COMPARATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS OF PRINT MEDIA COVERAGE

OF KISAN LONG MARCH IN ENGLISH AND MALAYALAM DAILIES

Thesis submitted in Partial fulfilment of the Requirement for the

Award of the degree of

MASTER OF COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM

MAJIDA C.K

Register No: CUAQMCJ0015

Thesis Advisor

Mr. RAMIS SALAM P.

DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION

UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT

2018
The study entitled ―comparative content analysis of print media coverage of Kisan Long
March in English and Malayalam dailies‖ by Majida C.K in partial fulfillment for the degree
of Master of Communication and Journalism is hereby accepted.

Thesis Advisor Thesis Examiner

Accepted as partial fulfillment for the Degree of Master of Communication and Journalism
by University of Calicut.

Date: Head

Department of Journalism
and Mass Communication

Date: Chairman

Board of Examiners
 DECLARATION

I, Majida C.K, do hereby declare that my dissertation entitled ―Comparative Content

Analysis of Print Media Coverage of Kisan Long March In English and Malayalam Dailies‖
is an original work carried out by me in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree
of Mass Communication and Journalism under the guidance of Dr.Muhammadali.N, Head
of the department, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of
Calicut. This work has not been previously submitted for the award of any diploma,
degree or other recognition. The work is free from plagiarism.

University of Calicut

Date:

MAJIDA C.K
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the dissertation entitled ―comparative content analysis of print media
coverage of Kisan Long March in English and Malayalam dailies‖ is a record of bonafide
study and research carried out by Majida C.K under my supervision and guidance.

Date

Mr. Ramis Salam

Assistant Professor

Department of Journalism and Mass Communication

University of Calicut
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I bow before the almighty for giving me the strength to successfully complete the work in
time.

I to express sincere gratitude to my thesis advisor Mr. Ramis Salam, Assistant Professor,
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Calicut, for his
guidance and Support. I am thankful to Dr.Muhammadali.N, Head of the department,
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Calicut for his support.

I thank Mr.Pavithran N M, Librarian, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication,

for providing me reference material whenever I needed, and my friends for their solidarity.

I owe thanks to a very special person my husband, Junaise for his continued and unfailing
love and support during my thesis work. I would not have been able to complete the
process if you had not displayed enthusiasm and pride in my achievements.

Majida C.K
 TABLE OF CONTENT

1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………..1

1.1 Media and Agrarian Crisis …………………………………………………………….1

1.2 Kisan Long March: A glance....………….…………………………………………… 4

1.2.1 Loan Waiver……………………………………………………………………..6

1.2.2 Forest Right Act…………………………………………………………………6

1.2.3 Implementation of Swaminathan Commission………………………………7

1.2.4 Recommendations of Swaminathan Commission…………………………..8

1.2.5 Prevention of farmers suicide …………………………………………………9

2 Review of Literature…………..………………..…………………..………………………10

3 Objectives and Methodology ……………………………………………………………..18

3.1 General Objectives………………………………………………………………….....18

3.1.1 Specific Objectives of the Study………………………………………………18

3.3 Units of Content Analysis ……………….………………………………………….....19

3.4 Sampling ……………………………………………………………….……………….19

3.4.1 The Hindu ……………………………………...……………………………....19

3.4.2 The New Indian Express …………...………………………...………………19

3.4. 3 Malayala Manorama …..……………………………………………………..19

3.4.4 Mathrubhumi ……..………….………………………………………………...19

3.5 Theoretical framework .………………………………………………………………...20

3.5.1 Agenda Setting Theory……………………………..………………………..20

3.5.1 Framing Theory ……………………………………………………………...20

3.6 Operational definition of Key terms………………………...………………………...21

3.6.1 All Indian Kisan Sabha………………………….……….……………..…....21

3.6.2 Kisan Long March ………………….………..……………………………....21

3.6.3 Agenda Setting…………………………..………………...………..…………21

 3.6.4 Framing……………………….…………….………………………………...21

3.6.5 News coverage …………………………………….………………………..21

3.6.6 News bias……………...………………………….………………………….21

3.6.7 Prominence……………………………………………………………..…....21

3.6.8 Volume of coverage………………………..……………….……………….22

3.6.9 National dailies…………………………….....…….……….……………….22

3.6.10 Regional dailies……………………….………………….……..………….22

3.7 Research Limitations………………………..………………………..…..……...……22

4 Analysis and Findings……………..…………………………….…….….………..…….23

4.1 Quantitative analysis of the news stories……..……….…………..…………..……23

4.1.1 Page wise categorization of news stories………….………………...…….23

4.1.2 Space allocation of news stories…………………………………….………25

4.1.3 Space Allocation to Cartoons…………………….………….………….……26

4.1.4 Visual Representations………..…………………………..……………...…..26

4.1.6 Headline Analysis………………………………………….….………….……29

4.1.7 Action statements……………………..…….……………….……….……….30

4.2 Qualitative analysis of the news stories………………..…………….…….………..32

4.2.1 News Bias of the Newspapers…….………………………………….……….32

4.2.1.1 Editorial page………………………………………………….……..………..33

4.2.1.2 Front pages…………………………...………………..…………..………….33

4.2.1.3 Inner pages………………………..…………………..……….………………34

4.3 Summary of Findings…………….……………………………………..……………..36

5 Discussion nd Conclusion………………..….………………….……….….………….38

5.1 Discussion…………………………………………………………..……….…………38

5.2 Conclusion………………………………………………..……...………...…………..38

5.3 Recommendations……...……………………….…………………………..………..40

References……………………………………………….……………………………………41
LIST OF TABLES

Table Page
Title
No. No.

4.1.1 Page wise categorization of news stories

23

4.1.2 Space allocation of news stories

25

Total Space Allocation to Cartoon

4.1.3 26

4.1.4 Visual Representations of the Stories 27

4.1.5 Space allocation of photographs 28

4.1.6 Headline analysis of the Newspapers 30

4.1.7 News bias of the Newspapers 35

 TABLE OF GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATIONS

Table Title Page No.

No.

4.1.1 25
Page wise categorization of news stories

4.1.3 Action Statement 32

 Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Mass media perform significant role in the process of change. It refers as a means
or agency for communicating, transmitting or diffusing information to the public. Media
is the fourth pillar of the democracy. It has the power of developing images, generate
the opinion and cast the behavior. Media in India are very influential and had reached
grass root level people. They determine people‘s thinking, modify their opinion, and
shape social interface. Mass media bring new values in the system. Van den Ban and
Hawkins (1996) point out that the mass media does this in a different of ways
including setting agenda for major discussion, ideas, topics, transferring knowledge,
forming and changing opinions and behavior.

Newspapers provide up-to-date information on local, state, national, and

international issues. They are among the most widely-read periodicals that are
available and accessible to the vast majority of people. Every category of reader can
get important, recent, and interesting information in newspapers. Today‘s
newspapers use design elements that make information easily accessible to the
reader. For example, important stories have large bold headlines, while Graphics‘
appear next to related stories. The most current analysis and criticism of politics,
economics, health, sports, psychological and emotional issues, music, theatre,
television, the fine arts, aid even comics are covered by newspapers (Padre S, Tripp
R, 2003).

1.1 Media and Agrarian Crisis

The print, electronic and social media all over the country played a significant role on
coverage of Kisan Long March. They also highlighted the agrarian crisis and burning
peasant issues which have significance for the whole country.

Centre for Media Studies, conducted a study the manner in which the English-
language Indian press presented the causes and consequences of these and other
farmer protests between mid March and mid July. For the study, they used Media
Cloud—an open-source news analysis platform developed in collaboration by the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab and Harvard University to examine
the content of news websites. The tool facilitated several kinds of text analyses,
including finding out the most frequently used words in a set of 1stories and detecting
the overall theme of an article. The websites that Media Cloud analyzed included
legacy newspapers such as the Times of India and The Hindu, broadcast sources
such as NDTV and Times Now, websites such as The Wire and Scroll.in, as well as
small blogs and sites that carry news about India.

Around 40 farmers from Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu conducted a march at

Delhi‘s Jantar Mantar. The protest was part of a larger agitation in the state where
farmers had been demanding a waiver of all debts from nationalized banks, a
drought-relief package of Rs 40,000 crore, the inter-linking of Tamil Nadu rivers and
the setting up of a‖ water-management board for the Kaveri.

The farmers decided to come to Delhi to gain the attention of the national
media and thus modified their protests for its consumption. They came up with
innovative, even provocative, ways to protest: they held rats and snakes between
their teeth, wore a garland of skulls which they claimed belonged to farmers who had
committed suicide, threatened to consume their own urine and stripped when they
were denied an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The farmers found
limited success in gaining responsible media coverage. While their methods saw
coverage in mainstream media, the issues they had been raising barely got any
attention. Given that the protest was not accompanied by digital outreach and social
media campaigns, the mainstream media‘s coverage formed the primary narrative of
the protests.

