DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

SOCIOLOGY

PROJECT
ON

Impact of War-mongering by media on public

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

PROF. (DR.) SANJAY SINGH SATYAM SHIVAM

PROFESSOR Enrollment No. 200101181
(SOCIOLOGY) B.A. LL.B. (Hons.)

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University 1st Semester Section 'B'
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ 2
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ......................................................................................... 3
DECLARATION ..................................................................................................... 3
PREFACE................................................................................................................ 3
IMPACTS OF MEDIA ........................................................................................... 4
SURVEY- ABOUT THE QUESTIONNARE ........................................................ 5
SURVEY- SUMMARY OF RESPONSES ............................................................. 6
SURVEY- OBSERVATION ................................................................................... 8
BIBLOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................... 9
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I have taken efforts in this project. However, it would not have been possible without the kind
support and help of many individuals and organizations. I would like to extend my sincere thanks
to all of them. I am highly indebted to Prof. (Dr.) Sanjay Singh for his guidance and constant
supervision as well as for providing necessary information regarding the project, also for his
support in completing the project.

I extend my gratitude towards the seniors of my course, who constantly helped me find the best
sources for research. Finally, I acknowledge the authorities as well as the care-takers of Dr.
Madhu Limaye Library, who provided me with the means to make this project in the form of
books, computer system, internet access, access to online paid law reports etcetera.

This project will be a result of my efforts combined with all the means and environment that will
be provided to me by Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow and its
authorities and I am thankful to them in advance.

DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the project report of Impact of War-mongering by media on public
submitted by me to Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in
partial fulfilment requirement for the award of the degree of B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) is a record of
bonafide project work carried out by me under the guidance ofProf. (Dr.) Sanjay Singh. I further
declare that the work reported in this project has not been submitted, and will not be submitted
either in part or in full, for the award of any other degree or diploma in this institute or any another
university.
Satyam Shivam

PREFACE
The reason behind selecting this topic is the influence of media on the public. The opinion of
majority of people form their opinions on the basis of input they receive which is perceived as a
fact or a credible source by them which is mostly delivered to them through media. The debates
and discussion shown on media somewhat moulds the opinion and perspective and warmongering
is one of them. Telecasting provocative discussions and content and creating war hysteria while
sitting in a newsroom gives audience but to find is it justified? And to know the intensity of impact
I have chosen this topic i.e. Impact of warmongering by media on Public.
 IMPACTS OF MEDIA
Human beings express their nature by creating and recreating an organization which guides and
controls their behaviour in many ways. This organization liberates and limits the activities of men,
sets up standards for them to follow and maintain. Whatever the imperfections and tyrannies it has
exhibited in human history, it is necessary condition of fulfillment of life. This organization which
is responsible for fulfillment of life of every individual is called society. Man in every society has
suffered from one or the other problems. Men in modern societies are also experiencing various
problems and his behavior gets affected by many things, media is one of them.: Media is the plural
of the word medium. Media are the vehicles or channels which are used to convey information,
entertainment, news, education, or promotional messages are disseminated. Media includes every
broadcasting and narrowcasting medium such as television, radio, newspapers, billboards, mails,
telephone, fax, internet etc (the main means of mass communication). The mass media occupy a
high proportion of our leisure time: people spend, on average, 25 hours per week watching
television, and they also find time for radio, cinema, magazines and newspapers. For children,
watching television takes up a similar amount of time to that spent at school or with family and
friends. While school, home and friends are all acknowledged as major socializing influences on
children, a huge debate surrounds the possible effects of the mass media and findings both in
favors and against effects are controversial. The question of effects is typically raised with an
urgency deriving from a public rather than an academic agenda and with a simplicity which is
inappropriate to the complexity of the issue (we do not ask of other social influences, what is the
effect of parents on children or do schools have an effect which generalizes to the home or do
friends have positive or negative effects). The possibility of media effects is often seen to challenge
individual respect and autonomy, as if a proeffects view presumes the public to be a gullible mass,
cultural dopes, vulnerable to an ideological hypodermic needle, and as if television was being
proposed as the sole cause of a range of social behaviors. Such a stereotyped view of research
tends to pose an equally stereotyped alternative view of creative and informed viewers making
rational choices about what to see. Overview articles often describe a history of progress over the
past seventy years of research which alternates between these two extremes -- first we believed in
powerful effects, then came the argument for null effects, then the return to strong effects etc. -- a
history whose contradictions become apparent when old research is re-read with new eyes.
Contemporary media studies sometimes define itself through its rejection of the language of effects
research -- criticizing the laboratory experiment, the logic of causal inference, and psychological
reductionism.
 SURVEY- ABOUT THE
QUESTIONNARE
To understand and analyze the impact of media and its warmongering on the public, I made a
survey which included 6 questions about the news watching pattern, the consistency of people
following media as their primary source of information. The survey also focuses on the reaction of
people during a given situation, the preferred way to settle a dispute and do the viewers are
satisfied with the credibility of whatever news they do follow. The age group analyzed is 18-60 as
media is a source of information for teens, adults and senior citizens. The questions asked were as
follows:

