American International Journal of Available online at http://www.iasir.net Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences ISSN (Print): 2328-3734, ISSN (Online): 2328-3696, ISSN (CD-ROM): 2328-3688

AIJRHASS is a refereed, indexed, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary and open access journal published by International Association of Scientific Innovation and Research (IASIR), USA (An Association Unifying the Sciences, Engineering, and Applied Research)

Campaign reporting and policy dissemination by regional in , S. Sree Govind Baratwaj1and R.Venkatesh Aravindh2 1Doctoral Research Scholar, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Periyar University, Salem, India 2Doctoral Research Scholar, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Periyar University, Salem, India

Abstract: Indian Government had led various policies for the well-being of the citizen and this is one such policy to concentrates on the environmental issues of the nation. To make the country clean, to eradicate the problems faced by country in maintaining clean environment and proper sanitation and to make every citizen of the country to realize and understand the significance of cleanliness and sanitation in the environment. Swachh Bharat campaign is one such responsible initiative taken by the Government of India and the campaign started on Oct 2, 2014, as tribute to the Mahatma Gandhi, the preeminent leader of Indian Independence movement during British Rule. The Swachh Bharat mission mainly focuses to eliminate open defecation to completely eradicate manual scavenging, to introduce and implement modern and scientific Municipal solid waste management, to effect a behavioral change among the public by creating wide awareness to the masses regarding health and sanitation through media. So, for one such responsible and innovative public policy, the Government highly utilizes media to disseminate information to the masses and the role of Media in is really vital in this aspect. The research intends to study how the national public policy is taken through to the people in southern Region of India, and how effectively it has been portrayed and promoted to the people of Tamil Nadu. The Regional dailies seems to be having more impact on the public, since the vernacular language plays an effective role in a state like Tamil Nadu. So the study will directly focus on the Media coverage of Swachh Bharat campaign by the regional newspapers in Tamil Nadu.

Keywords: Mass Media, Public Policy, Information dissemination, Coverage, Swachh Bharat

I. INTRODUCTION Role and function of Media Habermas (1964) concept of the ‘public sphere’ gives credence to this notion of the media. He supports the expectation that the mass media should facilitate pluralist debate and the free formation of public opinion. Therefore, a liberal pluralist theory of the media will support a free and independent press, which operates in the role of the public watchdog, while also playing the consumer representation role. With the media operating in the marketplace, it is assumed to thereby reflect popular concerns and finally performing an informational role. This amplifies the media’s role in a democratic setting.

Public Policy and Media The functions of the media in a democracy and subsequently in an election process have elicited much interest from media practitioners and outsiders. Various scholars have attempted to bring out a simplistic explanation of the way the two institutions work alongside each other but it has proved difficult. Schudson (2000) opines that journalism is an important constitutive element of public life and media institutions like any other are governed by traditions and dynamics of their own. But in the broader public life, news institutions do not define politics any more than political structures fully determine the news; there is an ongoing interaction (cited in Curran et al, 2000). It is these interactions between the political players and media that one needs to engage with, to try and look at the boundaries both institutions have with each other as power instruments. Curran notes that at its best, the mediatization of politics is one in which journalism is capable of standing as spokesperson for civil society, challenging political arrogance and political roguery.

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE A. and Social Impact The early 1920s saw the newspaper industry peak with a household penetration (average daily circulation measured as a percent of households) of 130% (Meyer, 2004) and started to show a steady decline ever since.

AIJRHASS 16-360; © 2016, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 223 Sree Govind Baratwaj et al.., American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 16(3), September- November, 2016, pp. 223-226

Another landmark decline in circulation is experienced in the early 1950s when household penetration first went under 100% (Wolff, 2007). Carey & Kreiling (1974) support that there’s a basic cultural disposition to seek symbolic experience that is “once immediately pleasing and conceptually plausible” (p. 242).Postman & Paglia (2007) support that literacy poses a challenge for readers, making them dwell in a realm that is “unnaturally silent” and leading to a less physically active life and less developed senses. B. Media Role in Public Policy As a large body of literature suggests, the media are now taking an active part in the public representation of politics by shaping the agenda of the political discourse and by contributing their own preferences in political controversies (Bennett & Entman 2001; Iyengar & Reeves 1997).

III. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:  To explore the coverage of news on Swachh Bharat Campaign from the beginning of its stages in regional newspapers in Tamil Nadu, India.  To consider how Swachh Bharat Campaign has been portrayed by the English and Tamil Newspapers in the region of Tamil Nadu, India.

IV. METHODOLOGY The methodology adopted for this study is Quantitative content analysis. The Analysis is done over two English dailies namely and Indian Express and two Tamil dailies namely and Dinamalar and their coverage on Swachh Bharat Campaign for a period of two months Oct & Nov 2014 since the beginning of Campaign, and the analysis and interpretations as follows

Table 1: Campaign News covered in the Newspapers Newspapers Language Number of articles Total Percentage % Deccan Chronicle 33 34.3 Indian Express English 18 18.7

Dinamalar 27 28.1 Dinamalar Tamil 18 18.7 Total 96 99.8

Table 2: Campaign Articles covered in the First page of Newspaper Newspapers Number of articles Total Percentage %

Deccan Chronicle 4 25

Indian Express 7 43.7

Dinathanthi 3 18.7 Dinamalar 2 12.5

Total 16 99.9

Table 3: Swachh Bharat articles in the Odd Page Newspapers Number of articles Total Percentage % Deccan Chronicle 23 36.5

Indian Express 14 22.2

Dinathanthi 19 30.1 Dinamalar 7 11.1 Total 63 99.9

Table 4: Campaign Articles by Story Type Newspapers Deccan Indian Express Dinathant Dinamalar Total Percentage % Chronicle hi News 14 7 18 11 51 53.1 Feature 3 4 4 3 13 13.5 Comment 5 2 1 2 9 9.3 Interviews 1 3 2 1 8 8.3 Letter to the editor 4 1 2 - 7 7.2 Editorial 6 1 - 1 8 8.3 Total 33 18 27 18 96 99.7

AIJRHASS 16-360; © 2016, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 224 Sree Govind Baratwaj et al.., American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 16(3), September- November, 2016, pp. 223-226

Table 5: Campaign related Articles by Length Number of words Deccan Indian Dinathant Dinamalar Total Percentage % Chronicle Express hi >800 6 7 4 2 19 19.7 400-799 17 6 7 8 38 39.5 150-399 10 5 11 2 28 29.1 100-149 - - 1 5 6 6.2 <100 - - 4 1 5 5.2 Total 33 18 27 18 96 99.7

Table 6 : Tone of the News content Tone of News Deccan Indian Dina Dinamalar Total Percentage % content Chronicle Express Thanthi Sensitize 3 1 2 3 9 9.3 Precarious 2 2 2 1 9 9.3 Instructive 8 1 2 1 12 12.5 Titillation 1 2 1 2 6 6.25 Disparaging 3 1 2 1 7 7.2 Promotive 4 1 5 2 12 12.5 Overstatement 1 3 9 3 16 16.6 Educative 9 5 2 2 18 18.75 Trivialization 2 2 2 3 9 9.3 Total 33 18 27 18 96 100

Table 8: Month wise Story Frequency

Month Deccan Indian Dinamalar Total Percentage % Chronicle Express

Oct 22 10 19 12 63 65.63 2014 Nov 11 8 8 6 33 34.3 2014 Total 33 18 27 18 96 99.93

