Complementary and Competitive Logics of Mediatization: Political, Commercial, and Professional Logics in Indian Media

Abstract

In this article, we have sought to develop a theoretical framework for understanding the “mediatization” of politics that is of general applicability while seeking to apply that framework to India, thereby extending the reach of the concept geographically beyond the West. Theoretically, we reject the idea that media logic and political logic are involved in a zero-sum game (where less of one necessarily means more of the other) and instead develop a framework that investigates how commercial, political, and professional logics interact in competitive and complementary ways dependent upon prevailing circumstances and configurations. In the classic argument of mediatization, growing commercial logic sees a consequent falling away of political (or electoral) logic. Our argument is that it is not an either/or but rather a both/and scenario where mediatization and politization of television can go hand in hand. These logics interact in a complex fashion; at times they are complementary, at other times they are competitive. In the rapid development of Indian media, media have become commercialized, regionalized, and vernacularized. Political elites still attempt to maintain control in direct and indirect partisan and indeed in networked media systems. New pragmatic entrepreneurs have emerged with decidedly dubious records and with twin goals of maximizing their economic and political power. At the same time, there is a trend toward journalism that works in the public interest rather than those of narrow regional and/or national elites.

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