Chapter III

Development News: An Analysis

Development news: Different concepts

In the study of development journalism, scholars interpret the core concept, development

news differently, and a uniform definition of development news is difficult to obtain in

the literature of development journalism. Since the concept of development is rapidly

undergoing changes, concept of development news is also changing in consonance with

the changes in development definition. As earlier discussed, in the beginning of

development journalism, development news was linked with economics, and thereby

development news meant only interpreting the economic indicators. With the emergence

of different definitions of development journalism, the concept of development news

gained another dimension. In development journalism, news is classified into two

categories: development news and developmental news. Development news is broadly

defined as journalistic writing about any topic that may contribute to social and economic

progress at any individual or global level (Shah, 1989). Therefore, development news can

be investigative, analytical and even negative news. However, developmental news

encompasses only positive news as understood in the UNESCO programmes as

development-support news, known as development support communication. More over,

development news has been subjected to further interpretations keeping in view the use

of mass media channel in the development process, and the ownership of the channel as

well as the control over the channel too play a vital role in defining the development

news. For example, development news for All India Radio (AIR) is different from

development news for the print media. Because AIR is a government-controlled medium,

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the perspective of the radio is to support the government programmes under the rubric of

development and hence pro-government stance of developmental news is relevant in the

context of All India Radio’s role in national development. Contrary to this view, the print

media in India is in the private hands; development news for this media is negative or

positive depending on the context. Nevertheless, in understanding the mass

communication channel’s role in national development, researchers measure the presence

of development news in the contents of the channel. Shah (1988) argues that the

development news measurement is more quantitative rather than qualitative regardless of

the mass media channel. Further, journalists perceive the presence of development issue

in events will form a part of development journalism. He cites three reasons for this

trend in development reporting: a) mere presence of development news will contribute

for national development; b) each item can contribute equally to development; and c) the

greater the quantity of development news the greater the contribution of the channel to

development.

Majority of the research studies done to ascertain the coverage given to development

news in Indian media used content analysis, and these studies mostly confined to print

media. Since 1975, researchers used different themes under development news analysis.

Vilanilam’s study (1975) showed that the following items constitute development news:

1) Administrative reforms; 2) Agricultural development and food production; 3)

Economic activity; 4) Education; 5) Employment and labour welfare; 6) Family planning;

7) Health, hygiene, and medicine; 8) Housing; 9) Industrial, scientific, and technological

development; 10) Mass communications; 11) National integration; 12) Rural and urban

development; 13) Social reforms; and 14) Telecommunications, tourism, and transport

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development. The reason for selecting these themes under development news, according

to Vilanilam, is that there was no proper definition of development news when the study

was done and he relied on the expert opinion to categorize the developmental themes.

However, two studies done in 1980s were also significant in identifying the development

themes, and thereby they contributed to the debate of development news. Mazharul

Haque (1986) categorized development news into 11 themes such as 1) Health; 2)

Education; 3) Literacy; 4) Communication; 5) Agriculture; 6) Industry; 7) Housing; 8)

Population planning; 9) National integration; 10) Energy; and 12) Ecology. Haque did

not state the rationale for identifying these themes under development. Further, Shah

(1988) in his analysis of development news identified the following for inclusion in

development news in radio programmes. 1) Agricultural, rural development; 2)

Education; 3) Employment, labour 4) Health, medicine; 5) Trade, tariffs, cost of living, 5-

year plans, prices, aid, economic performance; 6) Social welfare, nutrition, food, family

planning, environment, caste issues; 7) Energy, industry, science; 8) Culture, religion; 9)

National integration; 10) Transportation, communication; 11) Politics diplomacy, internal

conflict, international treaties, military matters, and 12) Human rights.

In these categorizations of development news, themes widely differ from one study to

another. Some researchers argue that politics is part of development because political

decision is important in accelerating developmental processes. In the process of national

building, political statements have their own impact on society. Mere reporting of events

does not suffice in impacting the society in terms of development unless policy

perspectives are included in the development news. The argument is politicians or

bureaucrats will make statements, which have certain implications for development

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policy. Therefore, they may be included in development news; while the other argument

is mere statements do not fit into the definition of development news. The actual

grounding of projects can only be considered under development. The skepticism in India

is that the statements given by politicians do not translate into reality, while in other

countries the statements will hold well in implementation. Hence, the debate extends into

much wider arena that how trustworthy are our politicians in taking a serious part in

implementing development programmes?. For example, a bridge laid across the Godavari

River in Andhra Pradesh was inaugurated after 19 years of laying the foundation stone, in

spite of successive governments and politicians issued statements that the bridge would

be completed in the shortest possible time.