Farmers in Madhya Pradesh‘s Mandsaur district began a ten-day strike

demanding higher prices for their crops and milk as well as a drought-relief package.
When the protests in Mandsaur turned violent and police fired at the protestors, the
media coverage peaked in its volume. By the end of June, the coverage had all but
petered out. The crisis elicited wide coverage again in late November when farmers
from 25 states organised a joint protest in Delhi. Some of their demands remained the
same: fair prices for produce and loan waivers.
 Concentrating on theatrics makes it hard to sustain consistent news reporting
about the issue, and leads to episodic snapshots instead of comprehensive regular
reportage. The lack of discussion around the economic conditions and policies that
underlie the farmers‘ protests created a skewed perception of the problem. Readers
were given little context for the farmers‘ struggle and were kept uninformed about
their own stake in the agrarian crisis (Anushka Shah, Zeenab Aneez, 2017).

The study also revealed that the media covered the protests through an
extremely political lens. A certain degree of coverage of relevant politicians‘
responses to the issue is a crucial addition to the overall coverage. However, in the
media, political reactions are not only a way to gauge the importance of a story; they
also constitute a sub-genre of political news. The focus, once again, moved from the
causes of the protests to the political players that stood to gain or lose from them.
Nearly 80 percent of the stories made direct mention of ministers or political parties.
The most frequently used word in these stories was ―minister.‖ Much of the reportage
focused on drought and farmer suicides, with a third of the stories examined
identifying them as the causes of the protests. The actual causes of the protests,
specified by the farmers themselves, such as rising cost of production, credit
diversion to corporations, rural unemployment and minimum support prices, was
replaced by the familiar narrative of drought and farmer suicides.

According to Delhi based Centre for Media Studies, between the years 2012-
16, the news coverage to 6,40,000 villages in India on front pages is merely 0.26 %.
It was the average percentage of 5 years. Meanwhile, the news coverage to
agriculture in the mainstream Hindi and English newspaper in Delhi were 0.07 and
0.17 percentage respectively. Most of the agriculture sector news items published
were the notifications from the state and central agriculture department and the
campaigns of the agri- business companies. The mainstream dailies made no
genuine coverage on the issues related with farmers and agriculture. According to the
statistics of National Crime Bureau, 3, 10,000 farmers committed suicide due to
financial loss and debts between 1995 to 2015. The numbers are not accurate, and
suicide tall is even higher as many such incidents are not reported.

More stories on the rights and entitlements of the poor could help. The
press can add does make a difference when its functions. Governments do react
and respond to the press in the country. The Indian press has been very strong in
some respects. But it has proved increasingly inept at covering process, especially,
the development process. The biggest journals in this country gave far more space
to Imran Khan‘s wedding than to the starvation deaths (Sainath, 1996).

The decline of agriculture media coverage also has strong ties to systamatic
pressures within the media industry, such as demand from profit, the need to
satisfy advertisers and dwelling resources. Rural and agricultural sector in India
have long remained less portrayal in the media. Al Jazeera feature on coverage of
agriculture in Indian media quoted a study by the Centre for Media Studies which
examined six English and Hindi newspapers including the Times of India, The Hindu,
Dainik Bhaskar and Dainik Jagran over the course of two months in 2015 and
discovered that the percentage of front-page stories portrayal on rural India was zero.
The Hindu was an exception; 1.37 percent of its stories were on topic. Looking at six
broadcast news outlets, including DD News, Zee News and NDTV, explained that
rural news did not receive more than seven minutes of prime time on any of the
surveyed based on news channels. Most of the employees at these organizations
have an urban background and are based in the cities. News, then, is produced by
and for urban society. Farming and agriculture are covered only during particular
episode or crisis. Such episodic reporting decided how urban India understands rural
India.

The obsession with political ideology is the common fact to most coverage of
agriculture stories. The study conducted by Media Cloud to examined news reporting
across English-language publications in India in 2016 found that out of all the stories
that used the words ―farm,‖ ―agri‖ and ―agro,‖ only 4.4 percent of all news was about
farming or agriculture. The rest of the stories had politics as their central idea.

1.2 Kisan Long March: A glance

The Kisan march was unique in the way it was conducted with discipline,
determination and a collective coordination of peasant power. The sight of a sea of
red flags moving in a massive march captured the attention of people everywhere
and the national and regional media took this visual message to all corners of the
country‖. No mass protest in recent times has had the nationwide impact as the Kisan
Long March (Dhawale, Long March: A brilliant Victory, 2018).
 The Kisan Long March led by All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) in Maharashtra
captured the nation‘s attention to the agrarian crisis in rural Maharashtra and forced
the government to agree most of the demands raised by them. Political parties across
the ideological spectrum supported the farmers demand ranging from All India Kisan
Sabha of CPI (M), which had conducted the march, Congress, Nationalist Congress
Party, Aam Aadmi Party, Republican Party, Samajwadi Party, Maharashtra
Navnirman Sena (MNS) and even the Shiv Sena, which is a partner in the state
government. The farmers protest offered an opportunity to develop an alternative
political narrative based on issues that impact the lives of ordinary people and it was
effectively articulated through a mass movement.

The protestors were from a few regions of Maharashtra, but spoke for every
farmer and laborer in the country. In September 2016, the Bombay High Court
expressed its dismay over the death of 17,000 persons in tribal areas of the state, in
just the preceding 12 months, due to malnutrition. A great majority of those who
marched to Mumbai constituted of tribal people, which brought to clear idea to the
agrarian crisis faced by rural Maharashtra.

Their demands included Farm loan waiver, Remunerative price,

Implementation of the Swaminathan Commission‘s recommendations, stringent
implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), Increase in various pension schemes
for poor farmers and agricultural workers, Compensation for losses sustained by
farmers due to disastrous pest attacks (such as pink bollworm on cotton), opposition
to acquisition of peasant land in the name of fancy and elitist projects, such as the
bullet train and super highways, issues with the public distribution system; and a
complete change in the river-linking scheme in Nasik, Thane and Palghar districts.

The All India Kisan Sabha demands that the tribal villages not be submerged
and that the water is made available to these districts and to other drought-prone
districts in Maharashtra. Over the past two years, the BJP governments at the centre
and at the state have betrayed the assurances given to the peasantry. This list of
demands and grievances has been ignored. The Kisan Sabha organized the Long
rally to condemn the BJP state and central governments for consistent betrayals
(Dhawale, A Remarkable Struggle, 2018).

The structural demand of the tribal farmers is that the immediate

implementation of the Forest Rights Act. The long march was organized by farmers
belonging to different Adivasee communities from the state‘s protected forest land
of Nasik, Thane, Nandurbar and Palghar districts. Since this law was passed in
2006 to bring relief to forest and tribal communities, its implement ation has left
much to be desired.

According to NITI Aayog evaluation report (2016) on MSP pointed out that
79% farmer reacted in the negative when asked if they were satisfied with the MSP
regime. Some of the reasons for their disappointment were delay announcement of
MSP rates, lack of infrastructure at procurement centres, distance to procurement
centres and delayed in payments.

1.2.1 Loan waiver

A consistent demand of farmer protests has been a one-time unconditional complete

loan waiver. The Bhartiya Janata Party, which is in power at the Centre and in 21
states, has positioned itself as being opposed to loan waivers in principle.

Economists and bankers have argued against loan waivers stating that they
give rise to the moral hazard problem and encourage credit indiscipline. The State
Bank of India chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya states that ―We feel that in case of a
(farm) loan waiver there is always a fall in credit discipline because the people who
get the waiver have expectations of future waivers as well. As such future loans given
often remain unpaid.‖
 Unlike the off-made demands of ensuring a loan waiver to farmers, the
focus here was more on gaining rights over the land they have been struggling for
generations. The administration‘s laziness and the lack of good political policy will
have delayed the implementation of the Forest Rights Act.

1.2.2 Forest Right Act

―In its preface, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers
(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (Forest Rights Act for short), identified the
historical injustice meted out to Scheduled Tribes (ST) and other traditional forest
dwellers (OTFDs)‖. It seeks to secure traditional rights over forest land and
community forest resources (CFRs), and establish democratic community-based
forest governance (Neema Pathak Broome, Shruti Ajit , 2017).

A study conducted by the Community Forest Rights – Learning and

Advocacy Group Maharashtra in November 2017 finds that Adivasee community in
Maharashtra had an vital role to play in the processes associated with the drafting
and enactment of the FRA, also ensured that the push for its implementation came
very soon after the enactment of the Rules in January 2008 (Neema Pathak
Broome, Shruti Ajit , 2017).

