POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MEDIA AND PopuLaR CULTURE te CONTENT OUTLINE + THE MASS MEDIA EVOLUTION OF THE PRESS IN INDIA ELECTRONIC MEDIA : ALL-INDIA RADIO. he * ELECTRONIC MEDIA ; THE TELEVISION | | . * POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MASS MEDIA. « MEDIA AND POPULAR CULTURE . FREEDOM OF PRESS Human bein; with one-anothe from the earliest known times have been communicating . To begin with, they used signals—sound and gestures, shrieks and laughter—to communicate their feelings and ideas to others. Language followed and various groups of people put their feelings into different kinds of words. And then the humans began learning to read and write. After many centuries of progress they taught themselves the rudiments of printing, Books, leaflets and finally the newspapers—all these revolutionised man’s life. The electrical system brought instant communication into reality—the telegraph, the telephone, radio and then television. Arpanet, the first internet, started in 1969. The first cellularphone communication network started in Japan in 1979. The Information Pechnolagy, Reyolptian, brought about a deep impact on our life, in “the way we304 Democracy and Governance in Indiq THE MASS MEDIA We can see that, broadly speaking, ‘mass media’ includes the Print Media (newspapers, journals, etc.) and the Electronic Media, ie., radio and television. Media plays an impor- tant role in creating awareness about national and international events, besides providing education and entertainment. Media functions not in a vacuum but in a specific environment, ée., all the geographic and historical circumstances and social, political and economic conditions that influence people’s life. The writings and all visual aids William Caxton set up the first printing serve as symbols of the conditions press in England in 1476. It was one of in which we live. the most valuable inventions. A Printing Press of the Fifteenth Century The Beginning and Growth of the Newspapers Many years ago the British statesman Edmund Burke (1729-1797) glorified the Press by calling it the “Fourth Estate”, the other three Estates being the Nobles, the Clergy and the Commons. According to Edmund Burke, the Press had a deeper impact upon government, politics and society than the other three put together. So even in the 18th century the power which the Media had attained was recognised by the western thinkers and statesmen. During eighteenth century French writers and journalists, such as Voltaire and Robespierre, exposed the ills of administration and caused a feeling of hatred against the King, the nobles and the clergy. Without the help of the Press we an loubtful whether the French Revolution of 1789 would have been possible. pers in eae America, Germany and other European countries was locked up in | iaPolitical Significance ef Media and Poputar Culture 305 Growth of the Indian Préss Upto the Year 1600 Raja RammnOhaHl Roy was the tousider ahha nationalist journals in India. His Samvad Kaumudi, a Bengalt weekly (published in 1821), had a distinct nationalist character. A Persian Weekly Mirat-ULAkhbar was published in 1822. Dadabhel Neotalt edited. Rast, Goftar. (Spealear. of meat miargeilaratt, 1t, was founded at Bombay in 1851, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar started Shome Prakash in Bengali in 1858. But the greatest editor India had seen in that age was Hirendranath Mukherjee. He edited Bengal Recorder. An editorial he wrote after the suppression of the Great Revolt of 1857 would give us an idea of his courage in those troubled times. He wrote to say, “the blood of innocent men rests upon the heads of the judges that condemn them without a fair trial... If the present war be a war of revenge and extermination then let Lord Canning (the then Governor-General) and members of the Council abdicate their function in favour of a committee of butchers.”! In the second half of the nineteenth century many English dailies came into being. Some of these continue to be po; ular 4 newspapers even today, such as “the Hae SRT sie of India’ founded in 1861, the ‘Pioneer in | Wy qa —dmaere mbiee gg mene 967 ae y- 1865 and the ‘Statesman’ in 1875. These Nes OR ere et eee papers, by and large, supported the policies of the government in India. Yet they kept people informed of rapid political developments in the country. The nationalist press also progressed during this period. The Amrit Bazar Patrika started as the Anglo- Bengali weekly in 1867. Later it was converted into an English daily. The ‘Tribune’ was started in Lahore in 1877 and the ‘Hindu’ started in Madras (Chennai) in 1878. Great jwas the influence of tl s in .508 Democracy and Governance in India as Ramananda Chatterjee’s Prabasi in Bengali and Modern ens ati and Madanmohan Malaviya’s Abhyuday- Sachhidananda Sinha started the Hindustan Review in 1899. It was a monthly magazine. Indian Press from 1900 to 1947 Lord Curzon was the Governor-General no other Governor-General caused so muc van he did, ‘The final act of his mischief was the partition of Bengal in 1905. The movement against the partition of Bengal, the rise and growth of terrorist activity, the First World War (1914-18), the Home Rule Movement (1916-1917) and the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movements (1920-22)—they