This apart, the national celebrations at the national level and the important dates in the

national calendar have their own significance and carry an important message for the

posterity in the country. For instance, celebrating Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday on October

2 every year sends out a message of non-violence, which is equally important for keeping

up the national integration. Further, certain events like August 15 and January 26 which

are linked with politics of freedom struggle or the formation of Republic of India remind

about the past history and culture of the country. Though flag hoisting on these days is

symbolic, it represents our past and people recall the part played by freedom fighters. In

this process, the young generation is educated about the country. Thus, in the context of

development, culture becomes a part of development as explained in the alternative

theory of development. Therefore, the debate is, can these concepts be included in

development news?

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However, in the operationalization of development news too, there is no uniform view.

Research scholars like Vilanilam considered mere content of development in the units of

analysis is operationalized as development news regardless of format of the content item.

For example, Vilanilam operationalized development news by including editorials,

features, letters-to-the editor, straight news and human-interest stories including pictures.

Contrary to this, Haque (1986) adopted different criteria. In his analysis, he took news

items and features that contained development information. The news that dealt with

reforms and improvement of quality of life within development category was treated

positively or negatively. More specifically, Shah (1988) adopted a different measure in

analyzing news items. He prepared 10 questions to judge any news item that qualifies for

development news. These questions are:

1. Does the news item emphasize development processes rather than events?

2. Does the item contain content critical of development projects, plans, policies,

problems or issues?

3. Does the item discuss the relevance of development projects, plans, policies,

problems or issues to national regional or local needs?

4. Does the item provide contextual or background information about development

projects, plans, problems, or issues?

5. Does the item speculate about the future in relation to development needs?

6. Does the item discuss the impact of projects, plans, policies, problems or issues

on the people?

7. Does the item discuss development processes in other regions or countries?

8. Does the item compare the subject with original development goals?

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 9. Does the item compare the subject with government claims for success?

10. Does the item make any references to development needs of the people?

Nonetheless, all these studies show that the development news is measured quantitatively

instead of qualitatively because quantitative analysis presents the quantitative measure of

ascertaining the coverage given to development news while qualitative analysis results in

understanding the approach of that newspaper to development. The argument that

qualitative analysis gives much more depth to the development news analysis, and yet

qualitative analysis has not gained much currency in the development news analysis. In

the Third World scenario qualitative analysis can be much more useful to the policy

makers to redesign the developmental programmes.

However, the Press as one of the pillars of democracy is expected to play a constructive

role to accelerate developmental processes in a country. In order to play such a role, the

Press should give wide coverage to developmental issues to create awareness among the

people. Therefore, to ascertain the role of mass media in national development,

researchers like Vilanilam (1975, 1993), Mohapatra (1984), Haque (1986), Ahmed

(1986) and Shah (1988) in different settings in India analyzed the contents of newspapers

and radio. In the 1990s, the media scene underwent a drastic change as a result of new

technology. Multiple editions of newspapers were launched from many places in different

languages, reaching the nook and corner of the country. These apart, socio-political

changes also swept the country in many spheres of public life. But, there is no perceptible

change of people living in rural areas, still anticipating development and governmental

help. In this prevailing situation, the plan documents of the governments, both the central

and state, emphasized various developmental issues. In this context, the role of

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newspapers in development assumes importance as how the newspapers are reflecting the

developmental priorities of the people as well as the government. Therefore, purpose of

the present study is to examine:

1. To define development news in the context of country’s priorities;

2. To examine the role of newspapers in national development and for this purpose

the select newspapers are analyzed in terms of:

a) The extent of coverage given to development vis-à-vis other category of

news in the sample dailies;

b) The treatment given to developmental news in the sample dailies; and

c) The frequency of editorials and letters to the editor on developmental

themes in the sample dailies.

Methodology

The method of content analysis was used to examine the extent of coverage given to

developmental news in terms of frequency, space and direction of coverage. The universe

of the study comprised all the news items, editorials and letters to the editor published

during the calendar year (January 1, 1995 to December 31, 1995) in the four-sample

dailies viz., The Hindu, Indian Express, Andhra Jyothi and Eenadu. These four dailies

were selected keeping in view their circulation, geographical location and language. The

Hindu and Indian Express are the English dailies while Andhra Jyothi and Eenadu are the

Telugu dailies. These four dailies are published from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

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Sampling

Continuous week and constructed week methods of sampling were used to obtain a

sample of 168 editions consisting of 42 issues per newspaper. The units of analysis were

news item, editorial and letter to the editor. Space for all news items was measured in

cubic centimeters with a standard scale. When a photograph accompanied a news item, it

was also treated as part of a news item.

