Media coverage plays an important role in social construction of environmental issues all over the world. The coverage is often triggered by the claim-makers who play an active role in highlighting the environmental issues in media. In this context, this study is aimed at analyzing the role of claim-makers in media coverage of the environmental problems in Pakistan. The region of Indus Delta is selected as a case study for this research because this deltaic area is considered as one of the most highly productive eco-region of the country that is facing several environmental threats. The study provides the perspective of journalists covering the Indus Delta about the role of non-governmental organizations, political parties, community groups and concerned governmental bodies and departments in making the environmental problems of the region more news worthy for local and national media. Then the main themes of the data were analyzed and interpreted to answer the research questions of the study.
Mobile phones changed the patterns of communication and flow of information in human society. This study assesses their importance in creating awareness about issues related to the natural environment and climate change, where responsiveness at a community is essential. It examines particularly the role of mobile phones in creating environmental awareness among fishers in the Indus Delta region of Pakistan. Mobile usage patterns, mobile phones as a source of environmental information and the use of social media for environmental discourse among the fishing communities are analysed. The results indicate that mobile communication is ranked as the fifth major source of information about environmental problems in the Indus Delta after personal observation, television, radio and newspapers. Although mobile phones offer high potential for receiving, accessing and reporting information about environmental issues through the use of social media, they are still not widely used for such purposes in these fishing communities.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.