Description
Book SynopsisSince independence in 1947 India has remained a stable and functioning democracy in the face of enormous challenges. Amid a variety of interlinking contraries and a burgeoning media one of the largest in the world there has been a serious dearth of scholarship on the role of journalists and dramatically changing journalism practices. This book brings together some of the best known scholars on Indian journalism to ask questions such as: Can the plethora of privately run cable news channels provide the discursive space needed to strengthen the practices of democracy, not just inform results from the ballot boxes? Can neoliberal media ownership patterns provide space for a critical and free journalistic culture to evolve? What are the ethical challenges editors and journalists face on a day-to-day basis in a media industry which has exploded? In answering some of these questions, the contributors to this volume are equally sensitive to the historical, social, and cultural context in
Table of Contents
Introduction: Democracy, civil society, and journalism in India 1. Indian Journalism in the Colonial Crucible: a nineteenth-century story of political protest 2. Popular Cinephilia in North India: Madhuri shows the way (1964-78) 3. A Media Not for All: A comparative analysis of journalism, democracy and exclusion in Indian and South African media 4. Phantom Journalism: Governing India’s proxy media owners 5. Shaming the Nation on Public Affairs Television: Barkha Dutt tackles colorism on We the People 6. Playing Reporter: Small-town women journalists in north India 7. The Potential and Limitations of Citizen Journalism Initiatives: Chhattisgarh’s CGNet Swara 8. Connecting Activists and Journalists: Twitter communication in the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi rape 9. How Well do India’s Multiple Language Dailies Provide Political Knowledge to Citizens of this Electoral Democracy? 10. Our Media, Our Principles: Building codes of practice for community radio in India
