Political economy of journalism in India: A hand in glove arrangement?

Abstract

India is among the world’s largest and growing media markets with several new media houses coming up just in the past few years. How should we view this recent trend in the media and journalism space in the backdrop of political economy marks the boundary of this research paper. As we have cited in the report, investigative journalism is increasingly fading away at the expense of commercialization of media. Not surprisingly, India ranks among the lowest on the World Press Freedom Index and Global Impunity Index. A key reason that has contributed to this significant decline in journalism (that we have cited in the report) is the ownership structure of media houses, which is concentrated in the hands of few corporates and politicians. Political parties are pushing in more and more advertising money, thus creating soft pressures on transparent and independent media coverage. Given the gravity of the situation, this article discusses the urgent need to regulate political control on media; how technology and data can be leveraged to enhance privacy, authenticity and transparency; and provides some suggestions on the alternate business models that lends credence to the existing state of journalism.