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South Asian edition of Prof. Deepti Ganapathy’s book: ‘Media and Climate Change: Making Sense of Press Narratives’ released

Grammy awardee and UNCCD Land Ambassador Ricky Kej is Chief Guest 

16 June, 2022, Bengaluru: “This book is relevant to politicians, journalists, academics, climate activists and even artistes like me. It provides a balanced and informed analysis of India’s environmental governance that focuses on managing the impact of development, while staring at a biodiversity crisis. The reader gains a deep and rich insight on the conundrum that the media faces while mediating between policy makers and environmentalists,” said Chief Guest Ricky Kej, Grammy Award winner, UNCCD ‘Land Ambassador’, UNESCO MGIEP ‘Global Ambassador for Kindness’, UNICEF ‘Celebrity Supporter’ and Earth Day Network Ambassador, at the launch of the South Asian edition of the book, ‘Media and Climate Change: Making Sense of Press Narratives’, authored by Dr. Deepti Ganapathy, Chairperson and faculty, Centre for Management Communication at IIM Bangalore. 

The book launch was hosted at the IIMB campus today, in the presence of Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIMB, Prof. Chetan Subramanian, Dean - Faculty, as well as the students, faculty members and members from the media.

Dr. Deepti Ganapathy’s book looks at the media’s coverage of climate change and investigates its role in representing the complex realities of climate uncertainties and its effects on communities and the environment. Ricky Kej has also commented on the book’s relevance, which is printed in the foreword of the book. According to him, the book is important as it shows how effective communication has a role to play in solving climate issues. “Big brands have today understood the power of music as an important tool in communication these messages and in helping people retain the same,” he said.

Pointing out that a threat bigger than climate change itself is the thought that it is up to ‘others’ to make a difference, he said: “We need to empower ourselves with the thought that tiny, incremental changes in the right direction will go a long way in making a big change. Artistes, communities and media need to communicate complex thoughts in a way so that they reach the heart and soul of the people.”

Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIMB, pointed out that when it comes to human behaviour and decision making, if cause and effect is not immediately connected, then action is delayed. He said his key takeaway from the book was how to take a subject as complex as climate change and make it part of the media narrative.

Author’s perspective

Dr. Deepti Ganapathy spoke about the genesis of the book and said she was happy to observe how the youth relate to issues such as climate change. “It is because of their engagement that there has been digital activism. The question often comes up why media is so important, after all, in dealing with such issues. In a democracy like India, media is the Fourth Estate – they can highlight challenges, especially the ones faced by marginalized communities. They can initiate dialogue and bring about changes that matter.”

Panel discussion

The event included a panel discussion featuring Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, Dr. Deepti Ganapathy and Ricky Kej, moderated by Prof. Chetan Subramanian. The discussion revolved around the book focussing on the themes of how the media plays a key role as the facilitator between scientists, policy makers, and the public; sets the agenda, and frames the issue. The panel also discussed how the present influential media is not just the mainstream media, but any individual – a blogger, vlogger or a podcaster. “Managing the narrative is the key – problems of painting a doomsday narrative, such as the portrayal of the image of a lonely polar bear in a distant corner of the world, does not galvanize into behavioral change in local cities and towns,” Dr. Ganapathy pointed out. “It is critical to become a publicly engaged scholar, as there is a convergence of a host of disciplines in the discourse of Climate Change,” she added.

The audience posed many questions which were deliberated upon by the panel. Answering one on how he deals with climate sceptics, Ricky Kej said: “I believe in stressing on the fact that initiating climate change is a sense of responsibility. You need to inspire people into action. Positive reinforcement is needed to conserve and sustain a long-term solution. It is important to make people think like a species and be empathetic towards those who do not believe in taking responsibility. A lot needs to be done at the policy level, there should be complete freeze on disruption of nature. There needs to be education at the primary level talking about environmental issues”. He also pointed out, in the context of how consumers of news get involved, that social media could be a double-edged sword often by spreading misinformation.

“The youth need to be groomed into climate warriors by helping them build on their knowledge base and taking it forward. Media should involve them more into coproducing news,” said Dr. Deepti Ganapathy.

Prof. Rishikesha T Krishna said that from a business point of view, climate change has a lot of impact as it has disrupted supply chain networks. He added that these issues needed to better reflect in business school curricula. “Today, organizations too are focussing a lot on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues and that focus needs to filter into our curriculum. IIMB has highlighted such issues in the course, Business, Government and Society,” he added. 

Moderator Prof. Chetan Subramanian summed the discussion by saying that the solution to issues pertaining to media’s role in climate change lies in focussing on local issues, simplifying the narrative and keeping the tone positive.

Watch the Book launch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYstzUsiK2s&t=5s

Media Mentions about the Book:

June 18, 2022

June 18, 2022

June 17, 2022

June 17 2022