'Murdochization' of the Indian press: From by-line to bottom-line

Sonwalkar, Prasun

Abstract

The Rupert Murdoch factor in the Western media has been widely debated. However, less attention has been focused on his influence in non-Western locales where he does not have an overt presence. His vision has transformed the press in India - a country with a diverse and rich press - that was at the forefront of its freedom struggle. Fifty-five years after independence, India opened its press for foreign participation in 2002; however, Murdoch has been omnipresent in its press since the late 1980s. Leading Indian newspapers adopted his market-oriented approach, which raised profits but also narrowed the editorial space for social issues. Indian commentators lament the Murdoch-inspired changes - often referred to as 'dumbing down' - but it is also true that the press has since increased its circulation and democratised local cultural and political networks. This article briefly tracks the shifts and suggests that a balance between the marketing and editorial needs to be struck for the press to continue to play a key role in the world's largest democracy.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2002
• Journal: Media, Culture and Society
• Print ISSN: 0163-4437
• Electronic ISSN: 1460-3675
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 821-834
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/016344370202400605
• Keywords: Murdochization, Indian press
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1079727
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/016344370202400605
• Additional Information: Additional Information : The article has been quoted in News Culture, by Stuart Allan, 2004, Open University Press, ISBN: 0335210732. It is also cited in 'Ethics and News Making in the Changing Indian Mediascape', Shakuntala Rao & Navjit Singh Johal, Journal of Mass media Ethics, 21 (4), 286-303. The authors state in their conclusion: "These findings reflect Sonwalkar's (2002) comment that 'The adoption of corporate culture, what might be called the shift from the by-line to the bottom-line, re-worked the rules of the game within the Indian press'" (p.829).