The report shows that in as many as 21 districts, tribal communities have

still not acquired their community rights over the forest land. Nandurbar, Nasik and
Thane are among the ―poor performing districts‖, with less than 33%
implementation, this is for multiple reasons, including sparse forest land in some
areas and the lack of manpower to carry out the work (The Wire, 2018).

―The Forest Rights Act gives equal importance to both circumstantial and
oral evidence to settle a claim in a tribal community‘s favour, But more often than
not, the claims are turned down due to administrative reasons and wrong
interpretation of terms like ‗cultivation‘ and ‗possession‘ used in the Act‖ (The Wire,
2018).

P. Sainath pointed out in his book ―Everybody Loves a Good Drought‖ that
―It is crucial to understand about the landless agriculture and marginal framers who
makes up 85persent of India poor: they are not purchasers of food grain. Hikes in
food prices hit them very badly. Inflation is strongly linked to food prices. So its
impact on these sections is always worse‖ (Sainath, 1996).

1.2.3 Implementation of Swaminathan Commission

As farmers stage agitations in several states, including Kisan Long March in

Maharashtra, the implementation of Swaminathan Commission report has been
highlighted. The National Commission on Farmers (NCF) was constituted in
November 18, 2004. It was headed by Prof. M.S Swaminathan. The commission
submitted five reports to the government. The reports contain suggestions to achieve
the goal of ―faster and more inclusive growth‖ as envisaged in the Approach to 11th
Five Year Plan (Sanyal, 2006).

Agrarian Crisis has led farmers to commit suicide in recent years. The major
reasons for agrarian distress are: incomplete agenda in land reforms, quantity and
quality of water, technology fatigue, access, adequacy and timeliness of institutional
credit, and opportunities for assured and remunerative marketing. Adverse
meteorological factors add to these problems. Farmers need to have assured access
and control over basic resources, which include land, water, bio resources, credit,
insurance, technology, knowledge management, and markets. The committee
suggested that ―Agriculture‖ be included in the Concurrent List of the Constitution.

1.2.3.1 Recommendations of Swaminathan Commission

Some of the main recommendations include: Distribute ceiling-surplus and waste

lands, prevent diversion of main agricultural land and forest to corporate sector for
non-agricultural purposes, to make sure grazing rights and seasonal access to forests
to tribe peoples and pastoralists, and provide to common property resources, set up a
National Land Use Advisory Service – to connect land use decisions with ecological
meteorological and marketing factors on a location and season specific basis,
establish a mechanism to regulate the sale of agricultural land.

Land Reforms: Land reforms are needed to address the basic issue of access
to land for both crops and live stock.

Irrigation: the report recommended create a series of reforms to facilitate

farmers have sustained and equitable access to water, Increase water supply through
rainwater storage, ―Million Wells Recharge‖ programme, specifically focused at
private wells should be established.

Productivity of Agriculture :In order to achieving the objective of increasing

productivity of agriculture, the committee recommended that ―Substantial increase in
public investment in agriculture related infrastructure particularly in irrigation,
drainage, land development, water conservation, research development and road
connectivity etc‖. The commission also recommended a national network of advanced
soil testing laboratories with goal to detection of micronutrient deficiencies.

Credit and Insurance: extend the outreach of the formal credit system to reach
the most appropriate people; reduce the rate of crop loans interest into 4%; ensure
Moratorium on debt recovery; set up an Agriculture Risk Fund to provide relief to
farmers in the consequences of successive natural disasters. Provide Kisan Credit
Cards to women farmers and sustainable livelihood for the poor,

Food Security: the NCF recommended implementation of Universal public

distribution system; restructuring the delivery of nutrition support programmes basis
with the participation of Panchayat and local bodies; Community Food and Water
Banks run by Women Self-help Groups; Help small and marginal farmers; establish a
National Food Guarantee Act with features as food for work and employment
guarantee programmes.

1.2.4 Prevention of Farmer Suicides

Since the arrival of neoliberal policies in agriculture begun by the Congress

government in 1991 and carried forward with great speed by successive Congress
and BJP governments – the Modi government being the worst culprit – over 3,00,000
debt-ridden farmers in India have been forced to commit suicide in the past twenty-
five years (Dhawale, A Remarkable Struggle, 2018). These accounts come from the
National Crime Records Bureau of the Union Home Ministry. Maharashtra has the
notorious distinction of being the largest ‗graveyard of farmers‘, accounting for about
65,000 peasant suicides in the same period (Dhawale, A Remarkable Struggle,
2018).
 Agriculture especially food crops is crucial globally for sustaining all living
beings. Hence ignoring the honest demand of farmers is suicide for solid reason. The
National Commission on Farmers has given prominent importance the need to
address the farmer suicide problem on a priority basis. Some of measures suggested
include: ensure affordable health insurance and renew primary healthcare centers.

The National Rural Health Mission should be extended to suicide hotspot

locations. Establish State level Farmers‘ Commission with representation of farmers
for make sure dynamic government response to farmers‘ problems; reorganizing of
microfinance policies to serve as Livelihood Finance; ensure for a Social Security net
with provision for old age support and health insurance. Encouragement of farmers‘
organizations such as Small Cotton Farmers‘ Estates to combine decentralized
production with centralized services such as post-harvest management, value
addition and marketing, for leveraging institutional support and facilitating direct
farmer-consumer linkage (Sanyal, 2006). Improvement in implementation of Minimum
Support Price (MSP). Arrangements for MSP need to be put in place for crops other
than paddy and wheat, Also, millets and other nutritious cereals should be
permanently included in the PDS (Sanyal, 2006).

This study was undertaken with the objective of analyzing the coverage of
Kisan Long March news in both national and regional newspapers. The prominent
dailies namely, The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Malayala Manorama, and
Mathrubhumi were selected for this study.
 Chapter II

REVIEW OF LITURATURE
For meeting the objectives of the study, it was important to go through the studies
already completed on this aspect. Relevant literature was reviewed. Here is a brief
description:

The research article ―Content Analysis of Agricultural News Coverage in

Leading Language Dailies of India, A Study of Kannada Language Dailies of
Karnataka State‖ by Dr. Usharani Narayana and Dr.Suresh Kumar (2009). This study
scientifically analyzed the quantitative and qualitative coverage of agricultural news
content in five Kannada newspapers of Karnataka namely Vijaya Karnataka,
Prajavani, Kannada Prabha, Samyukta Karnataka and Udayavani. . The study proved
that the coverage of agriculture news is poor and the newspapers have not cared to
give even respectable coverage in the opinion page through editorials and articles. ,
the choice of content is also much to be desired as new issues and developments in
agriculture do not find place in the pages of Kannada newspapers. There is low
visibility of agricultural news in regional language dailies.

Agricultural News Coverage: A Comparison of The Hindu and The Tribune

(2016) by Gurjot Singh Malhi discussed how the two selected publications covered
agricultural issues during the July 2014 to November 2014. The study found that The
Tribune gave more coverage to agricultural news as compared to The Hindu. More
articles and features were published by The Hindu, while The Tribune published more
editorials and news on agriculture. The study discovered that there was not even a
single news item on any issue related to the agriculture was common in both the
newspapers.

The research article ―A Comparative Content Analysis Of Agricultural

Information Coverage By The Standard And Daily Nation Kenyan Newspapers
(September 2011-August 2012) by Kamau Titus Njoroge The research work analyzed
the content of agricultural news coverage in the Standard and the Daily Nation
Newspapers from September 2011 to August 2012. This was done by categorizing
the articles covered during the study period and identifying their page locations,
determining their frequency and space allocation to agricultural information. Stratified
random and purposive sampling was used to select 15 newspapers in every month of
the study period for both papers.

The study ―A comparative framing analysis of Edward Snowden‘s coverage in

The New York Times and People's Daily‖ by Wentao Chu (2015), examined whether
different countries employed different news framing of the Snowden controversy. The
study pointed out that how media coverage is influenced by different countries‘ media
systems and media sources. This study is analyzed on two different countries
mainstream news papers, The New York Times (United States) and People Daily
(China). These two countries have different point of view on Snowden‘s actions and
the study explored how those differences influence the portrayal of Snowden
controversy. The study pointed out that there were differences in tone, framing and
attribution patterns between The New York Times and People Daily. All though both
dailies tried to use neutral tone to framing the Snowden, The U.S news paper was
more biased against Snowden.

