Professor Pradeep Nair (He/Him)
Professor in New Media & Director Research, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, India- Central University of Himachal Pradesh, India
- India
About Professor Pradeep Nair
Pradeep Nair is Professor of New Media in the Department of New Media and Director Research of the University. Previously he was Dean of the School of Journalism, Mass Communication and New Media from 2015-2022; and Head of New Media from 2012-2022. His research and teaching is in the fields of critical communication theories, new media in shaping public opinion and behaviour in the context of state-society nexus, exploring the relationship between local media and climate change, understanding the impact of climate change on local ecologies and health communication and governance.
Prof. Nair is affiliated to the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE), a Swiss based International Panel and global science organization committed to providing actionable scientific knowledge about threats to the world’s information environment officially launched at the Noble Prize Summit 2023 – Truth, Trust and Hope, May 24-26 in Washington D.C.
He is a member of the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education (GCCHE), Planning Committee of National Adaptation Forum, Commission on Education and Communication (CEC) of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Forum Network, World Economic Forum, Water and Climate Coalition (WCC), Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) and The Water Network (TWN). His engagement is in exploring the expanded role of communication outreach in increasing the ability of local communities to engage them in advocacy and policy issues related to climate resilience and maintaining the local biodiversity. His case study on Crating Resilience among Rural Communities: Communication Outreach and Climate Change is published by Climate Adaptation and Knowledge Exchange (CAKE). He is presently an External Reviewer in selecting research proposals for funding for Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) Capacity Development Committee under the Scientific Capacity Development Programme (CAPaBLE).
He has published widely in the field of communication and media studies, health communication and governance including role of media in developing people’s perception about climate change by using their considerable public trust to build acceptance through small narratives (Journal of Development Communication, 2022), policy and response strategies adopted to deal with restricted physical access to socio-economic infrastructure, facilities and services amid the Covid pandemic with a focus on cutting-edge health technologies at its core (Frontiers in Digital Health, 2022); exploring the potential benefits of media exposure on wellbeing within the disciplinary boundaries of media psychology, while looking at the Indian and Tibetan understanding of the wellbeing construct (Asia Pacific Media Educator, 2021), Framing of community dynamics by small town journalists in Dharamshala, India (Newspaper Research Journal, 2020), Journalism Education in Post-Truth Era (Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, 2019), Identity Crisis versus Ethical Dilemmas of Small Town Journalism (Journalism Education, 2018), Contextualizing Fake News in Post-truth Era (Asia Pacific Media Educator, 2017).
He is the Senior Editor in the Editorial Board of Centre for Agriculture and Bio-science International (CABI) One Health Resources, Associate Editor of Connected Health a speciality section of Frontiers in Digital Health and Associate Editor of Political Communication section of Frontiers in Communication and is the Editor of a research section on Health Technologies and Innovations to effectively respond to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The section deals with cutting-edge academic research and industry-scale manufacturing and production of healthcare innovations to deal with the challenges posed by the pandemic. He is also one of the Editors of the Research Topic Collection – Highlights in Connected Health 2021/22 – a collection aims to showcase a selection of high impact articles authored by leaders in the field. This research collection highlights the broad diversity of research performed across the connected health section, and aims to put a spotlight on the main areas of interest. He is in the Editorial Board of Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE) published by the University of Southern Mississippi, United States and had served two consecutive terms in the Editorial Board of the journals - Asia Pacific Media Educator (SAGE & University of Wollongong, Australia) and Pedagogy in Health Promotion (SOPHE & SAGE). He has been awarded Top Peer Reviewer in Social Sciences by Web of Science and Clarivate Analytics in 2019 and is currently reviewing for British Medical Journal, WHO Health Bulletin, European Policy Review, Health and Technology, Pedagogy in Health Promotion, Communication Inquiry, Asian Ethnicity, Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice and Frontiers in Public Health. His recent work concerns macro and micro ecological interventions related to environmental stability, climate resilience and maintaining the local biodiversity through mediated narratives.
Prof. Nair supervises doctoral students undertaking research on participatory democracy and governance in developing economies, media governance processes, digital disinformation and health communication and promotion.