all gave a great stimulus to literary and journalistic activities in India. Newspapers and Journals in English : Madanmohan Malaviya founded the famous newspaper The Leader at Allahabad in 1908. Mohammad Ali started the Comrade in Calcutta in 1911. This weekly suddenly came into prominence ‘when Mohammad Ali and his brother Shaukat ‘Ali became the leading lights in the Khilafat campaign which began in 1920. ‘Among the other important newspapers and journals mention may be made of the Bombay Chronicle of Pherozeshah Mehta (started in 1913) and the Independent launched by Motilal Nehru at Lucknow in 1919. The Young India was started by the Home Rule Party of Bombay. Its first issue was published in November 1915. Under Mahatma Gandhi's editorship this became a world famous journal. The Hindustan Times, an English daily was started in 1922, On G.D. Birla’s taking over its ownership, the paper occupied a leading position in Delhi. S. Sadanand started the Free Press Journal in 1930. The People's War, an English weekly, was launched in 1942. It was the principal organ of the Communist Party of India. The Times of India came under the ownership of F a Dalmia in 1946. 1 of India from 1899 to 1905. Perhaps ‘h of unrest in India by his deeds as Languages : Many papers in Indian e historic years. The Bharat Mitra, become a leading newspaper in 1912. A Marathi daily Loksangraha urnals began to be published in in the wake of the Non- fon Movement and for many following papers also which velugu daily, the Urdu Pratap of the Sikh communityPolitical Significance of Media and Popular Culture oo Bren pry a. aa eo Re THE SMU Vist YOUNG INDIA Feds ory Wedseday ie tare) = Garcon ay gu riniecrisane oe ene hari aun ‘id anything beat Sealaes Mahou Airs open Andras, aed sak Leviog” elie! Lal eet Tinsley, T meat tet aater Siula'a copy of th Slosiast's speek fb mM fed et as acoapted wy sppition and teiion ef the ual Sfston retun‘Tuee inn onde Yeah it thy Muateany wall tebe ey oak) ip ei be pontbiiy ete is thot fil pine oie Fut Goes ma we | opieryekpentenneapeeryt a | MoT oe at ove argc t cond Wire ta ty ws be sarge wisn “hy sate spate ea date— Si pemocracy and Governance in Inga 308 +5,966 dailies, 358 tri/biweeklie, nthlies, 3919 quarterlies, 51g { claimed circulation amon, Registrar, there were as on 31st March 2003 19,631 weeklies, 7,356 fortnightly. 16,109 mo! * larges' annuals and 1,925 of other periodicity.”' The : hha the important Dailies was that of the Hindustan Times. It had a combineg circulation of 11,12160.? The largest circulated among the Hindi dailies was ia has expand In fact, the Print Media panded in Dainik Bhaskar with 17,17,294 copies. il, Urdu, Punjabi and others. There all languages—Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tam are at present four important financial dailies—the ee et the Business Standard, the Financial Express and the Hindu Business “ine. ELECTRONIC MEDIA : ALL-INDIA RADIO ‘The Radio began to make its presence felt early in 1920s. The first radio broadcast was in 1923 by the Radio Club of Bombay. The Indian Broadcasting Company, a private organisation, set up two broadcasting centres, one at Bombay and another in Calcutta in 1927. The government took over the transmitters in 1930. It went by the name of Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS). The name was changed to All-India Radio in 1936, In 1947 it had six stations, covering just 2.5 per cent of country’s geographical area. In 1957 All-India Radio came to be known as Akashvani. ‘All-India Radio was earlier attached to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Under the Prasar Bharati Act of 1990, it was brought under an autonomous corporation. As on March 31, 2004 the Akashvani had 213 Radio Stations which included 114 Regional Stations. ELECTRONIC MEDIA : THE TELEVISION ‘The Television Service of India, Le. Doordarshan is one of the largest networks in India. The first telecast in India began on September 15, 1959, with a transmitter provided by Philips, an electronic multinational company. Its radius was 25 kilometres around Delhi. The second Television Centre was established in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1972. By 1975 we had television centres in (Kolkata), Madras (Chennai), Srinagar, Amritsar and Lucknow also. in 1976. But the real expansion of the Asian Games in 1982. Colour Is. The satellite transmission, sion viewers a remarkable and watching films, sportspolitical Significance of Media and Popular Culture 309 events. serials and discourses concerning all aspects of social, political and economic life. In fact, audio-visual medium has become the most effective way to inform, educate and entertain people. POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MASS MEDIA Thomas Jefferson, American President from 1801 to 1809, dramatised political significance of media by saying that “if he were confronted with the choice of having a government and no newspapers, or newspapers and no government, he would have no hesitation in preferring the newspapers.”