This is a guest post by SHIVNARAYAN RAJPUROHIT

The conscious or unconscious exclusion of Dalits (SC/ST) from the Indian mediascape has given way to a lopsided public sphere which hardly manages to generate comprehensive debates. Corporate interests have aggravated this malaise, given the indifference of the corporate sector towards fomenting a diverse media, cutting across caste, religious and class lines. The following paper looks at the absence of Dalit journalists and students from English press and journalism schools. The primary conclusion of my research is that English-language media as an institution has been undemocratic because it draws its workforce from a homogenous set of people, overlooking the urgent need for diversity. In that sense it is hostile to opposing viewpoints and diversity of arguments. The paper is primarily divided into five parts: counting Dalit journalists, reason for exclusion, classroom to newsroom, need for Dalits in media and Blacks in USA.

Counting Dalit Journalists

In India, the Fourth Estate has been registering a robust growth, though it has stabilised in recent years. According to the 55^th annual report by the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), there are 1406 English dailies. We can extrapolate from Robin Jeffrey’s estimate that for the dailies the number of journalists stands at 25,000-30,000 (the basis is the hypothesis that each daily has at least 20 journalists on its roll). The sheer number of English press journalists is overwhelming, but a Delhi-based journalist, Ajaz Ashraf (2013), could spot only 21 Dalits journalists—working in broadcast and print (both language and English) — in the Indian media. It is shameful that the absence of Dalit journalists, even while noted by the media, has not spurred media houses to take any concrete action. No holistic workforce survey for newsrooms has been conducted, which makes it difficult to estimate the number of SC/ST journalists.

Despite the constraint, a hypothesis can be built on some studies and individual experiences.  In 2006, the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) conducted a Delhi-based survey to count the top decision-makers in media. As expected, the survey noted that not even a single decision-maker was from the SC/ST community. So where are the Dalit journalists? Ananad Teltumbde (2008) answers this question and says that Dalits work as drivers, printing-machine operators, hawkers, cleaners, and distributors.

D. Karthikeyan, a Madurai reporter for The Hindu, says that the “The situation has improved a little bit for Dalit journalists. Today, I can name a few Dalits, but in decision-making process they are absent. Reporters and sub-editors from the community are present, though not in significant numbers” (Interview).

Reasons for Exlclusion

When asked about the absence of Dalit journalists, academicians, media scholars, and editors conveniently cite socio-economic constraints as hindrances. Some reasons given by them are: low enrolment percentage in higher studies, perception towards government jobs, and caste prejudices in newsroom. As most students are first-generation learners, they have no connection with media. Chandrabhan Prasad says that to get into media one needs contacts, recommendations, references and good networks (Interview). Sevanti Ninan has the same opinion, adding that hiring in media is informal (Interview). “Most of the colleges students are first-generation learners and their fascination towards government is more than working for media which is full of uncertainty. After getting their college degrees, they apply for government jobs. Immediate opportunities push them in to the government jobs, while most of them shun private sectors,” Karthikeyan says. Ninan seconds him. She tried to hire some SC/ST candidates for The Hoot, but one candidate who accepted the offer made it clear that he would quit if he got a teaching job. Diversity of news coverage cannot borne fruits when newspapers maintain a uniformity in hiring. Prasad further argues, “Most mediahouses are afraid of diverse viewpoints.”

On media prejudices towards aspiring and existing journalists, some of the examples have been recurring motifs: the experience of J Balasubramaniam (EPW 2011) and D.S. Ravindra Doss, former president of the Tamil Nadu Union of Journalists (Jeffery 2010: 161). Sharing his personal experience, S. Anand (2005: 195) says, “The advantages of being born in the ‘right caste’, I think, equally helped me with my other jobs, as also in other spheres of my life, sometimes without my being aware of these advantages.” Siddharth Varadarajan (2006), the former editor-in-chief of The Hindu, highlighted the pernicious role played by caste in media. Prasad agrees that caste discrimination is not performed consciously in the press (Interview). Karthikeyan differs, “I strongly agree that English media is prejudiced, but it is less than in an OBC dominated language press.”

