Lab)

With Inputs fromAlka Tomar & P N Vasanti

Data and Information SourceCMS Media Lab

Design: Zia ul Arfin & Neel Kamal

PrEfaCEUndoubtedly, society and electronic media are congenially intertwined. They have very symbiotic relationship and have extraneous influence on each other. However, the need is to accommodate environment effectively so that the validity of its essence is comprehended and widespread understanding is generated.

For long now electronic media has not been able to do justice to the environment related issues. Quantitatively it cannot be omitted from notifying that news channels, acclaimed features of the electronic media, have still not impressively taken up the cause of environmental related issues. They still seem to be staggering to push in the environmental news and actually have not given it a deserving space. To bring this concern to the fore, CMS ENVIS Centre has been regularly analyzing the coverage of environmental issues in the seven mainstream 24X7 news channels.

This publication features past trends in the media in terms of the coverage of environmental issues. The Centre firmly believes that this seminal work will be a catalyst for promoting environmental concerns in the country. We are thankful to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, GoI for its continued support and guidance.

CMS ENVIS Centre


S ChaNNElS 2009 – 13IntroDuCtIon

Media can be the channel for environmental communication (i.e., how media portray the environment, such as through science journalism, film treatments, web sites), and the content of environmental communication (i.e., how to design media and messages for affecting environmental policy, educating interested stakeholders about the environment, and improving access to environmental information and experiences). There are numerous channels dedicated to the coverage of environmental issues including the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and National Geographic. Environmentalists use the web to distribute information about the environment and to maintain online communities and organize activist projects. Media has impact on the environment in more direct ways as well. The manufacturing and disposal of media hardware, for instance, have substantial environmental effects. But when it comes to coverage by the news channels, the picture is dismal.

The dearth of environmental coverage is certainly not due to dearth of visual material or lack of conflict; the TV channels go by the policy “why bore people with country’s efforts with regard to environmental protection when they can be entertained instead.” They forget that over the years, environment has become an extremely grave and sensitive issue. Therefore, its adequate coverage becomes all the more mandatory. It is the backbone of our survival and consistent maintenance on earth. The Electronic media needs to lend the required space and structure to environment that it rightfully holds. Only then, a mature and palpable interaction will be made possible.

objectives and scope of the studyTo bring this concern to the fore, CMS ENVIS Centre undertook regular analysis of environmental issues coverage on seven mainstream 24X7 television news channels. These reflect on the overall coverage and priorities given to environment related issues by these channels currently. This study covers a four year period from 2009 to 2013. It is anticipated that the findings of this study would help create an adequate advocacy platform to voice environmental concerns through the electronic media.

MethodologyCMS ENVIS Centre has undertaken significant experimentation over the years to develop a robust and rigorous methodology to analyse environment related content on the news channels. The data generated through this research was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. Essentially, the study adopted the following procedure for data collection and analysis:

Determining the channels to be studied: The channels to be studied were 1. determined based on their viewership and popularity. These are DD News, Aaj Tak, CNN IBN, NDTV 24X7, Star News and Zee News.

Determining the time span of the news cast for the study: The prime time 2. programming is the industry benchmark in News television for all significant events and issues that are prominently covered on a particular day. Therefore, prime time band from 7 to 11 pm was selected for the study.

Recording and classifying the news: The news was recorded and the tapes were 3. then reviewed. Thereafter, the news stories were listed under various predefined categories, such as politics, business, sports, environment, crime, etc., to generate quantitative data. The contents were listed and documented in the log sheets.

Further classification and analysis of environment related news: Then, 4. environment related stories were separately reviewed and classified.


S ChaNNElS 2009 – 13ContEnt

Preface

Introduction

Media Analysis 2013 5-11January - June 2013July - September 2013October - December 2013

Media Analysis 2012 13-19January - March 2012April - June 2012July - September 2012October - December 2012






1

2009 2010 2011

TV News Trends

16.03

20.36

17.93

12.47

16.09

17.68

10.13

4.86

12.74

5.74

9.72

5.16

0.85

0.18

0.51

0.19

0.60

0.09

1.53

1.87

1.29

1.19

0.84

1.00

0 10 20 30

Figures are Percentage of Total News Time of 6 National News C

0 10 20 30 0 10

Figures are based on Prime Time (7 11 PM) Coverage of 6 Natio

News Channels–Aaj Tak, CNN IBN, DD News, NDTV 24x7, Star N

1 2012 2013

s 2009 2013

13.06

28.69

10.04

28.62

10.16

6.63

9.58

8.31

0.63

0.08

0.69

0.05

0.65

1.00

0.32

1.06

Channels Source: CMS Media Lab

20 30 0 10 20 30 0 10 20 30

nal News Channels

News/ ABP News & Zee News

tV news trends 2009-2013The year wise analysis of six prominent news channels (Aaj Tak, DD news, Zee news, ABP, CNN IBN and NDTV) reveals that the news on politics, sports, entertainment and crime had maximum coverage in five years (see figure below). In 2009, the coverage on environment was only 1.53% and news on politics was 20.36%. In the year 2010 the coverage of sports news was 17.93% in comparison with the environment news 1.29%. Since 2011 to year 2013 the coverage on politics had dominated on the other social issues. The coverage on environment news had declined since 2009 which is the alarming situation for environment conservationists.

Fig.1 Five year Environmental Trend in Six News Channels

Figures are Percentage of Total News Time of 6 National News ChannelsFigures are based on Prime Time (7-11 PM) Coverage of 6 National News ChannelsNews Channels–Aaj Tak, CNN IBN, DD News, NDTV 24x7, Star News/ABP News & Zee NewsSource: CMS Media Lab

Prime time coverage of stories 2009-2013The media in five years had focused rarely on different environmental issues such as agriculture, weather, natural disaster and wildlife. In the year 2009 ABP, Aaj Tak and Zee news channels mostly focused on the stories on natural disaster. In the same year, Zee news channel had delivered the maximumtime 3.78% minutes on natural disaster issues.Here, the NDTV news channel had provided 1.3% on environment & wildlife stories.

The next year 2010 the ABP news channel had 7.8% and Aaj Tak 6.6%coverage onthe natural disasters (see figure below). And the Zee news channel had the highest coverage slot of 5.88% minutes. The stories coverage on weather had also increased manifolds by Aaj Tak news channel that contributed 2.1%. Andthe NDTV news channel had provided 2.26% the highest time slot in the environment and wildlife category (see table below).

Five Year Environmental Trends in News Channels 2009-2013

2



3

Since 2011 the gradual decrease in the coverage on natural disaster, weather and environment & wildlife were recorded in all the prominent news channels. The most apparent decrease was observed on the coverage of environment and wildlife stories in Aaj Tak, ABP news, Zee news and CNN IBN news channels in the year 2013 (see figure below). The DD and NDTV news channel had the 0.4% coverage on environment and wildlife. In the year 2011-2013 the news channels had provided very limited slot of 0.01% to 0.05% minutes to agriculture and weather issues.

Fig 2. Yearly Environment Stories Coverage in Six News Channels (In Percentage)0.9 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.7

1.3

6.8

1.4

4.4 4.3

2.41.7

0.9 1.00.5 0.7 0.6

0.20.02 0.21 0.05 0.06 0.06 0.060.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

Aaj Tak DD News ABP News Zee News CNN IBN NDTV 24X7

2011Environment & Wildlife

Accident & Natural Disaster

Weather

Agriculture

0.170.46 0.23

0.52 0.51 0.66

5.1

1.9

3.5

4.2

2.52.0

1.7

1.1 1.2 1.20.7

0.40.00

0.320.02

0.06 0.02 0.030.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0




Weather

Agriculture

0.9 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.71.3

6.8

1.4

4.4 4.3

2.41.7

0.9 1.00.5 0.7 0.6

0.20.02 0.21 0.05 0.06 0.06 0.060.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0




Weather

Agriculture

0.170.46 0.23

0.52 0.51 0.66

5.1

1.9

3.5

4.2

2.52.0

1.7

1.1 1.2 1.20.7

0.40.00

0.320.02

0.06 0.02 0.030.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0




Weather

Agriculture

0.10.4

0.1 0.2 0.2 0.4

5.7

2.8

4.3

3.6

2.1

2.8

1.5

0.81.1 1.2

0.6 0.40.04 0.08 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.05

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0


2013 2013 Environment & Wildlife

2013 Accident & Natural Disaster

2013 Weather

2013 Agriculture

1.41.1 1.1 0.9

0.6

1.3

4.0

2.0

5.1

4.3

1.92.3

0.9 1.00.7

1.00.8 0.8

0.1 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.170.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0