Themes

Two subject categories a) development and b) other were adopted for the purpose of

analysis. The development category was further sub-divided into sub-themes viz. health,

education, literacy, transport & communication, agriculture, industry, housing, population

planning, energy, ecology, human rights and national integration. The first ten themes

under development were extracted from the objectives set forth in the eighth five-year

plan of India (1992-97) for the country’s development goals. Two additional themes i.e.,

human rights and national integration were included because of their contemporary

relevance and significance in the national context. More specifically, the study included

the following sub-themes under each development theme.

Health. News relating to eradication of epidemics, health promotional activities such as

conducting free medical camps, organizing workshops, conferences, and meetings,

relating to health, medical, science research, longevity and AIDS.

Education. News about educational facilities, reforms in educational systems, training of

people in various, skills, organization of adult education.

Literacy. Promotion of literacy, reporting literary meetings, inauguration of school

buildings, distribution of books.

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Transport and communication. Road facilities, bus and train facilities, betterment of road

conditions, postal and telecommunication facilities.

Agriculture. Farming, fertilizers, seeds, cattle, animal husbandry, poultry, artificial

insemination, improved methods of milk, meat, fish, vegetables, horticulture, improved

food production, dairy, farmer’s problems, irrigation facilities.

Industry. Industrial output, problems of various industries, self-sufficiency in resources,

raw materials for industries.

Housing. Problems of houses, plans for mass housing, promotion of low-cost houses,

national housing needs, inadequate facilities in urban houses.

Population control. Family planning measures, use of contraceptives, family planning

camps, promotion of family welfare, survey reports on family planning programmes.

Energy. Measures for power generation, power crises, starting of new projects, problems

in power conservation.

Ecology. Environmental degradation and conservation, industrial pollution, automobile

pollution, preservation of forests, promotion of ecological awareness.

Human rights. Reports of human rights, lock-up death cases, remission of prisoners,

exploitation of children, child labour, bonded labour, street children and other news

involving violation of human rights, crime against women excluding dowry deaths.

National integration. Promotion of inter-state and national cultural activities, national

academies of letters, promotion of national languages, inter-caste and inter-religious

marriages and communal harmony.

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Operational definition of development news

News relating to grounding of new projects or measures taken by the government or non-

governmental agencies to improve the existing conditions is treated as developmental

news. However, this category did not include statements issued by politicians, ministers

or officials or promises made by them in relation to the sub-themes listed in the

development category.

The present study has also attempted to assess the direction of treatment given to the 12

sub-themes under development category. The coefficient of imbalance as evolved by

Janis and Fadener (1965) was used to find the degree of treatment given to sub-themes by

the sample dailies on a three-point scale such as favourable, unfavourable and neutral1.

Inter-coder reliability

Inter-coder reliability was calculated for all the units of analysis put together under each

subject category. In the pilot study, five editions of each newspaper were taken for

coding. After the first coder (i.e. author) coded the five editions of each newspaper, the

second coder who was a doctoral student in journalism did the coding of the same

editions. When the totals of each theme of each newspaper were available, the Holsti

formula2 was applied to calculate reliability. The inter-coder reliability for each theme

ranged from 90% to 100%.

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 Results

A total of 18,457 news items, 252 editorials and 693 letters to the editor were content-

analyzed in the four dailies viz. The Hindu, Indian Express, Andhra Jyothi and Eenadu.

Only 1086 (5.8%) of the total number of news items in all newspapers came up under

development category. Of these, Eenadu published 436 (7.9%) of news items the highest

compared to other dailies. Similarly, of the total 252 editorials, only 21 editorials

reflected developmental themes. The Hindu devoted 9.8% of its editorials to

developmental themes in comparison to other dailies, Eenadu devoted more editorials to

discuss developmental issues. In the category of letters to the editor, a total of 86 letters

(13.5%) appeared on development (See Table 5).

In terms of the news whole (i.e. total print area of news in all the four newspapers) only

7.5% of the composite space was occupied by the developmental themes. Eenadu

allocated 10.9% of space to the development category. Other papers gave almost equal

space to the development category: Indian Express (6.8%), Andhra Jyothi (6.3%), The

Hindu (6%) (See Table 6).