When quizzed on the issue, editors reel off the stock reply, “We do not look at caste. Hiring is solely based on candidates’ merit and capabilities.” To counter the notion of meritocracy in hiring, Jodhka and Newman (2010: 55-83) undertook a “qualitative study” with a sample of 25 companies, including media, in formal sectors to look at the selection criteria. After studying their hiring process, the writers conclude that merit is not the only criterion for selection. Factors like kinship, regional stereotypes, caste, social and economic background, recommendation, educated parents and urban preference, play an important role, and at times supersede meritocracy. Some of the reasons may not apply to media recruitment, but it can be inferred that merit may not be the sole criterion for hiring. The story of a renowned African-American journalist, William Raspberry, from being a teletypist to the Pulitzer Prize winner in 1994 suggests that merit is nothing but a byword for opportunity. Dalit students seek the same opportunity.

Classroom to Newsroom

After looking the number of Dalit students in top two journalism schools in India, it becomes clear that though their number is not large, it is a number that may be decent enough to make their presence felt. But another question is: Does their enrolment ensure placement in media? Shivaji Sarkar (interview), a former IIMC placement officer, denies any discrimination against reserved category students by employers during recruitment.

First, let us look at the SC/ST students enrolled in two top-notch journalism schools in India. This writer filed an RTI application, on 29 October 2012, to know the number of the SC/ST students in IIMC and AJK MCRC.

The information furnished by the IIMC for four years from 2008-09 to 2012-13 pegs the number of SC/ST students at 92 out of 459 (for English course), or a tad above 20 per cent (see Table 1). On the other hand, Anwar Jamal Kidwai Mass Communication Research Centre (AJK MCRC) enrolled 69 SC/ST students out of 510 for three years from 2008-09 to 2010-11, or 13.5 per cent. For the first three years, an average of 15 students joined IIMC and MCRC. The average has surely come down since the latter was declared a minority institute in 2011.

Some expensive private institutions such as Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Xavier Institute of Communication, Times School of Journalism and Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication have no scholarship or reserved seats for SC/ST students. Though, the Asian College of Journalism—a not-for-profit school–does not have reserved seats, it accorded scholarship to four SC/ST students in 2012-13, as previous years. Notwithstanding scholarship, the percentage of Dalit students in ACJ to the total intake is woefully low: 1.5 per cent of the total students for three-year combined (See table 3).

Table 1: SC/ST students in IIMC Delhi and Dhenkanal (Odisha)

IIMC Year Intake SC/ST Delhi 2008-09 43 8 Delhi 2009-10 43 8 Delhi 2010-11 62 14 Delhi 2011-12 48 12 Delhi 2012-13 56 14 Odisha 2008-09 42 10 Odisha 2009-10 44 9 Odisha 2010-11 49 6 Odisha 2011-12 36 7 Odisha 2012-13 36 4 Note: Figures are only for English journalism students enrolled in IIMC, Delhi and Dhenkanal in Odisha.

 

Table 2: SC/ST students in AJK MCRC for various English-language courses

Year Course Intake SC/ST Students 2008-09 Mass Communication 50 11 2009-10 Mass Communication 50 10 2010-11 Mass Communication 50 11 2008-09 Convergent Journalism 20 4 2009-10 Convergent Journalism 20 4 2010-11 Convergent Journalism 20 4 2008-09 Diploma in Development Communication 40 6 2009-10 Diploma in Development Communication 40 4 2010-11  Diploma in Development Communication 40 2 2008-09 Graphic and Animation 20 3 2009-10 Graphic and Animation 20 0 2010-11 Graphic and Animation 20 4 2008-09 Still Photography 20 0 2009-10 Still Photography 20 3 2010-11 Still Photography 20 2 2008-09 Broadcast Technology 20 0 2009-10 Broadcast Technology 20 1 2010-11 Broadcast Technology 20 0 Note: Some courses are for both Hindi and English journalism, like Broadcast Technology, Still Photography, Graphics and Animation.

