Depiction of Mental Health in The Indian Press: A Corpus-Based Examination of Web News Content

Objective: Given the increase in mental health cases in India, it is timely to examine how Indian newspapers depict mental health news. This corpus-based study focuses on news reports available from two Indian web newspapers, Hindustan Times and The Hindu. The objective of this study is to examine the depiction of mental health in news media between January 2021 and August 2024. This research aims to identify the collocates of mental health in web newspapers. Also, examine the keyword pattern in mental health news in two web newspapers. Methods: This study utilises qualitative approaches, with content analysis being used to evaluate the depiction of mental health news in web media. To supplement the analysis, we utilized AntConc 4.2 software to produce collocates and extract keywords in context. Conclusion: A total of 789 news articles were collected, 389 from the Hindustan Times and 400 from The Hindu. The finding shows that from the Hindustan Times, 38 were extracted and show as collocates, and from The Hindu, only 27 collocates were identified. Results highlight the Keyword in Context, whereas The Hindustan Times stresses individual responsibility and lifestyle decisions to better mental health status, The Hindu adopts a more comprehensive and democratic view by picturing mental well-being as a shared issue influenced by public policies and social elements alongside global action.