Thematic coverage of population and family planning efforts of India in the New York Times

Abstract

It is alleged that the Western press coverage of developing nations is largely negative; it ignores the cultural, social and development activities and initiatives of disadvantaged countries. This study was undertaken to see how India's population control and family planning efforts were covered in the New York Times [ NYT] between 1951 and 1990. The research method used was content analysis. The NYT was selected as the sample American newspaper. During the 40-year period under study, NYT published 249 population and family planning stories on India. Each of these news stories in the NYT was categorized into different themes. The study identified 11 themes which were then classified into themes more or less likely to get covered based on Westem news values. NYT, by and large, covered India's family planning efforts when they were associated with themes such as politics, civil unrest and religious differences (in line with Western news values) and not as part of the process of national development.