! Ideas become effective and powerful only when they reach out to the people. The media has deeper significance than one first realises. Role of the Print Media (the Press) in the Nationalist Movement “The Press”, to quote R.C. Majumdar, “imbued the people with patriotic fervour, indomitable courage, and heroic self-sacrifice to an extraordinary degree.” Through his writings in the Kesari and Mahratta, Tilak spread the gospel of freedom and natural rights. For several years Surendranath Banerjee (1848- 1925) edited the Bengalee. This paper very strongly criticised the Vernacular Press Act (1878) which authorised the Government to confiscate the printing press and to forfeit security deposit in the event of the publication of some undesirable matter. From 1905 to the end of 1920 : Bipin Chandra Pal edited several papers, the most important among them being New India. Lala Lajpat Rai launched three papers—the Punjabi and the Bande Mataram in Urdu and the People in English and through them spread the message of Swaraj. During the Swadeshi Movement Aurobindo Ghose kept alive the national spirit through his fearless writings. The Government was terror-striken and came out with repressive measures, such as the Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act (1907) and the A ne See ns nSlt oe pemocracy. and Governance in Inca editors. The government encouraged the officers to sue ae mies for their comments on their actions. Defamation cases were y Against N.C. Kelkar, the then editor of the Kesari and the editors of the eo of Bihar and Bangabasi and the Forward of Bengal. There was muc! agitation against these measures of repression. ‘Through his writings in the Young India and oth and Navjivan Mahatma Gandhi explained his phil Sarvodaya and his ideas about Khadi, basic education, Swaraj and moral freedom, In an article Gandhi wrote, “spreading disaffection against the British government Raja Rammohan Roy to Tilak, through is the dharma of Indians.” In India from C.Y. Chintamani down to Gandhi and Nehru, there was a distinguished line of publicmen who used newspapers to explain their ideas on freedom, social reforms and principles of justice and equality. Media and Parliament in a Democratic Set-up To MPs as much as to other people the newspapers, the radio broadcasts and the telecasts continuously supply the latest news and views about politics and popular culture. They keep our legislators fully informed about people's needs and aspirations. The media spreads news and information about public grievances, social injustice and people's sufferings. On the other hand, the media also keeps the people informed about parliamentary proceedings and decisions of the government. People have neither the means nor the patience to go through government communiques and official press releases. The newspapers give us the gist of all these statements and documents. That serves the cause of the government as well as interests of the general public. People’s reactions and media comments give the Parliament and State Legislatures an opportunity to amend a law or to make some significant improvement in government policies. During Parliament sessions commentaries reviewing the day’s proceedings ‘in both Houses are broadcast by Akashvant. On December 20, 1989 a live yf th re President to the two Houses of Parliament was x to start televising of the Question lete live telecast of Parliamentary House in August 1994. The ds, “with the televising of part and parcel of the daily er and more meaningful.” er journals, such as Harfjan losophy of Satyagraha and Sabha Secretariat,political Significance of Media and Popular Culture Live Telecast of the National Events and Electi ign and flection Results ind Election Campaign All major national events like Independence Day Celebrations, Republic Day Parade, President's Address to the Nation and President’s Address to both Houses of Parliament assembled together are covered live on Doordarshan National Channel. The President's Address to the Parliament is a “policy statement” of the government. It sets ont the tasks that government wishes to undertake and the subjects on which it proposes to make laws. This enables the people to form their own opinion about government's plans and the way she attempts to put those plans into operation, Public opinion thus formed could play an important role in the electoral process. Election results and their analysis are also covered live on Television channels. They tell us which way the wind is blowing. The political analysts | raise such questions in the broader context of electoral behaviour: Has dependence of the Union Government on regional parties shifted the balance of power in favour of the States? What seemed to be government's order of priorities? Is the Left's support to the UPA Government an obstacle that hinders economic progress? Where will the money to implement government's Common Minimum Programme come from? The Common Minimum Programme has promised employment for a 100 days every year to every rural household at a minimum wage. It also says that steps will be taken to waive farmer's loans. How did the Media deal with Political and Other Major Issues that cropped up from time to time? Soon after Independence there cropped up many problems and issues : What role should be given to the public sector in the economy of the nation? Should India follow socialist policies or go in for free enterprise? What should be e main thrust of India’s foreign policy? What should be the pattern of 5-year ans in India? The Press and the electronte media debated on all these issues. Ir