Representation and Exclusion of Dalits in Media

Swadesh Singh1

Indian society displays a distinctive vertical stratification in the form of caste sys-
tem. This caste system puts in place a hierarchical structure which forms the basis
of social interactions and sharing of resources thereby resulting in untouchability,
exclusion and humiliation. The government of India has put in place steps such as
reservation, affirmative action as well as legal provisions to root out caste system
but given the penetration of caste beliefs, much more needs to be done.

Over the last seven decades of independent India, a sizeable number of Dalits have
become part of the “new middle class” due to the positive discrimination policies
of the government. Roy Burman considers “the new middle class (NMC) a section of
people belonging to the Scheduled Castes which avail of the reservation facilities
and belong to families of marginal farmers.”2 However, members of this new mid -
dle class suffer, in one way or other, from their ‘stigmatised identity’ in the caste
system.3

Dalit middle class played a great role in establishing Dalit polity and asserting the
identity of Dalits. Even the term Dalit was popularised by Dalit middle class intel-
lectuals. Dalit community got political representation in Parliament and state leg-
islatures and acquired huge political space. With the emergence of this Dalit mid-
dle class, the number of educated Dalit youth seeking employment in the organ-
ised sectors also increased. The first flow was directed towards government jobs
which offered reservation. However, with the onset of liberalisation this trend
changed. The Indian markets now rose to a vibrant private sector that offered lu-
crative and dynamic jobs and like the rest of India, Dalit youth too were drawn to
the private sector. However, it was soon realised that the private sector too suf-

1 This article is a summary of PhD thesis submitted by the author to the Centre for the Study of Social Exclu-
sion and Inclusion, JNU, New Delhi in August, 2018

2 Cited in Nandu Ram (1988) ‘Resume: The Rise of a New Middle Class’ in The Mobile Scheduled Castes, Rise
of New Middle Class, Delhi: Hindustan Public Corporation, p.118

3 Nandu Ram, (1988) ‘Resume: The Rise of a New Middle Class’ op.cit. p.119
fered from the malaise as the rest of the society and caste prejudices were carried
on into this new sphere as well.

Taking media as a segment of private sector, this study delves into the subject of
representation and exclusion of Dalits. Media was also chosen because placed as
the fourth pillar of democracy and as a watchdog it bears added responsibility of
being representative in itself. As Delhi-centred media has been a subject of several
studies4, this turned attention to regional media. Uttar Pradesh was chosen as the
site of this study as it is the most populous state of the country and has the largest
Dalit population in numbers. The state has also seen country’s first Dalit woman
chief minister three times. Lucknow being the capital of the state, was chosen as
the node for this study with regional centres of Barabanki, Orai, Sitapur, Hardoi
and Faizabad. For clarity, the study has been divided into three segments. First the
researcher used qualitative and qualitative methods to enquire into the question
of representation and exclusion in media. In the second segment a comparative
content analysis of three newspapers was conducted and in the third segment
growth of intent and social is being considered as an alternative media for the
Dalit to counter exclusion.

Case Study of Select Newspapers of Uttar Pradesh

For the purpose of this research, a field survey of news organisations in Lucknow
was conducted wherein attempt was made to understand their social composition
and identify any existing patterns.

To begin with, the field study was started with a quantitative survey under which a
questionnaire was prepared and over 400 journalists were contacted. Out of these
270 journalists filled up the questionnaires with 181 being from Lucknow and 89
from other districts. Most journalists only answered only the first half of the ques-
tionnaire which inquired about their social profile and basic attributes. The second
half of the questionnaire that had questions about discrimination and exclusion

4 Anil Chamaria, Jitendra Kumar and Yogendra Yadav (2006) ‘Survey of the Social Profile of the Key Decision
Makers in the National Media’, Media Study Goup, New Delhi
was left unfilled. More than 30 media organisations, including district bureaus of
print and electronic media from Lucknow and nearby districts were covered in this
survey.

In this first phase of the survey, the researcher also looked at the social profiles of
journalists listed in the diary issued by the Information and Public Relations De-
partment of Government of Uttar Pradesh in year 2015. The researcher also tried
to figure out the social profile of journalists covering prominent political parties
such as BJP, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress.

The first phase of the survey comprising quantitative techniques, revealed a huge
gap as respondents were found reluctant to answer second set of questions with
only eight of them filling up the complete form. Hence, qualitative methods com-
prising Focused Group Discussions (FGDs), structured and unstructured interviews,
were used in the second phase of the study. The findings are as below:

Social composition of media organisations: The Upper Castes, that constitute

around 16% population of UP, were found to have a representation of 54.1% in
news media organisations of Lucknow. Conversely, the OBCs, that constitute 42% of
the population in the state, were found to have only 25.4% representation. Dalits
were limited to 8.1% and religious minorities comprising mainly Muslims shared
12.4% of the reservation. Out of the total Upper Caste representation Brahmins,
Kayastha, Rajputs and Baniyas were found to constitute 65%, 15%, 13% and 7%, re-
spectively.

Gender and education gap: The survey revealed a huge gender gap with 90% men
and only 10% women finding representation in newsrooms. Similarly, it also re-
vealed a disparity in education profiles with maximum number of graduates
(31.4%) being from Upper Castes. Their number, however, was found to be compar-
atively less (7%) when it came to professional degrees like PG Diploma in Journal-
ism.

Finding a job in media: The question ‘How did you find your job’ brought forward
interesting results. The survey found that out of the total number of Upper Caste
respondents, 26% had joined through references while the comparative figure
among Dalits was only 3%, OBCs 13% and minorities 5%. It indicated the stronger
social capital at the disposal of Upper Castes and its role in securing jobs. It also
brought to light the lacunae of opacity in the hiring process of media organisations
which tilts it in the favour of Upper Castes.

Region-wise distribution: A regional analysis of the data revealed the concentra-

tion of Dalits in Lucknow as compared to Tier-III cities like Orai, Hardoi, Sitapur
and Faizabad. In numerical terms, less than one-fifth of total Dalits in media sec-
tor in this survey were found to be working in sub-regional centres. This could be
seen in light of better opportunities and fluidity offered by bigger cities.

