Mass Media and Politics

1. Impact of mass
communication on Polity
Dr J Balamurugan

2. Introduction
• Politics is essentially an ancient and universal experience.
• The art and science of political analysis have developed over several years
ago throughout many parts of the world.
• In particular, political analysis has thrived in all cultures that have inherited
the rich legacy of the ancient people like ancient Greeks, Romans and the
Indians.
• Like many other arts and sciences political analysis achieved an
extraordinary degree of sophistication among the Greeks some 25
centuries ago under the leadership of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

3. Meaning of political parties
• According to MacIver, “A political party is an association organized in
support of some principle or policy which by constitutional means it
endeavours to make the determinant of government”.
• According to Ian Robertson, “Political parties are collectivities of
people organized for the specific purpose of joining legitimate control
of government”.

4. Classification of Political system
• Thinkers distinguish between different kinds of political system.
• T.B. Bottomore makes a distinction between three kinds of political system.
• Political system of tribal societies which are slowly getting modernized and industrialized. Ex:
African societies.
• Political system in non-industrial countries of ancient civilizations which are being
industrialized after emancipation from colonial and autocratic rule. Ex: countries of Asia,
Middle East, some Latin American countries.
• Political systems of the industrial societies. Here two major types of political systems can be
witnessed.
• The Democratic-Capitalist or Democratic-Socialist
• The Communist-Totalitarian including other kinds of totalitarianism.
• The other classification of political system - Kingship (Monarchy), Dictatorship
(rule by one), Oligarchy (rule by a few) and Demography (rule by many).

5. Essentials of political parties
• A group of people to constitute a political party, must be organized
for a political purpose.
• There should be similarity of principles heling to unite people.
• The political parties should have the main aim of attaining political
power.
• The political parties which are found within the framework of the
national boundaries are expected to protect and promote the
national interests.

6. Main functions of political system
• Maintenance of peace and order.
• Protects people’s rights and provides justice.
• Conservation of natural resources.
• Provision of education.
• Arrangement of public utility services.
• Encouragement of trade, industry, commerce and agriculture.
• Maintenance of public health.
• Protection of old, poor and handicapped.
• Maintains social harmony.
• Prevents disorganization.

7. List Of Hindi Movies Based On Indian Politics &
Politicians Or Leaders

9. http://www.koimoi.com/bollywood-popular/list-of-hindi-movies-based-on-indian-politics-politicians-or-leaders/

17. Use of Digital Media in Polity
• In the free democratic societies media organizations generate political
debates and provide a platform for open discussions.
• Media technologies can flourish in such societies promoting an
atmosphere of participation and democracy.
• In undemocratic countries (whether developed or developing), the
media organizations work under strict governmental censor.
• In these countries, media are controlled and used for propaganda against
the enemies and for projection and publicity of the rulers and their
policies.
• In such countries, digital media cannot play its role in spreading
democratic values in the society.

18. Obama’s Election Campaign: The Best Model of
the Use of Internet
• America’s President Obama’s election campaign was the beginning of a new
era of political communication and it opened new doors for researchers and
media scholars to study the effects of new media technologies on society.
This e-campaign started new horizon of interaction between media scholars
and political scientists working on political debates and discourses. The
tremendous use of new digital media by the organizers of the Obama‘s
campaign was a big source of inspiration for the political leaders all around
the world. Obama is now leading The USA only because of the extensive use
of the new media technology.
• The Obama’s campaign was supported by hundreds of volunteer workers who
prepared and managed the whole campaign with a great zeal and zest. They
worked day and night with deliberation and commitment.

19. Strategies used During Campaign
• A new media division was created during the
overall election campaign that was responsible
for the delivery of the campaign messages to the
general public in the whole USA. This division
consisted of creative writers, experienced media
professionals, and visual artists.
• Some of the prominent graphic designers were
also hired for this project and they were
assigned to produce the best possible brand
image that could present Obama as the best
possible president of the USA.

20. Strategies used During Campaign
• The website titled as “MyBarrackObama.com” was
launched in this regard to spread the messages of the
election campaign throughout the country. The visual
coverage of almost all of the daily activities and speeches
of Obama in the political gatherings were uploaded and
made available for the general public. The website later
on became a source of political and civic education for
citizens because legislation of several possible laws was
also discussed in this website and the public opinion was
known about several issues.
• Within a very short time this e-campaign became very
much popular and almost 13 million Americans became
receivers of the regular emails of the campaign and they
registered their names in the mailing list of the
campaign.

