Post-liberalisation India has witnessed a dramatic growth of the television industry as well as on-screen images of the glitz and glamour of a vibrant, ‘shining’ India. Through a detailed ethnographic study of Star News and Star Ananda involving interviews, observations and content analysis, this book explores the milieu of 24-hour private news channels in India today. It 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, this study not only 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 TRPs work to produce a non-inclusive idea of the ‘audience’ and examining hundreds of hours of news content, the book explores how news channels construct a vision of nationhood and of a successful and vibrant economy that caters primarily to the needs of the resurgent Indian middle class. While it will be of particular interest to media and cultural studies scholars and students, and to journalists and media professionals in general, this lively, engaging book also aims to give the general reader the wherewithal to analyse and critique the continuous barrage of 24-hour news television today.

The first ethnography to examine the role of urban transformation, caste and language in shaping India's contemporary news culture.

The Punjab region of India sent more than 600,000 combatants to assist the British war effort during World War I. Their families back home, thousands of miles from the major scenes of battle, were desperate for war news, and newspapers provided daily reports to keep the local population up-to-date with developments on the Western Front. This book presents the first English-language translations of hundreds of articles published during World War I in the newsapers of the Punjab region. They offer a lens into the anxieties and aspirations of Punjabis, a population that committed resources, food, labour as well as combatants to the British war effort. Amidst a steadily growing field of studies on World War I that examine the effects of the war on colonial populations, War News in India makes a unique and timely contribution.

Based on pioneering research, this volume on South and Southeast Asia offers a cultural studies' perspective on the vast and largely uncharted domain of how local cultures are coping with climate changes and environmental crises.The primary focus is on three countries that have high emission rates: India, Indonesia, and Thailand. Whereas the dominant discourse on climate largely reflects the view of Western cultures, this volume adds indigenous views and practices that provide insight into Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic responses. Making use of textual materials, fieldwork, and analyses, it highlights the close links between climate solutions, forms of knowledge, and the various socio-cultural and political practices and agencies within societies. The volume demonstrates that climate is global and plural. Contributors are: Monika Arnez, Somnath Batabyal, Joachim Betz, Susan M. Darlington, Dennis Eucker, Rüdiger Haum, Albertina Nugteren, Marcus Nüsser & Ravi Baghel, Martin Seeger, and Janice Stargardt.

In the year 2000, when the World Wide Web was only ten years old and words like 'Google' or 'blog' were still unknown, India's print media was the dominant source of news. Its unending stream of depressing news made many feel India was a country without a future. That scenario troubled a man as he kept pondering. If India was as terrible as the media made it out to be, how has it endured these thousands of years? Surely there are a great many who are doing the good work despite all obstacles that we merely complain about? Who are they and what good work are they doing? What or who made them dedicate themselves to their work? Driven by these questions, that man, D.V, Sridharan, then fifty-eight years old, decided to go out, discover their stories and highlight good news from India, for India and the world. After building a basic website-goodnewsindia.com-and armed with an early model of a digital camera, he drove around the country to meet and write about their work. It turned out there were numerous little-known heroes who, despite adverse circumstances, braved on with the good work they believed in. In the process, he discovered what was worth working on for the furtherance of India as a civilisation. Good News India showcases some of those ordinary Indians and their extraordinary work. These are stories of positive action, steely endeavour and quiet triumphs.

A very enjoyable and educative book indeed. -Bibek Debroy Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister An unusual book. -Professor S. Irfan Habib Former Maulana Azad Chair, National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi The book is simply 'unputdownable'. -Rasheed Kidwai Visiting Fellow, ORF Congress leader Arjun Singh was aware of the imminent appointment of Dr Manmohan Singh as the prime minister. What did he do to sway the decision in his favour? Did Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar help the religious leader Chandraswami escape the dragnet of the Enforcement Directorate? What prompted the editor of Hindustan Times to publish an article titled 'National Shame' on the front page of the newspaper? How did a typo in a copy received by All India Radio lead to an inquiry by the Pakistani authorities regarding a 'mole' in their midst? Instant History is a brilliant insight into our recent history. A treasure trove for all those who believe that journalists write the first draft of history, this is an honest perspective on various issues in the context of many geographical complexities, political realities and social dichotomies. Narrated through short pieces and snippets, it unveils several incidents and exposes ground realities that afflict politics, bureaucracy and even journalism. Moreover, serving a slice of history, it documents changes India has witnessed across the last quarter of the preceding century, providing insights into the history of public administration. Anecdotal, humorous and often caustic, Instant History is a fabulous work on Indian journalism and politics recounted by a senior journalist with an insider view of affairs.