―Frames in the U.S. print media coverage of the Kashmir conflict‖ (2004), a
research conducted by Durga Ray discussed the frames used by the U.S print media
in their coverage of the Kashmir conflicts. The U.S. print media, represented by The
New York Times, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, have chosen to
highlight two aspects of the Kashmir conflict – religion and warfare. This study shows
that media coverage of the Kashmir conflict was crisis-oriented and reflected U.S.
concerns in the region. The conflict was described as violent Kashmiri separatist
movement, a frame that changed to one depicting it as ongoing violent conflict
between and Pakistan. Kashmiri were predominantly identified as armed militants
fighting for secession of Kashmir from India. Pakistan was consistently identified as a
country supporting the Kashmiri separatist movement with arms and training, and
later as a country itself participating in the conflict through its military. The United
States was consistently described as a country concerned with peace and security in
South Asia.

The study entitled ―Newspaper framing of Kudankulam Nuclear Plant in Tamil

Nadu‖ by Dr.I. Arul Aram, G.C. Prem Nivas and G.P. Ramya (2015), examined
the framing of Kudankulam nuclear power project issue in two mainstream English
newspapers in India, The Hindu and The Times of India. The study interprets the
motives behind the nuclear framing in both the newspapers. The study discovered
that the editorial articles in The Hindu and Times of India had a holistic coverage of
issues that did not highlight in news stories. It finds that The Hindu and The Times of
India, there were significant trends such as more balanced representation of ethical
frame, increase in episodic frame, which adds value to human-interest reports. The
Times of India carried more number of editorials compared to The Hindu. The Times
of India focused more on public awareness of the issue and the safety measures,
giving suggestions and discussions relevant to local audience than at policy levels.

The research article ―Untouchable Hunger: Framing of Childhood Poverty in

India by Amber L. Welch (2014) explored how Indian‘s English-language press has
portrayed this widespread health issue during the past two years. The research
discovered that the print media used three broad frames were socioeconomic
frames, governmental frames, and geographical frames to depict child hunger. These
frames did not address more complex realities identified by developmental studies
literature as contributing to the seemingly untouchable crisis of childhood poverty and
hunger. The study revealed two common journalism techniques – development
journalism and sensationalism. The developmental journalistic style highlighted small
gains and downplayed the severity of poverty and the shortage of resources. For
those who sought to promote or boost their cities‘ growth, development journalism
using the geographic frame manifests that urban poverty is not mentioned as often as
rural poverty. This study reveals that how some of the causes of childhood
deprivation would benefit from an in-depth understanding.

An Analysis of Print Media Coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict During

the Second Israeli Invasion of Lebanon in 2006by Majdouline Ahmad Aziz (2007),
analyzed how print media frame the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The study examined
two news sources -The New York Times and the Associated Press coverage of
Palestinian and Israeli deaths reported during the second Israeli invasion of Lebanon
in 2006. The thesis discovered that both news sources revealed their pro -Israeli bias
through legitimatizing and de-legitimizing Israeli and Palestinian killings. The
Associate Press normally justified Israeli killers and killings, condemned Palestinian
killers and killings, and given more importance to the Palestinian side of the conflict.
The New York Times normally justified Israeli killers and killings, condemned
Palestinian killers and killings, and given more importance to the Israeli side of the
conflict. The study also found that the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians
was overshadowed by the conflict between Israeli-Lebanese.

The research article titled ―Representations of Pakistan: A Framing Analysis of

Coverage in the U.S. and Chinese News Media Surrounding Operation Zarb-e-Azb‖
by Salman Yousaf (2015). The study examined the portrayal of Pakistan in Chinese
and U.S. news media in the context of Pakistan‘s military Operation Zarb-e-Azb. The
study informs that the U.S and China common relations with Pakistan and the vested
interests of international politics in influencing the media frames of countries. The
Associated Press portrayed Pakistan as a socially narrow-minded society, oppressing
marginalized sections of the society. After Zarb-e-Azb operation, the Chinese
newspaper Xinhua framed Pakistan as victim of terrorism and Pakistan‘s counter
terrorism and security strategies were clearly endorsed. The study also found that the
internal political condition in Pakistan is negatively framed in the AP‘s and Xinhua‘s
news coverage is terrible and calls for immediate attention.

Framing Hillary Clinton: A Content Analysis of the New York Times News
Coverage of the 2000 New York Senate Election, a research paper conducted by
Amy Beth Busher (2006) This study used a combination of qualitative and
quantitative content analyses to examine how news articles written by the New York
Times portrayed Hillary Clinton during the 2000 New York Senate Election. The study
discovered four dominant frames -political activity, gender stereotype, horserace and
traditional first lady. The finding shows that Hillary Clinton received more coverage
based on her political activity. Hillary Clinton framed as the winner in the majority of
the New York Times news articles.

The research paper ―Human Rights Framing in U.S. Newspaper Coverage of

the Sochi Olympic Preparations‖ by Michelle Alfini (2015) examined how two
mainstream American newspapers, The Washington Post and The New York Times
framed human rights in Russia in their coverage of the Sochi Games Preparations.
The result show that The New York Times and The Washington Post followed similar
patterns in their coverage of the Sochi Olympics. Human right issues were the
prominent topic for the two newspapers. They were covered mostly thorough the
frame of violations of freedom of expression even though The Washington Post was
more critical toward Russia than The New York Times.

War on the Web: The Immediate News Framing of Gulf War II by Daniela V.
Dimitrova, Lynda Lee Kaid, Andrew Paul Williams, and Kaye D. Trammell examined
the immediate coverage of the 2003Iraq war on the front page of 246international
news Websites. The study reveals that most of the online news site provided
coverage and made Gulf War IInd their top story only hours after the war began.
According to this study the foreign news sites framed the war differently than U.S
website. Domestic news sites focused more heavily on the military conflict, media
self-coverage and human interest while the responsibility frame was more common
for international sites. Online news coverage in countries officially favour of the war
tended to portray it in more positive than in the countries against the war.

The thesis titled ―A Framing Analysis of Online Newspaper Articles and

Weblog Articles‖ by Maria Carolina Janssen, San Jose State University examined
possible differences in framing of information in news weblogs and professional news
articles. The result of the study point out that difference in framing of information is
not related to the publication type (online newspaper or weblog) but are merely
incidental. The study shows that framing cannot be used as an indicator for possible
differences in the production and publication of news articles in weblogs and online
newspapers. The researcher of this study has tried to provide valid reasons to
develop a discussion about the assumption that maybe web citizen journalists are not
that different from professional journalists. However, this study did not lead to a final
conclusion to this debate but indicated the necessity for its expansion.

Unseen and unheard – how Dalits are represented in three Indian newspapers
by Joanna Wahlstedt (2012), the thesis focused on three Indian English newspapers:
Times of India, The Hindu and Indian Express, to examine how do journalists find
their reporting about Dalits? The study focused three theories development
journalism, the agenda setting theory and theory about minorities in media. The result
of the study reveal that Dalits are frequently mentioned in the three newspaper, but
the main subject is almost never Dalits and their situation in society. The most topics
were the election, rape against Dalits, crime and affirmative action. These subjects
often have a connection to sensation. The most quoted actors in the articles are the
elite and not Dalits. There is little space to caste violence, since most of these articles
are short.

Coverage of sedition charges against JNU students in The Hindu & Times of
India by Sobhika V and Sikha N. The study examined the coverage of JNU issue of
sedition by the prominent English national dailies The Hindu and The Times of India.
It also focused how the newspapers had framed the story through using framing
theories. The study shows that The Hindu has allotted more space to the JNU issue
than The Times of India. The caste frame, political frame, student‘s politics frame,
thematic frame and episodic frame has been used in the analysis of the JNU crisis.

Rupsayar Das, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication

University of Calcutta in his research ―Representation of Violence Against Women In
Indian Print Media: A Comparative Analysis‖ (2012), explored print news discourses
on an act of violence perpetrated on women in India, which arose a nation-wide non-
violent protest, known as ‗The Pink Chaddi‘ campaign, 2009. The result revealed that
there were similar news frames in the discourses of all of the newspapers. The
primary frame was ‗pub‘ which was related with the Mangalore perpetrations. both the
national and local newspapers put the attention on the Mangalore incident and the
following Valentine ‗s Day moral policing by SRS activists. The content analyses
show that the national newspapers highlighted the political blame-game and other
details not directly associated with the acts of violence.

