Comparative Analysis of Coverage of the Launch of Chandrayan in the two National English Dailies.

Spreading the word about India’s first lunar mission, Chandrayan-1, national newspapers definitely did their bit. Around mid-October 2008, there were large spaces devoted to the details of spacecraft, its launch vehicle PSLV-CII, and the scientists involved in this project.

This study tries to focus (quantitatively and qualitatively) on the coverage of launching of Chandrayan-1. Times of India and The Hindu are the newspapers selected for the study with the aim to assess the role of print media in creating awareness regarding an important scientific event. Sample includes 60 newspaper issues (30 each) dating from October 20- November 20, 2008.The comparative qualitative approach would involve use of photographs, quotes of reliable sources (scientists) and other effective media used by the two newspapers.