ABSTRACT
Background Air pollution is of particular concern in India, which contains 11 of the 20 most polluted citiesin the world. Media coverage of air pollution issues plays an important role in influencing public opinion andincreasing citizen demand for action on clean air policy. Hence, this study was designed to assess newscoverage of air pollution in India and its implications for policy advancement.Methods Articles published online between 1 January 2014 and 31 October 2015 that discussed air pollutionin India were systematically content analysed. From 6435 articles in the national media and 271 articles in theinternational media, a random selection of 500 articles (400 from national and 100 from international media)were analysed and coded by two independent coders, after high inter-rater reliability (kappa statistic above0.8) was established.Results There was an increase in the number of news stories on air pollution in India in the national mediaover the study period; 317 (63%) stories described the risk to health from air pollution as moderately toextremely severe, and 393 (79%) stories described the situation as needing urgent action. Limited informationwas provided on the kinds of illnesses that can result from exposure. Less than 30% of stories in either mediaspecifically mentioned the common illnesses resulting from air pollution. Very few articles in either mediamentioned the population groups most at risk from air pollution, such as children or older people. Vehicleswere presented most often as the cause of air pollution in India (in over 50% of articles in both national andinternational media). Some of the most important sources of air pollution were mentioned less often: 6%of national and 18% of international media articles mentioned unclean sources of household energy; 3%of national and 9% of international media articles mentioned agricultural field burning. Finally, the majorityof articles (405; 81%) did not mention any specific institution or organization – such as the government orindustry groups – as the primary responsible stakeholder, thus leaving ambiguous the organizations whoseleadership was necessary to mitigate air pollution.Conclusion Gaps exist in the current media discourse on air pollution, suggesting the need for strengtheningengagement with the media as a means of creating citizen engagement and enabling policy action. Throughgreater elaboration of the health burdens and evidence-based policy actions, the media can play a criticalrole in galvanizing India’s action on air quality. These data may suggest opportunities for media advocacy andgreater public and policy engagement to address issues around air quality in India.