 Table 3: SC/ST students in ACJ

Year Intake SC/ST 2010-11 201 2 2011-12 156 2 2012-13 173 4 Note: The figures are for four courses–TV, Radio, Print and New Media–offered by ACJ.

Taking ACJ’s figures, a hypothesis can be built that the presence of Dalit students in non-governmental schools can be less than one per cent because, except ACJ, none of them specifically offers scholarship to SC/ST candidates. It transpires that they are least concerned about righting historical wrongs and making their classrooms more diversified. The reasons attributed to a homogenous nature of classrooms are similar to that of a newsroom: the language proficiency, journalism not seen as a stable profession against government jobs, and unawareness about journalism schools. Nalini Rajan, dean of ACJ, contends, “We would like to have more Dalit students, but language plays an important role. That’s why we have special English language classes for students who lag in language proficiency.”

Need for Dalits in Media

For a democratic set-up in media, diversity of views is always desirable. In this process the involvement of all sections of society is a prerequisite. Media is the Fourth Pillar in every democratic nation-state, catalysing debates on social, political and economic issues which invariably affect all people. Indian “public sphere”, i.e. media, has been shaped by a select few emerging from more or less the same background, which provides veritably few opportunities to the marginalised groups and their articulated representatives. By consciously or unconsciously excluding one fourth of the population, media are ill-servicing themselves and the public at large.

For instance, the Khairlanji rape-cum-murder case in Maharashtra in 2006 was not reported by the national press for a fortnight. What followed in the form of reports or columns was distortion of facts. After the massacre, protests erupted and reporters filed stories on the inconvenience faced by elite people in Mumbai and Nagpur without looking at the causes of protests by Dalits. The birth anniversary and memorial day of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar hardly find space (barring few exceptions) in the national media. If at all, the reportage focuses on the “inconvenience” caused to the public due to the large gathering of Dalits. Jyoti Punwani countered the anti-Dalit narrative in one article by saying that the Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga Puja and Dusshera Day are reported not for other’s troubles, but for their festivities—which is not the case with Dalit congregations to commemorate a true son of India (Teltumbde 2008: 90-102).

The above-mentioned faux pas would not have become reality if media had a respectable presence of Dalit journalists who could have applied their subjective experience in the prevalent social milieu. Khairlanji is not an isolated case. Everyday untouchables are subject to a battery of discriminatory acts, but these are passed off as dog-bites-man occurrences. Dalit editors at the helm would give due consideration to these seemingly banal incidents of discrimination. If a large chunk of population is not present in decision-making roles, the media is sure to lose out on complex issues which afflict a particular community (Varadarajan 2006).

Blacks in America

Like the untouchables in India, African-Americans in the U.S. have been historically discriminated against in all spheres. In 1827, the first Black newspaper of the U.S., Freedom’s Journal sounded the bugle to break the shackles of discrimination and stereotypical portrayal of people of colour by announcing, “Too long have others spoken for us. Too long people have been deceived by misrepresentation.” Even the 13^th Amendment did not help in dispelling prejudices against the Blacks (Dev & Dev 2009: 38). Similarly in India, B.R. Ambedkar presciently said that political empowerment does not lead to social and economic equality, which includes media participation.

In the wake of the Watts riots in 1965, the U.S. Federal government set up a fact-finding committee, called the Kerner Commission, in July 1967. In its report it found out that the media portrayal of the Afro-Americans was prejudiced and recommended that the malaise can be remedied by making newsroom diversified (Emery & Emery 1984: 632-36). Furthermore, it called media “shockingly backward” in its coverage and employment of people of colour and chastised them for viewing the world through “white men’s eyes” (Alterman 2003: 110).  Despite the government pressure on the media to accommodate minorities, the percentage of the non-white hovered around 4 in the 1970s and 80s (Emery & Emery 1984: 740-41) (ASNE). Moreover, the Blacks were treated “as if they don’t read the newspaper, marry, die, and attend PTA meetings” (Newkirk 2011).

