• An analysis of news clippings^* on water published between February 2002 and February 2003 shows a definite pattern. Media emerges as a matchmaker which plans, creates and packages news to catch the middle-class imagination

• The two most popular subjects of reportage on water are scarcity of water, and the annual ritual of drought reporting

• Regional media starts reporting on drought much before national media takes up the cudgels. But after the month of June, national reports on drought skyrocket, whereas regional reports plummet

• Issues are clearly demarcated between national media and regional media. Whereas water pollution, irrigation, and protests are favourites of the regional media, the national media concentrates on dams, interlinking of rivers, and privatisation

• The national media prefers reporting on