University of Heidelberg

New Book on News in India

Jan 17, 2012

“Making News in India: Star News and Star Ananda” is the topic of a new book by Dr. Somnath Batabyal. In his latest work, the member of research project C13 “Environmental Activism” explores the milieu of 24-hour private news channels in India today.

“Making News in India” offers a detailed ethnographic study of Star News and Star Ananda. Through interviews, observations and content analysis, Batabyal offers insightful glimpses into the workings of one of the mightiest news corporations in the world and its ability to manufacture everyday reality for its audiences. Based on fieldwork in Mumbai and Kolkata, Batabyal’s study provides a detailed description of the television newsroom, its rituals and rhythms, but ventures beyond it to investigate how editorial and corporate strategies converge increasingly in an industry driven by profit. Through analysing how television audience measurements work to create a non-inclusive idea of the ‘audience’ and examining hundreds of hours of news content, the book explores how a vision of nationhood and of a successful, growing economy that primarily serves the needs of the resurging Indian middle class, is constructed by these news corporations.

The book “Making News in India” has been published by Routledge, a global publisher of academic books, journals and online resources in the humanities and social sciences.

Dr. Somnath Batabyal is a member of research project C13 “Environmental Activism: An Ontology of its Actors and their Politics” which is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Madeleine Herren-Oesch. Having worked as a journalist for several Indian newspapers, such the "Asian Age" and the “Hindustan Times”, he has deep insights into the Indian media scene. In his doctoral thesis, he focused on the Indian news corporation Star News and provided a detailed ethnography.

More information on “Making News in India" by Routledge.