Cancer and the Kali Yuga: gender, inequality and health in South India

Abstract

the process, this section provides an understanding as well as a comparative assessment of the NDTV and Aaj Tak brands of journalism. The focus sharpens as the book deals with viewers’ consumption of the output of these two media channels and the nature of engagement between the producers and consumers of news. Finally, the book showcases the consequences of how all this gets played out within the public domain. In so doing, the reader gets to see the pressure faced by the media to deliberately frame discourse in their search for audience numbers within the wider compulsions of commerce. The book concludes that this pressure affects the ability of television media to stay true to responsible journalism and in the long run, disrupt the diversity and plurality of Indian democracy itself. Overall, this bookbrings to the surface several very importantpoints. It demonstrates thehuge impact televisionnewshas in India,with its reach to over abillionpeople and its ability to shapepublic discourse. Secondly, the book provides insights into the huge transformation of television media in terms of the way it is structured and operates. It makes a compelling case for regulation to keep pace with the changes television media has gone through in representing, producing and shaping consumption of news. It highlights the way media channels frame debates, including their similarities and differences. Finally, and most importantly, how, under pressure, television news media reconstruct reality which in turn leads to, in some cases, the failure to uphold the values and norms of responsible journalism. This book presents an analysis which would whet the appetite of a wide range of readers whose interests lie in sociology, media and communication studies, popular culture and South Asian studies. For those whose interests are primarily Indian culture and identities this is a compelling read on two private Indian national television news channels and their capacity to thrive and shape public discourse in contemporary India. It is a great read for students of media who wish to chart the rapid growth and transformation of Indian media in general and television news media in particular. For students of Indian politics, this book provides a fascinating insight into the pressures faced by the fourth column within a democratic framework.