News Framing on Indo-Pak Conflicts in the News (Pakistan) and Times of

India: War and Peace Journalism Perspective by Hussain I, Department of Electronic
Engineering, Mehran University Jamshoro, Pakistan (2015), analyzed the news
framing of Indo-Pak Conflicts with regard to war and Peace Journalism by Times of
India and The News, Pakistan. The main purpose of the research is to measure the
stance of the Pakistani and Indian prestigious newspaper towards treatment of India-
Pak Conflicts especially the issues associated to Kashmir and Terrorism. The study
concluded that peace frame in the News, Pakistan while War frame in Times of India
were measured as more than their neutral coverage on war and peace. War frames
on Kashmir Issue and Terrorism disputes was also found frequently in Times of India
as compared to The News, Pakistan who promoted peace culture particularly on the
issues relating to terrorism and Kashmir.
 Framing Gharwapsi and Muslim Identity in Indian Print Media by Chris
Verschooten, Arshad Amanullah and Stefanie Nijs, National University of Singapore
(2016), focused on news reports about the conversion of Muslims to Hinduism in
India, called Gharwapsi or homecoming by Hindutva forces, during the months of
December 2014 and January 2015. The study examined whether and how the press
responded, in the months of December 2014 and January 2015, to the Agra mass
conversion of around 200 to 300 Muslims and similar events. English-language and
Urdu-language newspapers alike devoted considerable space to the practice of
Gharwapsi. The result of analyses shows that all newspaper devoted considerable
space to two major frames. The first framed Gharwapsi as a deceitful, violent and
criminal act against individuals while the second framed it as a form of communal
politics, threatening the state.

The study ―Domestic Conflict or Global Terror? Framing the Mumbai Terror
Attacks in the U.S. Print Press‖ by Kamla Pande (2009), explored the coverage of the
2008 Mumbai terrorist attack in the U.S. print media. The frames and narratives are
examined through a content analysis of stories written about the attack in The New
York Times and The Washington Post. The analysis reveals that the war on terror
frame is actually the dominant meta-narrative within which conflict framing may
occurring this investigation into how the U.S. news press covered the Mumbai attack,
it was proposed that the nature and content of the coverage would depend on which
frame was used to convey the event to the American public.

Framing AIDS: A Comparative Analysis of AIDS Coverage in U.S. and

Chinese Newspaper 2001-2004, by Tong JingJing (2006). The study shows that the
news frames of AIDS coverage are significantly different between the U.S. and the
Chinese press. The study also finds that there is a significant increase in the Chinese
newspaper but a decline in the U.S. paper. Human disaster themes and medical-
scientific issues gained ground in The New York Times while a public health frame
was dominant in China Daily. Comparison between the two newspapers reveals
differences in the specific cultural, geographic and ideological representations of
AIDS. In the coverage of the dominant human disaster theme, the New York Times
devoted 73% to depicting the transmission and prevalence of HIV in Africa and some
developing countries such as China and India.
 Framing of Children in News Stories about U.S. Immigration from Latin
America by Simone Jasper, Journalism and Spanish Elon University (2016) analyzed
how newspapers in Arizona and Texas portraying of immigrant children coming to the
United States from Latin America. The result shows that both newspapers articles
framed children as victims, and newspaper articles referred to economic and political
instability in Latin America to construct the victim frame. this study also show
newspapers defined immigrants as criminals, Thus, the portrayal of children as
criminals reveals it is difficult for journalists to write outside this frame when covering
immigrants who are children. In this framing analysis, the content of the articles could
have also influenced the framing results. All articles were news pieces, so many of
them informed readers about changes in border patrol operations, including
surveillance of the border and detention facilities for unaccompanied children.

The study ―Newspaper Coverage of the 2012 Presidential Election Petition:

Content Analysis‖ by Benjamin Agyekum (2014), explored how the 2012 presidential
election petition was framed by the Daily Graphic. The study used the quantitative
content analysis approach to explore the stories. The analysis of the findings was to
establish the level of prominence and fairness with which the state-owned newspaper
covered the election petition as well as the dominant tone of the coverage. It also
determined the dominant tone, whether positive, negative or neutral with which the
newspaper covered the election petition. The study concluded that the Daily Graphic
was fair with its coverage of the 2012 presidential election petition. Most of the stories
had either positive or neutral tone. However, the findings of the study indicated that
the dominant tone of the election petition was positive.

Framing analysis of British Newspaper Representation of Saudi Women from

2005- 2013 By: Nahid Saeid Bashatah (2017) studied the representation of Saudi
women in the British newspaper and investigates how the British press represents
coverage of stories relating to Saudi women. The research analyzed four British
newspapers, The Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Guardian and Independent, during the
period 2005-2013, was used to explore two case studies: the protests by Saudi
women concerning the ban on female drivers and the representation of Saudi women
at the London Olympics in 2012. The result shows that representation of Saudi
women in British news media is negative compared with the depiction of Western
women in the absence of understanding in the journalism realm concerning the
cultural differences between societies.

The study ―Framing Differences in Gender-Related Sport Coverage by

Internet Sites and Newspapers‖ by Edward examined if any significant differences
existed between the gender-specific descriptors used in sport content in traditional
newspapers and online sport journalism sites, It also determined media framing of
athletes by analyzing descriptors in articles on the 2007 U.S. Open men‘s and
women‘s tennis tournaments published in mainstream newspapers, The Los Angeles
Times, The New York Times, and USA Today, and the online sport news sites
produced by ESPN, Fox Sports, and Sports Illustrated. The result showed that
newspaper articles were more likely to minimize the athleticism of female athletes and
delve into their personal lives.
 Chapter III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the objectives of the study, statement of the problem,
methodology, theoretical framework, sampling and operational definition of key terms.

3.1 General Objective

To carry out a comparative content analysis of print media coverage of Kisan Long
March, in terms of number of stories and space appearing in the four newspapers -
The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi.

3.1.1 Specific Objectives of the Study

 To measure the amount of coverage given to Kisan Long March by the

selected newspaper in terms of quantity and quality.
 To determine how the selected newspaper frame the Kisan Long March in
terms of page positioning, tone and thematic content.
 To qualitatively analyze the news bias of news stories in the respective
newspaper.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the coverage of agrarian crisis in four
newspapers namely The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Malayala Manorama and
Mathrubhumi.

3.2 Method of the study

3.2.1 Content Analysis

Content analysis was found to be the most appropriate method to undertake this
study. The researcher conducted both quantitative and qualitative content analysis in
order to examine the research objectives. The aim of the study is to examine the
content coverage of Kisan Long March. Content analysis of the newspapers has been
done to examine the fact that how much coverage has been given to Kisan Long
March by newspapers during the Long March.

Both quantitative and qualitative content analysis is carried out to find out the
coverage of Kisan Long March on four newspapers, including two Malayalam and two
English dailies – The New Indian Express, The Hindu, Malayala Manorama and
Mathrubhumi.

The quantitative analysis of the study will give a clear idea of news stories of
Kisan Long March. The study had analyzed the total space allotted to the news items
in the newspapers, page wise categorization of stories, total space allocation to
cartoons and photographs, news bias of the selected newspapers, action statements
etc.

The qualitative content analysis will help to identify the bias shown by the
selected newspapers, while reporting the issue. Thematic analysis helps to identify
the frames used by The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Malayala Manorama and
Mathrubhumi in covering the farmers protest. Specific news bias analysis on each
frame help to identify which aspect of protest are specifically supported.

3.3 Units of Content Analysis

News report, photograph, cartoons, Action statement and headlines are taken as the
unit of content analysis.

3.4 Sampling

In this research, four newspapers are selected to observe the qualitative and
quantitative content analysis in regarding with the Kisan Long March,

Selected newspapers are The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Malayala Manorama
and Mathrubhumi. The study period was from March 5th 2018 to March 18th 2018.

3.4.1 The Hindu

The Hindu is an English language Indian daily newspaper published by Kasturi and
sons Ltd. It is the second largest newspaper in India by circulation after Time of India.
It always been noted for its fair and accurate reporting of events. In 1994, The Hindu
becomes the first newspaper to offer an online edition.
3.4.2 The New Indian Express

The New Indian Express is an Indian English-language daily newspaper, published

by Express publications in Chennai. It was founded as The Indian Express in 1932 as
The Indian Express by P. Vardrajaulu Naidu.

3.4.3 Malayala Manorama

Malayala Manorama is a Malayalam language newspaper that is published from

Kottayam. It is owned by Malayala Manorama Company Limited. It was the largest
circulating newspaper in Kerala.

3.4.4 Mathrubhumi

Mathrubhumi is a Malayalam daily newspaper in Kerala. It was founded by K.P

Kesava Menon in 1922. It is the most widely read newspaper in Kerala.

3.5 Theoretical framework

3.5.1 Agenda Setting Theory

Agenda setting theory is an academic topic associated with mass communication

theory. The term agenda setting coined by Malcom Mc Combs and Donald Shaw in
related with the study of 1968 American Presidential election campaign how the
people perceived the importance of the issue that published in Public Opinion
Quarterly in1972. They argued that ‗Audience not only learns issues through the
media, they also learn how much importance to attach to an issue or topic from the
emphasis the mass media places upon it. According to this theory ―Media may not tell
us what to think, but media certainly tell us what to think about (Rogers, 1996).