V. FINDINGS  Number of Article related to Swachh Bharat Campaign is high in Deccan Chronicle 34.3% , and The Tamil daily Dinathanthi provides second maximum coverage over the Public Policy Swachh Bharat of about 28.1%, but articles are comparatively low in Indian Express and Dinamalar with about 18.7%.Indian Express had 43.7% coverage followed by Deccan Chronicle with 25% in first page.  Deccan Chronicle carried 23 articles and Dinathanthi carried about 19 articles in the odd page and Indian Express carried 14 articles during two months in Odd page.  On studying the story type of Policy related Articles, majority of the coverage were just news type 53.1% and editorial were the least with 8.3%.  A total of 38 articles with 39.5 % has average length of (400-799) words each, and least were (<100)words. On analyzing the tone of the news content in Policy related Articles, maximum news content were educative in nature 36.5% and disparaging news content were the least with 7.2%. Upon looking at the frequency of story by month , the coverage seems to be very high at the time of the launch with about 63 articles with 65.63%.

VI. CONCLUSION The central government in India is playing a major role in implementation of newer campaigns and policies for the betterment of the people. To fulfill the government initiative a common man of the country must know how the policy works, its benefits and significance. The knowledge transfer from the government to the public is naturally done through media ,It's a very responsible obligation of media to take the government initiatives to the public and provide them adequate awareness related to the policy and keep them informed , educated and updated English dailies Deccan Chronicle and Indian Express, on a comparative study, Deccan Chronicle really taken the campaign to the maximum reach in Tamil Nadu to its readers, Deccan Chronicle tries to effectively promote the public Policy Swachh Bharat to its best to regional public, and the Tamil daily Dinathanthi attempts to provide a adequate coverage on the policy, but few news articles by Dinathanthi were exaggerative in nature, but study says that the vernacular newspaper attempts to provide a better coverage for the public policy Swachh Bharat but the

AIJRHASS 16-360; © 2016, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 225 Sree Govind Baratwaj et al.., American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 16(3), September- November, 2016, pp. 223-226

English daily Indian Express and Tamil daily Dinamalar comparatively provides less importance on the coverage of public policy Swachh Bharat in deeper analysis taking the policy to the public and media coverage will have a direct impact on the people and policy.

REFERENCES [1] Bennett, W.L. & Entman, R.M. (eds.) (2001): Mediated Politics. Communication in the Future of Democracy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [2] Brettschneider, F. (1996): Public opinion and parliamentary action. Responsiveness of the German Bundestag in comparative perspective, in: International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 8, 292-311. [3] Callaghan, K. and Schnell, F. (2001): Assessing the democratic debate. How the news media frame elite policy discourse, in: Political Communication, 18, 183-212. [4] Carey, J. W. & Kreiling, A. L. (1974). Popular culture and uses and gratifications: Notestoward an accommodation. [5] Herbst, S. (1998): Reading Public Opinion, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [6] Iyengar, S. and Reeves, R. (eds.) (1997): Do the Media Govern? Politicians, Voters, and Reporters in America, London: Sage. [7] Meyer, P. (2004). The Vanishing Newspaper – Saving Journalism in the Information Age. Columbia, MI:University of Missouri Press. [8] Postman, N. & Paglia, C. (2007). Two cultures – television versus print. In D. Crowley & P. Heyer (Eds).Communication in history: Technology, culture, society (pp.283-295). (5th Ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. (Original work published in 1991). [9] Stephens, M. (2007). Television transforms the news. In D. Crowley & P. Heyer (Eds). Communication in history: Technology, culture, society (pp.276-282). (5th Ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. (Original work published in 1988). [10] Neiva, E. M. (2007). Money, technology, tax law and trouble. In Madigan, Charles M. (2007): -30- The collapse of the great American newspaper (pp.11-18). Chicago, IL: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher. (Original work published 1995). [11] Nichols, J. (2007). Still a powerful voice. In Madigan, Charles M. (2007): -30- The collapse of the great American newspaper (pp.175-189). Chicago, IL: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher. (Original work published 2007). [12] Schudson, M. (2000). The Power of News, London: Harvard University Press. [13] Retrieved from: http://moud.gov.in/sites/upload_files/moud/files/SBM_Guideline.pdf

AIJRHASS 16-360; © 2016, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 226