Awakening the dragon’s and elephant’s media: Comparative analysis of India’s and China’s journalism ethics

Abstract

As the unipolar military world order has shifted to a multipolar economic world order, China and India have emerged as major actors in global geopolitics. While there is substantial scholarship available in areas of political science and finance about the relationship between China and India, little research has been conducted comparing the two countries’ journalism and media content and practices. This study provides a comparative analysis of how globalization, commercialization, and massive expansion of quasi-governmental media (in China) and privately owned media (in India) have impacted ethics of journalism practices. Interviews with Chinese and Indian journalists reveal that the two most important ethical issues for journalists in the two countries are corruption in media signified by practices of red envelope journalism in China and paid news in India and media’s declining credibility.