Weather

Agriculture

1.40.9

1.51.0 0.7

1.6

6.6

2.6

7.8

6.5

3.02.7

2.11.6

1.11.7

0.9 1.2

0.2 0.50.1 0.03 0.02 0.06

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0


2010Environment & WildlifeAccident & Natural DisasterWeatherAgriculture

1.41.1 1.1 0.9

0.6

1.3

4.0

2.0

5.1

4.3

1.92.3

0.9 1.00.7

1.00.8 0.8

0.1 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.170.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0




Weather

Agriculture

1.40.9

1.51.0 0.7

1.6

6.6

2.6

7.8

6.5

3.02.7

2.11.6

1.11.7

0.9 1.2

0.2 0.50.1 0.03 0.02 0.06

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0


2010Environment & WildlifeAccident & Natural DisasterWeatherAgriculture

(a)

(c)

(d)

(e)Source: CMS Media Lab

(b)

4


S ChaNNElS 2009 – 13Table 1. Yearly Time Slots Provided to Environment Stories in Six News Channels (in minutes)

ClassificationAajtak DD News Star News Zee News CNN IBN NDTV

24X7

T % T % T % T % T % T %

Environment & Wildlife 748 1.56 1474 2.31 653 1.29 530 1.23 477 0.89 944 1.71

Accident Natural Disaster 1224 2.55 1070 1.67 1767 3.49 1633 3.78 906 1.70 1185 2.14

Weather 286 0.60 454 0.71 281 0.56 352 0.81 270 0.51 210 0.38

Agriculture 20 0.04 360 0.56 31 0.06 48 0.11 41 0.08 81 0.15

2010



Weather 576 1.21 736 1.18 292 0.58 568 1.26 184 0.33 385 0.69

Agriculture 40 0.08 502 0.80 7 0.01 25 0.05 7 0.01 39 0.07

2011



Weather 231 0.48 439 0.67 118 0.23 222 0.45 87 0.16 32 0.05

Agriculture 3 0.01 195 0.30 11 0.02 45 0.09 15 0.03 27 0.05

2012



Weather 772 1.57 375 0.60 394 0.79 582 1.14 88 0.18 51 0.08

Agriculture 0 0.00 178 0.28 7 0.01 38 0.07 1 0.00 28 0.05

2013



Weather 593 1.3 209 0.3 232 0.5 417 0.87 77 0.14 113 0.18

Agriculture 3 0.01 114 0.18 7 0.01 2 0.00 26 0.05 10 0.02

MEDIA ANAlYSIS 2013

Source: CMS Media Lab

6



7

Environment being an extremely gravitious and sensitive aspect, its adequate coverage becomes all the more mandatory. It is almost the backbone of our survival and consistent maintenance on earth. Electronic media needs to lend the required space and structure to the environment that it rightly holds. Its only then that a mature and palpable interaction will be made possible.

Undoubtedly society and electronic media are congenially intertwined. They have very symbiotic relationship and have extraneous influence on each other. However the need is to accommodate environment effectively so that the validity of its essence is comprehended and widespread understanding is generated.

CMS ENVIS centre reviews and track the electronic media to understand the percentage of coverage of environment issues vis-à-vis business, sports, crime, entertainment and political stories. The data is also collected on the time spent on the coverage. All the mainline news channels are monitored for this purpose on 365 days on yearly basis. The data is sourced from CMS Media Lab. CMS ENVIS Centre has been collating data for analysing the prominent news channels coverage on environment and wildlife issues in the month of January – March 2013.

MethodologyOver the years CMS Media Lab a team of CMS (the host organisation) has acted as a source for the CMS ENVIS Centre for data/ information on environment and wildlife issues being covered by the media. The content analysis broadly covers qualitative and quantitative aspects.

Prime time band: The prime time programming is the industry benchmark

in News television for all significant events and issues that are prominently covered on a particular day.Six mainstream news channels: DD News, Aaj Tak, NDTV 24X7, ABP News, Zee News and CNN-IBN.Recording: The recorded tapes were then previewed and the news stories listed under various classifications and categories to generate quantitative data.logging: The news content on the above mentioned channels were listed and documented in the log sheets.Coding: The stories were classified and separately coded (e.g. politics, business, sports, environmental news etc.).Environment related stories: The theme specific stories were separately reviewed and analysed.

analysis of primetime coverage of stories (January-March 2013)The primetime slot on six prominent news channels during the month of January-march 2013 was dominated by news on international affairs, crime and national politics. In the month of January there were a total of 788 stories on international affairs, 542 stories on crime and 794 stories on national politics occupying 32.93%, 22.65% and 33.18% of primetime respectively. On environment and wildlife there were just 11 stories taking 0.46% of primetime. In February, National Politics once again dominated with 574 stories, crime as usual remained the second favorite beat of the news channels with 346 stories and international affairs rounded of the top 3. Environment and wildlife, had a paltry 6 stories and remained at the bottom

January – June 2013 with just 0.40% of primetime coverage. In March 2013 the supremacy of Crime Stories continued on the primetime slots with 746 stories while environment and wildlife remained at the bottom with just 34 stories. The second lowest coverage was recorded by National Politics. In terms of

primetime percentage Crime stories topped with 30.60% of primetime telecast, followed by National Politics (27.15%). International Affair occupied 24.28% of primetime slot, followed by Film and Entertainment stories (16.57%). Environment and wildlife got a meager 1.39% of the coverage.

Table 1: Primetime coverage of stories (in minutes)

ClassificationJanuary No. of Stories %International Affairs 788 32.93National Politics 794 33.18Environment & Wildlife 11 0.46Film & Entertainment 258 10.78Crime 542 22.65Total 2393 100.00

February No. of Stories %International Affairs 326 21.75National Politics 574 38.29Environment & Wildlife 6 0.40Film & Entertainment 247 16.48Crime 346 23.08Total 1499 100.00

March No. of Stories %International Affairs 592 24.28National Politics 662 27.15Environment & Wildlife 34 1.39Film & Entertainment 404 16.57Crime 746 30.60Total 2438 100.00

Fig 1: Coverage of Environment and Wildlife stories by news channels (in minutes)

7684

70

80

90

3 511

36

2 00

21

30

0 05 5

26

0

50

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Aaj Tak DD News Star News Zee News CNN IBN NDTV 24X7

Time(in

%)

Channels Name

JANFEBMARCH



8



9

In the month of July, CNN-IBN topped the chart for coverage on Environment & Wildlife by giving maximum time (130 minutes), followed by DD News (51 minutes), NDTV 24X7 (49 minutes), Zee News, ABP News and Aaj Tak channel did not cover a single story on environment & wildlife during part time in July-September 2013 time frame.

In August, the total time spent on covering environment & wildlife stories was 77 minutes which included 57 minutes of coverage by CNN-IBN, 10 minutes coverage of DD News and 7 minutes by ABP news. NDTV 24X7 covered stories of total 3 minutes while Aaj Tak and Zee news had no any coverage.

The month of September reflected the tremendous changes in stories coverage by news channels that was almost nil by all major five channels. Only NDTV 24X7 spent their 02 minutes of story on environment & wildlife.

The month wise analysis of primetime coverage of stories reveals that National Politics dominated the news channels in all the three months taking the 45%, 45% & 50% of the total primetime in months of July, August and September respectively. In July, Film & Entertainment Infotainment stories hold the second position with 23% of the total primetime coverage, Crime (19%) and closely followed by International Affairs (11%). In August, equal stories were on International Affairs, Crime Stories and Film & Entertainment Infotainment with 18% coverage of total telecast. However in September little bit up and down trend was observed in stories coverage on International Affairs (20%) and with 14% Film & Entertainment Infotainment secured second position, followed by Crime (16%).

The environment & wildlife stories occupied the lowest coverage with just 2% of the total primetime telecast in July and nearly 1% in August and almost nil in September.

