Abstract
Media industry in India has witnessed hegemony of dominant castes since its very inception. Such hegemony has had a huge impact on our everyday lives and how we come to experience the world. This paper attempts to analyze how caste operates in the media sector, from its composition to content and argues that Indian media has played a catalytic role in inflicting epistemic violence over the oppressed castes as it helps dominant discourses to prevail and shapes popular perceptions and culture. After going over journalism, the paper examines cinema and television as both- a tool of maintaining the status quo and also as a medium of resistance and assertion. An analysis of the feminist discourse in media reveals a linear and somewhat exclusionary approach that bars the agency of Dalit women from media representation. At the end, it explores the power of the Internet with respect to the emerging Ambedkarite voices that are strengthening a liberatory framework while reclaiming their worldview.
Highlights
Referred to as the ‘fourth pillar of democracy,’ media no doubt plays an invaluable role in the investigation of truth and giving a mirror to a society, to a country
To give the news uncolored by any motive, to present a certain view of public policy which it believes to be for the good of the community, to correct and chastise without fear all those, no matter how high, who have chosen a wrong or a barren path, is not regarded by journalism in India its first or foremost duty
As human beings remain a part of the society that they see and engage with, their location in the structures that exist in the society plays a significant role in how they perceive reality and more importantly, how they arrive at knowledge
Summary
Referred to as the ‘fourth pillar of democracy,’ media no doubt plays an invaluable role in the investigation of truth and giving a mirror to a society, to a country. The condition of the popular media in his time was a matter of concern to him and he did not shy away from expressing his criticism towards the degrading role of the media In his famous address delivered in 1943, on the 101st birth anniversary of Mahadev Govind Ranade, Dr Ambedkar (2014a) put forth a hard-hitting critique of Indian journalism in the following words: Journalism in India was once a profession. ●● Only 10 of the 972 articles featuring on the cover pages of the 12 studied magazines were about issues related to caste Another survey report brought to fore stark challenges faced by the journalists belonging to SC, ST and OBC communities in the English language media (Harad, 2020). The stories of the oppressed are told by the oppressors- reproducing the very social structures they often claim to fight!
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