But the tables turned in the 1980s, particularly after the Civil Rights Movement. The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) embarked on diversification drive for newspapers in 1978, conducting yearly surveys on newsroom workforce since then. In its latest survey for 2012, it found that 12.37 per cent journalists are racial minorities in American newspapers. The figure is nowhere near to ASNE’s goal of achieving population parity by 2025. The number of Afro-American journalists in top U.S. newspapers is satisfactory, if not outstanding, since they account for 14 per cent of the U.S. population (see table 4). However, we should not miss the forest for the trees. The latest survey saw the voluntary participation of 70 per cent of the total dailies in the U.S.; a grudging acknowledgement from editors on dismal diversification ratio.

Table 4: Percentage of Afro-American journalists in U.S. newspapers

Top US Newspapers Blacks % in 2012 Wall Street Journal 3.8 The New York Times 7.8 Washington Post 11.8 Chicago Tribune 8 New York Daily News 5.6 Source: ASNE

Conclusion

This acknowledgment that Dalits are not in the Indian newsroom is missing from our editors. Acceptance of the reality of the homogenous newsroom will create opportunities for remedial steps. Undoubtedly, the fire for spotting Dalit journalists on Indian mediascape was ignited by Kenneth Cooper, B. N. Uniyal, Chandrabhan Prasad, Sheoraj Singh Bechain and Robin Jeffrey. As the ASNE has set targets for “diversification”, similar initiatives (e.g., workforce census) can be taken by either Press Council of India (PCI) or an Indian think tank. The Press Council of India must be held responsible for not taking any action on a diversification drive. Its outspoken Chairman Markandey Katju has opined on every issue under the sun, but not on the plurality of newspapers. This indifference finds resonance in the annual and special reports of the PCI; the Council’s annual reports and special papers (e.g. State of Newspaper Scene, 2007) do not find the issue worth mentioning, except its 2010 paper Norms of Journalistic Conduct wherein once it says that media should “seek diversity of viewpoints.”

In the 1990s, a memorandum entitled “End Apartheid from Indian Media: Democratise Nation’s Opinion” submitted by Chandrabhan Prasad and Sheoraj Singh Bechain was discarded by the then PCI Chairman P. B. Sawant, saying that diversification was beyond its powers (Jeffrey 2000: 169). On the contrary, Chapter III–powers and functions of the Council–of the PCI ACT, 1978 grants it enough powers, particularly Section 14 and Section 15, to make media more “responsible and democratic.” How to make the Fourth Estate more democratic? A plural newsroom representing all sections of society is the answer. The PCI can undertake a caste and religion-based census for newsrooms. Consequently, the participation of conscientious editors in the census will acknowledge that journalists are hired from the same background. After realising the absence of Dalit journalists, newspapers can set targets for themselves for the inclusion (Jeffery 2012), starting at least with 5 per cent share.

Another thorny issue is related to private journalism schools which appear least concerned about this social responsibility of inclusive student intake. It is incumbent on private colleges to reserve at least 10 per cent of the seats for SC/ST candidates along with scholarship since out-of-pocket expenditure by them is almost half than that of general category students (NSSO 64^th Round 2007-08). Scholarship and start-up affirmative action will enhance the participation of these students in media.

The aforesaid remedial steps will augment the participation of SC/ST candidates. Siddharth Varadarajan (2006) puts it best, “There are a million stories out there waiting to be told. If only we allow the storytellers to do the telling.” To incorporate Dalits in English-language press, initiatives from editors, journalists and press regulators are the prerequisite. In this regard stand-alone efforts have not sprung from the print heavyweights but Caravan and The Hoot which have of late reserved some positions for SC/ST students, realising that some nuances of society can be aptly penned by the oppressed.