Table 1: Coverage of Environment and Wildlife Stories by News Channels in July to September 2013 (in minutes)

Month Aaj Tak DD News

ABP News

Zee News

CNN- IBN

NDTV 24X7 Total

July 0 51 0 0 130 49 230August 0 10 7 0 57 3 77September 0 0 0 0 0 2 02


Fig 1: Coverage of Environment and Wildlife stories by news channels (in minutes)

130

100

120

140

0

51

0 0

49

010 7

0

57

30 0 0 0 0 20

20

40

60

80


Time(in

%)

Channels Name

JULYAUGUSTSEPTEMBER


Table 2: Primetime coverage of stories (in minutes)

IssuesJuly August September

In Minutes

% of Time

In Minutes

% of Time

In Minutes

% of Time

International Affairs 1356 11 2734 18 3178 20

National Politics 5640 45 7014 45 7793 50

Environment & Wildlife 230 02 78 01 2 0.01

Film & Entertainment 2909 23 2845 18 2182 14

Crime 2292 19 2792 18 2578 16

Total 12427 100 15463 100 15733 100Source: CMS Media Lab

July – September 2013

10



11

In the month of October, DD News topped the chart for coverage on Environment & Wildlife by giving maximum time (41 minutes), followed by NDTV (22 minutes), Zee News (2 minutes), CNN-IBN, ABP News and Aaj Tak channel did not cover a single story on environment & wildlife during this time period.

November, the total time spent on covering environment & wildlife stories was (29 minutes) which included 22 minutes of coverage by CNN-IBN, 05 minutes of coverage on NDTV 24X7 and 01 minutes each by Aaj Tak and Zee while DD News intrestingly ABP news had no any coverage.

The month of December reflected tremendous drop in environmental stories coverage. Only NDTV 24X7 spent 11 minutes on environment & wildlife followed by CNN-IBN had given 02 minutes and DD News spent only one minute on the green issues by news channels overall.

The month wise analysis of primetime coverage of stories reveals that as usual the National Politics dominated news channels in all the three months taking the 49%, 37% & 53% of the total primetime in months of October, November and December respectively. In October, international affairs stories hold the second position with 18% of the total primetime coverage which is closely followed by Crime 18% and Film & Entertainment infotainment 15%.

The environment and wildlife stories occupied the almost negilable coverage with just 0.55% of the total primetime telecast in October, 0.26% in November and almost nil in September with (0.11%).

October – December 2013

Table 1: Coverage of Environment and Wildlife Stories by News Channels from Oct -Dec 2013

News Channels (Total Time Spent in Minutes)

Month Aaj TakDD

NewsABP News

Zee News

CNN- IBN

NDTV 24X7

Total

October 0 41 0 2 0 22 65

November 1 0 0 1 22 5 29

December 0 1 0 0 2 11 14


Fig 1: Coverage of Environment and Wildlife Stories by News Channels (in minutes)

41

222225

30

35

40

45

%)

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

0 02

0

22

1 0 0 1

22

5

0 1 0 02

11

0

5

10

15

20

25


Time(in

%

Channels Name

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER


Primetime coverage of stories (in minutes)

Issues

October November December

In minutes

% of Time

In minutes

% of Time

In minutes

% of Time

International Affairs 2117 18.07 757 6.84 1830 14.97National Politics 5707 48.72 4064 36.70 6599 53.97Environment & Wildlife

64 0.55 29 0.26 14 0.11

Film & Entertainment

1745 14.90 2820 25.47 2044 16.72

Crime 2082 17.77 3403 30.73 1741 14.24Total 11715 100.00 11073 100.00 12228 100.00


12



13

MEDIA ANAlYSIS 2012

14



15

analysis of primetime coverage of stories (January-March 2012)

The primetime slot on six prominent news channels during the month of January-march 2012 was dominated by news on international affairs, crime and national politics. In the month of January there were a total of 592 stories on international affairs, 1007 stories on crime and 532 stories on national politics occupying 23.19%, 39.44% and 20.84% of primetime respectively. On environment and wildlife there were just 85 stories taking 3.33% of primetime. In February, international affairs once again dominated with 646 stories, crime as usual remained the second favorite beat of the news channels with 556 stories and national politics rounded of the top 3. Environment and wildlife, had a paltry 45 stories and remained at the bottom with just 2.40% of primetime coverage. In March 2012 the supremacy of international affairs continued on the primetime slots with 1013 stories while environment and wildlife remained at the bottom with just 94 stories. The second lowest coverage was recorded by film and entertainment. In terms of primetime percentage international affairs stories topped with 31.60% of primetime telecast, followed by crime stories (26.48%) film and entertainment occupied 26.48% of primetime slot, followed by national politics stories (19.29%). Environment and wildlife got a meager 3.95% of the coverage.

Environment and wildlife stories on news channels (January-March 2012)In the month of January DD news was at the pinnacle with 231 stories on environment and wildlife, followed by NDTV 24*7 (105) and CNN-IBN (35). On Aaj Tak reported 34 stories, Star News had 33 stories and Zee News covered the least, 18 stories. In the month of February the total number of stories declined from 456 to 143. This includes 75 stories on DD news, followed by 25 stories on NDTV 24*7 and a major decline in the number of stories was observed on all other channels with Aaj Tak covering 17 stories, CNN-IBN broadcasting only 2 stories, while ZEE News covered a single news story. The month of March saw a major jump in the total number of stories from 143 to 419. There was a substantial increase in the number of environment stories telecast on almost all the channels. It includes NDTV 24*7 with a whopping 266 stories, followed by DD news (83), Star News (26), ZEE News and CNNIBN (17) and Aaj Tak (10) correspondingly.

January – March 2012 ClassificationJanuary No. of Stories %International Affairs 592 23.19National Politics 532 20.84Environment & Wildlife 85 3.33Film & Entertainment 337 13.20Crime 1007 39.44Total 2553 100.00

February No. of Stories %International Affairs 646 34.51National Politics 303 16.19Environment & Wildlife 45 2.40Film & Entertainment 322 17.20Crime 556 29.70Total 1872 100.00

March No. of Stories %International Affairs 1013 40.18National Politics 437 17.33Environment & Wildlife 94 3.73Film & Entertainment 210 8.33Crime 767 30.42Total 2521 100.00


266300

231

266

200

250

January

105

75 83100

150February

March

34 3318

3517 23

1 2

2510

2617 17

0

50



Environmental Stories on News Channels (In Minutes)

16



17

In the month of April, CNN-IBN topped the chart for coverage on Environment & Wildlife by giving the maximum time (83 minutes), followed by NDTV 24X7 (50 minutes), DD News (4 minutes) and Zee News & Star News by 2% and 1% respectively. Aaj Tak channel did not cover a single story on environment & wildlife in April.

In the month of May, the total time spent on covering environment & wildlife stories was 384 minutes which included 210 minutes of coverage by NDTV 24X7, 161 minutes coverage of CNN-IBN and 7 minutes by Zee news. DD news covered stories of total 4 minutes while Aaj Tak and Star news with just 1 minute of story.

The month of June reflected the tremendous changes in stories coverage by news channels and for first time DD news topped by dedicating 192 minutes of stories of the total minutes of 435 covered by all channels (44% of the total coverage). The NDTV 24X7 occupied the second slot with 103 minutes of stories, followed by Star news (90 minutes) and CNN-IBN (26 minutes).

The month wise analysis of primetime coverage of stories reveals that National Politics dominated the news channels in all the three months taking the 32%, 47% & 55% of the total primetime in months of April, May and June respectively. In April, International Affairs stories hold the second position with 27% of the total primetime coverage, Film & Entertainment Infotainment (21%) and closely followed by Crime stories (19%). In May, decline trend was observed in stories coverage on International Affairs (14%) and with 20% Film & Entertainment Infotainment secured second position, followed by Crime (16%). However in June, more or less equal stories were on International Affairs and Film & Entertainment Infotainment with 16% coverage of total telecast.

The environment & wildlife stories occupied the lowest coverage with just 1% of the total primetime telecast in April and nearly 3% each in May and June.

