Indian Press: Struggles with Trust
This story is an example of how 'what is news' is slowly but steadily being defined by these independent digital start-ups.
Studies have shown that several Indian business houses either bought or invested heavily in news media companies, leading to an emphasis on profits rather than the quality of information provided, as well as concentration of media ownership (K. Chadha, 2017). Only a few companies either own or have a sizable stake in most print, television, and digital media organizations, thus controlling the medium as well as the message (Thakurta, 2012; Saeed, 2015). The messages—or narratives—in the form of news stories portrayed by news channels thus are influenced by the business priorities of the media organizations. It is not uncommon for news channels to publish “paid content,” best described as biased or unverified content, often presented as a news story and paid for by an individual or group (K. Chadha, 2017; Sharma, 2013).
Indian reporters mention feeling pressured to report on stories related to big cities and celebrities rather than those related to social issues and concerns in the rural areas of the country because the former attract more readers (Rao, 2008). They also feel their role of watchdog is compromised due to the organization’s emphasis on profits (Rao & Johal, 2006).
As Cottle and Rai (2008) in their paper about television news in India point out, “In democratic societies, where politics, difference and disagreement are increasingly conducted in and through the media sphere, it follows that how this is conducted, communicatively, is consequential for democracy itself” (93). If this conduct is mediated by commercial interests of the media companies, then the audiences viewing these messages may not get the complete picture related to any important issue or topic.