Focussed group discussions of journalists were conducted in the second section of

the study. It brought up the distinct points of view on representation gap in news-
rooms. The Upper Caste journalists believed that youths from marginalised sec-
tions did not take the initiative of joining journalism after completing degree cour-
ses and preferred to prepare for government jobs. While some observed that very
few members from marginalised communities joined newsrooms, they also con-
tended that such members lagged due to weak skill sets and poor contacts. Jour-
nalists from Dalit community said that they faced exclusion and discrimination at
multiple levels from hiring, to allotment of assignments and awarding of promo-
tions. Some said that there are not many government media institutes and fees at
private institutes was out of bounds for them. Most Dalit journalists admitted that
they had joined journalism as a last resort after being unable to crack competitive
exams. Very few Dalit journalists said that it was their profession of first choice.

As part of structured and unstructured interviews conducted to plug gaps in the

first part of the study, the researcher spoke to editors of the three newspapers
that were later also used for content analysis.5 These three editors – Ashutosh
Shukla of Dainik Jagran, Sudhir Upadhyay of Hindustan and Manoj Tomar of
Rashtriya Sahara – were of the view that Dalit journalists needed assistance to
sharpen their skills. One editor said he had attempted to train and mentor Dalit
journalists during their traineeship. It was also pointed out that with no institu-
tional provision in place they could not differentiate between employees on the

5Interview with Editors of Dainik Jagran, Rashtriya Sahara and Hindustan between 15 to 20 May, 2015 in Luc -
know
basis of caste. Hence at the time of recruitment also, only writing skills and
knowledge base of the candidates was taken into account.

A cross-section of people associated with media comprising journalists and teach-

ers were interviewed for this research. Some of them were: Santosh Balmiki, a
former newsreader of Doordarshan, comes from a poor Dalit family of Lucknow. He
later joined Hindustan as a reporter and was still with the newspaper at the time
of this interview. He had graduated from IIMC, Delhi and noted that while his
classmates had become well-known journalists and held important decision-making
positions, very few people knew him.6 Shobha Ram, a graduate of the IIMC, worked
with newspapers like Amar Ujala, Dainik Jagran and in 2007 joined NDTV India. He
lost his job as a news editor in 2009 and joined little known TV channels A2Z news
and Jain TV. At the time when the researcher met him, he was looking after the
YouTube channel of an NGO. Shobha Ram pointed out that the discrimination did
not just exist at the level of hiring but also in allocation of work which in turn af-
fected prospects of growth and promotions.7

Sudhir Hilsayan graduated from IIMC, Delhi in 1995. At the time when the re-
searcher met him, he was working as the editor of Samajik Nyay Sandesh, a journal
of Ambedkar Foundation, an autonomous organisation of the Ministry of Social Jus-
tice and Empowerment, GOI. Hilsayan had started from a newspaper owned by
former Prime Minister VP Singh and later joined Forward Press. He also launched
a magazine that focused on OBC. Giving his own experience, Hilsayan explained
that it is very difficult for someone who does not know an insider to join main-
stream media.8 Ashok Das passed out of IIMC in 2006 and worked with newspapers
like Lok Mat (Nagpur) and Amar Ujala (Aligarh), and Deshonati (Akola). At the time
of talking to the researcher, he had left his job and said that he felt discriminated
against when it came to promotion and appraisal. He later, returned to Delhi and
worked with a news website and went on to open his own website dalitmat.com

6 Interview with Santosh Balmiki on 16th May, 2015 in New Delhi

7 Interview with Shobha Ram on 30 May, 2015 in New Delhi

8 Interview with Sudhir Hilsayan on 2 June, 2015 in New Dehli

which took shape of a newsmagazine Dalit Dastak.9 Abhishek Sonkar, who is from
Khatik community - one of the urban Dalit castes around Lucknow and Kanpur,
passed out of IIIMC in 2012. He had been working with the Press Trust of India (PTI)
for almost four years at the time of this interview. He said he did not feel discrim-
ination or marginalisation at his workplace where he said journalists from all
across India worked together. 10

At the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, faculty members categorically stat-

ed that there is no discrimination against students of marginalised communities.
Professor Shivaji Sarkar, was of the view that many students who are unable to find
jobs are from the reserved category. He said that it could be because their lan-
guage skills are weak or they are not able to convince recruiters during the inter-
views.11 Professor Mukul Srivastav who was heading the media department of Luc -
know University at the time of this interview stated that each year many students
were unable to find jobs due to lack of openings. He added that many students
join the media department just to get a Masters degree and keep preparing for
government jobs.12

Dr Sanjay Paswan, Professor of Patna University and former editor of Vanchit Vani,
observed that he had rarely met any Dalit journalists though he had met many
Dalit intellectuals actively involved in writing and speaking about Dalit issues.
Paswan had himself started a magazine named Vanchit Vani in 2001.13 Rajiv Sachan
had been working with Dainik Jagran for almost three decades and was among the
top hierarchy of the organisation. He said that Dainik Jagran had decided at a dis-
trict level and state level in 2012 that Dalit reporters should be recruited to cover
different issues related to them. Sachan said though the representation of Dalits

9 Suhas Munshi, ‘Internet Dalits Aren't Here to Make Friends, They Have a Serious Agenda’ https://
www.news18.com/news/india/internet-dalits-arent-here-to-make-friends-they-have-a-serious-
agenda-1373469.html (Accessed on 5 June, 2015)

10 Interview with Abhishek Sonkar on 25 June, 2017 in New Delhi

11 Interview with Shivaji Sarkar on 5 June, 2017 in New Delhi

12 Interview with Mukul Srivastav on 12 May, 2015 in New Delhi

13 Interview with Dr Sanjay Paswan on 20 June, 2017 in New Delhi

has improved, an attempt must be made to look for news related to other margin-
alized sections as well especially, most backward castes.14