Agenda setting process is a constant competition among issue proponents to

gain the attention of media professionals, the public, and policy leaders. Mc Combs
and Shaw found agenda setting research as a sophisticated approach to
understanding media effects. Public attentions in the importance of issues represent
more closely to news coverage than to real world indicator.
3.5.2 Framing theory

Framing is based on the assumption that how a story is illustrated in news reports can
have an influence on how it is understood by audiences or readers. The theory was
propounded by Goffman. He pointed out that people interpret what is happening
around their world through their primary framework. Framing basically involves
salience and selection. To frame is to select various aspects of a perceived reality
and create them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to encourage
causal interpretation, a particular problem definition, moral evaluation, and treatment
recommendation for the item described.

Robert Entman (1993) point out that frames are manifested ―by the presence
or absence of certain keywords, stock phrases, stereotyped images, sources of
information, and sentences that provide thematically reinforcing clusters of facts or
judgments.‖A frame refers to the way media as gatekeepers organize and present the
ideas, topics and events they cover.

3.6 Operational definition of Key terms

3.6.1 All Indian Kisan Sabha

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) was a major peasant movement formed by
Sahajanand Saraswati at the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress in
1936.

3.6.2 Kisan Long March

Kisan Long March was a large protest march by farmers in Maharashtra, conducted
by the All Indian Kisan Sabha.

3.6.3 Agenda Setting

Agenda setting is a theory of mass communication that explain the way in which the
mass media interacts with and affects the public, it targets
3.6.4 Framing

Framing is a theory related to mass media. It is based on the assumption that how a
story is illustrated in news reports can have a influence on how it is understood by
audiences or readers.

3.6.5 News coverage

News coverage is the coverage of news story and examined through the content
analysis that how much space was given in each newspaper for the issue and to what
extent newspapers reported the issue.

3.6.6 News bias

News bias is the bias of journalists and producers within the mass media in the
selection of events and stories that are published and how they are covered.

3.6.7 Prominence

Prominence is refers to the features which lend visibility to the articles. These include
edition lead, page lead, boxed use of bold type and use of pictures.

3.6.8 Volume of coverage

Volume of coverage is refers to the total space allocated to the farmers agitation in
column centimeters

3.6.9 National dailies

Newspaper which circulated through whole country is known as National daily.

3.6.10 Regional dailies

Newspapers that circulated through a region or a city is called Regional daily.

3.7 Research Limitations

This section deals with the difficulties and limitations that faced the researcher during
this study.

 The present study examined only four news papers namely The Hindu, The
New Indian Express, Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi. Hence the
assumption from this study cannot be applied to the entire news papers in
India.
 The time period for the study was limited to March 5th 2018 to March 18th
2018.
 The study was limited to content analysis of newspapers; therefore, the
awareness of the news stories on the readers could not be analyzed.
 Chapter IV

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

This chapter analysis the newspaper coverage of Kisan Long March by the four
selected dailies The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Mathrubhumi and Malayala
Manorama. Through this chapter the researcher has tries to explore how much
prominence has been given to the issue, how the selected newspaper frame the
Kisan Long March in terms of page positioning, tone and thematic content.

4.1 Quantitative analysis of the news stories

The quantitative analysis of the study will give a clear idea of news stories of Kisan
Long March. The study had analyzed the total space allotted to the news items in the
newspapers, page wise categorization of stories, total space allocation to cartoons
and photographs, news bias of the selected newspapers, action statements etc. The
quantitative content analysis will help to understand significance of the coverage in
detailed.

4.1.1 Page wise categorization of news stories

The following table discusses the number of stories that appeared in the selected
newspaper during the study period.

Table 4.1.1: Page wise categorization of news stories

News stories The The New Indian Malayala Mathrubhumi

Hindu Express Manorama

Front page stories 1 2 2 2

Editorial page stories 1 2 1 2

Total news stories 7 7 6 11

The categories of Kisan Long March coverage were front page news stories,
editorials, and inner page stories.

The study findings in Table 4.1.1 shows that Kisan Long March received very
little attention in selected newspapers. Mathrubhumi newspaper had a relatively
better coverage of the issue when compared to the other three newspapers.
Mathrubhumi newspaper published a total of 11 stories during the period. It includes
2 front page stories 2 editorial stories 7 inner page stories. Both The Hindu and The
New Indian Express covered 7 stories related to the issue. The Hindu published more
inner page news stories as compared to other three newspapers.

The degree of prominence, which is defined as the priority given to news

items in the newspapers, was also examined. The number of news articles on Kisan
Long March that appeared on the front pages was counted against the total number
of other news articles. The findings indicate that, of the 31 news articles that were
published in the four newspapers in study period under review, only 7 news article got
priority by being placed them on the front pages of the newspapers.

Graph 4.1.1: Page wise categorization of

stories
8

4
Front page stories
3 Editorial page stories

2 inner page stories

0
The Hindu The New Indian Malayala Mathrubhumi
Express Manorama
The finding indicates that the newspapers relegate the news of the farmers‘ protest
to the inner pages, hardly giving it minor importance. Agrarian crisis in India have
long remained less portrayal in the media. The findings pointed out that issues of
.social and economic importance that concern the masses are not the top priority for
mainstream media houses, which are increasingly driven by the need for advertising
revenue.

4.1.2 Space allocation of news stories

Space allocation is a major aspect for any newspaper. When a newspaper gives
space for an issue has a bigger impact in grasp the attention of the reader. Here
focuses on the newspaper coverage of the issue in a scientific way. How much space
has been allotted for the story and how the issue has been framed etc. are examined.
The table reveals the space allocation of the selected newspaper for reporting the
Kisan Long March.

Table 4.1.2 Space allocation of news stories

Position The Hindu The New Indian Malayala Mathrubhumi

Express Manorama

Front 56.4 90 column.cm 150 121 column.cm

page column.cm column.cm
stories

Editorial 67.column.cm 148.7 85.3 195.8column.cm

page column.cm column.cm
stories

Inner page 363.44 259 column.cm 242.8column. 315.4column.cm

stories column.cm cm

Total 486.84 497 column.cm 478.1column. 632.2column.cm

news column.cm cm
stories

The above table shows that The Hindu allotted a total space of 486.84 column cm for
the coverage of the long march. The New Indian Express allotted 497 column.cm
spaces for the story. Malayala Manorama had given 478.1 column.cm and
Mathrubhumi given 632.2column.cm for reporting the issue. Mathrubhumi has given
more space to the news coverage.

The Hindu which is known to cover socio-economic issues significantly did not
give much space to this news on its editorial page. The Hindu allotted only
67.column.cm for the issue. Through this data it gives clear evidence that how the
mainstream newspapers ignore the peasant issues and agrarian crisis by giving less
coverage. These findings suggest that agrarian crisis is not considered by newspaper
editors and owners as important enough to attract the readers.

It was found that Malayala Manorama the most circulated newspaper in

Kerala has given much prominence to the issue by giving a major space to the news
in front page while compared to other three newspapers. It allotted 150 column cm for
front page news stories.

4.1.3 Space Allocation to Cartoons

Cartoons made a significant value to newspaper. It‘s a form of expression. Cartoon is

a most effective communicator, it tells the most important issue of the day. A well
draw cartoon will explain a story completely without any confusion.

Table 4.1.3 Total Space Allocation to Cartoon

Total The Hindu The New Indian Malayala Mathrubhumi

Express Manorama

No 1 - 1 -

Space 48cm - 38.4 cm -

Table 4.1.3 shows that The Hindu and Malayala Manorama published cartoons
whereas no cartoon was in The New Indian Express and Mathrubhumi.

The Hindu daily has allotted more space to cartoon as compared to Malayala
Manorama. The Hindu has given 48 column.cm for cartoon and Malayala Manorama
allotted 38.4 column.cm to cartoon.
4.1.4 Visual Representations

Pictorial representations is very important to determine the importance of the issue,

each and every picture was recorded and measured in cm and it also included the
position of the pictures, according to the standards the entire page of the newspapers
have been divided into four part and they were URH (Upper Right Half), ULH (Upper
Left Half), LRH (Lower right half), LLH (Lower Left Half).

Table 4.1.4 Visual Representations of the Stories

Newspaper The The New Indian Malayala Mathrubhumi

Hindu Express Manorama

Single
0 0 0 0
Colour

Single Black & 0 0 0 1

White

Group Colour 3 2 4 3

Group Black & 5 3 3 2

White

The above table reflects the news stories covered with and without pictures in
selected newspapers. It shows that The Hindu gave more news with photographs as
compared to other selected newspapers. It can be clearly seen in the table that The
Hindu has given 8 photographs of the long march.

