Political Economy of Media in India

The media at present is growing at a massive phase and is considered as one of the important role in having better governance and also helps in bringing the issues related to government into the public domain. The democracy which lays emphasis on aspects like equality and freedom is being supported and followed by majority of the countries across the world. At present there are various issues and debates related to democratic governance and human development. Reforms are required in order to improve the responsiveness, transparency, effectiveness and accountability of governance institutions and this would help in the development of not only the rich but also the poor. There is currently the increasing emphasis on coming up with structures or models of good governance and how they could be applied in different setting in order to attain the desired goals. Media is considered one of the important tools that would help in creating an impact on the quality of governance especially if the media is free, plural and not bound by the government control. Several Asian countries like China, India, Hong Kong and Singapore play an important role in creating impact not only within Asia but also have implications on global journalism and democracy. Media helps in sustaining democracy and also helps in bringing into light the failures of government in the public domain and helps in better governance.

There is currently the increasing emphasis on coming up with structures or models of good governance and how they could be applied in different setting in order to attain the desired goals.

India being the largest democracy in the world has got the freedom of expression as its fundamental right in the constitution and the mass media having great influence has evolved through time. India had been having a rich history and diversity and is being ruled by various empires and colonial rulers. The current foundations of media in the country had been laid during the British rule. The tools and practices of the colonial period transformed the pre-existing forms that were most oral and that included theatre, music, dance, art, literature and poetry. The media played an indispensable role in the struggle especially the print media played an important role in the fighting the British and attaining freedom. The legacy of the colonial period in forms of laws and regulations, systems of governance, types of media ownership and control continued in India after the independence of India. The congress hegemony that existed for next few decades in the country that was dominated by elites preserved the system and continued the system acquired from the British.

The media after the independence was considered to play an important role in national building and also in creating public awareness during that period. National integration was the primary focus as the country was diverse under varied lines of caste, religion and culture. While the press and the cinema were in the hands of the private sector, the print media through state controlled corporation, high levels of taxes on imported printing machinery and the wage tribunal that mandated salaries for media personnel faced constraints from the state. The All India Radio and the Doordarshan were the two monopolistic public run broadcasting systems that were existent but were also used as instruments of the state.

During the period of emergency, the media was brought under the government control by the regime of Indira Gandhi. Initially the scope of media was limited in the country as not many existed and also neither monopoly was very encouraged nor received much public support since it lacked insufficient quality and quantity of information. The economic liberation of the 1990s gave rise to reduced control of private sector activity and encouraged openness for foreign direct investments which led to the rapid expansion of the media sector in India.

Media has a strong influence in the country and there is also the debated related to corruption and biases within the media sector that are presently starting to emerge and has led to the realization of having a strong control mechanism for the media sector in the country.

With the increasing number of media networks in India, there are also issues and concerns that need to be tackled along with just vast expansion of the sector. One of the recent much debated topic has been regarding the restrictions of the media and censorship by the government, especially towards the increasing spread of internet and mobiles which have been playing major role in activism across the country. These media have has also led to spread of rumors and government at times is required to have a check on it. Recently messaging was restricted across the country on issue of exodus of North East peoples from Indian cities that were louder especially in Bangalore; it was believed that messaging led to greater spread of the tension, sensitivity and fear among the people. The other issue has been the increasing hatred that is shown by the state towards the journalists and media personnel. The recent sedition charge against cartoonist Aseem Trivedi for his anti-corruption cartoons and there was ban on his website too. There are similar such cases across the country that have questioned the fundamental right to freedom of expression and also whether the government must be involved in the censorship and the control of media in India.