Achyutanand Mishra is a well-known journalist who worked for different Hindi

newspapers from 1963 to 2002. He was one of the founding members of National
Union of Journalists (NUJ). Admitting that there is a domination of upper castes
especially Brahmins in Hindi news media, Achyutanand traced the genesis of the
problem back to the years that followed Independence when newspaper owners,
who hailed from business community, themselves became newspaper editors. He
said that though almost all the newspapers were headed by the owners themselves
but Swatantra Bharat, a leading daily from Lucknow, was led by Shri Ashokji. “He
tried to maintain diversity of the newsroom and gave jobs to many young budding
journalists from backward and Dalit communities,” Mishra said.15 Jagdish Upasane
had served as the Editor of Hindi edition of India Today magazine for more than 25
years and is the Vice-Chancellor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi Patrakarita Vish-
wavidyalya, Bhopal. He too said that it is up to the editor to recruit journalists of
his choice. He himself recruited journalists like Dilip Mandal , Shyam Lal Yadav
and Accchelal Prajapati who were from marginalised communities but had a flair
for writing and good knowledge of current issues. Upasane accepted that diversity
in newsroom enriched the daily news list that indicates stories to be covered.16

Accredited Journalists of Government of Uttar Pradesh: Published in 2015, the of-

ficial dairy released by Public Relations Department of Government of Uttar
Pradesh listed 793 journalists. The caste and identity of more than 200 was not
clear. Out of these 200, the researcher found out the caste of around 100 journal-
ists and had the information of around 690 journalists. It was found that a major
portion of this list comprised Brahmins among Hindus and OBCs and Dalits were
very few in numbers. Inferences from this list and a comparison with the total data
from survey covering both bureaus and newsrooms reveals that though the repre-
sentation of different section is increasing, it is happening only at the lower levels

14 Interview with Rajiv Sachan on 16 June, 2017 in Noida, Uttar Pradesh

15 Interview with Achyutanand Mishra on 15 June, 2017 in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

16 Interview with Jagdish Upasane on 30 March, 2018 in Bhopal

and the top level is still dominated by upper caste journalists especially
Brahmins. 17

Certain observations can be made on the basis of survey, interviews and focused
group discussions:

The newsrooms across media houses continue to function with very little diversity
and representation, especially of Dalits. As media organisations work in private ca-
pacity and in the absence of any mandatory inclusion practices, they cannot be
forced to do the same. This despite the fact that there is a rising consensus among
journalists at an idea level that there should be better representation of Dalits in
the newsroom. While some newsrooms have made a conscious decision to use Dalit
reporters to report on Dalit issues, the overall representation in the newsrooms
continues to be poor. There might be a visible change in the political sphere but
the composition in newsroom is still dominated by upper caste journalists with
backward and Dalits being very few in numbers.

A number of journalists, particularly Dalit journalists, admitted that there was dis-
crimination within the existing newsrooms. The discriminatory practices range
from not being provided equal opportunity to being denied increments and promo-
tions. Respondents admitted that this has a cascading negative effect on their ca-
reer with lesser opportunities leading to lesser achievements and lesser recogni-
tion and advancement. Some respondents also pointed out that the lack of trans-
parency in the newsrooms also led to discriminatory salaries and arbitrary decision
making. It was felt that with the decision making sole prerogative of some senior
editors, a number of people could never make it to the top and were completely
left out.

In tier-2 cities, the presence of Dalits is still low in newsrooms. Though, they have
entered the media industry as cameramen and photographers, they are yet to
make a decisive entry as reporters. In tier-3 cities like Orai, Faizabad, Sitapur and
Hardoi, OBCs and Dalits have joined reporting. However, they work as reporters
and stingers and get paid very little. The social composition of the newsrooms has
been very slow to change.

17 Soochna Dairy 2015, Soochna aur Jan Sampark Vibhag, Uttar Pradesh Sarkar
Finding entry in media organisations is one of the biggest hurdles for members of
different social segments, such as Dalits. Media organisations hire by reference and
vacancies are publicised by word of mouth. All this entails knowing people who are
already employed in media organisations and also perpetuates caste, class or re-
gional exclusion. Though organisations have now started going to media campuses
to hold recruitment drives, the recruitment decisions have so far not helped to
greatly improve representation in newsrooms.

It was also found that Dalits join media organisations late and they don't get pro-
motions on time. It has been seen that work experience and age of the Dalit jour-
nalists might be high but they would be working on subordinate positions as com-
pared to their upper caste counterparts. There are chances that Dalit youth join
the profession late after exhausting his reservation years for government jobs.

Though the number of non-upper caste journalists is increasing, they are on lower
positions. A part of survey shows that the important positions like Bureau Chief,
Chief Reporter, News Editor and Editor were occupied by upper castes especially
Brahmins. Journalists from lower caste communities join media with high hopes
and aspirations to work for tangible changes in their own status and that of their
community. However, discrimination within the organisation leaves them disillu-
sioned. They either leave media or discourage their peers from joining the main-
stream media. They also feel bigger promise and more level working field in alter-
native media where they often try to create a place for themselves.

Newsroom have failed to create space for marginalised communities despite the
fact that members of these communities, particularly Dalits, are more and more
educated and ready to join the mainstream. The mainstream media has also, so
far, failed to create a commercially viable platform exclusively for Dalit audience.
In the absence of this Dalit journalists themselves are now successfully exploring
the alternative media to voice their issues. Even where members of marginalised
communities managed to make it to the newsroom, the organisation made no ef-
fort to provide them any support by way of on-job training, exposure or special
courses. In the absence of any support either from peers in the newsroom or from
the organisation, these employees were reduced to margins and could not rise the
ranks.
Coverage of Dalit Issues in Print Media: A Case Study of Select Hindi Newspapers

An understanding of the composition of newsrooms leads to the big question of how this
composition affects the creation, selection and presentation of news. The second part of this
study ventured into this area of inquiry through a detailed analysis of news reports concer-
ning Dalits during a particular time frame vis-a-vis the overall compilation of the newspaper.