April – June 2012

Table: Coverage of Environment & Wildlife stories by news channels (in minute)News Channels

Month Aaj Tak DD News

Star News

Zee News

CNN- IBN

NDTV 24X7

April 0 4 1 2 83 50May 1 4 1 7 161 210June 3 192 90 21 26 103


Figure: Coverage of Environment & Wildlife stories by news channels (in minutes - percent)

161

210192

150

200

250

)

April

M

0 4 1 2

83

50

1 4 1 73

90

21 26

103

0

50

100


Time(in

%)

Channels Name

May

June


47

55

50.00

60.00

2732

1

21 1914

3

2016

16

3

17

9

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

International Affairs National Politics Environment &Wildlife

Film &EntertainmentInfotainment

Crime

Issues

April

May

June


Figure: Primetime coverage of stories (in percentage)

18



19

Biodiversity issues yet to take Central Stage in MediaCMS Environment media analysis from 2005 - 2012 reflects that time devoted to environment and wildlife issues in prime time of news channels has not changed significantly over the period of 7 years. Time devoted to such news was 0.43% in 2005 and marginally increased to 0.63% in 2012. Till date maximum media attention was in Oct – Dec 2009 during climate change COP in Copenhagen (3.59%).

India is hosting the sixth meeting of the Conference of Parties serving as the meeting to the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety (MoP-6) and eleventh meeting of the Conference of Parties (CoP-11) to Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at Hyderabad from 1-19 October 2012. CMS Environment has undertaken analysis of 636 print media coverage from July – Oct 9, 2012 to understand the role of media in bringing the CBD convention agenda and related issues in the public and policy domain

Hyderabad preparation for CBD COP-11: CMS Environment study highlights that the news stories about city preparation for hosting COP and its security arrangements got maximum (32%) attention of English dailies and in Telugu dailies 16% stories were concerning this. 52 such stories appeared in entire September month and 54 in first nine days of Oct. The coverage has been on the status of Hyderabad preparedness in hosting COP and how city is spending recklessly on making/ revamping roads, dividers, installing & painting railing, pots and plants, city landscaping, making and installing sculptures,

city beautification and renovations of ZOO, Shilparam and other tourist sites.

Delegates: Media coverage concerning COP 11 delegates in English dailies was 10% and Telugu dailies covered 14% stories. The media focus was on delegate shopping, about the dance forms of India, cultural programmes, Hyderabadi Biryani, delegate’s fashion statement, local slangs learnt by them, sight-seeing, parties, Golf tournament etc. 73 such stories were printed in the dailies in first 9 days of COP – 11. Rather the stories could have highlighted importance of the convention for each countries delegation and what’s their take on the issues like bio-piracy, finances, access benefit sharing, costal & marine and geo-engineering, the role of convention parties, delegation number, type, their hope and expectation.

MOP – 6/ COP - 11: COP agenda, blue agenda and general biodiversity issues were highlighted in 39% of English paper stories and 45% in Telugu dailies. However during the month of September only 14 stories pertaining to such issues have appeared in all the newspapers and prelude to COP no efforts were made by the media to sensitise and make people well informed about the COP to CBD in general, its agenda, targets, proposed outcomes, relevance, India’s role.

National Media: The national print and electronic media has shown less interest for COP with almost negligible coverage even in Oct first week.

Event of such scale and importance is being organised for the first time in India. More efforts towards engagement and involvement of Hyderabad people

July – December 2012

0.43 0.53

0.2 0.33

0.43 0.5

0.4

0.570.79

1.06

0.54

1.121.06

1.07

0.40.31

0.61

0.63

1.17

3.59

1.57

0.93 1.01

1.65

1.31.01

0.43 0.390.23

0.63

0 00

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

JanMarch

Apr

Jun

JulySep

Oct

Dec

JanMarch

Apr

Jun

JulySep

Oct

Dec

JanMarch

Apr

Jun

JulySep

Oct

Dec

JanMarch

Apr

Jun

JulySep

Oct

Dec

JanMarch

Apr

Jun

JulySep

Oct

Dec

JanMarch

Apr

Jun

JulySep

Oct

Dec

JanMarch

Apr

Jun

JulySep

Oct

Dec

JanMarch

Apr

Jun

JulySep

Oct

Dec

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

especially in the convention should have been made by the media by educative reporting on the biodiversity and CBD COP issues. The news stories on what is being organised, how local people can participate and engage themselves in various programmes was some information could have been disseminated through media. Most of the stories had

failed to communicate common people about how they can also be part of CoP 11. Specialised programmes, exposure trips and orientations for enhancing Indian media capacities prior to this CBD COP and equipping them well for reporting on such important convention was need of the hour.


CBD COP – 11 coverage in Telugu dailies

General

Other sid

Delegate

COP Age

City prep

Security

Other Is

Blue Age

Bio Safe

Biodiversity

de Events

es

enda

paration

y

ssues

enda

ety

114

11

54

4

4 23

21

4

4

1 9

1110

9

87 6 3 29

17

City pre

COP Age

Other Is

Delegate

Blue Age

Other si

General

Bio Safe

Security

paration

enda

ssues

es

enda

de Events

Biodiversity

ety

y

CBD COP – 11 coverage in local English dailies

General

Other sid

Delegate

COP Age

City prep

Security

Other Is

Blue Age

Bio Safe

Biodiversity

de Events

es

enda

paration

y

ssues

enda

ety

114

11

54

4

4 23

21

4

4

1 9

1110

9

87 6 3 29

17

City pre

COP Age

Other Is

Delegate

Blue Age

Other si

General

Bio Safe

Security

paration

enda

ssues

es

enda

de Events

Biodiversity

ety

y


Table: CBD COP – 11 in local dailies (July – Oct 9, 2012) in numbers

Month (2012)

Bio Safety

Blue Agenda

City Preparation

COP Agenda Delegates General

BiodiversityOther Issues

Other Side

EventsSecurity Total

July 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 5

Aug 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 4

Sep 1 0 52 9 8 4 7 7 3 91

Oct 09 30 38 54 87 73 100 39 91 24 536

Total 31 38 114 96 81 104 46 99 27 636


20



21

MEDIA ANAlYSIS 2011

22



23

In month of Jan 2011, 32% (maximum) stories were broadcasted on Crime only, followed by International Affairs (23%) and National Politics (21%). However on contrary to this in other two months

maximum number of stories shown was on International Affairs with 35% in Feb and 40% in March 2011. The stories on Environment and Wildlife were around 3% in Jan and Feb and 4% in March 2011.

The figure given below reveals that news channels including DD News were not giving due importance to the coverage of environmental issues. Overall only 1-2% time

was spent on environmental coverage in all the three months. However in Jan 2011, DD News has spent 5594 minutes (4%) of its air time on environmental stories.

Table 01: Total no. of stories in months

ParticularsJan 2011 Feb 2011 March 2011

No % No % No %International Affairs 592 23 646 35 1013 40National Politics 532 21 303 16 437 17Environment & Wildlife 85 3 45 2 94 4Film & Entertainment Infotainment 337 13 322 17 210 8Crime 1007 39 556 30 767 30Total 2553 100 1872 100 2521 100


January – March 2011

The month wise analysis reflects that maximum percentage of time was spent on Film & Entertainment, Infotainment (31%) in Jan, 36% and 41% on International Affairs

in Feb and March 2011 respectively. On Environment and Wildlife only 2% of the channels time was spent in Feb, 4% in March and maximum nearly 5% in Jan 2011.

