ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s leading newspapers continue to portray glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) largely as isolated disasters, with 76.8 per cent of coverage focusing on problems and immediate impacts rather than preparedness, early warning, adaptation and long-term resilience, according to a new study.
The research analysed GLOF-related news reports, editorials and opinion articles published in English and Urdu national newspapers between June 1 and September 30 in 2023 and 2024.
Conducted by climate policy advocacy expert and MPhil research scholar Muhammad Saleem Shaikh at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), the study examined the frequency, prominence, themes and framing of GLOF coverage in Pakistan’s national print media.
The research, completed during 2024-25 under the supervision of Prof Dr Saqib Riaz, former chairman of AIOU’s Department of Mass Communication, found that media attention generally increased after GLOF incidents rather than maintaining sustained coverage of risk reduction, preparedness and climate adaptation.
Economic losses dominate GLOF coverage
According to the findings, English-language newspapers provided comparatively more detailed coverage than Urdu newspapers. However, GLOF-related stories rarely received prominent front-page placement during the period examined.
The economic consequences frame emerged as the most dominant, followed by conflict and human-interest frames. Coverage largely focused on immediate damage and losses, while relatively less attention was given to long-term coping strategies, community resilience and policy responses.
Pakistan has more than 13,000 glaciers, making its northern mountain regions an important freshwater reservoir for South Asia, according to the Pakistan Glacier Inventory published in 2024 by Italy-based research organisation EvK2CNR.
The findings are particularly significant for Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where nearly two million people face recurring GLOF risks, said Muhammad Asif Sahibzada, Director General of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination.
“The scale of the GLOF threat makes sustained and effective public communication an essential component of climate-risk management,” he said.
Sahibzada said timely and continuous media reporting could help vulnerable communities better understand early warnings, preparedness measures and evacuation risks, while keeping GLOF vulnerabilities on the policy agenda and encouraging stronger institutional action.
Call for solutions-oriented climate journalism
Prof Dr Saqib Riaz said the research demonstrated that GLOF risk should be viewed not only as a disaster-management challenge but also as a communication challenge.
He called for a shift from episodic disaster reporting towards sustained, locally grounded and solutions-oriented coverage capable of strengthening public awareness, preparedness and resilience among vulnerable mountain communities.
Khalil Ahmed, climate expert at UN-Habitat Pakistan and former national project manager of a GLOF risk-reduction project, said effective disaster-risk reduction required more than early-warning systems and physical infrastructure.
He stressed the importance of sustained public awareness and access to timely and understandable information.
The study recommends that media organisations give GLOF risks greater and sustained editorial attention, provide specialised training to journalists, strengthen collaboration between journalists and climate scientists and disaster-risk experts, and incorporate more voices from affected communities.
It also urges newspapers to use their agenda-setting role to transform GLOF risks from episodic disaster stories into a sustained public-policy concern.
Research highlights role of media in climate resilience
Muhammad Saleem Shaikh successfully defended his thesis before a viva voce committee headed by Prof Dr Syed Hassan Raza, Dean of AIOU’s Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities.
The committee included Prof Dr Bakht Rawan, Chairman of the Department of Mass Communication; Dr Babar Hussain; Dr Shahid Hussain; and Dr Saadia Anwar Pasha.
The thesis had earlier undergone external evaluation by scholars including Dr Mudassir Mukhtar, Associate Professor at the Department of Media and Communication Studies, National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad.
The research contributes to scholarship on climate-change communication, disaster-risk communication and media framing in Pakistan, highlighting the potential of news media to improve public understanding of GLOF risks and strengthen preparedness and resilience in vulnerable mountain communities.