Representation of Iran’s water issue in newspapers; content analysis of Iran, Sharq,, Donyā-ye Eghtesād and Keyhān from 2012 to 2019

Water Withdrawal in Iran is more than the capacity of renewable resources. In addition, Iran is facing a decline in surface water and groundwater. But, it seems the water problem is not well understood in society. Furthermore, there is no consensus in perception of this problem. The media can play an important role in this regard. In recent years, as the problem became more serious and its consequences more apparent, media attention to this issue has increased. But, how the media portrays this issue is unclear. So, this study aims to identify the representation of Iran’s water issue in mainstream newspapers. To achieve this goal, quantitative content analysis has been applied and contents of four mainstream newspapers have been reviewed over a period of seven years. Based on the findings, natural factors are the most prominent cause of water problems and the authorities’ views are more and the people’s views are less distinguished in these newspapers. In other words, the content of newspapers is consistent with the government’s views. "Crisis", "Water scarcity" and "drought" are the most highlighted vocabularies in headlines. These words hide the role of people and officials in creating the problem and represents water problem as a natural problem. Furthermore, water is highlighted as a problem that must be addressed by the government and the role of people is reduced to saving. Whereas, a good governance requires involvement of civil society in decision making.