a t k on Indian territories of but quite a good Bee Minister312 Democracy and Governance in Indig (even as distinguished an editor as Kuldip Nayar was sent to prisory, journalists simply gave in. Later L.K, Advani was to famously admonish the Press : when you were asked to bend, you crawled. Of course he was right.”' But there werepolitical Significance of Media ana Popular ¢ Sulture many courageous papers which June 12, 1976 Jayaprakash The Friends of India Society from London and New York, During 1880s the Media naturally. seemed.toibe attracted to these teeuee.t terrorist activities in Punjab, the Operation Blue Star (1984) to liberate the Golden Temple at Amritsar, Smt. Indira Gandhi's assassination by her own security guards, the Shah Bano Case of 1985, the struggle against the Defamation Bill of 1988, the caste wars in Bihar, the agitation against Government's decision to reserve 27 per cent of vacancies in civil posts in favour of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Pak-inspired terrorist activities in Kashmir.! The 1990s were marked by many crucial events, such as the introduction of New Industrial Policy in 1991, the Fodder Scam of Bihar, the fall of the United Front Governments, China's President's first ever visit to India in 1996, the formation of the BJP-led NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s leadership, the Nuclear tests at Pokhran in Rajasthan and the Kargil War. The newspapers and the electronic media had taken sufficient note of all these developments. In recent times the newspapers have given ample information about corruption by people in places of authority, assault on workers and women and “horse-trading” to capture or retain political power. Investigative Journalism has also reached an important stage of development. It is different from routine » Journalistic tasks, because it involves giving publicity to such wrong doings as affect the public interest. The Tehelka exposure showed the then President of a national party taking money from a supposed arms dealer. Hindustan Times’ Report (on illegal foreign exchange transactions) sought to implicate the Punjab Chief son, Raninder Singh. One of the questions that Hindustan was : “in what capacity was Chief Minister's son associated with exposed the misdeeds as they happened. On Narayan started Satya Samachar from Bomba International published Satyavant simultaneousDemocracy andGovernance tr Inctie 314 Coverage of Sports Events, especially Cricket Cricket which should have remained just the flavour of a season has developed into an obsession in India. In May 2008 the biggest front page stories in most newspapers were on matters relating to the appointment of the Coach for the Indian cricket team. The story was followed by the media as closely as any election to State Assembly or even to the Lok Sabha, We have to think careftilly whether this was an Issue Important enough (6 he put on the front pages and to figure so prominently in news coverage on television. Beauty Crowns Change in the attitudes of the people is reflected in stories about the life of models and beauty queens, A near hysteria gripped the country when Yukta Mookhey, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Datta, Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai wore the beauty c ly. the media cannot refuse to pay attention to the attitudes of the people who call shots in India’s social life. owns. Natur: Film Stars and People from the Entertainment World Entertainment shows, films and other performances have become a dominant trait of contemporary culture. In the words of Neil Postman, “entertainment is the supra-ideology of all discourse on television. No matter what is depicted and from what point of view, the overarching assumption (s that it is for amusement and pleasure.” The film Sholay, released on August 15, 1975, was the nation’s first mega- budget and multi-star film. It could not be surpassed for many years for its attraction for the filmgoers. Today all leading newspapers and journals bring out regular film supplements, using glossy paper to add to their grace. Many film stars both from southern and northern India have won Parliamentary elections. Many could become Ministers and the power of Bollywood increased much ‘beyond our dreams. _ faill Ee er political Significance of Media and Popular Culture si the products advertised in the most attractive settings and often accompanied py attractive and well dressed models. People enjoy watching these, in some cases perhaps more than the programmes themselves.”' Some media personalities feel that there is a growing tendency towards rivializing important things and focussing on “populism” called popular culture. serious issues like poverty, population explosion, family planning, slum-clearance programmes, land reforms, ecology and exploitative systems in the rural areas are receiving comparatively less attention. FREEDOM OF PRESS Volumes have been written about the role and Freedom of Press in a democracy. The Constitution of India does not specifically provide for freedom of the Press. This freedom flows from the general freedom of speech and expression guaranteed to all citizens under Article 19 of the Constitution. And, therefore, it js subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by Jaw in the interests of the security of the State, public order, decency, morality and in relation to defamation or incitement to an offence. Dangers to a Free Press ‘There may be many kinds of dangers to a Free Press. 