Selected Publications
Nair, P., Vaishnav, D., & Tandon, A. (2022). The Paradoxes of Climate Change Reporting: A study of landslide news stories published in Hindi language newspapers of Himachal Pradesh, India. The Journal of Development Communication, 33(2),30-43. https://jdc.journals.unisel.edu.my/ojs/index.php/jdc/article/view/231
Nair P, Antoniou PE, Pino EJ and Fico G (2022) Editorial: Highlights in connected health 2021/22. Front. Digit. Health 4:1066860. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2022.1066860
Schuller, B.W., Pham, P.N., Do, S. Pattichis, C.S. & Nair, P. Eds. (2022). Health Technologies and Innovations to Effectively Respond to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Lausanne: Frontiers Media SA. doi:10.3389/978-2-88974-639-2
Nair, P. (2022). Editorial: Health Technologies and Innovations to effectively respond to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in Digital Health 4: 849652 doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2022.849652
Nair, P., & Vaishnav, D. K. (2021). Media Use and Well-being: Understanding the Interplay in the Context of Tibetan Youth in India Amid COVID-19 Crisis. Asia Pacific Media Educator. https://doi.org/10.1177/1326365X211002365 (SAGE)
Bhaskaran, H., Sharma, S., Nair, P., & Mishra, H. (2020). Encroachers and victims: Framing of community dynamics by small-town journalists in Dharamshala, India. Newspaper Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739532920950045 (SAGE)
Nair, P. (2020). Children Displaced: Deinstitutionalisation of Child Care Institutions in Tibetan Exile Settlements in Dharamshala, India. Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond, 7(1), 56–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/2349300319894863 (SAGE)
Nair, P. (2019). The Emerging Concept of an Inclusive mHealth Ecosystem in India. In C. Albuquerque (Ed.), Emerging Trends and Innovations in Privacy and Health Information Management (pp. 116-141). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-8470-4.ch005
Nair, Pradeep. (2019). Child Sexual Abuse and Media: Coverage, Representation and Advocacy. Institutionalized Children Explorations and Beyond, 6 (1): 38-45. DOI: 10.5958/2349-3011.2019.00005.7 (SAGE)
Bhaskaran, H., Mishra, H. & Nair, P. Journalism Education in Post-Truth Era: Pedagogical Approaches based on Indian Journalism Students’ Perception of Fake News. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 74 (2): 158-170. doi: 10.1177/1077695819830034 (SAGE)
Identity Crisis versus Ethical Dilemmas: The Struggle of Practicing Journalism in a small Hill Town of India. Journalism Education, 2018.
Contextualizing Fake News in Post-truth Era: Journalism Education in India. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 2017. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1326365X17702277
Democracy for a Territoryless and Stateless Polity: The Elections of Tibetans-in-Exile. International Political Science Abstracts, 2016. (SAGE)
Ideological Neutrality (!) The Difficulty in Teaching Political Journalism to Students Who Want to Be Advocates. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 2015. doi: 10.1177/1326365X15604251 (SAGE)
Genesis and Dissemination: Some thoughts concerning Journalism as Knowledge. Journalism Education, 2014.
The Emerging Interface of Healthcare System and Mobile Communication Technologies. Health and Technology, 2014. (Springer)
Mobile Advertising The Indian Perspective. In June Wei (Ed.) Mobile Electronic Commerce Foundations, Development and Applications, 2014. doi: 10.1201/b17686-19, CRC Press -Taylor and Francis.
Connect Exchange Programs: A Critical Component in Media Studies for Indian Media Schools. Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange, 2014. doi: 10.18785/JETDE.0701.03
ICT based Health Governance: The Indian Experience. Journal of Health Management, 2014. doi: 10.1177/0972063413518678 (SAGE).
Recent Comments
I believe that there is a need for a larger connection in peoples’ minds and to share the voices and concerns of the marginalized, most vulnerable people who have contributed least to the problem but are suffering most from its impact. The challenge of climate change media reporting is two-fold: first, to present information valid in scientific scrutiny and second, it has to understand how and in what ways vulnerable communities adapt to the impacts of climate changes.
Information is mostly shaped by the community power dynamics and its influence. It is a time for information agencies to come forward to validate and scrutinize information received from different sources. The development of a shared bank of resources on climate change will help the people to develop their capacity to access the right information at the right time.
The post-pandemic challenges in terms of economic shock and resource scarcity has put an extra stress on public health resources especially in middle- and low-income countries to recognize the interconnections among the various health sectors and their shared concerns. Unfortunately, even though the Covid pandemic is now almost over, a disconnect remains between people, care and policies and restoring the health security and care for all is the matter of prime concern. Here, One Health approach can connect disciplines across the human-animal-environment interface to address the emerging post-Covid health issues through a coordinated, effective, efficient and sustainable care approach. Due to its multidisciplinary collaboration and approach, one health has the potential to capitalize the capacities of multi-sectoral healthcare systems through regular information sharing among the stakeholders. The research, interventions and collaborations having a multi-disciplinary approach (human medicine, veterinary, ecology, environment, agriculture, and social sciences) can include wider range of expertise to strengthen health informatics which can help developing economies to take further steps towards health systems resilience.
The financing and administration of healthcare systems through the integration of several agencies managed by different ministries across regional and national governmental set-ups and the establishment of the National Institute for One Health is a tipping point to make the healthcare services more inclusive and accessible in India. The Indian governments’ understanding of one health and its manifestation in an economically focused, socially adept and ecologically sustainable health policy approach and responsive strategies are capable in not only transforming the Indian health care sector in terms of diagnosis, disease management, treatment and prevention but also to prepare them for future emergencies. But this further requires a comprehensive policy and response approach to institutionalize the practice of one health through community-based outreach activities and also to make it an essential part of many community-based health schemes. This will ensure an active engagement of individuals, communities, the private sector and the society as a whole which can further help to shape the practice of one health on a wider scale.
Himachal Pradesh in India - a small hill state has a unique geo-morphological and ecological setting. The most reliable and sustainable source of fresh water in the region are mountain springs and water bodies. In recent time, the region has frequently witnessed a change in land use patterns and improper sanitation which has affected the available water sources and the regional biodiversity. There is a dire need to promote community resilience and sustainability for effective water management and climate solutions in the region. This will help to identify the capacity of natural resource-dependent communities to adapt to change in order to maintain or enhance its ecological well-being.