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Table 5

Distribution of units of analysis between development and other categories in terms of

frequency of news items.

Dailies
Unit of analysis
Indian Andhra
The Hindu Eenadu Total
Express Jyothi

News items
Other 5202 3406 3733 5030 17371
Development 246 209 195 436 1086
Development (%) 4.5 5.8 4.9 7.9 5.8

Editorials
Other 64 95 34 38 252
Development 7 7 3 4 21
Development (%) 9.8 6.8 8.1 9.5 8.7

Letters to the editor

Other 228 193 60 126 607
Development 38 17 16 15 86
Development (%) 14.2 8.1 21 10.6 13.5

As regards the coverage of developmental news in terms of number of news items

devoted to sub-themes, the four newspapers differed remarkably in assigning priority to

the themes (Table 7). While The Hindu gave first rank to agriculture (19.9%), Indian

Express accorded first place to health and human rights with equal prominence (21%).

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Table 6

Distribution of space@ between development and other categories in the sample dailies.

Dailies
Unit of analysis
Indian Andhra
The Hindu Eenadu Total
Express Jyothi

News items
Other 74155.3 51247.1 40935.1 46158.2 212495.7
Development 4776.0 3751.6 2733.9 5690.5 16952.0
Development (%) 6.0 6.8 6.3 10.9 7.5

@ Space is measured in column centimeters

The two Telugu newspapers Andhra Jyothi and Eenadu, on the other hand gave first

place to health and second place to transport and communication. Thus on the whole

health related themes received more prominence in the developmental news among all

the dailies. Next, the four newspapers showed difference in the coverage of remaining

themes. The least covered themes are: Housing, Population planning and National

integration. In addition, the four dailies showed a remarkable difference in the average

number of news items they carried on developmental themes. Eenadu carried a mean of

10.4 news items per issue while The Hindu carried 5.85 news items, Indian Express 4.9

news items and Andhra Jyothi 4.6 news items. Evidently, the dailies differed in their

coverage of developmental news. Eenadu gave more attention to developmental themes

and Andhra Jyothi, the least. The differences among the newspapers were highly

significant (p<.01) as evident from the analysis of variance results shown in Table 8.

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Table 7

Percentage distribution of frequency of news items on developmental news by themes

Dailies

Theme Indian Andhra

The Hindu Eenadu
Express Jyothi
% Rank % Rank % Rank % Rank
Health 19.1 2 21.0 1 26.7 1 18.6 1
Education 4.1 8 8.6 4 4.1 7 11.2 4
Literacy 3.6 9 1.9 9 1.5 10 4.3 9
Transport &
8.9 5 8.2 5 17.4 2 8.1 2
communication
Agriculture 19.9 1 8.6 4 13.8 3 11.0 5
Industry 5.7 7 9.6 2 7.7 6 8.3 6
Housing 0.4 12 2.9 8 2.5 8 4.6 8
Population planning 3.3 10 1.9 9 1.0 11 0.6 12
Energy 11.8 4 9.2 3 10.3 4 11.5 3
Ecology 13.4 3 5.7 6 4.3 7 3.4 10
Human rights 6.9 6 21.0 1 8.7 5 5.2 7
National integration 2.9 11 1.4 10 2.0 9 3.2 11
100 100 100 100
N= (246) (209) (195) (436)

With regard to allocation of space to developmental themes, data show that Eenadu gave

a larger share of space to these issues than the other three papers. Eenadu gave 5690.5

column centimeters of space to developmental news, the highest among the four dailies.

In terms of space allocated to specific themes, Indian Express gave first place to human

rights (20.2%) while Andhra Jyothi (21.9%) and Eenadu(19.2%) gave first place to

transport and communication (Table 9). Health, on the other hand, took second place in

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Indian Express (16.9%), Andhra Jyothi (19.6%) and Eenadu (14.2%), while The Hindu

gave second place to the issue of ecology (13.4%).

Table 8

Analysis of variance of frequencies of developmental news items in four sample dailies

Source SS df MS F

Between groups 892.11 3 297.37 21.9*

Within groups 2225.66 164 13.57
Total 3117.78 167

Eenadu, on an average, devoted more space (135.48 col. Cms) to developmental themes

compared to the other three dailies. The Hindu (113.71 col. Cms), Indian Express (98.32

col. Cms) and Andhra Jyothi (65.09 col. Cms) followed. The analysis of variance test

showed a statistically significant difference among the four newspapers at p<.01 level

(Table 10).

