Media Coverage Trend on Drought in Tharparkar 2014-2024: Missing Sustainability Narrative
Keywords:
Drought, Frame analysis, Climate Reporting, Disaster Management, Public Policy, Community-Resilient PoliciesAbstract
Tharparkar is the only fertile land in Pakistan, where the monsoon rain turns the arid land into lush green lands, but its unpredictable weather conditions make droughts a commonplace. This research aims to analyze the variation in news frames in Pakistani English language newspapers over a decade between 2014 and 2024 and then compare it with the existing literature to explore a comprehensive frame analysis of drought stories published in different parts of the world. Quantitative content analysis was administered in this research for frame analysis. The study findings revealed that newspapers mostly discussed the impacts of drought and mitigation steps but provided a limited stance on sustainable solutions. Additionally, the local media coverage heightened with the rising drought levels. Moreover, the comparative analysis showed a striking contrast with the developed world, to be more focused on early warning systems and sustainable actions. Furthermore, the study outcomes reiterate the importance of the capacity of media in promoting more inclusive social involvement in addressing community-resilient policies.
References
Ahmed, A., Kashif, M., & Mansoor, S. (2024). Exploring Journalists’ Narratives on Challenges to Climate Journalism in Pakistan. Human Nature Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 286–294. https://doi.org/10.71016/hnjss/1f96ec05
Ahmed, N., Aamir, N., & Hussain Memon, M. (2018). Climate change and drought: Impact of food insecurity on gender based vulnerability in District Tharparkar. The Pakistan Development Review. https://pide.org.pk/research/climate-change-and-drought-impact-of-food-insecurity-on-genderbased-vulnerability-in-district-tharparkar-2/
Ajani, A., & Van Der Geest, K. (2021). Climate change in rural Pakistan: evidence and experiences from a people-centered perspective. Sustainability Science, 16(6), 1999–2011. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-01036-4
Alencar, P., Sodoge, J., Paton, E. N., & De Brito, M. M. (2024). Flash droughts and their impacts -using newspaper articles to assess the perceived consequences of rapidly emerging droughts. Authorea (Authorea). https://doi.org/10.22541/au.171156482.23851700/v1
Andsager, J. L. (2000). How Interest Groups Attempt to Shape Public Opinion with Competing News Frames. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 77(3), 577–592. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769900007700308
Anjum, S. A., Wang, L., Salhab, J., Khan, I., & Saleem, M. F. (2010). An assessment of drought extent and impacts in agriculture sector in Pakistan. Journal of Food Agriculture & Environment, 8, 1359–1363. http://www.world-food.net/download/journals/2010-issue_3_4/78(2).pdf
Arango-Kure, M., Garz, M., & Rott, A. (2014). Bad news sells: the demand for news magazines and the tone of their covers. Journal of Media Economics, 27(4), 199–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/08997764.2014.963230
Augustenborg, C. A., Kelleher, L., O’Neill, E., & Cloona, H. (2022). Insights from the 2018 Drought in Ireland’s Broadsheet Media. Environmental Communication, 16(4), 445–457. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2063917
Azhar, A. (2022). Disaster management reforms in Pakistan. In Springer eBooks (pp. 329–348). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96825-0_14
Bennett, W. L. (2005). News as reality TV: Election coverage and the democratization of truth. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 22(2), 171–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/07393180500093802
Boykoff, M., & Farrell, J. (2019). Climate change countermovement organizations and media attention in the United States. In Routledge eBooks (pp. 121–139). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351121798-8
Boykoff, M. T. (2011). Who speaks for the climate? https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511978586
Calliari, E., Serdeczny, O., & Vanhala, L. (2020). Making sense of the politics in the climate change loss & damage debate. Global Environmental Change, 64, 102133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102133
Dercon, S., Hoddinott, J., & Woldehanna, T. (2008). Poverty and inequality in Ethiopia: 1995/96 - 2004/05. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1259341
Dhiman, B. (2023, June 14). Media Role in Promoting Values & Meditation for Sustainable Development: An Overview. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.36227/techrxiv.23514570.v1
Didin, M., Yavuz, B., & Yazıcı, H. G. (2022). Effect of COVID-19 on students’ stress, anxiety, depression, fear levels: Systematic review. Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry, 14(1), 38–45. https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.931572
Dutton, W. H. (2009). The Fifth Estate Emerging through the Network of Networks. Prometheus, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/08109020802657453
Ejaz, W., Mukherjee, M., & Fletcher, R. (2023). Climate change countermovement organizations and media attention in the United States. Oxford Climate Journalism Network. https://doi.org/10.60625/risj-dt2t-dm19
Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm. https://fbaum.unc.edu/teaching/articles/J-Communication-1993-Entman.pdf
Franklin, B. (2014). The future of journalism. Journalism Studies, 15(5), 481–499. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2014.930254
Gerdes, K. E., & Segal, E. A. (2009). A social work model of empathy. Advances in Social Work, 10(2), 114–127. https://doi.org/10.18060/235
Gezahegn, A., Zewdie, S., & Amentie, C. (2015). Factors determining the success of micro and small enterprises in Ethiopia (The case of Arbaminch Town). Social and Basic Sciences Research Review, 3(2), 69–76. http://www.absronline.org/journals/index.php/sbsrr/article/view/425/444
Graber, D. A., & Dunaway, J. L. (2005). Mass Media and American Politics: 9781506340234: Graber, Doris A., Dunaway, Johanna L.: Books.