Table 02: Time spent by channels

ParticularsJan 2011 Feb 2011 March 2011

Time(in mins)

% of Time

Time(in mins)

% of Time

Time(in mins)

% of Time

International Affairs 1770 19 2307 36 4055 41National Politics 1882 20 923 14 2160 22Environment & Wildlife 456 5 142 2 419 4Film & Entertainment Infotainment 2924 31 2062 32 1826 19

Crime 2404 25 1059 16 1339 14Total 9436 100 6493 100 9799 100


Fig 01: Time spent by channels (in percentage)

Table 03: Time spent by news channels on environmental issuesTV Channels Jan 2011 Feb 2011 March 2011Aaj TakEnvironmental Time 34 17 10Total Time 4082 3097 3605% of Time 1 1 0DD NewsEnvironmental Time 231 75 83Total Time 5594 4755 5238% of Time 4 2 2Star NewsEnvironmental Time 33 23 26Total Time 4246 3594 4165% of Time 1 1 1Zee NewsEnvironmental Time 18 1 17Total Time 3843 3629 4157% of Time 1 0 0CNN-IBNEnvironmental Time 35 2 17Total Time 4664 4210 4750% of Time 1 0 0NDTV 24x7Environmental Time 105 25 266Total Time 4478 4210 4606% of Time 2 1 6Overall ChannelEnvironmental Time 456 143 419Total Time 26907 23495 26521% of Time 2 1 2


Fig 02: Fig: Time spent by news channels on environmental issues (in mins)

19 20

5

3125

36

14

2

32

16

41

22

4

1914

0

10

20

30

40

50

InternationalAffairs

National Politics Environment &Wildlife


Crime

Jan

Feb

March

34

231

33 1835

105

17

75

231 2

2510

83

26 17 17

266

0

50

100

150

200

250

300


JanuaryFebruaryMarch

19 20

5

3125

36

14

2

32

16

41

22

4

1914

0

10

20

30

40

50

InternationalAffairs

National Politics Environment &Wildlife


Crime

Jan

Feb

March

34

231

33 1835

105

17

75

231 2

2510

83

26 17 17

266

0

50

100

150

200

250

300



Source: CMS Media Lab Source: CMS Media Lab

24



25

analysis of primetime coverage of stories (april-June 2011)The primetime band on six prominent news channels during the month of April-June 2011 was dominated by the news of national politics, international affairs and crime. In the month of April there were a total of 771 stories on national politics, 633 on international affairs and 693 on crime occupying 30.05%, 24.67% and 27.01% of primetime respectively. On environment and wildlife the number of stories was a disappointing 42 stories taking barely 1.64% of primetime. In May, with 1255 stories, national politics once again led the pack followed by international affairs with 441 stories and film and entertainment with 331 stories. With 68 stories, environment and wildlife remained at the bottom of primetime coverage as it had a mere 2.90% of the total primetime coverage. In June 2011, national politics once again dominated the primetime coverage with 1164 stories while environment and wildlife remained the least favored genre with just 19 stories. In terms of primetime percentage national politics stories topped with 44.06% of the overall time, followed by film and entertainment stories (23.35%). International affairs occupied 19.5%, trailing it was crime with

(11.77%) and Environment and wildlife with a miniscule 1.32% of primetime coverage.

Environment and wildlife stories on news channelsIn the month of April NDTV 24*7 topped the charts for environment and wildlife coverage by dedicating the maximum time among the TV news channels. NDTV 24*7 had broadcast environment and wildlife stories worth 60 minutes, followed by Aaj Tak – 7 minutes and DD news – 5 minutes. Star News and CNN-IBN provided merely coverage of 1 minute each and ZEE News didn’t cover the genre at all. In the month of May the total number of time increased from 74 minutes to 254 minutes. This includes 101 minutes of coverage on NDTV 24*7, followed by 74 minutes on CNN-IBN. Moreover, there was an increase in the time of environment coverage on all other channels, with Star news (29 mins), ZEE news (21 mins), DD news (20 mins) and Aaj Tak (8 mins). The month of June saw a major jump in the total time of coverage from 254 minutes to 678 minutes. There was a substantial increase in coverage time of environment stories telecast on almost all channels as is evident by NDTV 24*7 (220 mins), DD news (156 mins), Star news (174 mins), CNN-IBN (58 mins), Aaj Tak (41 mins) and Zee news (28 mins) reporting.

analysis of primetime coverage of stories (July-September 2011)The primetime band on six major news channels during the month of July-September 2011 was dominated by news on international affairs, crime and national politics. In the month of July the total number of stories on crime was 865, 567 on international affairs and 300 on national politics occupying 39.92%, 26.17% and 13.84% of primetime respectively. As usual, environment and wildlife were once again neglected by the News Channels as a mere 32 stories taking 1.48% of primetime were broadcast about the genre. In August, a steep rise was witnessed in the coverage as there were 1575 stories on international affairs, 533 stories on crime and 478 stories on national politics. Though the number of stories on environment and wildlife rose to 61, it still remained at the bottom with just 1.98% of primetime coverage. In September 2011, National politics leapfrogged to the numero uno position with 872 stories while environment and wildlife continued to be at the bottom with just 92 stories. In terms of primetime percentage international affairs stories were at the apex with 31.05% coverage, followed by film and entertainment (26.88%).

national politics (25.55%), crime stories (13.47%). In contrast, Environment and wildlife got a paltry coverage of 3.04% only.

Environment and wildlife stories on news channelsIn the month of July DD news was at the zenith with regard to coverage of environment and wildlife as it gave about 66 minutes of coverage to this particular beat. The second place was accomplished by CNN-IBN with 29 mins, followed by Zee news at no.3 with 19 mins. Aaj Tak had provided only 6 minutes of coverage to environmental stories, Star News invested only 5 minutes on it and NDTV 24*7 thought it wasn’t wise to broadcast a single story either. In the month of August the total coverage time of stories increased from 125 mins to 219 mins which includes 86 minutes of coverage time on Star News followed by 72 minutes on Zee News, CNN-IBN (27 mins), DD news (17 mins), Aaj Tak (9 mins) and NDTV 24*7 (8 mins). The month of September saw a decline in the total coverage time from 219 mins to measly 41 mins. It comprises Aaj Tak’s 20 mins, Star News’ 9 mins, DD news’ 6 mins, Zee news’ 4 mins, CNN-IBN’s 2 mins. NDTV 24*7 did not cover the subject at all.

April – June 2011 July – September 2011

156174

220

150

200

250

April

7 5 1 0

6074

820

29 21

74

101

4128

58

0

50

100


Channels Name

p

May

June


39.92

51.20

31 7740.00

50.00

60.00

26.17

13.84

1.48

18.6015.54

1.98

13.9517.33

24.4131.77

3.3512.50

27.98

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

International Affairs National Politics Environment & Wildlife Film & EntertainmentInfotainment

Crime

Issues

April

May

June


Fig 01: Time spent by channels

Fig 02: Fig: Time spent by news channels on environmental issues (in mins)

26



27

analysis of primetime coverage of storiesThe primetime band on six prominent news channels during the month of October-December 2011 was dominated by national politics, international affairs and crime. In the month of October there were 1101 stories on national politics, 804 stories on international affairs and 630 stories on crime occupying 35.55%, 25.96% and 20.34% of primetime respectively. On environment and wildlife there were just 20 stories taking a mere 0.65% of primetime. In November too, the similar trend continued as there were 1190 stories on national politics, 658 stories on crime and 654 stories on international affairs. With just 45 stories, environment and wildlife remained at the bottom with just 1.44% of primetime coverage. In December 2011, national politics continued its dominance over the primetime telecast with 1252 stories while environment and wildlife, predictably was last with only 63 stories. In terms of primetime percentage national politics stories topped with 45.24% of primetime telecast, followed by 25.44% of film and entertainment stories (25.44%). International affairs occupied 17.34% of airtime, followed by crime stories (11%). The share of Environment and Wildlife was an insignificant 0.97% of the total coverage.

Environment and wildlife stories on news channelsIn the month of October, CNN-IBN was the most sensitive channel to the issues of environment and wildlife with 48 minutes of news broadcast, followed by DD news (17 mins) and Star news (4 mins). Zee News gave just about 3 minutes to the topic, whereas Aaj Tak‘s 1 minute and NDTV 24*7 no coverage made the mockery, of the efforts made by various environmentalists. In the month of November the total time of coverage increased from 74 mins to 127 mins including 62 minutes on DD News followed by 31 mins on NDTV 24*7. Aaj Tak and Star News broadcast stories of about 3 minutes each. The month of December saw a further rise in the total time provided to environment and wildlife from 127 mins to 161 mins. There was a substantial increase in the coverage time of environment stories telecast on DD News along with some other channels because the crucial Climate Change Conference in Durban had reached its final stages. The total coverage time was - DD News (107 mins), CNN-IBN (24 mins), Zee News (12 mins), Star News (9 mins), NDTV 24*7 (7 mins) and Aaj Tak (2 mins) correspondingly.