For this content analysis three parameters were used: Social - issues of atrocities; Political -
issues of Dalit politics (electoral and non electoral); Economic - issues concerning economic
empowerment and reservation for Dalits. Three newspapers of different ownership and ideo-
logical leanings were chosen: Hindustan, Dainik Jagran and Rashtriya Sahara. The time per-
iod covering 12 months (1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017) was taken for the content analysis
as it marks two decades since Kenneth Cooper's landmark report in The Washington Post tit-
led ‘India's Majority Lower Castes are Minor Voice in Newspapers’. In the report published
on 5 September 1996, he wrote, “India's 4,000 daily newspapers publish in nearly 100 lan-
guages, but one voice is largely absent in the press of the world's largest democracy: that of
the lower castes, which account for more than 70 per cent of the country's 934 million
people.’’18 The article was followed up a month later by BN Uniyal's write up in Pioneer tit-
led 'In Search Of A Dalit Journalist'.19 Published on 16 November 1996, Uniyal said that in
his 30 years as a journalist, he had not met a fellow journalist who was a Dalit. In 2006, ten
years after Cooper-Uniyal reports, a survey of Hindi and English newspapers and television
channels failed to find any Dalit or Adivasi among 300 senior journalists in Delhi. Hence
2016, becomes a natural landmark for critical inquiry about media and Dalits. The period also
covered the 125th birth anniversary of Dalit icon Dr BR Ambedkar and served as a marker to
observe how this occasion was covered vis-a-vis socio-political and economic issues concer-
ning Dalits. Moreover, the year 2016, also marked 25 years of liberalisation. This period saw
rising of BSP to power and forming a full-majority government in Uttar Pradesh. It also saw
the emergence of Narendra Modi government at the centre and taking several steps for em-

18 Kenneth Cooper, ‘India’s Majority Lower castes are Minor Voice in Newspapers https://
www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/09/05/indias-majority-lower-castes-are-minor-voice-in-news-
papers/4acb79e3-13d6-4084-b1d9-b09c6ed4f963/?utm_term=.6b27f767e27f (Accessed on 10 March, 2018)

19 BN Uniyal, In Search of a Dalit Journalist http://www.anveshi.org.in/broadsheet-on-contemporary-politics/

archives/broadsheet-on-contemporary-politics-vol-2-no-1011/in-search-of-a-dalit-journalist/ (Accessed on
10 March, 2018) First published in The Pioneer, 16 November, 1996.
powerment of Dalits not just by creating opportunity for jobs but also creating entrepreneurial
avenues.20

For a point of reference and comparison, content of Dainik Jagran and Rashtriya Sa-
hara newspapers covering the period from 1 December 1998 to 20 April 1999 has also been
used. This five-month phase stands close to the Cooper-Uniyal writings and provides a turn
of the century perspective.21 Selection of this period, provides a good perspective into how
Dalits issues were covered in final phase of the last century when there was a non-Congress
government at the Centre and the BSP was yet to make an impact in India's electoral politics.

Observations from content analysis of Dainik Jagran and Rashtriya Sahara,

Delhi Edition (1 December 1998 to 20 April 1999)

At the turn of the century, Jagran and Sahara covered Dalit issues but the extent and manner
were poor. The coverage of economic issue of Dalits was very little. Even political issues
were not dwelt with consistently or on issue basis. One of the reasons for this could be that
the discourse was gravitating around secularism leaving little room for other issues. For
example, incidents of attacks on Christian missionaries in Gujarat and Orissa were covered
immensely while repeated attacks on Dalits in Bihar by Ranvir Sena were relegated to the
margins. Strangely, these lower caste Dalits, being victims of upper caste oppression, were
simply identified as ‘people’ in headlines and news reports. On the contrary, in case of killing
of an Upper Caste person, the victim’s caste was identified and the alleged 'revenge' motives
behind the killing was fully elaborated. It showed the unsaid bias of newsrooms against Da-
lits who were not represented among journalists. A comparative analysis of three major Dalit
events during this period – The Bihar massacres, BSP’s role in toppling the Vajpayee go-
vernment and reservation in appointment of judges - would help reach a better understanding.

Bihar Massacres: The Jehanabad and Narayanpura massacres were major incidents of cycli-
cal caste killings. These incidents are often cited now as examples of the bloody history of
caste violence in the country. However, at that time, these incidents did not receive the deser-

20 Govt to create 2.5Lakh dalit entrepreneurs under Stand Up India https://yourstory.com/2016/03/govt-dalit-

entrepreneurs-stand-up-india/ (Accessed on 6 August, 2018)

21 The researcher went through micro films of Delhi edition of Dainik Jagran and Rashtriya Sahara news -
papers available in Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi
ved coverage. Though Dainik Jagran did report the Jehanabad incident, it did not indicate the
caste imbroglio prominently and simply presented it as a case of violence arising out of inter-
nal disputes. It did, however, carry editorials discussing caste violence. The newspaper re-
frained from mentioning that the Jehanabad victims were Dalits and the perpetrators were
allegedly members of upper caste Ranvir Sena. However, as the violence spiralled with re-
venge killings, the newspaper brought the caste identities to the fore when the victims were
upper caste members. The lack of consistency in editorial decisions reflects leverage of per-
sonal bias in the newsroom. Rashtriya Sahara also barely mentioned the Jehanabad incident.
It focused on the political fallout of the BSP supporting Centre’s resolution for President’s
Rule in Bihar in the wake of the killings. The humanitarian aspect of the incident, the lives
lost and the families devastated, is completely missing. The subsequent incidents of the vio-
lence were covered but without any clear reference to the casteist nature of killings.

Role of BSP in Toppling the Vajpayee Government: The biggest news of this period rela-
ted with Dalit politics was the fall of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government at the centre. In
Dainik Jagran the primary peg of this news was loss by one vote and the role of BSP and
Mayawati in the government’s fall. While the newspaper is observed to refrain from covering
BSP’s activities, in this event, it prominently and negatively covered the party’s political stra-
tegy and outcome. The news reports seemed to pin the blame of political instability solely on
BSP, relegating to the margins the other coalition partners who too had withdrawn support.
Rashtriya Sahara also covered this incident prominently focusing on Mayawati and BSP.
However, it does prominently mention the other coalition partners who withdrew support and
caused the government to fall.

