[Reader-list] Newswatch on Media Coverage of Bodo-Bd clashes in Assam

[Naeem Mohaiemen]

New Delhi, October 23: The ethnic clashes between indigenous Bodos and
Bangladeshi migrants which broke out in Assam in the first week of
October 2008 gave unnecessary importance and prominence to the
"Muslim" aspect of the latter.

The finding is from a study by Newswatch, an independent online entity
which monitors, collates and documents news and information pertaining
to the news media and journalism. The Newswatch
(http://www.newswatch.in/) probe was conducted over an eight-day
period starting the day the clashes broke out (October 3). The study
-Identities and descriptors: How the news media described the Assam
clashes - was meant to be a qualitative analysis, and not a
quantitative one. The idea was to look at the way the news media
covered the issue, and not quantify the exact number of publications
or news outlets that did a story, or did not.

"Sectarian violence in Northeast does not always make it to the front
page of newspapers. But this one did - coming as it was in the
backdrop of the attacks on Christians by Hindu rightwing elements in
Karnataka and Orissa, and a palpable sense of Islamophobia that seemed
to be all-pervading in the aftermath of the serial blasts in
Ahmedabad, Bangalore and New Delhi. The prime objective of this study
was to look at how the media uses descriptors and modifiers in ethnic
conflict situations," explained Newswatch editor, Subir Ghosh.

Altogether, 597 stories published during the period were tracked down
by the researchers. After leaving out duplicates (mainly because of
news agency creeds), the number was brought down to 187. The next
round of elimination was done to exclude non-English stories and ones
that ran into 100 words or less. In the end, 138 stories were selected
for the content analysis.

Very few stories, it was found, desisted from naming the two
communities involved in the clashes. It would be wrong to say very few
"publications" did so, since different news items emanating from the
same outlet used varied descriptors for the two groups of people. In
other words, there seemed to be a dearth of policy when it came to
naming communities or ethnic groups involved in clashes.

The study found 26 sets of descriptors and modifiers which were used
to describe the Bodo tribals which ranged from "local Hindus called
Bodos" to "non-Muslims." In case of Bangladeshi migrants, the number
was 27, with the descriptors and modifiers varying from  "Bangladeshi
Muslim migrants" to "Muslim migrant settlers". Many terms, both
correctly and wrongly, were used as synonyms.

The study also looked at the use of the term "Muslim" both in the
headlines as well as in the body of the copies. Seven news items (of
six outlets) played up the Muslim card in the headlines. As many as 66
stories used "Muslim" to denote Bangladeshi migrants either in the
first two paragraphs, or later in the copy (if this community was
first introduced only in a latter part of the story concerned). Though
the Bangladeshi migrants, by and large, are Muslims, the over-emphasis
on the "Muslim" aspect of this particular community went a large way
in adding a communal colour to a clash that was not essentially
communal in nature.

It was rather surprising that the coverage of a clash which left over
50 dead and rendered about 100,000 homeless, saw only 21
Bodos/Assamese/Bengalis and 8 Bangladeshi migrants being quoted in 138
stories. This filtering of voices becomes all the more lopsided given
that most of the stories analysed directly or through insinuation
projected illegal Bangladeshi (even mostly mentioned just as Muslims)
as being the victims of orchestrated violence against them.  The
lopsidedness in the count of both sources and voices of the people may
be gauged from the fact that almost half the stories (65) originated
from Guwahati.

The report can be downloaded from here:
http://www.newswatch.in/research/1754


Details of the report:
Pages: 9
Format: PDF
Colour: All-colour
Price: Free
Size: 640 KB

For more information contact:
Subir Ghosh, Editor-Publisher, Newswatch
Tel: 0-9811316305
Email: editor at newswatch.in
Website: http://www.newswatch.in/