Understanding Indian Newsroom: A Review of Select Ethnographic Texts

Somnath Batabyal, Making News in India: Star News and Star Ananda. London, New York and New Delhi: Routledge, 2012, xii + 237 pp., ₹695(Hardback), ISBN: 978-0-415-50163-7.

Ursula Rao, News as Culture: Journalistic Practices and the Remaking of Indian Leadership Traditions. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2010, 215 pp., ₹2000 (Paperback), ISBN: 978-811-7596-786-1

Per Stahlberg, Writing Society Through Media: Ethnography of a Hindi Daily. New Delhi and Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2013, x + 247 pp., ₹750 (Paperback), ISBN: 978-81-316-0472-4.

Research on Indian media has been largely restricted to the nature of content and consumption of media texts (Mankekar 1999; Mehta 2008; Rajagopal 2003; Sonwalkar 2001; Thussu 2007). The production of media texts has been rarely studied. The three selected texts are a timely addition to the scantly researched area of newsroom ethnography in the Indian context. They make a substantial case for the need of an ethnographic study into newsrooms in a non-Western context. The authors argue that the ethnographic studies of the 1970s and 1980s (Gans 1979; Schlesinger 1978; Tuchman 1978) are proving ineffectual to grasp the complexities of the fast-changing news ecology of the current time. These earlier studies were conducted in Western countries and replicating the same model to understand non-Western media is futile.

Somnath Batabyal’s Making News in India argues for the need of a second wave of news ethnographies (Cottle 2000) to map and explore the widely changing Indian news ecology. Focusing on two Indian television channels, Star News and Star Ananda, it probes into the complexities of newsroom practices and how such practices impact the kind of content that is generated. Comprising of six chapters, excluding an introduction and conclusion, the study engages with key themes like the interplay of corporate–editorial decision in news making, the production of ratings-driven news content, targeting the constituency of affluent news consumers, and the adoption of an ethnographic approach to understand these vital themes and help in the construction of a more grounded media theory. Chapter one is an extension of this ethnographic reasoning and gives a deep insight into how the study was planned and executed, how the author dealt the insider–outsider (the author was a former employee of Star News) conundrum and how his journalistic and academic spirit shaped the study. Chapter two traces the history of television in India. Taking cue from the work of Amos Thomas (2005), it divides the Indian television history into three broad phases. In the first stage, from 1960 until the 1980s, television was used both as an instrument of national building and as a tool for state propaganda. In the second stage, through the 1980s, commercialisation started creeping in, but the state retained the control of the airwaves. The third stage of the 1990s is characterised with the opening of the economy and the mushrooming of the private satellite television, especially news channels. Chapter three enters the domain of the newsrooms and explores how the various corporate divisions of the news organisations like sales, marketing, research and human resources work in tandem with the editorial team to create news content. By analysing newsroom conversations and interviews, the author shows how corporate divisions influence editorial content. The constant pressure to generate news that sells, for raking revenue as well as for garnering ratings, often comes at the cost of overriding editorial independence. Instead, direct editorial inputs are now part of corporate responsibilities. Chapter four takes up two issues: first, the issue of television ratings and second, the issue of ‘imagined’ audience. Ratings are considered as the lifeline of news channels and there is always a mad scramble to top the ranking table. Higher ratings guarantee higher advertising revenues. The advertisers also benefit as they get the television space for advertising their products. Therefore, it is a mutual win-win situation for both the parties. Now, coming to the second aspect, the audience for news channels is always imagined. The construction of audience’s ‘preference’ primarily draws from the likes and dislikes of journalists themselves. The journalists often position themselves as audience and create content. So the issue of ‘missing audience’ as cited in other studies, holds lose ground in Indian television newsrooms. The study suggests that newsrooms are obsessed with understanding their viewers. Chapter five again enters into the newsroom of the two channels and looks closely at their editorial practices. Rich in ethnographic detailing, it paints a detailed picture of how everyday news content is sourced, constructed and presented. It also brings in the question of critical journalism into account. The study suggests that it is naive to think that journalists blindly follow their ideological positioning of their news networks. Rather, contestation between the organisational and individual opinion is an integral aspect of news programming. Chapter six is an analysis of the content that makes into television screens. This chapter draws arguments from the previous three chapters and shows how corporate policy, editorial practices and the preferences of imagined audience, shape news content. The circulated news is often targeted for an affluent class of viewers who are used as consumers of news as well as for the advertisements that are screened. The content is rich in cricket, crime, cinema and economic optimism. News is sold as entertainment. Social issues like poverty, hunger, unemployment, famine are neatly shoved under the carpet. As the author states, ratings decide the news content, public relevance be damned (Batabyal 2012: 156). The conclusion sums up the key findings of the study. The articulation of nation through television is hegemonic. It fails to capture the plurality and diversity of the Indian nation. Reporting for and about just one section of the population leads to severe neglect of issues and concerns that impact the below poverty line population of the country. Moreover, the increasing corporatisation of news is impacting the content that is being produced. The effort in producing infotainment (Thussu 2007) is resulting in a digression from the ideals of what journalism stands for. Thus, it can be said that this ethnography, with its minute detailing, helps in unravelling many issues that are plaguing Indian journalism. The author makes the best possible use of his insider and outsider position to bring into light the issues that pave way for further research inquiry.

