Content Analysis on Coverage of Wildlife Issues by Popular English and Kannada Newspapers of Bengaluru
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CONTENT ANALYSIS ON COVERAGE OF WILDLIFE ISSUES BY POPULAR ENGLISH AND KANNADA NEWSPAPERS OF BENGALURU SHRAVANA KUMAR S Registered Number: 1424019 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Media and Communication Studies CHRIST UNIVERSITY Bengaluru 2016 Programme Authorized to Offer Degree Department of Media Studies ii Authorship CHRIST UNIVERSITY Department of Media Studies This is to certify that I have examined this copy of a master‟s thesis by Shravana Kumar S Registered Number: 1424019 and have found that it is complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the final examining committee have been made. Committee Members: _____________________________________________________ [RAJESH A] _____________________________________________________ Date:__________________________________ iii I, Shravana Kumar S, confirm that this dissertation and the work presented in it are my own achievement. 1. Where I have consulted the published work of others this is always clearly attributed. 2. Where I have quoted from the work of others the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations this dissertation is entirely my own work. 3. I have acknowledged all main sources of help. 4. If my research follows on from previous work or is part of a larger collaborative research project I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself. 5. I am aware and accept the penalties associated with plagiarism. Date: iv v CHRIST UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT Content Analysis on Coverage of Wildlife Issues by Popular English and Kannada Newspapers of Bengaluru Shravana Kumar S The ever increasing human population and unplanned developmental work across the globe has caused a major threat to the biodiversity. Poaching, loss of wild habitat due to encroachment of forestlands have put many animal and plant species in the verge of extinction, the most recent being the Western black rhinoceros, a subspecies of the black rhinoceros that was declared as extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in the year 2011.The current destruction of the remaining wild habitats across the globe seeks protection and effective conservation strategies. Print Media, especially newspaper play an important role in creating awareness about wildlife issues and also mitigating in problems. This research is concerned about Bengaluru‟s popular English and Kannada newspapers coverage of wildlife news. A total of 300 issues of five English and five Kannada dailies, for a duration of thirty days from 1 April 2015 to 30 April 2015, were considered for the content analysis. The content analysis is made to find out the possible results of newspapers‟ approach towards covering wildlife. The analysis is done based on the amount of coverage and importance given to city, state, national and international wildlife issues; what kinds of animals make the news; who speaks on behalf of wildlife. Are state wildlife officials dominating the news coverage or wildlife experts or NGO‟s are most frequently attributed news sources? Are wildlife issues addressed in editorial and letters to the editor column? Whether the stories reported by its own correspondent or through agency? The researcher also found whether the endangered and threatened animals are receiving enough coverage or not. Although species diversity is an important concept to help readers understand the issues related to the wildlife, such an approach is evident in coverage or not? Keywords: Wildlife news, English and Kannada dailies vi vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere gratitude to my Guide, Dr. Rajesh A for his constant guidance encouragement and support. I also thank course coordinator Fr. Biju K.Chacko, Suparna Naresh, Aasita Bali, Amutha Manavalan, Dr. Kannan S, Shantaraju S and Dr. Chandrasekhar Vallath for their valuable feedback and restless assistance in bringing out this research. I also would like to thank my family and friends for the encouragement and devotion, without whom this thesis would never have been completed. viii DEDICATION To my loving family and friends ix TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 Introduction.................................................................................... 1 1.1 An Introduction Describing the Background of the Problem ............ 1 1.2 The Purpose and Significance of the Study ....................................... 8 1.3 Statement of the Problem ................................................................... 9 1.4 The Research Design ......................................................................... 9 1.5 The Research Questions and Hypotheses ........................................ 10 1.6 Hypothesis........................................................................................ 10 1.7 The Assumptions and Limitations of the Study ............................... 10 1.8 Operational Definitions Used in the Study ...................................... 10 1.9 The Expected Outcomes .................................................................. 11 Chapter 2 Review of Literature .................................................................... 12 2.1 Wildlife News Coverage in Print media: Analytical Studies ........... 12 2.2 Public Perception about Wildlife based on Media coverage ........... 16 2.3 Books authored on Media and Wildlife Conservation ..................... 19 2.4 Wildlife Conservation, Education and Media .................................. 22 Chapter 3 Methodology ................................................................................ 25 3.1 Research Method ............................................................................. 25 3.2 Research Methodology .................................................................... 25 3.3 Methodology Followed .................................................................... 26 3.4 Content Analysis .............................................................................. 26 3.5 Parameters for content analysis ....................................................... 27 3.6 Defining the Universe ...................................................................... 28 3.7 Hypothesis........................................................................................ 28 3.8 Profile of the Newspapers ................................................................ 28 3.9 Measurements .................................................................................. 34 Chapter 4 Findings and Analysis.................................................................. 35 4.1 Quantitative content analysis ........................................................... 35 4.2 Comparative Percentage Coverage in English Newspapers ............ 53 4.3 Comparative Percentage Coverage in Kannada Newspapers .......... 54 4.4 Comparative Percentage Coverage .................................................. 55 4.5 Expert Interview............................................................................... 55 Chapter 5 Conclusion .................................................................................... 60 5.1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 60 5.2 Summary of the Results ................................................................... 60 5.3 Discussion of the Results ................................................................. 62 5.4 Discussion in Relation to the Literature and Field Limitations ....... 67 5.5 Recommendations for Further Study ............................................... 68 5.6 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 68 Bibiliography..……………………………………………………………………....70 Appendix A: Expert Interview Questions for Wildlife Expert .................. 73 Expert Interview Questions for Print Industry Expert .............................. 73 Appendix B: Data Sheet prepared during content analysis ....................... 74 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Coverage Chart for Deccan Herald ................................................... 35 Figure 2 Coverage Chart for Times of India .................................................... 37 Figure 3 Coverage Chart for The Hindu .......................................................... 39 Figure 4 Coverage Chart for The New Indian Express .................................... 40 Figure 5 Coverage Chart for Deccan Chronicle .............................................. 42 Figure 6 Coverage Chart for Kannada Prabha ................................................. 44 Figure 7 Coverage Chart for Samyukta Karnataka .......................................... 46 Figure 8 Coverage Chart for Vijayavani .......................................................... 48 Figure 9 Coverage Chart for Vijaya Karnataka ............................................... 49 Figure 10 Coverage Chart for Prajavani .......................................................... 51 Figure 11 Comparative Percentage of English Newspapers ............................ 53 Figure 12 Comparative Percentage of Kannada Newspapers .......................... 54 Figure 13 Comparative Percentage of English and Kannada Newspapers ...... 55 xi . xii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 1.1 An Introduction Describing the Background of the Problem The word wildlife refers