Graber, D. A., & Smith, J. M. (2005). Political communication faces the 21st century. Journal of Communication, 55(3), 479–507. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2005.tb02682.x
Hamza, A., Shi, G., & Hossain, B. (2024). Migration as an Adaptation Measure to Achieve Resilient Lifestyle in the Face of Climate-Induced Drought: Insight from the Thar Desert in Pakistan. Water, 16(18), 2692. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16182692
Hansen, A. (2018). Environment, Media and communication. In Routledge eBooks. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315625317
Hassan, S. S., Goheer, M. A., Farah, H., Nadeem, M., Muazzam, A., Munir, J. A., & Fatima, S. (2024). Monitoring the effects of climate change and topography on vegetation health in Tharparkar, Pakistan. Journal of Water and Climate Change, 15(8), 3472–3486. https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2024.398
Heathcote, R. (2005). From disaster response to risk management: Australia’s national drought policy. Geographical Research, 43(4), 439–441. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2005.00348.x
Ifeanyi, I. P., & Chukwuere, J. E. (2018). The impact of using smartphones on the academic performance of undergraduate students. Knowledge Management & E-Learning an International Journal, 290–308. https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel.2018.10.017
Imtiaz, A. (2014, March 28). The Tharparkar mela. The Express Tribune. https://tribune.com.pk/story/688505/the-tharparkar-mela
Iyengar, S. (1996). Framing Responsibility for Political Issues. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 546, 59–70. https://www.jstor.org/stable/i243162
Kapoor, N. (2015). Role of media in disaster management. Journal of Advance Research in Social Science and Humanities (ISSN 2208-2387), 1(1), 05–08. https://doi.org/10.53555/nnssh.v1i1.228
Karim, F., Oyewande, A., Abdalla, L. F., Ehsanullah, R. C., & Khan, S. (2020). Social media Use and its Connection to Mental Health: A Systematic review. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.8627
Karolak, M. (2016). Social media and the Arab Spring in Bahrain: From mobilization to confrontation. In Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks (pp. 81–119). https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57177-9_5
Khan, M. G., Johar, F., Baba, A. N., & Bahru, J. (2017). Disaster Management Risk Perception of Local Communities. Jurnal Kemanusiaan Translated as Journal of Humanities, 26(1), ISSN 1675-1930. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313768411_DISASTER_MANAGEMENT_RISK_PERCEPTION_OF_LOCAL_COMMUNITIES
Khatibi, S. A., Golkarian, A., Mosaedi, A., & Qeidari, H. S. (2019). Assessment of resilience to drought of rural communities in Iran. Journal of Social Service Research, 45(2), 151–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2018.1479342
Kong, I., Seibert, J., & Purves, R. S. (2024, July 4). Droughts and Media: when and what do the newspapers talk about the droughts in England? The EGU Interactive Community Platform. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1844
Leenders, N., Holland, P., Taylor, P., SPC, African, Caribbean and Pacific Group, European Union, GFDRR, Pacific Community, United Nations Development Program, Office of the Chief Secretary, National Disaster Management Office, European Union, Pacific Community, United Nations, & World Bank Group. (2017). Post disaster needs assessment of the 2015-2016 drought Republic of the Marshall Islands. https://www.gfdrr.org/sites/default/files/publication/pda-2017-marshall-islands.pdf
Littlefield, R. S., & Quenette, A. M. (2007). Crisis Leadership and Hurricane Katrina: The portrayal of authority by the media in natural disasters. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 35(1), 26–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909880601065664
Manchanda, R. (2024). Climate consciousness: assessing climate change awareness in Gurugram, India. Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, 31(3), 175–189. https://doi.org/10.1108/jabes-04-2023-0104
