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Indian Media in a Globalised World
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Usha M Rodrigues, Maya Ranganathan |
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SAGE Publications, 2010 |
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Financial Express |
Indian Media in a Globalised World provides an ‘empirical detail’ of the evolution of Indian media in an era of globalisation. The authors of this well-written book try to take various dimensions—economic, political, cultural and policy—of the recent media in our country. The uniqueness of this book is the use of rich qualitative information and case studies. While the authors use limited qualitative and theoretical arguments in this book, they also provide good general reading on the subject with the use of interesting case studies.
Being part of Indian diaspora, they take up the issue of local and foreign issues to do with content, implication on culture and the very concept of 'nationalism' symbolised by our globalised media.
The print media trends are discussed in the light of growing markets and its implications on the quality issues, including the degradation of the English language due to intense localisation. FM Radio popularity in urban India and its challenges in the emerging complicated media scene are also discussed at length. Similarly, the online media and its contribution in the political turmoil and issues to do with control are also discussed in an interesting study of three websites on Naga nationalism.
An interesting take on regional media in Tamil Nadu is presented by a study of their pro-LTTE coverage. It explains the dynamics of regional media bringing in issue of objectivity, ownership and market demands. This case study also tries to bring to the fore the influence of politics that prompted pan-Tamil agenda setting in newspapers.
The contentious issue of portrayal of women is also discussed in this book through a study of Tamil mega serials. This analysis showcases how Indian serials still base the characters on mythological characters like Sita, Kaikeyi and Suparnaka for patience, conspiring and evil personalities, reinforcing traditional values of 'good' Indian women even in this era of globalisation.
The public participation in news production process is discussed using the recent expansion of citizen journalism. Growing dissatisfaction with mainstream media is its grounds to ponder the purpose and challenges faced by citizen journalism. The concept of community participation in the media is also considered in this discourse.
The book illustrates with the example of Doordarshan on the role and relevance of public broadcasting, especially in the light of mushrooming multifaceted private media. Its significance in setting quality standards and providing choice in diverse Indian viewer is argued. Finally, the book also touches upon the incoherent media policy and the need for cohesive media laws in place. It takes the emerging issues related to blogging and the related rights and laws to address the same.
The book touches a number of critical issues under debate today. The globalisation aspects demanded broader and conclusive observations not available in many of the topics considered for inclusion in the book. For example, there is hardly any mention on the Indian media markets in many chapters on print, television or radio. However, the book is a good reference for students. |