21. Mass media and the Modi ‘wave’
• The media, in turn, was greatly benefitted by an unprecedented
advertising campaign launched to promote Mr Modi – the scale of the
campaign was unparalleled in Indian history not only in the
traditional media (print, radio, television and outdoor banners) but
even more so in the new media (internet websites, blogs and social
media platforms like Facebook and Twitter).
• A substantial section of India’s mass media is owned and controlled
by corporate conglomerates, the corporate media can be credited
with ensuring that the BJP led by Mr Modi won a resounding victory
in the polls.

22. • Not surprisingly, many commentators have latched on to the report
from the Centre for Media Studies, just out, which found that in TV's
prime time coverage Modi got significantly more air time than Rahul
Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal.
• It was about 33 percent on Modi, about 10 percent on Kejriwal, and
only about 4 percent for Rahul Gandhi.
• In the last phase of election it went up to 40 percent for Modi.

24. Media in electoral malpractices:
o Election malpractices are committed by electronic and print media.
o Media is supposed to play neutral role in a democratic society.
oIt is more so in democratic elections where media reporting, publication of political
views, projection of the party and candidates images have direct impact on the voting
pattern in any election.
• Now a days media instances…
• favoritism
• wrong projection of images of party/candidates partisan views are tantamount to
sabotaging democratic principles
• Misquoting, misreporting, publication of misleading news and views are some of the
malpractices committed by media persons.

25. The top news channels for politics
• Congress health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan is the chairperson of News Live and Rang.
• In Karnataka, tourism minister Janardhana Reddy and health minister Sriramulu Reddy own Janashri along with
a couple of newspapers.
• Kasturi TV is owned by former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
• Suvarna TV of the Asianet group is owned by Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar.
• Sakshi TV is owned by Jagan Mohan Reddy along with NTV and TV5 in Andhra Pradesh.
• Studio N is owned by Narne Srinivasa Rao, a businessman related to N. Chandrababu Naidu.
• Odisha TV is owned by Baijayant Panda of the BJD. Other channels in Orissa are also politician owned.
• Indiavision in Kerala is owned by Muslim League Secretary M.K. Muneer.
• In West Bengal, CPI(M) controls TV-24 Ghanta. Trinamool Congress has Kolkata TV.
• Sukhbir Singh Badal owns PTC and PTC News in Punjab along with PTC Punjabi and PTC Chak De.

26. Jaya TV
• Named after its owner, Jaya TV is owned by Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK
chief.
• She also owns Jaya Max, Jaya Plus and J Movie.
• She owns all this through the holding company Mavis Satcom Ltd.
• But she is not alone in Tamil Nadu to own television channels.
Congress owns Mega TV and Vasanth TV while Vijayakanth of DMDK
owns Captain Tv.

27. Sun TV
• Even with all this political control of television in Tamil Nadu, the top
honors go to DMK chief Karunanidhi’s nephew Kalanithi Maran.
• He controls Sun TV, Sun News, KTV, Sun Music, Chutti TV, Sumangali
Cable, Adithya TV, Chintu TV, Kiran TV, Khushi TV, Udaya Comedy,
Udaya Music, Gemini TV, Gemini Comedy and Gemini Movies.
• Karunanidhi himself owns Kalaignar TV and a close associate M.
Raajhendran owns Raj TV and Raj Digital Plus.

28. IBNLokmat
• Rajendra Dadra, the Minister of School Education of Maharashtra and
his brother Vijay Dadra, a Rajya Sabha member, both of Congress,
control Lokmat which is the largest selling Marathi newspaper in
Maharashtra.
• The group also owns IBNLokmat in association with the TV18 group.

29. India News
• India News is owned by Karthikeya Sharma, brother of Manu Sharma
who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Jessica Lal murder
case.
• Karthikeya Sharma owns the ITV Media group that operates many
news channels including News X.
• Karthikeya and Manu are sons of Congress leader Venod Sharma.