MEDIA ANAlYSIS 2010

107

80

100

120

1

174 3

48

03

62

3

22

6

31

29 12

24

7

0

20

40

60

80

Aaj Tak DD News Star News Zee News CNN IBN NDTV 24X7Channels Name

October

November

December


Environmental Stories on News Channels (in Minutes)

28



29

The primetime band on six prominent news channels during the month of January to March was dominated by news on International Affairs, Crime and National Politics. In the month of January there were a total of 953 stories on International Affairs constituting 36.60% of total prime time coverage. The second slot was occupied by crime stories (697) with 26.77% of total primetime. Environment and Wildlife had just 87 stories constituting 3.34% of primetime. International affairs maintained its dominance in the primetime band in February. There were 623 stories in this category occupying 29.97 % of primetime. National Politics (573) and Film and Entertainment (404) occupied second and third slot. Environment and Wildlife remained at the bottom with 81 stories and 3.90% of primetime coverage. In the month of March 2010 maximum number of stories were on National Politics (1003), closely followed by International Affairs (907). From environment and wildlife beat there were 117 stories constituting 3.49% of primetime news coverage against 29.9% of National Politics and 27.05% of International Affairs.

Environment and Wildlife stories on news Channels (Jan-Mar 2010)In the month of January 2010 DD News topped with 103 stories on Environment and Wildlife, closely followed by Star News (94), NDTV 24x7 (64) and CNN IBN (58). In the month of February the overall number of environment stories declined from 354 to 322. However the no of stories on DD saw an increase from 103 to 136. Zee News also saw a substantial increase in the number of stories from 5 in January to 45 in February. CNN-IBN saw a major decline in the number of stories from 58 to 8. There were 78 stories on Star News and 35 on NDTV 24x7. The month of March saw a major jump in the total umber of stories from 322 to 548. It was mainly because of a substantial increase in the number of environment stories telecast on NDTV 24x7. The channel showed 271 stories in March against just 35 in February. There was a marginal decline in the number of environment stories on DD News from 136 to 124. Star News telecast 60 stories, Zee News 54, Aaj Tak 23 and CNN-IBN 16.

January – March 201036.60

26.7729.97

27.56

19.43

27.0529.91

23.1725.00

30.00

35.00

40.00

January

February

14.32

3.34

18.97

3.90

19.14

3.49

16.37

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00


Film/ Entertainment& Celebrity

Crime

Issue

February

March


No. of Stories January to March (in %)

136

271

200

250

300

%) January

30

103 94

5

58 64

20

136

78

45

835

23

124

60 54

16

0

50

100

150


Time(in

%

Channels Name

February

March


Environmental Stories (in %)

30



31

The primetime band on six prominent news channels during the month of April-June 2010 was dominated by news on Film & Entertainment, National Politics and International Affairs. In the month of April there were a total of 553 stories on Film & Entertainment and Infotainment, 900 stories on International Affairs and 789 on National Politics occupying 37.85%, 20.09% and 30.74 % of primetime respectively. On Environment and Wildlife there were just 65 stories taking 2.03% of primetime. In May there were 789 stories on Crime, 779 stories on International Affairs and 531 on National Politics. There were just 53 stories on Environment and Wildlife. It remained at the bottom with just 2.13 % of primetime coverage. In June 2010, National Politics dominated the primetime band telecast with 1003 stories while environment and wildlife remained at the bottom with just 117 stories. In terms of primetime percentage Film and Entertainment stories topped with 30.35% of primetime telecast, closely followed by Crime stories (29.39%). National Politics occupied 18.99% of primetime band, followed by International Affairs (17.61%). Environment and Wildlife could get a minuscule 3.66% of primetime coverage.

Environment and Wildlife stories on news Channels (april-June 2010)In the month of April CNN IBN topped with 50 stories on Environment and Wildlife, closely followed by Aaj Tak (49) and DD News (44). On Star News there were 20 stories, NDTV 24x7 (26) and Zee News (25). In the month of May the total no of stories declined from 214 to 200. This includes 99 stories on NDTV 24X7, followed by 54 stories on Star News. There was a major decline in the number of stories on all other channels. On Aaj Tak there was just one story during the primetime band, on Zee News 2 and CNN-IBN just ten stories. On DD News too the number of stories on Environment declined from 44 to 34. The month of March saw a major jump in the total umber of stories from 200 to 353. There was a substantial increase in the number of environment stories telecast on almost all the channels. These include DD News (98), Star News (78), Zee News (63), Aaj Tak (58), CNN-IBN (47) and NDTV 24x7 ( 9).

April – June 2010Graph 1: Green stories in electronic media

Graph 2: Prime time coverage

49 445054

99

58

98

78

63

4760

80

100

120

e(in

%)

JanuaryFebruary44

20 25 26

1

34

210 9

0

20

40

Aaaj Tak DD News Star News Zee News CNN IBN NDTV 24X7

Time

Channels Name

yMarch



32



33

July – September 2010The prime time slot in the leading news channels in the months July – September was covered mostly by international affairs and crime related news, in the month of July total 1041 stories on crime were reported and 709 stories were reported on international affairs, while on environment & wildlife just 50 stories were covered, In august the top slot was taken by national

politics with 832 stories on it, while the second slot was crime this time with 611 stories in an all, the Environment & wildlife category had just 145 stories in the month of August, The September month witnessed the all time low for the quarter in the environment & wildlife category with just 43 stories covered on the topic. This major dearth in the environment & wildlife category was seen all through the quarter.

July No. of Stories %International Affairs 709 25.71National Politics 504 18.27Environment & Wildlife 50 1.81Film & Entertainment 454 16.46Crime 1041 37.74Total 2758 100.00

August No. of Stories %International Affairs 532 21.40National Politics 832 33.47Environment & Wildlife 145 5.83Film & Entertainment 366 14.72Crime 611 24.58Total 2486 100.00

September No. of Stories %International Affairs 539 29.03National Politics 413 22.24Environment & Wildlife 43 2.32Film & Entertainment 370 19.92Crime 492 26.49Total 1857 100.00

Environment and Wildlife stories on news channelsLooking at the channel wise breakup it is evident that Aaj tak in the month july had the highest coverage for the environment and wildlife category with 65 news in an all, while September had just 3 stories, DD news had somewhat better in the month of July compared to Aaj Tak it had 74 environmental stories, Star news and Zee news in the month of August performed better with 104 and 109 environmental stories respectively, CNN – IBN performed worst in the month of july which had just 1 environment story to its credit. Amongst all the better performing was NDTV 24x7 also had 121 environmental stories in the month august.

no. of stories from July & September 2009 (in %)Looking at the category wise analysis in the month of July there were 37.74% coverage on crime and 25.71 coverage on international affair while national politics and Film & Infotainment had 18.27% and 16.46% coverage respectively. Environment & wildlife in the month of july had just 1.81% of coverage. In august the maximum coverage was on crime with 37.74% while 33.47% coverage was on national politics moreover 24.58% coverage on crime, In august the coverage on environment and wildlife was 5.83%. September again had top slot for international affairs with 29.03% coverage and the second was 26.49% for crime while Environment & wildlife gain dipped to 2.32%.

74

104 109121

100

120

140July

August

September

6574

147

1

17

5847

38

3

21

43

20 21

39

0

20

40

60

80


Time(in

%)

Channels NameSource: CMS Media Lab



34



35

In a country like India, media is the most effective tool environment communication but as per the records these are not sufficiently exploited for the same, most of the environment stories presented lack the priority status with which it should be presented. Though the English newspapers are carrying sufficient news on environment but it lacks the depth and also the follow-ups of the stories plays the spoil sport. On analysing the prime time slot in the leading news channel in the month of October to December 2010 it was revealed that coverage of international affairs is the highest for all the months which was around 25.78% for the month of October, 40.98% for the month of November, and almost 22% for the month of December, the second highest coverage was that of film and entertainment with almost 39% in the month of October and November and 34% in the month of December. On analysing the data for the environment and wildlife category it was revealed that a major dearth was reported throughout the quarter, the data shows only 3.58% coverage in October and 3.23% in the month of November the month of December was also no better with only 6.95% of coverage on Environment and wildlife.

Environment and Wildlife Stories on news ChannelOn analysing the channel wise breakup it is revealded that Aaj tak in the month of october had just 22 stories as compared to 62 and 68 stories in the month of november and december respectively, DD news though being the national channel couldn’t live up to the expectation, 62 stories were reported in the month of october while only 32 stories in the month of december, Star news showed some considerable growth towards the end of the quarter with 94 stories in the december compared to just 36 stories in October. Zee news had almost similar no. of stories 21 and 20 in october and december respectively, CNN-IBN had shown the negligence towards environment in the month of October with just 6 stories, amongst all leading news channels NDTV 24x7 performed better with 107 stories in october and 423 stories in the month of december.