Reservation in Appointments of Judges: This is also a crucial issue that was raised during
this period. The issue that was raised the then President KR Narayanan with regard to ap-
pointment of judges was covered by both Dainik Jagran and Rashtriya Sahara. The Dainik
Jagran, however, carried scathing editorials criticising the President for implying that cas-
teism existed in the judiciary. In his Republic Day address to the nation, the president again
raised the issue of Dalit atrocities and exploitation. This provided an apt ground to discuss the
issue of reservation in jobs for Dalits raised by him earlier. However, in the analysis of his
speech the following day Dainik Jagran chose to turn the discussion to unity of India and
ways of worship giving the burning issue of jobs a miss. In comparison, Rashtriya Sahara
covered the news related to this issue with far more consistency. However, it completely
omitted any discussion on the issue of reservation for Dalits on its edit pages. One editorial
did attempt to take on other issues of concern for Dalits (such as sanitation, poverty), but in
the light of the ongoing caste violence and because of its failure to spell out the issue of re-
servation in jobs, it ended up appearing more like an attempt to look away from the bloodlet-
ting in the wake of the caste massacres.

It is important here to understand that media does not work in vacuum and biases tend
to creep in may or may not be consciously. Individuals within media institutions have a per-
sonal understanding of discourses which in turn effects the overall output of a newspaper. It
seems the guiding perception in the newsrooms was to remain focused on secularism, hence,
several news items and editorials on the subject figured prominently. The national political
leadership also spoke on the issue time and again, providing news reports with more fodder
and action. On the other hand, silence prevailed on the issues of social justice and empo-
werment. Mayawati formed government with the support of BJP in 1995 and came to promi-
nence. In Delhi, media reported about her and BSP when they ditched BJP during the floor
test. She became front page news when BJP government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee fell in
April, 1999. Journalists conducted her interviews and wrote about her. It can, therefore, be
said that with the emergence of BSP, media started paying attention to Dalit issues, especially
politics, and then slowly moved towards social and economic issues.

However, at the same time, news of Dalit atrocities were almost absent from the
newspapers. Instances of atrocities were recorded only when they reached 'massacre' scale.
Smaller or individual based incidents never made it to the editorial list and were completely
missing from the pages. Even when such cases were reported, the voices of victims, human
angles, and follow up stories of grief, delayed justice and anger were completely overlooked.
An important observation, however, is that though many news items related to Dalits failed to
appear on the front or inner pages, they found place in the editorial sections. At the same
time, news stories about Dalits rarely had follow ups or issue based in-depth exploration.
Even when stories covered Dalit issues they stopped short of talking about Dalit identities
and clearly delineating problems. The understanding, perhaps was that such an identification
could somehow cause unrest or social discord while the same was not kept in mind when re-
porting upper caste murders.

Case Study of Select Newspapers of Uttar Pradesh (2016-2017)

By analysing two newspapers published from Delhi from 1 December 1998 - 20 April 1999,
it was learnt how issues concerning Dalits were covered in the final year of the last century.
With this as a comparative yardstick, an analysis of the three newspapers published from Lu-
cknow almost two decades later was conducted. The content was studied in three categories
social, political and economic. Here are some of the observation drawn from this exercise.

Quantum of coverage increased as Dalit discourse widened: The sheer volume of cove-
rage of Dalit issues in newspapers had increased manifold in 2016-17, especially when com-
pared to the coverage in 1998-99. From giving space to individual cases of atrocity to dwel-
ling on different aspects of the SC-ST Act, newspapers were no longer treating Dalit issues as
fillers. Editorials exploring Dalit issues from different angles also appeared widely across all
three newspapers. This view was seconded by many journalists, thinkers and politicians.

The quantum jump in coverage, particularly of political issues, can be understood in light of
the fact that Dalit politics widened its own boundaries during this period. BSP, for example,
went from Bahujan to Sarvajan and opened doors to upper castes creating room and role for
them in the Dalit discourse. Dalit issues and icons, that had so far remained the sole domain
of BSP, gradually began to be owned up by other political parties thereby effecting a propor-
tionate increase in depiction in newspapers. It must also be kept in mind, that the upper caste
dominated newsrooms too began to feel a sense of ownership as Dalit issues broke party and
individual boundaries to become a national issue.

Poor inclusion of Dalits in newsrooms affects quality and sensitivity of coverage : While
there was a quantitative jump in coverage of Dalit issues it was not always accompanied by
an equivalent jump in quality and sensitivity. A big change in terms of quality, over the cove-
rage in 1998-99, was that Dalits subjected to atrocities were now being clearly identified by
their caste. The news articles were now showing courage of presenting facts and leaving no
ambiguity about the essential identity of victims. The change, however, did not always extend
up to the caste identification of the accused. Dainik Jagran's Rajiv Sachan said that journalists
had now become more sensitive in covering issues related to Dalits. He shared his own expe-
rience with a journalist covering Saharanpur issue happened in April 2017.

During the content analysis, it was observed that cases of atrocities, particularly of those
against women, often lacked sensitivity. Cases of rape or humiliation were summarised on the
basis of the most debasing aspect of the crime to evoke outrage, for example Woman/man
stripped, paraded naked. This lack of sensitivity clearly stems from the fact that Dalits them-
selves are missing from newsrooms. It can hence be inferred that while there is a new wave
of awareness in newsrooms about Dalit issues, a disconnect still exists due to lack of Dalit
journalists.

Newspapers stepping forward to become champions of Dalit cause: A significant direc-

tional shift was observed with regard to the manner in which news reports on Dalit issues
were positioned, presented and worded. In the content analysis on 2016-17 it was found that
while earlier the newspapers remained passive on Dalit issues, they now showed willingness
to position themselves as crusaders and champions of the cause. There were specific ins-
tances where news stories were written to elicit action from reluctant establishment and
evoke outrage. The newspapers, hence, were no more silent spectators but active campaigners
for social justice.

