What would have missed if you had read only one newspaper?

BY Tenzin Paldon| IN Media Practice | 23/04/2008

Four English newspapers were monitored over three weeks, from March 15, the day after the Lhasa protests sparked violence  to April 7. The Hoot did a numerical coverage which covered stories, page one snippets, stand alone photographs, editorials, edit page articles and the letters to the editor column. Letters, regardless of number, were taken as one.

On this quantitative basis we are presenting a quantitative and qualitative study of  The coverage of the Tibet-China issue.

The Hindustan Times

The Hindustan Times reportage on Tibet was objective, fairly neutral and covered the Tibet issue from most angles. Out of the four newspapers, Hindustan Times, in its 88 stories, had the most comprehensive coverage of the trouble in Tibet and its repercussions. It is also the paper which carried  the maximum number of stories on any given day. On the 19^th March, it carried 11 Tibet related stories. The Lhasa riots were covered very well by the paper which ran a follow-up story that presented a consolidated report on the riots - "Eight days that shook China" carried on 19^th March. The headlines were as follows:

1. "Surrender or else" -16^th March
2. "Tibetans protest Lhasa crackdown" - 16^th March
3. "Tightening controls let to Tibetan outburst" - 16^th March
4. "There is no stopping Tibetan rage" - 17^th March
5. "Lashing out in Lhasa" – 17^th March
6. "Iron fist fails to smash Tibetan resistance" – 17^th March
7. "¿19 more killed, toll 99¿" – 19^th March
8. "Dragon Breathes Fire, Declares ¿Life-And-Death¿ War in Tibet" -20^th March
9. "Comprehensive crackdown in Tibet" – 4^th April

Apart from the topical coverage of the Lhasa riots and the subsequent protests elsewhere, Hindustan Times also took time to report on the different strands of thought within the Tibetan community in exile through its stories like "Tibetan govt in exile urges activists to end march." (15^th March) and "Gen Y fed up with ¿middle path¿" on 19^th March.

It also ran a story "Storming fallout: Panchsheel Marg may be closed" which was primarily concerned with the traffic issues arising from the increased security at the Chinese Embassy. It also devoted a lot of space to the Indian government¿s stand on the Tibet issue and how it affects India. It informed its readers of the different responses from the Indian side in its following 7 stories.

1. "Government walks the tightrope, expresses its distress" – 16^th March
2. "India frowns on stir by exiles" – 16^th March
3. "Tibet echo is LS; its plot against games, China tells ¿friend¿ India" -18^th March
4. "India¿s middle path" – 19^th March
5. "Tibet policy should not change: Karat" – 1^st April
6. "Anti-China remarks over Tibet harming ties: Karat" – 1^st April
7. "Dalai Lama is alright but politics isn¿t: India" – 2^nd April
   

Through "China¿s clout ensures cautious world response to Tibet stir", it also managed to question the world response to the question of Tibet. Also it was the only paper to have an article solely devoted to Hollywood presence in the Tibetan movement - "Hollywood¿s abiding love affair with Tibet", carried on 21^st March.

The Times of India

With 108 stories in the 3 week period of 15^th March to 7^th April,  the Times of India had the maximum number of stories on the Tibet issue. The tone of the newspaper leans towards the Tibetan point of view but it is objective enough to mention that the Tibetans manage the media very well. Its coverage of the Lhasa riots talked about violence from both the Tibetan protestors and the Chinese security forces. But by using terms like "crackdown", "bomb waiting to explode" etc. it also manages to lay a greater part of the blame on the Chinese side. The following headlines are some examples of this:

1. "Lhasa fallout Tibetans on edge" – 15^th March
2. "China cracks down on Tibet" – 16^th March
3. "Protesters seethe in anger as Lhasa burns" – 17^th March
4. "Lhasa lockdown, violence continues" – 17^th March
5. "Tibet was a bomb waiting to explode" – 19^th March
6. "China admits to shooting Tibetan protesters" – 22^nd March

Apart from the coverage of the protests, stories like "Mini Tibet wears deserted look says a prayer for Lhasa" on 16^th March, "Refugees take lead from India¿s freedom struggle" on 17^th March and "Tibetan exiles plan own ¿Olympics¿" on 30^th March, also helped in forming a clearer picture of the Tibet situation. It is interesting to note that its story "Tibet protest adds to board exam stress", carried on 18^th March on page 5, talked about how the Tibetan protests were affecting the traffic situation in Delhi and how the increased security at the Chinese Embassy inconvenienced the students whose exam centres were in schools in the Embassy area. Also its story on 16^th March - "Chinese bloggers tell West to lay off" quoted what some Chinese bloggers had to say about the Tibet situation. Some of the headlines of the stories on India¿s position on the Tibet issue were:

1. "India breaks silence, calls for talks on Tibet" – 16^th March
2. "India maybe forced to seal China border" – 17^th March
3. "Left silent as House erupts over Tibet crackdown" – 18^th March
4. "From Taslima to Tibet, India proves chicken" – 21^st March
5. "¿India¿s Tibet stand unchanged¿" – 24^th March
6. "India silent as China deploys its forces on Nepal soil" – 26^th March
7. "George slams NDA stand on Tibet" – 31^st March
8. "Now George says China is ¿potential threat No.1¿" – 31^st March
9. "Kowtowing to China" – 6^th April

The 7 stories on the Olympic torch focused on Bhaichung Bhutia¿s refusal to participate in the Olympic torch run in "Bhutia refuses to carry Olympic torch" (1^st April), Security issues in  "Government reviews security for Olympic torch run" (1^st April) and  "China on edge as torch tour starts" (1^st April), "Amid tight security, President lights Olympic flame for relay" (1^st April), Aamir and Saif¿s decision to continue with their participation in the torch relay in "Aamir, Saif won¿t toe Bhutia line" (2^nd April) , background to the Olympic flame "Olympic flame has been part of the modern Games since 1928" (7^th April) and the disruption of the Olympic flame in London in "On London streets, a fight for flame"(7^th April).

