Third International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

This paper explores the changing landscape of politico-cultural communication in Indian media. Traditionally, this space had been dominated by the Left and Left-leaning journalists, academics, and policymakers. In the past decade or so, the social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have challenged it and decentralized information. It has also necessitated the traditional cable news to reexamine its framing of various political, sociocultural, and legal issues. This paper explores these topics with reference to the manner in which news outlets covered certain crime stories, and failed to identify or control their own bias, prejudice, and preset notions. It has had multifold impact including loss of legitimacy for the genuine news media, disconnect from the larger audience, and framing the socio-legal discourse in extreme Left and Right ideological frameworks.