Warming up to next-gen Dalit politics: After an analysis of the three newspapers and ha-
ving observed the coverage of Dalit issues in them, it can also be inferred that the Dalit poli-
tical discourse seemed primed to enter a new phase. The attempt by political parties, such as
BJP, to go deeper into Dalit politics to raise issues of and provide representation to non-Ya-
dav OBCs and non-Jatav Dalits was a strong indication of this. Moreover, news reports about
economic issues related to Dalits were also indicative of an emerging aspect of Dalit dis-
course. At the same time, Dainik Jagran's Rajiv Sachan cautioned that many castes of MBCs,
which live in abysmal conditions, fail to get any coverage in newspapers as they are few in
numbers and suggested that more coverage should be given to them. The inference that a new
chapter in Dalit politics is around the corner can also be drawn from the fact the Dalit dis-
course had moved beyond the precincts of BSP, Kanshi Ram and Mayawati who had carried
its mantle in the final two decades of the last century. Dalit issues were now being owned up
by everyone and were being approached from all angles.
Need to relook at Dalit life and politics: Where in 1998-99, the coverage of Dalit atrocities
was very little, by 2016-17 such cases were receiving wide coverage. As a result, while one
came across more and more frequent mentions where Dalits had been victim to a crime, one
did not come across any other aspect of Dalit life. This clearly led to stereotyping of Dalits as
victims.

It can, hence, be inferred that while newspapers seem to be doing a good job by giving space
and prominence to issues of social justice related to Dalits, they also need to equally diversify
coverage and paint a wholistic picture of Dalit life. Similarly, in political coverages Dalits
were treated as a monolithic and homogenous identity with little attempts made to understand
the divisions and disparities within the segment. Most political reports on Dalits still revolve
around reservation and Dr BR Ambedkar. To break such stereotyping, newsrooms need to
step up and make an effort to relook at Dalit life and politics and at the same time make
newsrooms more representative. In this manner they will be able to infuse vigour and ideas
and take the discourse forward.

Countering Exclusion: Emergence of Alternative Dalit Media

As a result of persistently poor quantity or quality of coverage by media, as seen above, Dalit
individuals and organisations have tried to create their own counter public sphere and taken
the path of alternative media. 22 The third section of this research tried to understand the idea
of alternative media and how it has helped in building a counter-public sphere in print and
cyber media for Dalits who did not find space in the mainstream media.

The origin of Dalit journalism can be traced back to the period before Independence. In Uttar
Pradesh, the rise of Dalit journalism was parallel to the emergence of mainstream nationalist
journalism. One of the biggest examples of coverage of Dalit issues and representation of Da-
lits in print media is the Achoot issue of Chand magazine in 1928 which was published by
Nand Kishore Tiwari from Allahabad.23 Dalit journalism in Uttar Pradesh was preceded by
the emergence of Dalit intelligentsia in Uttar Pradesh. Describing this, Badri Narayan writes,

22 ‘Meet the Dalits who are using online platforms to tell stories of their community’ https://www.hindustan -
times.com/india-news/meet-the-dalits-who-are-using-online-platforms-to-tell-stories-of-their-community/
story-nkg4lHQ1DL44DbCBiJ7CrN.html (Accessed on 10 March, 2018)

23 Chand, Achoot Ank, 1928 (2009) New Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan

“These publications, magazines and chapbooks helped assert Dalit identity, paving the way
for their political empowerment through the making of Dalit public.”24

In the last 25 years there developed an information society of which Dalits and other margi-
nalised were not able to become a part. We definitely saw multi-edition newspapers and their
reach to deep in the villages but the flow of news and information was influenced largely by
profit motive. The news was selected and curated for people who were able to pay the cost of
the newspaper and buy the products advertised in it. So, even when the newspapers expanded
their reach, there was a section of the society that was either not represented at all or inade-
quately represented. The conscious members of this section of society tried to create alterna-
tive media space and their own public sphere where they established their own magazines
and newspapers. For the purpose of this study, the researcher took into account some news-
papers and magazines devoted to the cause of marginalised community, especially Dalits.
These include Khabar Leharia, Forward Press, Dalit Andolan Patrika and Samajik Nyay
Sandesh.

While a number of such efforts have been made, it is also a fact that most of such ef-
forts fail to find commercial success. These projects face problems of resources, circulation,
supply chain and other marketing constraints. Dalit magazines and newspapers have to also
combat discrimination besides business challenges. However, in this phase of information
and technology, Dalits took to online platforms. When it’s very hard to reach 5000 people
through a magazine, it has become easy to reach out to millions through websites and social
media platforms.

Internet and Alternative Journalism

Advent of internet and social media really strengthened alternative media space. The power
of the medium came to light with exposes that were not covered by the mainstream media at
all but after elicited strong public interest and reaction after their appearance on blogs forcing
journalists of the mainstream to follow up. Assassination of an engineer in Uttar Pradesh was
one of the first major breakthroughs that happened via blogs. After the success of blogs,

24 Badri Narayan (2016) A Beggar’s Song of Democracy in Fractured Tales: Invisibles in Indian
Democracy, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp.52
several websites started appearing. Many individuals and organisations who were working for
a cause created their own websites which made it very easy for their supporters and others to
know about their activities.

In the first decade of the 21st century Mohalla Live, ravivar.com, pravakta.com,
bhadas4medi.com, visfot.com, srijanshilpi.com, kavitakosh.com were some of the websites in
Hindi that became popular among users through their content covering a range of issues.
People started writing articles for these blogs and websites. In the next phase, social media
changed the dynamics of media through its unique features of multi-way communication and
real time reaction. First social media platforms like Orkut and then Facebook and Twitter
played an important role in creating an alternative space for debate and discussion on
different topics. Now, there are many social media platforms which provide scope and space
for everyone to express their views and share images/videos of any event.