Masood, I., Majid, Z., Sohail, S., Zia, A., & Raza, S. (2015). The deadly heat wave of Pakistan, June 2015. The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 6(4), 247–248. https://doi.org/10.15171/ijoem.2015.672
McCombs, M. (2001). Agenda-setting. In Elsevier eBooks (pp. 285–288). https://doi.org/10.1016/b0-08-043076-7/04310-2
Memon, M. H., Aamir, N., & Ahmed, N. (2018). Climate change and drought: Impact of food insecurity on gender based vulnerability in District Tharparkar. The Pakistan Development Review, 57(3), 307–321. https://doi.org/10.30541/v57i3pp.307-321
Mukherjee, S., Wang, S., Hirschfeld, D., Lisonbee, J., & Gillies, R. (2022). Feasibility of adding Twitter data to aid drought depiction: case study in Colorado. Water, 14(18), 2773. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14182773
Namaswa, M. (2021, May). Drought and food security in Kenya: content analysis of the Nation and the Standard newspapers 2018-2019. The Agha Khan University. https://ecommons.aku.edu/theses_dissertations/977/
National Commission For Human Rights (NCHR). (2016). The Haunting Footprints of Drought, Hunger and Poor Governance: A Report on the Tharpakar Crisis. https://nchr.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Haunting-Footprints-of-Drought-Hunger-and-Poor-Governance-2016.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com
National Nutrition Survey. (2018). https://www.unicef.org/pakistan/media/2861/file/NNS%20KFR.pdf
Neuman, W. R., Just, M. R., & Crigler, A. N. (1993). Common knowledge: news and the construction of political meaning. Choice Reviews Online, 30(09), 30–4810. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.30-4810
Nkombi, Z., & Wentink, G. J. (2022). The role of public participation in disaster risk reduction initiatives: The case of Katlehong township. Jàmbá Journal of Disaster Risk Studies, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v14i1.1203
Ogbimi, J. U. (2012). Western media coverage of Somalia famine (By Institute of Graduate Studies and Research & Eastern Mediterranean University). http://i-rep.emu.edu.tr:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11129/281/Ogbimi.pdf?sequence=1
Pakistan floods 2022: Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA). (2022, October 28). UNDP. https://www.undp.org/pakistan/publications/pakistan-floods-2022-post-disaster-needs-assessment-pdna
Pakistan Meteorological Department, National Drought Monitoring Centre, & Mir, H. (2015). Drought Bulletin of Pakistan (A. H. Khan, Ed.) [Report]. https://www.pmd.gov.pk/ndmc/quater315.pdf
Paxton, G. (2021). Building cultural capital in drought adaptation: lessons from discourse analysis. The Rangeland Journal, 43(3), 101–108. https://doi.org/10.1071/rj20077
Poudel, B. R., Fitzgerald, G., Clark, M., Mehta, A., & Poudyal, M. (2014). How does Nepal Television (NTV) frame natural disasters? A qualitative content analysis of news scripts using news frames and PPRR cycle. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/76341/2/76341.pdf
Powers, M. (2021). The Third Pillar of International Climate Change Policy: On ‘Loss and Damage’ after the Paris Agreement, edited by Morten Broberg and Beatriz Martinez Romera Routledge, 2021, 134 pp, £120 hb, £44.99 ebk ISBN 9780367676681 hb, 9781003132271 ebk. Transnational Environmental Law, 10(3), 575–578. https://doi.org/10.1017/s2047102521000297
Provincial Disaster Management Authority Government of Sindh. (2023). Drought - PDMA_SINDH. In PDMA_SINDH. https://pdma.gos.pk/drought/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Quesnel, K. J., & Ajami, N. K. (2017). Changes in water consumption linked to heavy news media coverage of extreme climatic events. Science Advances, 3(10). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700784
Rahamoo, S. A. (2014, November 23). Thar: Drought or disaster? DAWN.COM. http://www.dawn.com/news/1146234
Rahwani, N. (2021, April 8). Thar deserves much more, much better. Dawn. https://www.dawn.com/news/1617073
Raza, M. R., Saeed, M. U., & Ali, Z. (2023). Media Framing on Coverage of Motorway Rape Incident: A Study of Cable Channels in Pakistan. Asian Women, 39(2), 25-45.
