Analysis of Environmental Issues Coverage by Daily Newspapers in Garhwal (Uttarakhand)

The world is suffering from some dangerous environmental problems like pollution, water scarcity, global warming, etc. That is why these days environmental issue are getting priority and making the headlines in print and electronic media. Environmental problems are universal. India is also affected from these environmental problems. Uttarakhand, a Himalayan state in India, is also a centre of some dangerous environmental problems. Though these disasters are natural and happen due to natural processes, increasing human intervention like unsustainable development, deforestation, urbanization in the state have worsened the situation. This is important that media plays responsible role towards these issues. Media cannot cure these problems but can spread awareness and educate people about these issues. Print media has always been the principle source for people to get information about environmental issues and also to receive explanation/interpretation on their scientific aspects. Anders Hansen said, “The way in which we make sense of the environmental threats which face human-kind is greatly conditioned by a powerful and omnipresent set of electronic and printed messages-the mass media. For many people, knowledge of environmental issues is based upon what they have learned through print and electronic media, which help construct conceptions of political, social and ecological reality about an environmental issue”.1 When we talk about role of communication and mass media in terms of environment and environmental issues it comes under the discipline of environmental communication. This topic is a subject of environmental communication. This study analyzes the pattern of news related to environmental issues published in selected daily newspaper of Uttarakhand. Using content analysis method four national newspapers (Two Hindi language and two English language) published from Uttarakhand are analyzed during one year period.