No open-access location is known for this record yet.
No open-access location is known for this record yet.
1. Crime Reporting in English Language Press in IndiaOn December 16, 2012, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student was brutally gang raped and beaten on a moving bus in south by 6 men. She had been returning home from a movie theatre with a male friend after 9 pm when incident occurred. After attack, two were disposed of on side of road, finally receiving assistance from a passerby. While she initially survived rape, young woman succumbed to her injuries in a Singapore hospital on December 29, 2012. Now referred to in press as Delhi Gang Delhi Bus or simply, Delhi this incident of sexual violence has since been met with global outrage, becoming a fixture in media. Given enormous attention granted by leading newspapers such as New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde and others, way in which English language Indian print media has chosen to cover this story and ensuing events is of great interest.Examining three month period after Rape, as well as rape reporting between January 1, 2012 and August 31, 2012, this report is an empirical analysis of four leading Indian English language publications with a combined circulation of 2,946,340: The Hindu, India Today, Indian Express and Tehelka. Divided into 5 sections, this report is not about importance of investigative journalism, nor honoring exceptional journalistic abilities, but instead is focused on Indian daily diet of news reporting and incident driven culture of modem journalism.Crime reporting is often a response to a trigger event, however this type of reporting largely concerns only surface facts of incident, lacking necessary depth and sophistication to understand crime. Indeed, as David Krajicek, an American journalist, notes, the bulk of coverage amounts to drive-by journalism - a ton of anecdote and graphic detail about individual cases ... but not an ounce of leavening context to help frame and explain crime (Khan 89). The same holds true for India's leading English language print media, where incident driven reporting reigns and thoughtful examinations of incidents are reserved for exceptional circumstances, concerning particularly brutal stories, such as Rape.Perhaps more significant than severity of incident, however, is public attention a case attracts. Indeed, in case of reporting, news agenda is highly impacted by amount of public attention, both locally and globally, an incident receives. The globalization of news gave legitimacy to public reaction to bus rape and created public space for local debate and activism. Further still, attention granted by other sources such as newswire, independent journalists, social media, and civil society organizations also brings fresh perspective to bear on gender justice. When an incident receives widespread attention, it often spurs government action (Sen 11). Indeed, after Rape, government introduced significant legislation regarding rape and women's safety three months after incident. To this end, this report works to understand both how press covers stories of rape and also asks whether press provides a corridor to discuss gender justice.2. Media Monitoring of Mass Circulation Dailies and Weeklies and Investigative Reporting of Gender ViolenceWhile mass media is often deemed society's watchdog, it has been demonstrated that quite frequently press does not fulfill this function. The investigative dimension of press has acquired status of a myth, as crusading journalists such as Bob Woodward of Watergate Scandal are few and far between. And though there are still journalists who do excellent reporting today, most work is incident driven and largely concerned with surface facts. Today, thoughtful reporting involving broader examinations of incidents is more likely seen during exceptional circumstances. …
Loading…
Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.