Public Sphere: Distant Dream
If you hear the term "public sphere" today, that's what it means: a space for people to interact with each other freely, far away from the monitoring eyes of government institutions. This sphere is open to all, irrespective of social class and background. At least that's the utopian understanding of it. The Internet, however, does not provide all people with an open space, with limited access and limited education/ability to use technologies being the main two reasons.
As you read in the second section of this module, “India: News Press”—the country is very diverse and one could argue that there are two Indias, the one of the rich and the one of the poor. Only about 30 percent of the people have Internet access, usually in large metro areas, where these independent news websites are based. Thus, the majority of the Indians who do not have access to the Internet continue to rely on the state-run radio station All India Radio and the television news channel Doordarshan, as well as established mainstream media for their information. They do not reap the benefits of stories and investigative news coverage reported by the independent news websites discussed in this module.
Additionally, these start-ups are primarily written in English, and even though they have started publishing their stories in Hindi—the language spoken by the majority of Indians, especially in the North—these websites assume technological access and knowledge on the part of the users, such as access to good Internet speeds and computers, and the ability to use a computer and the knowledge required to use it, such as surfing the Internet, typing, and even being able to read or write, in a country where illiteracy rates are high.
This could arguably be the reason why India suffers from the spread of fake news via WhatsApp, with violent consequences. This article in The Guardian newspaper reveals that nationalism and cheap data prices are the reason why people tend to forward messages on the service.
Thus, while the independent news sites provide an important service to audiences, that audience is small, urban, educated, and economically well-off. The ones that may need to hear alternate voices more than this select audience still rely on government channels to receive their information.
The case of the Indian press shows that technological advancement does not automatically translate into freedom of expression for all, nor does it guarantee equal opportunity for information learning for all. Technology can be just as divisive as social and economic factors.
The public sphere, or the promise of everyone being able to speak their mind freely on the Internet as well as use the platform to learn from voices that run counter to institutional and mainstream opinion, therefore, is limited to the few comparatively privileged ones. Attempts of independent news sites to change the status quo of the mainstream news media and general society are commendable and successful, yet very limited.
This translates into a larger role for the local- and regional-language press, and an urgent need for them to step up and fill the information void. It also means the independent news sites on Web platforms need to expand their scope to cellular phone platforms. Indian Press 2.0 must reach its audiences on channels other than the traditional print, news, and radio, and inform them of accurate, verified information. The Press should be as fluent as their audiences on cell phone channels such as WhatsApp and other mobile chat platforms to serve and communicate with consumers.
While knowledge is power, the new players in India’s Fourth Estate need to ensure that knowledge is accurate and the power it provides to the people is used for the country’s benefit, rather than as a way to further divide the nation.
Author Biography
Monica Chadha is an assistant professor at the Cronkite School, where she teaches multimedia journalism to advanced-level students and conducts innovative research on digital media and entrepreneurial journalism.Chadha spent more than a decade reporting from India for the BBC and The Indian Express, one of the country’s largest English -language newspapers. In 10-plus years of reporting, she produced multimedia stories for online, radio, print and television.
At the BBC, Chadha served as a news correspondent and a research consultant in India. There, she wrote and produced news stories on a variety of subjects, including the Indian economy, politics and entertainment. She also worked with journalists across South Asia, assigning and editing news stories. At The Indian Express, she wrote feature stories on business, education, food and health for the daily newspaper in Mumbai.
Chadha completed her doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin with a research focus in entrepreneurial journalism, newsroom convergence and new technologies and media effects. She holds two master’s degrees, one in political science and sociology from the University of Mumbai, another in American studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University at New Delhi.
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