October – December 2010 ClassificationOctober Time % of TimeInternational Affairs 1814 25.78National Politics 1141 16.21Environment & Wildlife 252 3.58Film & Entertainment 2714 38.57Crime 1116 15.86Total 7037 100.00

November Time % of TimeInternational Affairs 4446 40.98National Politics 1929 17.78Environment & Wildlife 350 3.23Film & Entertainment 3124 28.80Crime 999 9.21Total 10848 100.00

December Time % of TimeInternational Affairs 2293 21.99National Politics 1970 18.89Environment & Wildlife 725 6.95Film & Entertainment 3567 34.20Crime 1874 17.97Total 10429 100.00

Environment Stories (Channel wise)423

200

250

300

350

400

450

%) October

November

December

2262

36 21 6

10762 59 58 68 49 5468

32

94

20

89

0

50

100

150

200


Time(in

Channels Name

December


36



37

MEDIA ANAlYSIS 2009

38



39

The buzzword climate change may have put environmental news back onto page one, but are the issues getting the media treatment they deserve? Do stories like mining in Aravallies get enough attention? In struggles over projects like Dharma port near Gahirmata, Orissa, which can put the endangered olive ridely sea turtle closer to the slippery edge of extinction have equal media voice? From Panchayats to parliaments environmental issues directly affect our communities, food supply, health and the sustainability of our economic development. So why the eco system primary news isn’t beat like sports, politics and business. The limited knowledge of reporters also leads to environmental catastrophe, the stories also suffer content limitations, typically providing little qualification or support from scientific data, making vague references to the scientific communication, and emphasising sensationalist aspects. The recent media attention to the United Nations’ climate panel reports, Al Gore’s documentary film “An Inconvenient Truth,” and books such as Elizabeth Kolbert’s “Field Notes from a Catastrophe” are part of an uptick in environmental coverage. Nonetheless, environmental issues represent a very low proportion of all stories covered by newspapers and television.

These stories also suffer content limitations, typically providing little qualification or support from scientific data, making vague references to the scientific communication, and emphasising sensationalist aspects and near-term and personal consequences.

Methodology CMS Media Lab has undertaken significant experimentation over few years to develop a robust and rigors methodology. The content analysis broadly covers qualitative and quantitative aspects.

Prime time band of study. The prime (7 1. pm-11 pm) programming is the industry benchmark in news television for all significant events and issues that are prominently covered on a particular day.Five mainstream Hindi news channels 2. were included i.e. Aaj Tak, NDTV 24x7, Star News, DD News, Zee News and CNN IBN. The recorded tapes were then previewed 3. and the news stories listed under various classifications and categories to generate quantitative data.The news content on the above 4. mentioned channels were listed and documented in the log sheets.The stories were classified and separately 5. coded (Ex politics, business, sports, environmental news etc.)Environmental related stories are being 6. separately reviewed

Analysis of the leading Hindi news channels reflect on their low priority for environmental beat. Out of the total coverage in the month of January, February and March the percentage of environmental coverage is merely 1.27%, 1.70% and 2.05% respectively. Even the film and entertainment enjoys around 20% of the stories and international affairs approx. 30-40% stories. In terms of percentage of time dedicated also issues like politics get the coverage of more than 20% and the environmental issues is just below 2%.

Table 1: Stories in prominent news channels from January – March 2009Classification

January No. of Stories %International Affairs 1487 49.78National Politics 684 22.90Environment and Wildlife 38 1.27Film and Entertainment 488 16.34Crime 290 9.71Total 2987 100.00

February No. of Stories %International Affairs 1191 39.70National Politics 860 28.67Environment and Wildlife 51 1.70Film and Entertainment 576 19.20Crime 322 10.73Total 3000 100.00

March No. of Stories %International Affairs 1169 50.91National Politics 241 10.50Environment and Wildlife 47 2.05Film and Entertainment 340 14.81Crime 499 21.73Total 2296 100.00


Graph 1: Stories on environmental issues in prominent Hindi news channels (In percentage)

49.78

39.70

50.91

40.00

50.00

60.00

JanuaryFebruary

22.90

1.27

16.34

9.71

28.67

1.70

19.20

10.7310.50

2.05

14.81

21.73

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00


Crime

Issues

March


January – March 2009

40



41

Table 2: Time spent by prominent news channels on environmental stories

January No. (minutes) %

International Affairs 5950 45.76

National Politics 2670 20.54

Environment and Wildlife 160 1.23

Film and Entertainment 3298 25.36

Crime 926 7.12

Total 13003 100.00

February No. (minutes) %





Crime 781 7.17

Total 10905 100.00

March No. (minutes) %





Crime 1279 13.95

Total 9163 100.00

Aaj Tak in the month of January had one story and no stories were spotted on the channel in February 2009. Similarly trends have been reported in Zee News also. DD News had 56, 39 and 33 stories in January, February and March respectively while Star News in January had merely nine stories. CNN-IBN and NDTV 24x7 were promising with 62 (January) and 116 (February) environment

related stories respectively which were highest in comparison to Aaj Tak, DD News, Star News and Zee News.

Looking at the overall coverage of the channels it is evident that less than one percent of the total time is devoted to the issues like environment and wildlife (refer table and graph given below).

Graph 2: Time devoted on environmental issues in prominent Hindi news channels (In percentage)

Table 3: Environmental stories trends on Hindi news channelsTV Channels January 2009 February 2009 March 2009Aaj TakEnvironmental Stories 1 0 22Total Time 4414 3550 4309% of Time 0.02 0 0.51DD NewsEnvironmental Stories 56 39 33Total Time 5801 4662 5468% of Time 0.97 0.84 0.6Star NewsEnvironmental Stories 9 26 23Total Time 4723 3828 4503% of Time 0.19 0.68 0.5Zee NewsEnvironmental Stories 24 1 0Total Time 3973 3382 3734% of Time 0.6 0.03 0CNN-IBNEnvironmental Stories 62 23 23Total Time 4675 3983 4760% of Time 1.32 0.58 0.48NDTV 24x7Environmental Stories 9 116 11Total Time 4879 4128 4757% of Time 0.17 2.81 0.22Overall ChannelEnvironmental Stories 161 205 112Total Time 28465 23533 27531% of Time 0.56 0.87 0.40


45.7641.09

59.48

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00


20.54

1.23

25.36

7.12

22.38

1.88

27.48

7.177.601.21

17.7513.95

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00


Film & EntertainmentInfotainment

Crime

Issues



42



43

Graph 3: Time devoted on environmental stories by Hindi news channels

1

56

9

24

62

90

39

26

1

23

116

2233

23

0

23

11

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140


January

February

March

Channels Name


Table 1: Stories in prominent news channels from April – July 2009

ClassificationApril No. of Stories %



Environment & Wildlife 7 0.57

Film & Entertainment Infotainment 78 6.34

Crime 292 23.72

Total 1231 100.00

May No. of Stories %





Crime 368 15.25

Total 2413 100.00

June No. of Stories %





Crime 963 25.83

Total 3728 100.00

July No. of Stories %





Crime 777 23.52

Total 3304 100.00Source: CMS Media Lab

April – July 2009

44



45

Table 2: Time spent by prominent news channels on environment stories

April No of Time % of Time





Crime 596 15.29

Total 3898 100.00

May No of Time % of Time





Crime 841 9.05

Total 9289 100.00

June No of Time % of Time





Crime 3037 22.32

Total 13604 100.00

July No of Time % of Time





Crime 2065 18.08

Total 11420 100.00Source: CMS Media Lab

analysis of total no of stories (april-June) on seven news channelsDD News showed maximum number of stories in the time span of three months (April-June). A total of 187 stories on environment and wildlife were shown during this period. Other prominent news channels were way behind DD News. While NDTV and Zee News telecast 119 and 117 stories respectively, Aaj Tak showed just 15, Star News only 9 and Times Now a minuscule 8 in three months. In the month wise analysis, it becomes clear that, there was no story on environment and wildlife in the month of April on four prominent channels, i.e. Aaj

Tak, CNN-IBN, NDTV 24x7 and Times Now. However, the time devoted by various news channels on environment stories saw a sharp increase from April to June, 2009. The major increase has been witnessed by NDTV 24x7 which did not show a single story in April but showed 18 stories in May and increased it to 101 times in June. It was followed by Doordarshan which saw a fall from 55 times in April to 29 in May but managed to increase the frequency from there to 103 in June. Star News managed steadily by showing 2 stories in April and May but increased it to 5 in June. Times Now showed 8 stories in June and CNN-IBN showed 89 stories.