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Table 9

Percentage distribution of space@ by developmental themes in sample dailies

Dailies

Theme Indian Andhra

The Hindu Eenadu
Express Jyothi
% Rank % Rank % Rank % Rank
Health 11.4 4 16.9 2 19.6 2 14.2 2
Education 3.6 8 6.4 7 6.3 6 10.7 5
Literacy 3.5 9 2.6 10 1.6 11 4.6 8
Transport &
11.0 5 6.2 8 21.9 1 19.2 1
communication
Agriculture 26.9 1 11.1 4 16.3 3 13.9 3
Industry 6.3 6 8.2 5 6.8 5 9.5 6
Housing 0.6 12 2.9 9 4.8 8 5.8 7
Population planning 3.3 10 1.6 12 0.4 12 0.2 12
Energy 13.0 3 14.8 3 9.8 4 12.9 4
Ecology 13.4 2 7.3 6 4.3 9 3.4 9
Human rights 4.9 4 7.3 6 4.3 9 3.4 9
National integration 2.0 11 1.8 11 2.0 10 2.6 11
100 100 100 100
N= (4776.0) (3751.6) (2753.8) (5690.5)

@ Space is measured in column centimeters

Table 10

Analysis of variance of space devoted to developmental themes in the four dailies

Source SS df MS F

Between groups 11662.47 3 38873.82 9.6*

Within groups 663601.49 164 4046.25
Total 780222.97 167

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Direction of treatment

The purpose of using the coefficient of imbalance was to find out how the newspapers

under study accorded treatment to developmental themes. For this purpose, a three-point

scale: favourable, unfavourable and neutral was adopted. The aim was to capture the

aspects of developmental processes made explicit by the four dailies. The Hindu reported

favourably a large number of development-related stories where as Eenadu and Indian

Express published more unfavourable stories. Similarly, Andhra Jyothi and Indian

Express published more unfavourable stories. Between the English dailies, The Hindu put

more emphasis on the positive coverage of developmental news (+.023). Of the two

Telugu dailies, Eenadu gave critical treatment to majority of developmental stories by

emphasizing negative references (-.067). Although Andhra Jyothi covered fewer

developmental stories, the emphasis was on negative aspects (-.007). Indian Express was

critical in its coverage (-.005) (Table 11). The four dailies significantly differed in terms

of the coverage of developmental news items (X2=18.7 p<.01 df=6).

Table 11

Directional analysis of coverage of the total developmental news items in all the sample
dailies
Direction of coverage Coefficient
Daily of
N F UF Ne imbalance

The Hindu 246 88 72 86 + .023

Indian Express 209 75 78 56 - .005
Andhra Jyothi 195 68 72 55 - .007
Eenadu 436 110 181 145 - .067

n: Number of news items; F= Favourable; UF= Unfavourable; Ne = Neutral; X2 = 18.7

p<.01; (df = 6)

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 Conclusion

In essence, the study presents the conclusions in two parts. Part I of the study details the

definition of development news while part II discusses the role of newspapers in national

development.

Part I: Definition of development news

Unlike the earlier studies done by different authors in different settings, the present study

concludes that the development news can be defined keeping in view the country’s

priorities. The country’s five-year plans show the roadmap of development for the nation.

More specifically, the themes selected for analysis in the present study have been drawn

from the country’s five-year plan unlike the earlier studies, which depended on expert

opinion for definition of development themes. Further, the specific themes like health,

agriculture, literacy and others require a continuous support from the media to accelerate

development, and therefore the media coverage of these issues is important. Second, the

study also analyzed development news quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative

analysis is measuring the units of analysis while qualitative analysis deals with the

direction of treatment given to a specific theme. For example, development news gives a

negative coverage of a specific theme by highlighting the issue and is being critically

covered by a newspaper in dealing with a development theme.

Third, development is understood as progress from the existing state, and it occurs in

physical development. For example, building a road in a village is social development or

infrastructure development, which is a reality. Therefore, the present study excluded

statements of politicians and others from development news and grounding of projects is

considered development news contrary to the argument that mere presence of

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development issue in a statement or promise can be considered development news. Thus,

the debate on development news can be clarified if newspapers define positive and

negative news as development news if the news items contribute to some progress in the

themes specified in the study. Because of negative news, policy-makers respond to it with

positive action, it can be considered development news. Therefore, the concept of

development news can change if positive action is initiated.

