Platform Politics: The Emergence of Alternative Social Media in India

Widespread dissemination of hate speech on corporate social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube has necessitated technological companies to moderate content on their platforms. At the receiving end of these content moderation efforts are supporters of right-wing populist parties, who have gained notoriety for harassing journalists, spreading disinformation, and vilifying liberal activists. In recent months, several prominent right-wing figures across the world were removed from social media - a phenomenon also known as ‘deplatforming’- for violating platform policies. Prominent among such right-wing groups are online supporters of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, who have begun accusing corporate social media of pursuing a ‘liberal agenda’ and ‘curtailing free speech.’ In response to deplatforming, the BJP-led Government of India has aggressively promoted and embraced Koo, an indigenously developed social media platform. This commentary examines the implications of this alternative social platform for the online communicative environment in the Indian public sphere.

Book review: Biswajit Das and Debendra Prasad Majhi (Eds). Caste, Communication and Power

Biswajit Das and Debendra Prasad Majhi (Eds). Caste, Communication and Power. New Delhi, India: SAGE Publications, 2021, 365 pp., ₹895. ISBN 9789391370824 (hardcover).

Coronavirus Pandemic: How National Leaders Framed Their Speeches to Fellow Citizens

It has perhaps never happened before that presidents or prime ministers of almost all countries have spoken to their citizens in so short a time on the same topic—COVID-19. When the scientific community did not have correct answers or adequate explanations for the questions that people and patients were asking, world leaders took up the gauntlet and spoke to their citizens. What did they tell them? What facts did they choose to dwell on, and how did they present them? How did they provide comfort and support? What offer did they make? We selected the speeches of leaders from five countries with the highest (nominal) GDP—the USA, China, Japan, Germany and India, and analysed it using a qualitative method—framing analysis. All the speeches except that of China’s were relatively short and contained four dominant frames: prevention-protection, the other, solidarity and hope and comfort. However, each leader’s address had a unique frame. The manner in which the leaders framed their arguments and announcements shows how they understand and construct the identity of their fellow citizens.

Teaching Innovation Experience for COVID-19 Times: A Case Study on Blended Learning of Television Journalism Courses with Moodle

The effective implementation of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in higher education is not guaranteed without serious and rigorous pedagogical reflection. It is essential to maintain an ongoing debate on the effectiveness of the learning process. A debate accelerated by the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and the growing role of virtual and remote learning in universities worldwide. This research aims to overcome the quantitative approach of previous work with qualitative evidence to contribute to the field knowledge. The designed case study is based on a Moodle teaching experience in communication studies at a Spanish university. This innovative methodology is developed within a hybrid teaching ecosystem (blended learning) with the support of a virtual platform (Aula Virtual). The sample analysed is composed of 77 students enrolled in the subject ‘Television Journalism’. The design of an original and novel data collection instrument has supplied various quantitative and qualitative data. The triangulation of four data collection techniques has provided a demographic profile, an activity report, a grading report and a satisfaction report. The findings suggest a high degree of student satisfaction, with the experience and a significant improvement in students’ television writing skills, thanks to the implementation of Moodle.

Messaging in the Malaysian Workplace: Communication, Social Media and Employee Wellbeing

This article attempts to identify the impact of social media and new messaging processes on the well-being of Malaysian workers (specifically middle managers). It explores Malaysian workplace use of electronic communication methods and how managers view the impact of tablets, social networking apps and similar technologies on their social and emotional well-being, including their capacity to relate to and interact with other employees. In the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, 27 middle managers were interviewed in five focus groups, with the middle managers representing various public and private sector organizations. The findings reveal that social media and e-mail dominate workplace communication among these Kuala Lumpur–based managers; emotional and mental health concerns (like pressure to be constantly available) for themselves and the people they managed motivated some middle managers to preference face-to-face interaction. This was particularly true of certain contexts, like when providing one-on-one feedback on performance. The past decade has seen the widespread and rapid adoption of social media, messaging and other communication technologies in the workplace. It is hoped that this study contributes to an understanding of the impact of this change on employee well-being in Malaysia.

Gender-sensitive Portrayal in Cartoon Shows for Preschoolers: A Critical Analysis of Masha and the Bear

Most of the studies on children’s programming conducted in America or India, indicating an unbalanced and stereotypical gender representation, remain limited to those on older children. The present study explores if cartoon shows for preschoolers resort to the counter-hegemonic portrayal of male/female characters, and if thereby have any scope for representation of gender fluidity within it. Consequently, it also attempts to discern the ways in which interpersonal relationships between the protagonists, and between the protagonist(s) and the secondary character(s) portray any ‘dominant/submissive’ dichotomies. Drawing on Bandura’s ‘Social Learning Theory’ and de Beauvoir’s notion of the social construction of women as the ‘other’, this study presents the results of textual analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis of a popular Russian cartoon show ‘Masha and the Bear’ (M&TB) telecast on Nick Jr. The study findings indicate more gender-sensitive representation in the show for preschoolers than those for the older children. Bearing the tropes of Soviet Russian egalitarian and cultural traits, the characters of M&TB portray non-binary gender roles compared to their American or Indian counterparts.

Profit Versus Partisan Causes in Diverse Ownership Models: A Case Study of Mainstream Newspapers in East Indian City of Kolkata

The extant scholarship of media ownership, largely drawn from Anglo-Saxon studies, focuses on how corporate excesses translate to abuses of the public interest goal of journalism, paying less attention to ‘political instrumentalism’. This research aims to study how the complex interplay of business and political instrumentalism influences editorial policies in diversely owned, regional and national news media through a case study of commercially run newspapers’ coverage of anti-industrialization protests in the East Indian city of Kolkata. Through political–economic critiques and thematic analysis of newspaper articles and qualitative interviews, this research asserts the importance of the role of the ‘proprietor-editor’ and the binaries of regional/ national newspaper markets in the interplay of business and political instrumentalism in diversely owned news media.

The Increase of Online Journalism in Nepal

In the past two decades, Nepal has gone through revolutionary changes in the traditional model and the online or digital model of journalism, progressively adapting to contemporary global trends in news-making. Both models are developing and show greater participation of the people. However, these two models have certain pros and cons, which make them preferable to other models in terms of accessibility, low price, reliability and enforceability. This article plans to offer a hypothetical reflection on the emergence of online journalism in Nepal. At the same time, the article discusses how traditional media has evolved over time and the impact of digital media on the working of traditional media. This article also argues that, to ensure the best and positive use of the internet and related technologies for communication, Nepal needs to develop an online media policy. Consequently, the author concludes that both models do not run contrary to each other and can work together for greater results.