Situating Dalits in Cyber world

Unlike the sheet of a newspaper or the screen of a TV, there is ample space for everyone on
Internet and social media to exist simultaneously. In the recent years, Dalit youth and organi-
sations used this space to raise their concern and voice their anger when they were unable to
find space in the mainstream media. In last few years, websites like Roundtable India, Dalit
India, ambedkar.org, nacdor.org, velivada.org, dalitcamera.org and many others which cove-
red news of Dalits in detail were started. These websites are initiatives of many individuals
and organisations. They are either funded themselves or get funds from different sources.
Their content ranges from writings of Dr Ambedkar to articles on Dalits issues by Dalit au-
thors.

Social Media and Presence of Dalits

On social media too, Dalit individuals, organic intellectuals and organisations have made a
good space by putting out their views more vocally and reaching out to each other. For the
purpose of this study some active Dalit voices from the digital world were studied.
Dalit Camera: This is an initiative of B. Ravichandran, a doctoral student of English at the
English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) in Hyderabad, the state capital of united
Andhra Pradesh. The YouTube channel set up in 2012 is run by 23-member team equipped
with four video cameras and boasts of some 50,000 subscribers. Some of its videos have been
viewed more than one million times.

Dalit Diva: Dalit Diva is a Twitter handle with more than 15,000 followers (at the time of
this study) which is run by a US-based Dalit woman who has been writing about Dalit issues
on the quick-read micro-blogging site since a long time. Her bio on Twitter describes her as a
trans-media artist/activist who believes story is the most important medium of social change.
Other than average daily posts, she also writes about Dalit issues.

Abhinav Prakash: Abhinav Prakash 25 is research scholar from Jawaharlal Nehru University
who teaches in a college of Delhi University. He had more than 12,000 followers on Twitter
at the time of this study and had become famous through his posts that revealed the inside
stories and the underbelly of the university. His nuanced approach appeals to a specific au-
dience on social media.

Yashica Dutt: Yashica Dutt26 started as a journalist and after working with the mainstream
media she went to study abroad. She came into spotlight when protests related to suicide of
Dalit student Rohith Vemula rocked Indian universities.27 At that time she wrote a Facebook
post, ‘I am coming out as Dalit’ where she revealed her Dalit identity and started an account
on another social media platform named Tumbler to document cases of discrimination against
Dalits. She now regularly posts about Dalit issues on Facebook and Twitter with a following
of 12,000.28

25 www.twitter.com/abhina_prakash (Accessed on 18 March, 2018)

26 https://twitter.com/YashicaDutt (Accessed on 18 March, 2018)

27 Rohith Vemula was a Dalit research scholar from Hyderabad Central University who committed suicide
due to alleged pressure from university administration.

28 Yashica Dutt, ‘Today, I’m Coming Out As Dalit’

https://www.facebook.com/notes/yashica-dutt/today-im-coming-out-as-dalit/10153860129998756 (Accessed
on 18 March, 2018)
DICCI: Noted Dalit intellectual Chandrabhan Prasad and Dalit businessman Milind Kamble
established the Dalit Chambers of Commerce and Industry on the lines of FICCI. DICCI fa-
vours capitalism and is of the view that entrepreneurship among Dalits should be promoted as
it will bring liberation from discrimination and exclusion and emancipate Dalits from age old
problems.29 The body has an active social media presence and positive stories of Dalits ente-
ring businesses or of successful Dalit entrepreneurs are regularly shared on its Twitter ac-
count and Facebook page.30

Bahujan Samaj Party: The Bhaujan Samja Party’s (BSP) Twitter account is run by its sup-
porters. Though the account is not verified, but the party has never denied that it’s their
handle. As is commonly known, BSP founder Kanshi Ram was not happy with the state of
media in India and he often blamed the media of being biased against Dalits. Even today, the
BSP does not have an official spokesperson. But before the UP assembly election of 2017,
the BSP got active on social media. It signaled a new development in the media strategy of
BSP that was now targeting educated Dalit youth through social media.

Observations
Good coverage and successful stories through alternative media have given a hope to many
people, especially Dalits. Alternative media is helping the marginalised section in many ways
and they are also becoming part of the information society. At the international level there
were always debates on monopoly of media. UNESCO started the debate for the first time
about the misbalanced flow of news in 1977 and McBride Commission was established
which presented its report ‘Many Voices One world’ in 1980. According to the report, “big
agencies have all the control over news flow. Two-three news agencies of the western
countries control the news flow in the world….mass media should be used as an instrument
of social and economic change and upliftment.”31 Western countries were of the view that
government and international organisations should not interfere in deciding the objectives of
mass media. According to one study, in 1983, 50 companies owned 90 per cent media

29 ‘Current govt is proactive towards SC/ST entrepreneurs’ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/in -

dia-business/current-govt-is-proactive-towards-sc/st-entrepreneurs-kamble/articleshow/64125863.cms
(Accessed on 19 March, 2018)

30 https://twitter.com/DICCIorg (Accessed on 19March, 2018)

31 ‘Many Voices, One World’ McBride Commission Report, 1980

organisations of USA. In 2016, 90 per cent media organisations of USA are now owned by
only six companies. 32 Situation is not so good in India too. Only four media organisations
command major chunk of Hindi print media market. In these times, alternative media has
emerged as a strong tool where Internet and social media has given a new life to alternative
public sphere. Here are some of the things that we can derive about the alternative media in
India:

Era of outrage: The growth of alternative media has given birth to an era of outrage by
giving the marginalised, including Dalits, a platform to express their discontent, dissent and
disenchantment. This wave of outrage is, in particular, lead by the ‘Digital Dalits’. Often
Digital Dalit activism also translates into physical protests.

Mirrors proportionate social change: While figures indicate an increase in literacy among
Dalits and the rise of a strong Dalit middle-class, the same is not proportionately reflected in
institutions, including media. The alternative media, however, is aptly representative of this
change as a number of educated and empowered Dalits have turned to this medium to get
heard.

English as a language of power: The language of the colonisers has emerged as the
language of empowerment with the onset of digital media. While the traditional media –
newspapers and TV – used the vernaculars to reach out to locally entrenched audiences,
alternative media changed the game entirely. The digital media platforms made users aware
of the bigger impact and larger audience they could reach through English. It is also
important to note that an increasing number of Dalits take on authorities on digital platforms
by using English language.