By venturing outside the newsroom, Ursula Rao’s News as Culture attempts to weave the narrative of newsroom practices with the wider social, political and economic forces that directly impact news production and consumption. Her study constructs news not as a text but as a cultural product that creates social relations and shapes identity negotiations. The sample of the study includes newspapers like The Times of India and Hindustan Times in the English category and Dainik Jagran and Hindustan in the Hindi category. While the above-mentioned newspapers are studied in detail, references to other newspapers like Amar Ujala, Rashtriya Sahara, The Pioneer and The Asian Age are also made. Set in the capital city of Lucknow, the study uses an ethnographic mode of enquiry to delve into how Hindi- and English-language press engage with actors like local citizens, politicians and advertisers who play a crucial part in the business of news making. After highlighting the theme of the book in the introductory chapter, the author gives more specific description of internal structures and the work culture of the offices of the Hindi and English newspapers respectively. Hindi newspapers have elaborate hierarchical organised office space which imprints the social status of the news workers. This ordering also feeds into the hierarchical work culture. English newspapers have flat hierarchy and there is substantial independence in the work culture. Staff members of the Hindi medium newspapers are themselves aware of this and justify the need for more tight supervision with regard to the poor quality of Hindi education. The diametrically opposite work culture in the Hindi and English newspapers also relates to the process of regionalisation and commercialisation of the press. While Hindi newspapers push for regionalisation, English newspapers are driven by commercialisation. The issue of regionalisation is taken up in chapter three, which shows how regionalisation of news has led to the representation of multiple voices. People lobby through the Hindi newspapers to gain status as leaders, to manipulate relations or to improve their living conditions. The power of the press is used by the citizens for social mobility. In chapter four, Rao picks up the most sought after domain of reporting, namely the political reporting to showcase how news making is not just about selecting and circulating the important and relevant information but also about establishing, nurturing and repairing relations. Political reporting is based on political patronage, which creates a win-win situation for both political leaders and journalists. While political leaders use the media for promoting their ideas and beliefs, the journalists use their power as agents of the fourth estate to build proximity with such leaders and get singled out for personal advantage. Such patronage culture subverts the idea of press and politics as separate entities. Chapter five of the study deals with the issue of commercialisation of the press. The entry of privately-funded press has brought about a significant reorientation in themes and styles of news making. Infotainment (Thussu 2007) model of news is gaining prominence. Political themes compete for space with entertainment, sports and lifestyle news items. While, on the one hand, such efforts are seen as debasing the public service role of the press, on the other hand, it is opined that the financial self-reliance helps in adopting a critical stance towards the government’s policies and programmes, thus making it accountable. By bringing the social, political and economic logic of news making to one platform, the study succeeds in portraying news as a social practice that has repercussions for all actors involved in its production and consumption.