66.16

38.4637.5538.09

33 2640.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

April

May

7.72

0.57

6.34

23.72

0.79

7.96

15.2519.88

1.53

14.67

25.83

33.26

15.80

1.60

25.8223.52

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00


Crime

Issues

May

June

July


Graph 1: Stories in prominent News channels from April to July

46



47

Graph 3: Time devoted on environmental stories by leading news channels

55

10389

101

134

80

100

120

140

160

(in%) April

May

0

55

2

26

0 0 0

1529

2

47

0

18

00 5

44

80

2433

823

6

0

20

40

60

Aaaj Tak DD News Star News Zee News CNN IBN NDTV 24X7 Times Now

Time(

Channels Name

May

June

July


analysis of total telecast time of stories (april-June)The three month data shows that news stories related to International affairs occupied the maximum duration of prime time telecast. The next slot was occupied by stories related to national politics and crime. In the month of April while there were 759 stories on International affairs devoting 69.01 percent of total prime time, there were just 83 stories on environment and wildlife, occupying just 2.13 percent of the prime time slot. In the month of May, maximum prime time space was occupied by news on National politics (49.79%), while the percentage of environment and wildlife news stories came down to 1.19 percent. International affairs and Film

and Entertainment occupied the top two positions in prime time coverage during the month of June, having 30.17 percent and 24.12 percent of prime time space. Coverage of Environment and Wildlife news improved marginally and it got 2.57 percent of total prime time space. In terms of number of stories, International Affairs was extensively covered from April to June and the three months saw 759, 928 and 1420 stories respectively. During this period stories on environment and wildlife also saw a steady increase from 7 in April to 19 in May and 57 in the month of June. Coverage of National politics saw a sharp rise from April to May. While there were just 95 stories in the month of April, it shot up to 906 in the month of May, but came down to 741 in the month of June.

69.01

49.79

37.8540.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00April

May

June

July

5.46 2.138.11

15.29

28.69

1.19

11.27 9.05

30.17

20.82

2.57

24.12 22.3227.71

14.37

1.99

18.08

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00


Crime

Issues

July


Time spent from April to July 2009 (in %)A total of 222 news stories on environment and wildlife were telecast in the month of July on six prominent news channels. DD News remained at the top with 134 stories, while Aaj Tak did not telecast even a single story in the entire month. However, the month of August saw a marked increase in the number of stories on all the six channels. In all there 419 stories were telecast. There were 168 stories on DD News, 87 on Zee News, 62 on Star News, 36 on NDTV 24X7 and 9 on CNN-IBN. No of stories on Aaj Tak jumped from zero in July to 57 in August. The overall number of stories came down to 362 in September. There was a sharp decline in the number of stories on DD News (55) and Zee News (17). In contrast to it there was a rise in the number of stories telecast on Aaj Tak (115), Star News (123) and NDTV 24X7 (47). During the period from July-September a total of 357 stories were telecast on DD News, 209 on Star News, 172 on Aaj Tak, 137 on Zee News, 106 on NDTV 24X7 and a minuscule 22 on CNN-IBN.

analysis of primetime coverage of stories (July-September)In the month of July stories on International Affairs dominated the news channels. There were 943 stories taking 33.18% of the total primetime. Film and entertainment stories (723) occupied the second slot, while environment and wildlife stories came at the bottom with just 51 stories and occupying just 2.84 percent of the total primetime telecast. International Affairs, National Politics and Film and Entertainment news continued to dominate the prime time on all the prominent news channels in August. While there were 784 stories on International Affairs, environment and wildlife continued to be at the bottom with just 71 stories telecast on the prime time. 22.03 % of total time was devoted to news on International Affairs, while news on environment and wildlife constituted just 4.17 percent of primetime. In the month of September

July – September 2009

134

168

115123

100

120

140

160

180


July

August

September

0

2433

823

57 62

87

9

3655

175

47

0

20

40

60

80

100


Time(in

%)

Channels Name

September


48



49

there was a decline in the number of stories on National politics, Crime and Film and Entertainment, while there was an increase in the number of stories on International Affairs and environment and wildlife. In total there were 933 stories with 30.82 percent of

primetime coverage on International Affairs. This comes in sharp contrast to environment and wildlife stories during the primetime. There were just 79 stories on environment and wildlife constituting 4.22 % of total primetime coverage.

33.18

25.44 23.72

28.44

23.6922.92 22.38

37.39

23.77

22.2025.00

30.00

35.00

40.00

No. of stories from July & Sep 2009 (in %)

July

August

September

15.87

1.79 2.58

13.47

3.17

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00



Crime

Issues



no of stories on environment and wildlife (oct-Dec)In the month of October 2009, Aaj Tak topped with 161 stories in environmental issues and was closely followed by Star News (149) and NDTV 24X7 (125). DD News telecast just 92 stories while CNN-IBN came at the last with 78 stories. The month of November 2009 saw a sharp decline in the number of stories on environmental issues. Except DD News there was a major decline in the number of stories on all other news channels. A total of 366 stories were telecast on DD News. In contrast to it there

were 100 stories on Aaj Tak, 84 on Star News, 70 on Zee News and a minuscule 11 on CNN-IBN. The total number of stories saw a marginal increase from 706 to 732. In December 2009, environment stories saw a major jump on all the news channels. The total number of stories telecast on news channels almost doubled (1371). Aaj Tak telecast 278 stories during this month, Star News 145 stories, Zee News 81 stories, NDTV 24X7 telecast 358 stories. Surprisingly there was a minor decline in the number of stories telecast on DD News during this month. The total number of stories on DD News came down from 366 in November to 342 in December 2009.

366

278

342358

250

300

350

400


October

November

December

!

161

92

149

10178

125100

8470

11

101

145

81

167

0

50

100

150

200


Time(in

%)

Channels Name

#REF!


Graph 1: Green stories in electronic media (channel wise)

50

analysis of primetime coverage of stories (october-December)In the month of October news on Films and entertainment dominated the prime time on all the six major news channels. While a total of 3223 time stories on film and entertainment were shown, constituting 39.19% of primetime, stories on International affairs came a close second with 29.66 % of primetime. However stories on environment and wildlife just constituted 8.57% of total primetime coverage. National politics came at the bottom with just 697 stories constituting 8.48 % of primetime. The dominance of film and entertainment news continued in the months of November and December. In November film and entertainment occupied

38.47% of primetime. The coverage of environment news saw a minor increase with 9.08% of primetime being devoted to environment stories. International affairs (30.17%) and National Politics (14.89%) came at the second and third slot. Crime came at the bottom with just 7.40 % of primetime coverage. Though there was a sharp increase in the number of stories on environment and wildlife in the month of December (1371), however, in terms of duration it came at the bottom with just 12.16 % of primetime devoted to environment and wildlife stories. The dominance of film and entertainment during the primetime remained intact (30.33%) and was followed by National Politics (25.01%), International Affairs (18.19%) and Crime (14.31%).

29.66

39.19

30.17

38.47

25.01

30.33

25.00

30.00

35.00

40.00

45.00

Time spent from Oct to Dec 2009 (in %)

October

November

December

8.48 8.57

14.0914.89

9.087.40

18.19

12.1614.31

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00



Crime

Issues


Graph 2: Primetime coverage

60,000Green media

coverage

1350Green Films

1142web links

942Green Filmmakers

124Journalists

2116ad agency

142tV Channels

online databases

CMS ENVIS Centre CMS ENVIS Centre

Green Media daily E-Newsletter CMS ENVIS Centre on Media & Environment

www.cmsenvis.nic.in

For more information: anand a Jha, Co-ordinatorCMS ENVIS Centre, RESEARCH HOUSESaket Community Centre, New Delhi 110 017P: 91-11-2684 4020, 2685 1660, F: 91-11-2696 8282 [email protected]

CMS ENVIS Parent organisation: P N Vasanti, Director, [email protected]

environmental trends in news channels 2009 13

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