Journalism beyond journalists: Alternative media has broken the monopoly of some in
creating news. Instead of chasing reporters to bring their grievances to light members of a
group now take to social media or alternative media and share their problems with their peers

32 Who Owns the Media? Free Press https://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart (Accessed on 20 March,

2018)
who further endorse it creating a digital wave of sorts. This brand of citizen journalism has
ensured that editorial decisions made in a newsroom are not the final word on what goes out
in the public sphere.

Space for all ideologies: Alternative media has opened up infinite space for views of all
shades. People who stand for different ideological viewpoints are able put on table their
views and battle with arguments. Alternative print media initiatives, for example, opened the
doors for Dalits to plan their own publications as per their own ideological stand point and
reach out to a favourable audience. Digital platforms too are awash with views of all shades
on any subject at any given time.

Greater reach and new leaders: The alternative media, particularly digital media, has
expanded horizons of reach like never before. Any content on digital media can be accessed
anywhere in the world anytime and without an expiry date. This has gone a long way in
getting audiences and content together. The digital world has also created a new line of
influencers who command a huge following and have come to be identified as potential
leaders of future on this basis. Many members of the Dalit community have established
themselves as influencers. They effectively guide, navigate and lead debates on Dalit issues
on digital platforms, take on the government and come to the help of their followers.

Conclusion
The constitution of a free and democratic India came with the hope of a stronger, better and
just society and polity. Seventy years later, it is felt that the country’s social and political
structures have undergone vast changes. While we have made rapid strides in all facets of life
from economy to education, health to defence and justice to civic issues, the fruits of it have
not been equitably divided. The deeply rooted caste system is often held up as the reason for
this. This study brings into focus two major facets of contemporary India – media and caste.
Not only was an attempt made to study how these two function but the relationship between
them was also studied and the impact of such a relationship was analysed. It revealed that
despite efforts at various levels to root out caste, it has stayed engrained within the society
and even adapted itself to enter relatively new institutions and sectors such as media.
 The study throws up some points to ponder. First, one must learn from the past expe-
riences and come up with solutions for the present day problems. Complete eradication of
caste system has to be one of our primary goals as a nation and all efforts must be made to
ensure that caste biases do not find continuity in a new India. We also need to recognise that
mere platitudes, words and tokenism do not result in essential changes. Media too, as an in-
dustry, must own up responsibility and ensure that it practices the model of justice and repre-
sentation that it so vehemently preaches.

It is also necessary to recognise the multidimensional nature of discrimination and

exclusion. Such an understanding will help us guard against new forms of discrimination and
recognise it as and when it raises its head. Caste discrimination, for example, in a modern set
up may not manifest itself in its age old format – such as untouchability, atrocity or abuse –
instead, it may surface as subtle bias, disfavour or glass ceiling. As this research brings us to
face with caste discrimination and exclusion practices in white-collar media jobs in urban se-
tups, it compels us to think how the malaise can be rooted out in the future. At this point, a
reality check is both necessary and desirable. First, equality is an ideal concept that can exist
in absolute form only in theory where variables can be controlled and a static social condition
can be imagined. Similarly, complete justice too is a utopian concept which aims at perfec-
ting a just society. However, this does not mean that a society should not aim for equality and
justice. It simply means that we need to arrive at more practical and concrete objectives such
as: progressively reducing and eliminating discrimination and social injustice. It is possible to
make societies more just and less unjust by providing capabilities, opportunities and rights to
people who are subjected to exclusion and injustice.

An interesting aspect of the contemporary Dalit scene thrown up by this study was
that the members of the community are now working for their own empowerment without
waiting for the benefits promised by the government or agencies to provide succour. In the
case of media, for example, Dalits carved out a space for themselves through alternative me-
dia when they realised that the mainstream was not suited to raise their voice. They are also
now using social media to reach out to each other, pool stories and experiences and exercise
power and pressure as a block to prevent discrimination. This has created a parallel means of
information for Dalits, one that works with them in focus without stooping over backwards
for profit or influence. It also breaks the monopoly of a few in deciding which information
goes out to the public and hence setting the tone and agenda of national discourse.

A corollary to this journey to self empowerment has been education and skilling. An
increasing number of Dalits are now entering the jobs market with skills ranging from lan-
guage to science to break connection with age old jobs that defined their caste. With educa-
tion also comes better understanding of rights and the ability to claim them. As pointed out in
one of the chapters of this study, learning English language has also proved to be a great tool
of empowerment by enabling Dalits not only to speak to power in its language but also reach
out to a large audience on digital platforms.

The Dalit discourse in the country has for many years been trapped in stereotypes that
identify the community with dehumanising work, atrocities, victimhood, illiteracy and reser-
vations. Most of these stereotypes have been perpetuated by the media as discussed in the
preceding chapters. The content analysis undertaken earlier revealed that stories of violence
against Dalits continue to far outnumber the news reports related to Dalits in other sphere
such as economics, sports, arts etc. This also indicates a clear lack of positive reinforcing sto-
ries about new Dalit assertion and break out of old molds. It is important to realize that Dalit
paradigms vary with class, region, language and religion. Hence a monolithic and stereotype
ridden approach to it fails to provide viable solutions. To break the cycle of caste discrimina-
tion it is essential to draw the Dalit debate out of stereotypes and address the Dalit lives in
changing contemporary India. This is possible only if more and more Dalits are involved in
the process of creating and curating information. The alternative media, again, has been of
immense help in this regard.

From Ambekar and Phule to Kanshi Ram and Mayawati – the country is now poised
to move into a new generation of Dalit leadership. The new foot soldiers and leaders of Dalit
politics are urbane, tech savvy, educated, firebrand and ambitious. They have come to promi-
nence and power through alternative and digital media and do not hesitate to take on ques-
tions of new, emerging India. With the rise of this leadership it is expected that the Dalit mo-
vement will take a new turn away from previous phase which was restricted to reservations
and social justice. With them at the helm it is also expected that the Dalit discourse will do-
minate the national agenda like never before.

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