According to the data revealed Malayala Manorama had comparatively more

colored picture and The Hindu has published more black and white pictures related to
the long march.
 The New Indian Express published 2 group colour photos, 3 black and white
color photos. Malayala Manorama daily published a total of 7 photographs of the
protest. The Malayalam newspaper mathrubhumi is given 6 photographs for the story.
By analyzing these photos the researcher came to understand the intensity of farmers
protest and the depth of agrarian crisis.

Table 4.1.5 Space allocation of photographs (In column.cm)

Type of The Hindu The New Indian Malayala Mathrubhumi

photograph Express Manorama

Single
Colour 0 0 0 0

Single
Black & White 0 0 0 22.5

Group
Colour 117 57 192.6 146.53

Group Black &

white 150 115 139 108.4

Total space of
167 172 331.6 254.93
photographs

According to the tabulated data the actual space given to the newspapers were
determined, therefore the total space given to the pictures related to Kisan Long
March in selected newspapers was 924.6 cm2 between the issues from March 5th,
2018 to March 18th, 2018. It clearly illustrate that pictures often enhance the
importance of the issue because it not only explain the reader about the importance
but also present the image which helps reader to make perception effectively.
 The table indicates that The Hindu allotted a total space of 167 column cm for
the visual representation of the long march; The New Indian Express has given
172column cm, Malayala Manorama 331.6 column.cm and Mathrubhumi has given
254.93 column.cm of space to pictures that are related to the stories of Kisan Long
March. This is very interesting relationships found out that the Malayalam
newspapers have given greater space to picture than English newspapers

According to the analysis, most of the pictures are appeared in upper left and
right halves which also determine the importance of the issue. At the same time most
of the pictures relegated to the inner pages.

4.1.6 Headline Analysis

Headlines are another significant area of research. Headline plays a crucial role in
newspaper. It attracts the readers to read the news story. The font size of the
headlines will indicate the importance of the news story. The importance of the story
increases when the headline appeared in bold font. The research had gone through
the analysis of the headlines. The headline portrayed the incident rigorous.

Table 4.1.6 Headline analysis of the Newspapers

Single Double line Three line Normal

News papers
line bold bold bold

The Hindu 2 2 0 2

The New Indian 2 3 1 2

Express

Malayala 2 2 0 2
Manorama

Mathrubhumi 3 1 1 5
 The Hindu has given 2 single lined bold headline of the news story. It also
gave 2 double lined, and 2 normal heading of the issue.

The New Indian Express has published 2 single lined bold headline of the
story of long march. It also gave 2 double lined, and 2 normal headlines of the issue.
The Single line headline mostly came in the front page of the newspaper. It also gave
bold headings in the editorial page and inner page.

The Malayala Manorama has given 2 single line bold headlines and 2 double
bold headlines to the news story of Kisan Long March.

Mathrubhumi daily published the majority of bold headline to the story as

compared to other three newspapers. It has given 3 single bold headlines, 1 double
bold headline and 1 three line bold headlines.

4.1.7 Action statements

The political party leaders, famous social activist, journalists and other prominent
personalities have delivered their opinions on Kisan Long March. The four selected
newspapers publish the action statements of the opinion holders.

Graph 4.1.3 Action Statement

7
6
5
4
3 Action Statements
2
1
0
The Hindu The New Indian Malayala Mathrubhumi
Express Manorama
The above graph represents that the action statement published by the four selected
newspapers. The graph shows that The New Indian Express covered more action
statements of prominent personalities regard to the issue. The all selected newspaper
gave predominance to the statement of political leaders. The Hindu newspaper gave
the statement of Devendra Fadnavis, said that the Maharashtra government was
―sensitive and positive towards the demands of farmers.

The New Indian Express published 7 action statements regarding to the

issue. One of powerful statement is made by Anna Hazare; he said that ―Only
promising to fulfill the demands won‘t work, it is now the duty of the government to
work towards fulfilling what they‘ve committed. They should think about the welfare of
farmers so that they don‘t have to take it to the road next time.‖

Malayala Manorama has published 3 action statements of prominent

personalities include Congress President Rahul Gandhi, he advised P.M Narendra
Modi and Maharashtra chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and said that ―I appeal to
P.M Modi and the CM to not stand on ego and accept their demands‖. Mathrubhumi
newspaper has given 4 action statement related to the issue. It published the
statement of Maharashtra chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The four selected
newspapers published more action statements that emphasized the agrarian crisis.

4.2 Qualitative analysis of the news stories

In this section, long march related news stories are critically analyzed to identify the
bias shown by the selected newspapers, while reporting the farmers protest.
Thematic analysis helps to identify the frames used by The Hindu, The New Indian
Express, Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi in covering the farmers protest.
Specific news bias analysis on each frame help to identify which aspect of protest are
specifically supported.

4.2.1 News Bias of the Newspapers

News bias is common in newspapers and this bias makes a huge impact in the
selection of events and stories that are reported and in the way they are covered.
Newspapers always give news according to their agenda. The stories will be
presented according to the policy of the editorial board. Every newspaper will have a
particular point of view towards an issue. The four selected newspaper has shown
some sort of news bias while reporting the protest. Here the researcher evaluates
how the selected newspapers covered the issue, whether in its favour, neutral or
balanced.

4.2.1.1 Editorial page

A news paper published its views on current events – both local and national – on its
editorial page. This is where editorial; lettets to the editor, op-ed column and political
cartoon appear. Thus the editorial page is the most important page of a newspaper.
An editorial is an unsigned article that presents the newspapers opinion on an issue.
It reflects the point of view of the newspaper policy. The Hindu, The New Indian
Express, Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi deeply analyzed the Kisan Long
March in their editorial page.

The Hindu published the farmers protest through their editorial page. The lead
of the editorial discussed about the way of protest, the manner in which they
conducted themselves without distracting of other citizen and refrain from aggressive
slogans. The editorial page makes little effort to explain the issues of the protesting
farmers. It focused how people of Mumbai welcomed farmers with water, food items,
medical aids and footwear.

On the other hand The New Indian Express strongly supported the long march
conducted All India Kisan Sabha in editorial. The New Indian Express questioned the
ignorance of government towards agrarian crisis. Through their editorial stated that
there is difference between Kisan Long March and other farmer protest that
conducted in last few months. It pointed out that the structural demand of the Kisan
Long March is that the implementation of Forest Right Act. It reveals that this problem
is something that is specific to Adivasee farmers, since this law was passed in 2006
to bring relief to forest and tribal communities, but whose rights over such land are
not officially recognized. The editorial pages of The New Indian Express discussed
the farmers protest and agrarian crisis in detailed manner.

The editorial pages of both Malayalam newspapers Malayala Manorama and

Mathrubhumi, Many articles on Kisan Long March were published. Mathrubhumi gave
more prominence to the issue and discussed the agrarian crisis more deeply than
Malayala Manorama.

4.2.1.2 Front pages

The Hindu, which is known to cover socio-economic issues prominently, gives little
space to this news on its front page. That went to reports about the demands of
farmers and its front page report on March 13 2018 talked about that The
Maharashtra government has agreed to the most of the demands of the protesters
and has given its approval in letter.

The New Indian Express gave more prominence to the issue of farmers‘
distress. The front page of the newspaper carried the story with the title ‗Sea of
farmers in Mumbai‘ on March 13 2018. The newspaper had a front-page lead report
related to the long march that takes account of voices of 10 farmers who have
participated in the protest.

The most circulated Malayalam Language newspaper Malayala Manorama

gave more space in front page to reporting the issue. That went on discuss about the
protesters demands. Mathrubhumi newspaper reports the issue on front page
detailed and comprehensively. They critically analyses the agrarian crisis and give
importance to the implementation of farmers demands.
4.2.1.3 Inner pages

The all newspapers relegate the news of the farmers‘ protest to the inner pages. On
March 13, 2018 the inner page of The Hindu reports that how the Mumbai citizens
welcomed farmers with water, food and medical aids and the lead reports on the
Nation page focus on the political background of the Kisan Long March and reports
how the Shiva Sena which is a partner in the government of Maharashtra, The
Nationalist Congress Party, The Congress, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have supported the march.

The New Indian Express report the issue in inner page on 13 March 2018 with
the headline ―New edge to agrarian distress: Why demands are more than loan
waiver‖ explains how a large section of farmers are not seeking a loan waiver, but the
immediate implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. Malayala Manorama
reports focus on the crowds of protest and their demands and politics around the
march.

On 12 March, Malayala Manorama published the report of the protest by

farmers in Maharashtra on its inner pages. It also reports that how the Mumbai citizen
welcomed the protesters with food and water and the mobilization of the farmers. The
inner page stories also carried out the plight of farmers.

Mathrubhumi has covering the protest by farmers in Maharashtra was detailed

and comprehensive. The news was covered in detail in the inner pages of the
newspaper. On page 10, the newspaper carried a report on the march. The reports
questioned the Government policy with regard to agrarian crisis.