Per Stahlberg’s Writing Society Through Media is an ethnographic inquiry into the process of production of news. It looks at how the organisational structure, work culture of journalists, their social background and their professional motivations impinge on the construction of news. Like the previous study, this study is also located in the capital city Lucknow and takes up the regional daily Dainik Jagran as its subject of investigation. The study comprises seven chapters. The introductory chapter sets the tone of the study. It argues that there has been a significant political and cultural transformation in Indian media. Besides technological innovation, the coverage of issues at the local and regional level have centre staged a range of voices that previously eluded the Indian public space. Media representations have become a part of a base from which people interpret the world and act (Stahlberg 2013: 23). This makes it more compelling to study media, especially vernacular press. Chapter two relates the Lucknow newspaper to the large context of Indian journalism. The first part describes the structure of the newspaper business and the state of journalism in contemporary India. The author notes that there has been a structural transformation in the focus of journalism: from an exclusive national politics to coverage of localised events. The second part of the chapter deals with the evolution of the profession of journalism. Tracing the early years when press was an important constituent in the Indian Freedom Struggle to the contemporary times, the chapter lays forth the journey of Indian journalism. Chapter three, deals with the layout of the newspaper. It looks at the designing of pages and the categorisation of stories. Chapter four looks at the work culture of the journalists. Starting with a detailed description of the organisational layout, it goes on to describe the everyday activities of the journalists like scouting for news, approaching sources and collecting information from the everyday routine. The relationship of the journalists with the state bureaucracy also finds a special mention. Like Rao’s work, the private benefits accruing from such networking is also noted. Chapter five, deals with the social location of the news producers. It looks at how the categories of gender, caste, religion, education and family background directly and indirectly influence news production. Furthermore, the author also discusses how such differences play out for Hindi- and English-language journalists. Chapter six delineates crucial views of how journalists perceive their work. A predominant view that emerges is the media as a watchdog of a democratic society. However, this view is quite relative and is used only when the journalists talk of upholding the responsibilities their profession entails. Such ideas are conveniently brushed under the carpet when it comes to deliver breaking news to increase viewership. The author clearly describes this dichotomy in a detailed scandalous story printed by the newspaper. Such issues also crop in when the debate on the style of reporting between Hindi- and English-language press takes place. The journalists at Dainik Jagran categorically proclaim that English press is for the elites and the Hindi for common citizens and the type of stories that the newspapers produce is by solely keeping the common citizens interest in mind. The conclusion states the same argument on localisation as in the preceding study. Localisation has helped in unearthing the stories of the common people who hardly find a space in national newspapers. An awareness of local peculiarities has been a positive offshoot of the localisation of press. Referring to the earlier studies on the relationship between Hindi press and the Hindu nationalist movement (Engineer 1991; Rajagopal 2003), the author states that Hindi regional press does not work as the mouthpiece of a particular ideology. Rather they produce a particular form of imagining society and this at many a times is appropriated by the cultural revivalist movements.

To conclude, these studies do reveal some fascinating insights into the working on newsrooms. First, news has to be understood as a cultural text which impacts and gets impacted by social, political and economic forces outside the newsroom. Contextualising news production within this domain helps in developing a coherent understanding about its nature. Second, these ethnographic studies help in understanding the organisational structure and the work culture that exists in newsrooms. These studies reveal that vernacular newsrooms are said to be more hierarchical than English newsrooms. This hierarchy is also justified by the newsroom professionals as important to cover up the educational deficits in vernacular press. Third, the issue of commercialisation and regionalisation do find a place in each of the study. Regionalisation has been lauded albeit some caution. While it does bring in marginalised voices into the public space, it also at times promotes a culture of patronage and corruption. Similarly, commercialisation has also been treated with scepticism. The competition to be the first in the breaking news race has led the dilution of the public service role of media. Moreover, the increasing role of newsroom revenues dictating news content sends alarming signals. The mushrooming of entertainment model of information does more harm than inform citizens.