Natural Disasters in India: A Comparative Study of Print Media’s Approach of Top Four English Dailies’ Coverage of Uttarakhand Floods, 2013

Abstract

Print media plays a significant role during disasters as it is one of the most widely used modes of communicating important information to the masses. Every media has different agenda to highlight in such a scenario. While some media may portray the devastation, others may expose the failures of the system. The article pursues four of the most read English newspapers in India out of which three are also local favourites of Uttarakhand, which are selected on the basis of their readership, to examine how print media disseminated the news of Uttarakhand floods 2013—whether it was playing an important role in awareness generation and mitigation or it was concerned with only reporting situational information. The authors use qualitative content analysis to map print media’s interventions during Uttarakhand disaster in 2013.Media framed most of the Uttarakhand flood stories by stressing widely on the response and less often focusing on the level of preparedness of the community. Most of the stories covered information related to rescue operation, while very few stories concentrated upon awareness generation, mitigation and redevelopment. Often the messages conveyed by the media pertain to ‘during-disaster’ and ‘post-disaster’ phases. It is evident from this study that efforts of media are least in educating people and disseminating information on disaster before it strikes. In the concluding note, authors specify the road to better disaster management and provide an input for policymakers and media agencies for a coordinated approach.