1) How much do you watch or follow news ?

2) Do you trust the credibility of news sources shown by the media houses ?

3) Do you think India should go to a full fledged war with China or Pakistan?

4) According to you what is the best way to settle a dispute ?

5) Will you join the armed forces if got a chance ?

6) Will you send your son/daughter or loved ones on the frontline in case war breaks between
India and Pak/China ?
 SURVEY- SUMMARY OF
RESPONSES

1) How much do you watch or follow news ?

 Daily – 55%

 3-4 days in a week - 25%

 Weekends -0%

 Rarely- 20%

2) Do you trust the credibility of news sources shown by the media houses ?

 Yes – 55%
 No -25%

 Not entirely but yes -20%

3) Do you think India should go to a full fledged war with China or Pakistan?

 Yes-45%

 No-35%

 Maybe-20%

4) According to you what is the best way to settle a dispute ?

 Dialogue and Diplomacy -45%

 Aggression and Violence- 55%

5) Will you join the armed forces if got a chance ?

 Yes- 40%

 Always wanted to join-25%

 No-35%

6) Will you send your son/daughter or loved ones on the frontline in case war breaks
between India and Pak/China ?

 Yes- 35%

 No – 40%

 Maybe -25%
 SURVEY- OBSERVATION
The survey presents a clear picture of how the media impacts the people and their warmongering
narrative set in studios is influencing people to such an extent that majority of the people want the
nation to go on a full fledged war with the neighboring countries and majority of them see war as
the only solution.

After studying all the responses, the following conclusion can be drawn from the survey-

 The survey constitutes of people who are interested in News and varying from age 18-60.

 Almost 80% people participating in the survey were regularly following media as a primary
source of information that implies that media is playing an important role in shaping the
opinion and reaching to a conclusion, its impact is more on those who are regularly in touch
with it rather than people who prefer diff source to gain information.

 Apart from majority following the media as a primary source, the majority chunk, 55% of
respondents do believe on the credibility of what is shown on news media sources and they
also might be forming their opinions by thinking that whatever being shown to them is
factually correct and here the real impact can be seen that whatever is shown is being
considered correct by the people.

 When respondents were asked about India going to a full fledged war with China &
Pakistan, the majority was in favour of war and the response on what kind of method to
settle a dispute is preferred by majority is also as expected, 55% sees aggression as the
solution and this also implies that people are more inclined towards what is being peddled
by the media houses.

 The majority of the respondents were ready to join the armed forces if given a chance and
for some it was their goal to be in the forces, the reason could be the jingoist mentality or
the nationalist sentiments pumped by the media to their audiences and not only people were
willing to join the armed forces but they were also willing to send their loved ones and
family members to the frontline but also a significant portion of 40% wasn’t willing to
stand on the frontline in case war breaks, this shows that they endorse the war narrative by
the media but they won’t put themselves at stake if the situation arises, that’s their impulse
which makes them endorse a war but they don’t want direct involvement of themselves and
media plays an important role in forming these opinions.
 BIBLOGRAPHY

 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1750635207087627

 https://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2019/what-do-people-think-about-the-news-media/

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792691/

 https://smallbusiness.chron.com/mass-media-influence-people-3347.html

 https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200512-how-the-news-changes-the-way-we-think-and-
behave

 https://dailytimes.com.pk/362543/news-media-as-warmongering-machines/

 https://www.dw.com/en/indian-tv-channels-have-become-graphic-war-rooms/a-47742779