1. Intolerance of the Government : There may be hurdles presented by the Government. It may deny advertisements to the papers oF punish those who are critical of its policies. Government in a democratic society has to be tolerant of criticism. “A democratic government”, says Justice H.R. Khanna, “is so conceived that criticism of the government instead of being a weapon of destruction becomes an instrument of better Government.” 2. The Press and the ndustrial Houses : The leading newspapers are intimately connected with industrial houses. Most of the journalists are not self- x or the doctors. They are the employees, so to say, of owns a pi a mal. Powerfuloe Democracy and Governance in India 3, Editors’ Bias and Prejudices : The editors and columnists may themselves be biased towards certain leaders or a particular party oF particular Siereet! g Groups, such as the trade unions or Farmers Associations. These ee might assume “insidious forms and seek to undermine the prestige and policy f a newspaper.” 4, =i ae Reporting : Unless freedom meant responsibility, it might perish. In its eagerness to cater to the weakness of common man, the Press might present facts that are intended to produce strong feelings of shock. anger or excitement. Sane people are affronted by newspapers’ resort to sapaneiaenirecmneiar and scandal. The gory tales of violence and molestation, a ghastly description of terrorist activities and overplaying a leader's lapses do harm broader interests of society. The freedom of the Press needs to be looked at from the national point of view, not purely from the editor’s viewpoint. An important aim of journalism should be service. Media cherishes its freedom and it will always be welcome to do so. But what is freedom? Nobel Laureate Solzhenitsyn poses a question : “Freedom! For vulgar, casual pens to slide irresponsibility over the surface of any problem...Freedom! To fill people's mail boxes, eyes. ears and brains with commercial rubbish against their will." The newspapers and television programmes should not be allowed to cause a sensation or to poison the young generations with corrupting filth. To sum up, the freedom of the Press shall have to be defended by Society. The citizens have to keep their eyes open. They should be quick to pounce on mischief coming from any quarter. LEARNING OUTCOME ‘The Mass Media : It includes the ‘Print Media’ (newspapers, journals, etc.) and the ‘Electronic Media’, te., radio and television. Evolution ¢ P first newspaper in India started by ai Naoroji edited Rast Goftar was founded in 1861—The and Mahratta Tilak made n Malaviya founded the ozeshah Mehta in 1913— s War launched in 1942 y papers in IndianPolitical Significance of Media ane Popular Culture a7 languages also made their appearance, Bharat Mitra had become a leading newspaper in Hindi, Post-Independence Era : In July 1954 there were 330 daily newspapers and 3,203 periodicles in India. As on 31st March 2003 there were 5,966 dailies. The largest claimed circulation among the important English Dailies was that of the Hindustan Times. The largest circulated among the Hindi dailies was Dainik Bhaskar, Electronic Media : The Radio made its appearance early in 1920s, As on March 31, 2004 the Akashvani had 213 Radio Stations. The first Telecast in India began on September 15, 1959. Doordarshan at present operates 25 channel Roltten’ Stgniflonnoe of Mase Modis : (0 Role of the Press (Print Media) in the Nationalist Movement. From Raja Rammohan Roy to Tilak, through C.Y. Chitamani down to Gandhi and Nehru, there was a distinguished line of public men who used newspapers to explain their ideas on freedom and principles of justice and equality; (i) Media and Parliament in a democratic set-up. During Parliament sessions commentaries reviewing the day's proceedings are broadcast by Akashvani. In 1991 it was decided to start televising of the Question Hour of both the Houses. A transmitter was set up in 1994 to facilitate the complete live telecast of Parliamentary proceedings; (ii) Live telecast of the national events such as Independence Day Celebrations and Republic Day Parade. Election results and their analysis are also covered live on Television; and (iv) Media dealt with political and other issues that cropped up from time to time, such as pattern of Planning in India, China's invasion, birth of Bangladesh in 1971, the . Fodder Scam 0 Bihar and318 Democracy and Governance in India EXERCISES . Discuss the evolution of the Press (Print Media) in India upto the year 1900. Explain the growth of the Indian Press from 1900 till the present day. . Explain the political significance of Mass Media under the following headings : (a) Role of the Print Media in the Nationalist Movement (b) Media's Role to cover Parliamentary Proceedings (Q Media’s Role to cover an Election . How did the Media cover important issues that cropped up after 1947? . What is meant by Popular Culture? Do you agree with the view that there is now a growing emphasis in Media on news and features pertaining to Popular Culture. c |. Write short notes on : (a) Freedom of Press (b) Sensational Reporting by Press ee