What would you have missed if you only read the Indian Express?

The Indian Express was the only paper which was overly concerned with what US had to say on the Tibet- China issue. Not only did it mention the US speaker Pelosi¿s stand on the Tibet issue, through "Bush tells Hu to talk to Dalai Lama", it manages to show that US is putting pressure on China. Also the paper mentioned the US Embassy¿s warning American citizens to stay away from Lhasa on the 15^th March story. The story also quotes Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman. The following are the headlines of the stories that had clear US pressure on China angle to it.

1.      "US Speaker Pelosi, who slammed China, on her way to meet Dalai Lama" – 15^th March

2.      "US wants China, Dalai Lama to talk" – 21^st March

3.      "Sharing stage with Dalai Lama, US House Speaker tears into China" – 22^nd March

4.      "Bush tells Hu to talk to Dalai Lama" -28^th March

 On 18^th March, the Express comments on CPM¿s silence on the Tibet discussion in the Lok Sabha in the story "In Tibet chorus, CPM is silent, calls it China¿s ¿internal matter¿". In Kanwal Sibal¿s lead article on the op-ed page, it ties the Lhasa riots and the Tibet issue with India¿s ongoing border disputes with China over parts of Arunanchal Pradesh. The following stories talked about how the Tibet issue is linked to and affects India.

1.       "Good Fences, Good Neighbours" – 15^th March

2.      "Bending backwards to please China" – 16^th March

3.      "Tibet on its mind, India backs China on Taiwan" – 18^th March

4.      "In Tibet chorus, CPM is silent, calls it China¿s ¿internal matter¿" – 18^th March

5.      "PM¿s swipe at Beijing: Dalai Lama stands for non-violence" – 21^st March

6.      "India¿s Tibet Question" – 21^st March

7.      "Tibet and us" – 5^th April

The Indian Express does not include the following in its Tibet coverage.

·         Disruption of the Olympics ceremony in Greece.

·         world support for Tibetan cause

·         Traffic issues caused by protests.

The total number of items on Tibet in this paper over three weeks were 75.

What would you have missed if you only read The Hindu?

Numerically, with only 45 stories on  the Tibet-China issue, The Hindu had the least coverage of this subject among the four newspapers. It was the only paper which did not carry even a single story on 3 days, i.e. 16^th March, 5^th April and 6^th April. In the Hindu, the Tibetan protestors are blamed in a story that is sourced from Xinhua. It is also the first paper to talk about return to ¿normalcy¿ in Lhasa on the 17^th when HT- "Unrest spreads to Sichuan", TOI – "Lhasa lockdown, violence continues" and Express – "Beijing declares ¿people¿s war¿, troops pour into Lhasa" all point the other way.

Coverage angles primarily seem to be pro-Chinese, blaming the Tibetan protestors. The eyewitness account of a foreign resident in Lhasa "It seems… they want to kill anyone not Tibetan" (carried from Guardian) painted the Tibetan protestors in negative light. Also, compared to other papers, Hindu seemed to carry a lot of stories that were pro-China. 12 of its 45 stories on Tibet had the following headlines:

1. "Tibetan protests were abetted by forces outside China: envoy" - 18^th March
2. "Tibet protests incited by Dalai Lama: Wen" – 19^th March
3. "China asks Dalai Lama to create conditions for talks" – 21st March
4. "Its interference in our internal affairs, says Chinese envoy" – 22^nd March
5. "China launches search for Lhasa riot suspects" –  22^nd March
6. "China vows to ¿resolutely crush¿ Tibet independence forces" – 23^rd March
7. "India¿s position is clear and consistent: China" – 24^th March
8. "China blasts bid to disrupt Olympic torch relay" – 26^th March
9. "Hu¿s firm reply to Bush on Tibet" – 28^th March
10. "China takes foreign diplomats to Lhasa" – 29^th March
11. "China to Dalai Lama: Use your influence to stop violence" – 1^st April
12. "How China sees the Dalai Lama and his cause" – 3^rd April

It is interesting to note that the following angles have not been covered by the Hindu.

• The discussion of the Tibet issue in the Lok Sabha
• The viewpoints of the Tibetan Government in Exile
• The disruption of the Olympics ceremony in Greece.
• The background to the Tibet issue.
• Disruption of the Olympic Torch relay in London
• The protests in Delhi by Tibetan¿s in Exile

For detailed documentation see the following: 

Headline breakup according to newspaper  

Comprehensive Tibet coverage

Link to first part of this report: Are they telling it like it is?