Part II: Role of newspapers in development

The present study, in order to assess the role of newspapers in development, analyzed the

contents of newspapers quantitatively. The study found that the coverage of

developmental news is neither significant nor encouraging in the sample dailies. This

category did not even exceed 6 per cent of the total news coverage with all the dailies put

together. However, the themes under development category received differential

coverage in the sample dailies. The three themes, health, agriculture, and transport and

communication received better coverage in the four newspapers. The newspapers did not

give much coverage to other themes viz. National integration, literacy and population

planning. Although literacy and population were high on the agenda of the governments

in view of low literacy and population growth, the newspapers did not provide adequate

coverage. Similarly, the theme, national integration, an important issue in the wake of

communal conflicts in 1990s did not get much attention. Obviously, the themes reported

by the four newspapers were linked to events. Much in-depth coverage was not given to

these developmental themes. Apparently, the reporters lacked an investigative spirit and

an in-depth understanding of the developmental issues. The analysis of editorials and

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letters to the editor also revealed that the four newspapers allocated an insignificant

percentage to developmental themes.

The possible reasons for inadequate coverage of developmental news in the Indian press

may include a) keenness of newspapers to cover political, sensational and entertainment

news to boost circulation, b) lack of research or in-depth study by journalists on covering

developmental news.

The Press as the fourth estate in a democracy has a greater responsibility to play a

constructive role. Because people depend on newspapers for their day-to-day information

needs, newspapers should act to inform and educate people on social issues. A socially

responsible press informs citizens on issues of immediate concern, and hence the degree

of media attention given to social and developmental issues leads people to believe that

these issues are important. The theory of social responsibility emphasizes that the Press

should define issues and set the public agenda. The authors of agenda-setting model of

the Press, Shaw and McCombs (1989:119) observed:

The agenda-setting role of the Press is one of civic mobilization. The Press helps
focus our attention on the key problems of the day. It sets the agenda for action.

India’s five-year plan (1992-97) focuses on health, population planning, energy, etc., as

priority issues of the country. But, the coverage of these issues is woefully inadequate in

the four newspapers. The survival of a newspaper depends on circulation and

advertising. Because circulation is a key factor for attracting advertisements, newspapers

adopt various strategies to boost circulation. In the process, newspapers identify

themselves as commercial enterprises. Nayar (1994) commented thus:

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 Most newspapers are a product of business – what can sell and how the get-up
and the content are now a fall-out of market surveys, not of editors planning. The
old concepts that a newspaper represented ideas, people’s conscience or nation’s
ethos have worn out. Journalism is a profession only in name; in reality it is an
industry.

Development is a priority issue in the national agenda because millions of people suffer

from poverty, malnutrition, unemployment, illiteracy, ill health, lack of drinking water

etc. The Press has a responsibility to support the government’s efforts to provide basic

needs to people as envisaged in its plan priorities. Because, information is a key factor in

national development, newspapers should take part in national development with better

coverage of development-linked issues. More over, the present study shows that the

coverage the newspapers gave to development issues was only event-based. In fact, more

event-based news reports are considered to be part of development news although the

news items rely on a single source to gather information. Event reporting is increasingly

popular as compared to process reporting in the Indian media scenario.

Development journalism emphasizes in-depth reporting rather than event reporting. The

quality and in-depth reporting can be enhanced if the newspapers undertake development

journalism more seriously. The present study also shows that newspapers gave much

coverage to neutral items instead of in-depth issues. Giving much importance to in-depth

issues can have considerable influence on policy-makers. Success stories involving

individuals, policy-makers and administrators from different provinces can benefit their

counterparts in other provinces.

Since the country has entered into the new millennium, the Press in India should reorient

itself and educate the people on these social issues. It should set an agenda to the

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government as well as people to make them participate in national development with

intensity as compared to the past while not forgetting its’ role in nation building.

Notes

1
The study determined a favourable story on the basis of how it reflected social cohesion,
cooperation, economic stability and strength, positive developments and growth in the
implementation of schemes relating to the sub-themes under development category. An
unfavourable story was determined on the basis of how it reflected conflicts, delayed decisions
affecting development, disorganization, indifferent attitude of the government or any other group
or individual, economic instability and weakness, negative occurrences concerning sub-themes
under development. Lastly, neutrality was determined by news reflecting neither negative nor
positive conditions or lack of controversial material.

2
To calcualate reliability, the Holsti formula (1968) was adopted:

R= 2(C1, C2)

C1+C2

Where C1, C2 are the number of category assignments both coders agree on, and C 1+C2 is the total
of category assignments arrived at by both coders.

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