The Kisan Long March captured the nation‘s attention to the agrarian crisis.
The newspaper reports contributed to it. It reported in favour of the government and
the farmers, sometimes it published equally balanced reports. The below tables show
that news bias of the selected news papers.
Table 4.2.1 News bias of the Newspapers

The The New Malayala Mathrubhumi

Newspaper
Hindu Indian Express Manorama

Exclusively in favour of
the government 0 0 0 0

Neutral or
4 1 3 4
equally balanced

Exclusively in favour of
3 6 3 7
the Kisan

Data in table 4.8 shows the news bias of selected newspapers. The Hindu reports
3news stories in favour of the farmers and while it published 4 news stories in neutral.
The New Indian Express reported majority of the news stories in favour of the long
march and one news item published in neutral. Malayala Manorama gave 3 news
stories in favour of the long march, while they also published 3 stories in neutral. Like
The New Indian Express, Mathrubhumi daily also published majority of their news
items in favour of the long march. And two news stories reported in neutral. The
above tabulated data indicate that majority of the news items published in favour of
the Kisan Long March.

4.3 Summary of Findings

 The selected newspapers gave most of the space to other news reports as
compared to the coverage of Kisan Long March.
 The Malayalam newspaper Mathrubhumi daily published more stories
regarding to the issue.
 The coverage of Kisan Long March on the front page of the selected
newspapers was negligible. Very few news were recorded on the first page of
the newspapers regarding to the issue.
 The newspapers relegate the news of the farmers‘ protest to the inner pages,
hardly giving it minor importance.
 Malayala Manorama has given much prominence to the issue by giving a
major space to the news in front page while compared to other three
newspapers. It allotted 150 column cm for front page news stories.
 The news area covered on the editorial pages in four newspapers was very
less.
 The Hindu which is known to cover socio-economic issues significantly did not
give much space to this news on its editorial page. The Hindu allotted only
67.column.cm for the issue.
 Only The Hindu and Malayala Manorama published cartoons whereas no
cartoon was in The New Indian Express and Mathrubhumi. The Hindu has
given 48 column.cm spaces for cartoon and Malayala Manorama allotted 38.4
column.cm spaces to cartoon.
 The total space given to the pictures related to Kisan Long March in selected
newspapers was 924.6 cm.
 The Malayalam newspapers have given greater space to picture than English
newspapers.
 The New Indian Express has published 2 single lined bold headline of the
story of long march. It also gave 2 double lined, and 2 normal headlines of the
issue. The Single line headline mostly came in the front page of the
newspaper. It also gave bold headings in the editorial page and inner page.

 Mathrubhumi daily published the majority of bold headline to the story as

compared to other three newspapers. It has given 3 single bold headlines, 1
double bold headline and 1 three line bold headlines.
 During the research period, The New Indian Express covered more action
statements of prominent personalities regard to the issue. The all selected
newspaper gave predominance to the statement of political leaders.
 The editorial pages of The Hindu make little effort to explain the real issues of
the protesting farmers. It focused how people of Mumbai welcomed farmers
with water, food items, medical aids and footwear.
 The New Indian Express strongly supported the long march conducted All
India Kisan Sabha in editorial. It questioned the ignorance of government
 towards agrarian crisis. It discusses the farmers protest and agrarian crisis in
detailed manner. It pointed out that the structural demand of the Kisan Long
March is that the implementation of Forest Right Act.
 The four newspapers published most of the story in favour of the Kisan Long
March. The Hindu reports 3 news stories in favour of the farmers and while it
published 4 news stories in neutral. The New Indian Express reported majority
of the news stories in favour of the long march and one news item published
in neutral. Mathrubhumi daily also published majority of their news items in
favour of the long march and two news stories reported in neutral.
 Chapter V

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The study focused on the coverage given to news reports on Kisan Long March by
the four dailies – The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Malayala Manorama and
Mathrubhumi.

The Kisan Long March led by All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) in Maharashtra
captured the nation‘s attention to the agrarian crisis in rural Maharashtra and forced
the government to agree most of the demands raised by them. Their demands
included Farm loan waiver, Remunerative prices, Implementation of the
Swaminathan Commission‘s recommendations, stringent implementation of the
Forest Rights Act (FRA), Increase in various pension schemes for poor farmers and
agricultural workers,

The farmers protest offered an opportunity to develop an alternative political

narrative based on issues that impact the lives of ordinary people and it was
effectively articulated through a mass movement.

5.1 Discussion

The media often played an essential role in shaping the public opinion. The public
response towards an issue is highly influenced by the news spread through the media
especially newspapers. People find more comfort in gathering news from
newspapers. Therefore, the newspapers should publish news based on the truth, not
from their political ideology. It will create ambiguity among the public and they will
mould their perspective regarding the newspaper content. The study had focused on
the coverage of Kisan Long March by the prominent dailies The Hindu, The New
Indian Express, Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi.

Kisan Long March received very little attention in selected newspapers. Most
of the reports related to farmers‘ agitation relegate to the inner pages.

Through this research gives clear evidence that how the mainstream
newspapers ignore the peasant issues and agrarian crisis by giving less coverage.
These findings suggest that agrarian crisis is not considered by newspaper editors
and owners as important enough to attract the readers. Agrarian crisis in India have
long remained less portrayal in the media. The study pointed out that issues of .social
and economic importance that concern the masses are not the top priority for
mainstream media houses. Hence the study has examined all the aspects of the
Kisan March. It has discussed the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the content.

The present study discovered that Mathrubhumi newspaper had a relatively

better coverage of the issue when compared to the other three newspapers. The New
Indian Express strongly supported long march conducted All India Kisan Sabha. It
questioned the ignorance of government towards agrarian crisis. It covered the issue
fair and comprehensive manner. The New Indian Express revealed that the structural
demand of the Kisan Long March is that the Implementation of Forest Right Act.

The Hindu which is known to cover socio-economic issues prominently gives

little space to the issue on its front page. Most of their story is appeared in inner
pages of newspaper. The editorial pages of The Hindu make little effort to explain the
issues of the protesting farmers.

Most of the report discussed about the political background of the protest,
mobilization of the march, and the way of protest and farmers demand rather than
focusing actual problem of farmers. The results of the research also agree with a
study of Centre for Media Studies which discovered that Rural and agricultural sector
in India have long remained less portrayal in the media.
The findings of the research also agree with the agenda setting theory by
McCombs and Dr. Donald Shaw which states that the news plays an integral part in
the shaping of political realities. The amount of time spent on an issue and the
information relayed in a news story, along with the story's position, determines how
much a reader learns and the amount of importance placed on the issue.

The lack of in depth coverage around the economic conditions and policies
that underlie the farmers‘ protests created a distorted perception of the problem.
Readers were given little context for the farmers‘ struggle and were kept uninformed
about their own stake in the agrarian crisis.
5.2 Conclusion

The study entitled with ―A comparative content analysis of print media coverage of
Kisan Long March in four dailies: The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Malayala
Manorama and Mathrubhumi‖ focused on the coverage of Kisan Long March and
analyzed how the selected newspapers cover the issue in terms of page positioning,
tone and thematic content.

The study concluded by findings that the selected newspapers gave little
attention to the coverage of Kisan Long March. The Malayalam newspaper
Mathrubhumi daily published more stories regarding to the issue. The coverage of
Kisan Long March on the front page of the selected newspapers was negligible. Very
few news were recorded on the first page of the newspapers regarding to the issue.
The newspapers relegate the news of the farmers‘ protest to the inner pages, hardly
giving it minor importance. Malayala Manorama has given much prominence to the
issue by giving a major space to the news in front page while compared to other three
newspapers. It allotted 150 column cm for front page news stories. The news area
covered on the editorial pages in four newspapers was very less.

This research paper concluded that Indian media especially mainstream

newspapers fails to provide news coverage of about agrarian crisis. As fourth pillar of
Indian democracy, media has witnessed incredible growth and reach over the past
decade. News has become an integral part of every citizen of India. There is
discrepancy in news coverage even for metro cities and urban India where business,
politics and glamour dominate the print and broadcast media. Journalism focuses
only on that stories that will help the organization to make money.

5.3 Recommendations

 The newspapers should give adequate coverage to agrarian crisis on

important pages of news dailies.
 The researcher has selected only a period of 14 days to study on the topic it
will be good to select more time period to study the whole aspects and outputs
of the study. Then will get the complete information surrounding the topic.
 An effective survey among the reader will provide valuable insights on how the
reader perceived the topic and how the coverage shape their view toward the
issue.
 The study can be elaborated by adding more newspapers, theories and
interviews etc. So that a more general trend can be found out.
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