An important question is: Should inclusion be driven as a social imperative or as a business model? Since the readership of English newspapers is concentrated in relatively more elite sections of society, it should be seen as a social imperative for journalism schools and media. It is high time the media as well as journalism schools realised their social responsibility, so that better stories may be told.

The writer is grateful to ACJ faculty who helped him in the article, written as a part of his dissertation project.

References:

Books:

1. Alterman, Eric (2009): What Liberal Media?: The Truth Bias and the News (Basic Books, New York)

2. Anand, S. (2005): Visible Dalits, Invisible Brahmins in Rajan, N. (ed.) Practicing Journalism: Values, Constraints, Implication (Sage Publication)

3. Dev, Arjun and Dev, Indira, Arjun (2009): History of the World (Orient Black Swan) p. 34-38, 194

4. Emery, Edwin and Emery, Michael (1984, Fifth Edition): The Press and America – An interpretive History of Mass Media (Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewoods Cliffs: New Jersey)

5. Jeffrey, R. (2010): Media and Modernity (Permanent Black)

6. Jeffery, R. (2000): India’s Newspaper Revolution (C. Hurst Co.)

7. Jodhka, S., Surinder and Newman S., Katherine (2010), In the name of Globalisation: Meritocracy, Productivity, and the Hidden language of caste in Throat, S., and Newman S., Katherine (ed.) Blocked by Caste: Economic discrimination in Modern India (Oxford University Press)

8. Teltumbde, A. (2009): Khairlanji: A Strange and Bitter Crop (Navayana)

E-Resources:

1. Balasubramaniam, J. (12 March 2011): Dalits and Lack of Diversity in Newsroom, Economic and Political Weekly, Viewed on 12 August 2013 (http://www.epw.in/commentary/dalits-and-lack-diversity-newsroom.html)

2. Jeffrey, R. (9 April 2012): Missing from the Indian Newsroom, The Hindu: Viewed on 10 March 2013 (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/missing-from-the-indian-newsroom/article3294285.ece)

3. Newkirk, Pamela, (2011), The Not-So-Great Migration, Columbia Journalism Review, Viewed on 9 March 2013 (http://www.cjr.org/feature/the_not-so-great_migration.php)

4. Prasad, C (1998): End Apartheid from Indian Media: Democratise Nation’s Opinion: Viewed on 2 March 2013 (chandrabhanprasad.com)

5. Press Council of India (2010): Norms of Journalistic Conduct: Viewed on 22 August 2013 (http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/3.%20Press%20Council%20of%20India%20Norms%20of%20Journalistic%20Conduct.pdf)

6. Varadarajan, S. (3 June 2006): Caste matters in the Indian media, The Hindu: Viewed on 21 March 2013 (http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/03/stories/2006060301841000.htm)

7. Uniyal, B.N. (16 Nov.1996) In Search of a Dalit Journalist, The Pioneer, Viewed on 9 March 2013 (www.chandrabhanprasad.com/My%20Camp/Dalit%20Journalist.doc)

8. American Society of News Editors (2013): Viewed on 20 August 2013 (http://asne.org/content.asp?pl=15&sl=121&contentid=121) (http://asne.org/content.asp?pl=121&sl=15&contentid=284) (http://asne.org/files/Minority%20percentages%20at%20participating%20NPs-UPDATE-7-1-13%20copy(2).pdf)

Primary Sources:

1. Chandrabhan Prasad, a Dalit scholar and the first Dalit regular columnist to write for The Pioneer, was interviewed in March 2013

2. Sevanti Ninan, a columnist, is the founder-editor of thehoot.org, a South Asian media watch website. She was interviewed in March 2013 (email reply).

3. D. Karthikeyan, a Madurai correspondent for The Hindu, was interviewed in March 2013.

4. Shivaji Sarkar, a former placement officer at the IIMC, was interviewed in March 2013.

5. Nalini Rajan, Dean of Asian College of Journalism, was interviewed in March 2013.