30. News 24
• Rajeev Shukla, among other things is the Minister of State for
Parliamentary Affairs and Planning and the secretary of the All India
Congress Committee.
• He controls News 24 with his wife Anuradha Prasad.
• They also own Aapno 24 and E24. Interestingly Anuradha Prasad is
the sister of BJP leader, Ravi Shankar Prasad.

31. NDTV
• NDTV is owned by Prannoy Roy.
• The NDTV group owns NDTV India, NDTV Good Times, NDTV 24×7
and NDTV Profit and other channels.
• NDTV is known to be sympathetic to communists.
• The Bengali Roy is married to Radhika Roy whose sister is Brinda Karat
a Rajya Sabha member of CPI(M).
• Brinda Karat is married to Prakash Karat who is the General Secretary
of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

32. Times Now
• Times Now is part of the Times group which is a very big media house
which operates Times of India, Mid-Day, Nav-Bharath Times, Stardust,
Femina, Vijay Times, Vijaya Karnataka and Times Now.
• Times Group is owned by Bennet & Coleman.
• The Italian Robertio Mindo who has a share in the group is a close
relative of Sonia Gandhi.

33. The Times of India
• Often called the Numero-Uno amongst the Newspapers in India,
Times of India is India’s largest selling daily.
• It also is a big critic of the right wing causes.
• The bias against BJP and other right wing parties can be gauged from
the fact that it has often come up with misinformation about the
Narendra Modi government.
• However, TOI is always ready to make up with an apology. The font
size difference between the misinformation and apology is startling.

34. Indian Express
• When the Indian Express was founded, it was a leading voice of the
right wing in India.
• Ramnath Goenka, the founder of the Indian Express Group was a
member of the RSS.
• Indian Express is (in) famous for doing a series of slating articles.
• The current Indian Express is again largely centrist and is known to
have a Pro-Congress stand.

35. The Tribune
• It’s a famous rumor that Manmohan Singh only reads the Tribune and
why not?
• The Tribune is a complete centrist paper with strong preference for
the Congress Party

36. Hindustan Times
• More of a tabloid than a newspaper, the Hindustan time is blatantly
centrist and unapologetically Pro-Congress.
• HT had its origin in freedom movement and ever since India got free,
the HT has been a leading propagandist for the Congress party.

37. Deccan Herald
• Deccan Herald is a strong player in the Karnataka region and the
leading competitor of The Hindu in terms of ‘intellectual’ content.
• Deccan Herald is a Centrist newspaper but not blatantly so. Deccan
Herald is Pro-Congress but not unapologetically so.
• Deccan Herald is like the Hindustan Times with better content and
weaker biases.
• A good read any given day.

38. The Hindu
• The good thing about the Hindu is that it doesn’t shy away from
admitting that it is an organized left newspaper.
• It is a favorite of IAS aspirants as The Hindu Editorials are counted as
the best intellectual content on the internet (however far off from the
realities they may be).
• The Hindus is as center-left as it can get and it has a strong bias for
the Left parties along with the Congress.
• Prominent right wing parties like the BJP and the Shiv Sena are
condemned frequently in different pages of it.

39. The Telegraph
• The Telegraph is a hardcore leftist newspaper that oscillates between
glorifying the communist traditions to eulogizing the prominent left
wing leaders.
• The paper is brazenly anti BJP, though it features articles from
Swapan Das Gupta time and again.
• While being married to the leftist cause, the Telegraph is also known
to clink a few pegs with the Congress party.

40. The New Indian Express
• The New Indian Express is the splinter group formed after the
dissociation of the original Indian Express group.
• This paper follows the traditions upon which The Indian Express was
founded. Although the paper is known to be close to the BJP, it
doesn’t shy away from taking a dig or two on the saffron party.

41. DNA
• It is a joint venture between Dainik Bhaskar and Essar Group and is a
leading voice in the Mumbai area.
• It features well researched opinions on different matters concerning
the nation.
• DNA has a center-right flavor is known to have a softer stand on the
BJP.

45. CONCLUSION
• The new media technology has greatly influenced the polity in the
whole world hence countries are now giving more concentration
to the spread of modern technologies like internet and mobile
phones etc .
• It has been found that the new media technology has changed the
political attitudes and behaviors in the countries where it is used
frequently.
• It promote a culture of tolerance and understanding among the
political parties and the people.

46. • Thank you