Mass media is a part of society and is expected to be more socially responsible than are other fields. Nowadays, with Indian media at a crossroads, civil society raises questions about the credibility of journalism, representation, ownership patterns, media regulation and self-regulation. Everyone has something to say about the daily encounters with news media as it occupies a pivotal position in contemporary life. Debates rage on representation in editorial boards of dalits, adivasis, women and religious minorities, the minimal space provided for social content, and dominant caste-class based ownership pattern which leads to a lack of social diversity in the content and the programs. However, very few attempts have been made to bring out a consolidated volume addressing the politics, economics and the many cultures of Indian news media.
We feel immense pleasure in bringing out this media broadsheet focusing on the contemporary practices of Indian news media and connecting it to the history and politics of the region. An attempt has been made to knit together a critical mass of thinking on Indian news media from differing perspectives ranging from political economy, politics of representation, participatory communication, caste, gender and other cultures of media experience. This broadsheet has been structured in a manner that tries to provide an opportunity to small voices, and an insight to developmental issues.
The structure of media in India is changing rapidly in several ways. One, the objective of journalism has changed from being a ‘mission’ to a ‘profession’. Two, media outlets have been corporatized. Three, there is a change in ownership and increase of Foreign Direct Investments in Mass Media first from 25 percent to 49 percent, and then to 75 percent. Four, global communication networks are entering the Indian media business in a visible way. Finally, media monopoly and change of cross media ownership results in the loss of the common man’s right to information, education and public opinion.
Islamophobia has engulfed the neo-liberal world and it gets reproduced in a manifest form in our news media. The section on ‘Islam, Muslims and Media’ tries to capture the politics of hatred spread across the contemporary global media scenario, at the same time, focuses on the history of other cultures of journalism that go unmapped. The history of Urdu journalistic practices in Hyderabad embodies the other cultures within which the institution of journalism and takes a different shape vis-à-vis the question of Islam.
The history of media representation of Dalits shows a long term, extended axis of exclusion. Historically, the nationalist and corporate media structures demonstrate the violence not only of blatant exclusion but also of the humiliation of the figure of the Dalit in many ways. The tragic demise of Dalit journalist Nagaraju, the indifference shown by the newspaper management and the journalist fraternity gave us another opportunity to reflect upon the implicit caste violence that structures the assumed liberal space of the news media. The section on Dalits and media has essays from the past, which we have reproduced for the new readers, and also has contributions on contemporary issues relating to Indian news media.
The issue also carries interviews and essays about voices that oppose the trend of mainstream media, efforts that strain against the dominant flow of ideology and practice. The interview with the team behind the journal Nalupu gives the English reader a rare glimpse of counter-cultural politics of the media, as does the interview with one of the people who started the website Round Table India. The intent is to celebrate these efforts, but we feel it is also very important that they serve as inspiration for newer efforts that make more of a difference in times to come.
While the broadsheet carries archival essays of interest, e.g., Kanshi Ram’s first editorial for the Oppressed Indian, and an excerpt from Edward Said’s Covering Islam, this issue is characterized by a new reflective turn to the archive and its function in contemporary memory. One essay ruminates on archive theory and another reflects on the archival effort in Warangal. There is also an interview (one among three in this volume) that looks at movies that face problems drawing on the archive with respect to specific events and memories.
At the other end, we have essays on the cutting edge of media that point resolutely to the future—websites, blogs, social media and net neutrality.
We have also a unique turn on the visual in this broadsheet where Kush Badhwar and Shubhangi Singh have drawn thematic images to accompany some of the essays, which then come together in a suggestive whole in the central collage.
We really hope that media professionals, experts and students will find this volume interesting, educative and reflective of critical concerns.
Panthukala Srinivas and Ranjith Thankappan
P. Srinivas and R. Thankappan teach at the English and Foreign Languages University.