Rojecki, A. (2009). Political culture and disaster response: the Great Floods of 1927 and 2005. Media Culture & Society, 31(6), 957–976. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443709344154
Rustogi, P., Amir, P., Young Professional Development Initiative Intern: GWP-SAS, & Regional Council Member, GWP-SAS/Pakistan Water Partnership (PWP). (2018). Integrated Water resource Management Practices to Alleviate Poverty – a model of desert development in Tharparkar, Pakistan (K. J. Gunya & L. Induruwage, Eds.). https://www.gwp.org/globalassets/global/toolbox/case-studies/asia-and-caucasus/pwp-case-study---desert-development.pdf
Saeed, R., Hussain, M., & Riaz, F. (2023). CRITICISM AND ATTRIBUTION OF RESPONSIBILITY: FRAMING IN LEADING NEWSPAPERS OF PAKISTAN FOR CLIMATE CHANGE. Pakistan Journal of Social Research, 05(02), 989–998. https://doi.org/10.52567/pjsr.v5i02.1211
Semetko, H. A., & Valkenburg, P. M. V. (2000). Framing European politics: A Content Analysis of Press and Television News. Journal of Communication, 50(2), 93–109. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2000.tb02843.x
Shah, N. A., Ashraf, E., Shurjeel, H. K., Mirani, Z. U. D., Rafique, U., & Shah, R. A. (2020). Assessing perceptions of the households-heads regarding food security status in drought-hit areas of District Tharparkar, Sindh, Pakistan: A case study for agricultural extension. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture, 36(4). https://doi.org/10.17582/journal.sja/2020/36.4.1162.1173
Solman, P., & Henderson, L. (2018). Flood disasters in the United Kingdom and India: A critical discourse analysis of media reporting. Journalism, 20(12), 1648–1664. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884918762363
Stahl, K., Kohn, I., Blauhut, V., Urquijo, J., De Stefano, L., Acácio, V., Dias, S., Stagge, J. H., Tallaksen, L. M., Kampragou, E., Van Loon, A. F., Barker, L. J., Melsen, L. A., Bifulco, C., Musolino, D., De Carli, A., Massarutto, A., Assimacopoulos, D., & Van Lanen, H. a. J. (2016). Impacts of European drought events: insights from an international database of text-based reports. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 16(3), 801–819. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-16-801-2016
Suharini, E., Asiah, S., & Kurniawan, E. (2020). The role of Community-Based Disaster Preparedness and Response Team in building community resilience. Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 16(4). https://doi.org/10.17576/geo-2020-1604-03
Susilo, D., & Harliantara, H. (2023, October 23). Framing analysis of drought news in Java at Detik.com. https://j-innovative.org/index.php/Innovative/article/view/5250
Varghese, S. (2023). Future of climate change. In Future of business and finance (pp. 69–85). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36382-5_7
Vikström, S., Mervaala, E., Kangas, H., & Lyytimäki, J. (2023). Framing climate futures: the media representations of climate and energy policies in Finnish broadcasting company news. Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/1943815x.2023.2178464
Vreese, C. H. (2005). News framing. Information Design Journal, 13(1), 51–62. https://doi.org/10.1075/idjdd.13.1.06vre
Wapner, P. (2014). The Changing Nature of Nature: Environmental Politics in the Anthropocene. Global Environmental Politics, 14(4), 36–54. https://doi.org/10.1162/glep_a_00256
Wassie, M. G. (2019). Framing of the Ethiopian drought 2015/16 : Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) vs British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In 85. https://nla.brage.unit.no/nla-xmlui/handle/11250/2637667
Williamson, R. (2024). Dry Spells, drought, and Environmental Crisis: The Drought feature in Australian Women’s Weekly Magazine, 1939–2019. Environmental Communication, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2024.2382472
World Meteorological Organization. (2024). State of the Climate 2024 Update for COP29. World Meteorological Organization (WMO). https://library.wmo.int/viewer/69075/download?file=State-Climate-2024-Update-COP29_en.pdf&type=pdf&navigator=1
Ylä-Anttila, T., Eranti, V., & Kukkonen, A. (2021). Topic modeling for frame analysis: A study of media debates on climate change in India and USA. Global Media and Communication, 18(1), 91–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/17427665211023984
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Sana Shoukat, Muhammad Sohaib Subhani , Dr. Huma Nisar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
LEGALOPEDIA EDUCATINIA (PVT) LTD