[Reader-list] The 'upper caste dominated' Media

[Sanjay Kak]

''Twice born Hindus ('dwijas' comprising Brahmins, Kayasthas, Rajputs,
Vaishyas and Khatris) account for about 16 per cent of India's
population, but they are about 86 per cent among the key media
decision-makers. Brahmins (including Bhumihars and Tyagis) alone
constitute 49 per cent of the key media personnel''

Here is one attempt at an empirical study of what sometimes may seem obvious:
Sanjay Kak

-----------------------------

http://world.rediff.com/news/article/in/news/2006/jun/05quota1.htm

June 05, 2006

Upper castes dominate media: Survey

The news about the national media is hardly flattering if the findings
of a survey are to be believed.

The national media, which front-paged the reservation controversy in
all its facets, is now itself being sucked into that quagmire with the
first-of-its-kind survey revealing that top echelons of media
establishments are dominated by ''Hindu upper caste men.''

Jointly conducted by Yogendra Yadav, senior fellow at the Centre for
the Study of Developing Societies, Anil Chamaria, a freelance
journalist, and Jitendra Kumar from the Media Study Group, the
controversial survey says India's 'national media' lacks social
diversity and does not reflect the country's social profile.

''Hindu upper caste men dominate the media. They are about eight per
cent of India's population but among the key decision-makers of the
national media, their share is as high as 71 per cent,'' it points
out.

The survey, which tracked the social profile of 315 senior journalists
in 37 English and Hindi dailies and TV channels, also revealed gender
bias in the media establishments. It was carried out by volunteers of
Media Study Group between May 30 and June 3.

''Only 17 per cent of the key decision-makers are women though their
representation is somewhat better (32 per cent) in the English
electronic media,'' it says.

Women account for 16 per cent of top editorial posts in the English
print media and 14 per cent and 11 per cent in the Hindi print media
and electronic media, respectively.

The survey also takes a swipe at media's caste profile, describing it
as 'unrepresentative'.

''Twice born Hindus ('dwijas' comprising Brahmins, Kayasthas, Rajputs,
Vaishyas and Khatris) account for about 16 per cent of India's
population, but they are about 86 per cent among the key media
decision-makers. Brahmins (including Bhumihars and Tyagis) alone
constitute 49 per cent of the key media personnel,'' he survey adds.

If 'non-dwija' forward castes like Marathas, Patels, Jats and Reddys
are also added to this list, the total share of the upper castes would
be pegged at a staggering 88 per cent.

Further, Dalits and Adivasis, points out the survey, are conspicuous
by their absence among the decision-makers. Not even one of the 315
key decision-makers belongs to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled
Tribes.

''The proportion of the OBCs is abysmally low among the key
decision-makers in the national media They are only four per cent
compared to their population of around 43 per cent in the country,''
it added.

The representation of Muslims is also grossly under-represented in the
national media, the survey notes. Muslims, who comprise 13.4 per cent
of the country's population, have a share of only four per cent in top
media posts.

Muslims, however, fare better in the Hindi electronic media,
accounting for around six per cent of major decision-makers. In the
national capital itself, there were no Muslims at the seniormost
levels.

The facts are more palatable with regard to the Christians, who are
proportionately represented in the media, mainly in the English media.
Their share is about four per cent compared to their population of 2.3
per cent.

The survey also makes a reference to ''doubly disatvantaged'' social
groups such as women belonging to OBCs or backward caste Muslims and
Christians.

''Social groups that suffer double disadvantage' are nearly absent
among the key decsion-makers. There are no women among the few OBC
decision makers and negligible backwards among the Muslims and
Christians,'' the survey notes.

The findings were based on a survey of designation, age, caste,
religion, mother tongue, gender and domicile of a maximum of 10 top
decision-makers from 37 media establishments.

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---------------

There are other links, which show up when you search
Yogendra Yadav+Anil Chamadia+Jitendra Kumar
eg http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/1118/48/



On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 2:46 PM, Venugopalan K M <kmvenuannur at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear Kshamendra,
> I would ask you to tell me which is not dominated by the upper caste ;
> perhaps that would be much easier,though my understanding in terms of
> exactly which castes are running the show is limited..I said only that it is
> dominated by the upper caste hindus both in terms of ownership as well as
> control.I am very open to be criticized and got corrected.
> Thanks,
> Venu
>
> On 4/21/09, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > Dear Venugopalan
> >
> > You have written that in 2004 the 'band of nationalists' who subscribe to a
> > 'form of cultural nationalism' which is 'rooted in the ideology of
> > Brahmanical Hindutwa' seemed to be dangerously close to a second tenure in
> > office thanks to (amongst others factors) "the support of the upper caste
> > dominated media."
> >
> > I would like to understand:
> >
> > - Which is this Media which is 'upper caste dominated' that commands such
> > an influence?
> >
> > - How does one reach the conclusion that it is 'upper caste dominated'?
> >
> > Kshmendra
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On *Tue, 4/21/09, Venugopalan K M <kmvenuannur at gmail.com>* wrote:
> >
> > "In short, I would say that there indeed exists a concept of 'Muslim
> > voter' in India,  notwithstanding that individual voters might
> > challenge this blanket concept in a particular context and would
> > endorse the same in another context. In my view, there is nothing
> > reprehensible in acting in this manner, when we take into
> > considerations the imperatives of grave challenges to the very
> > existence of divergent faiths in India which is actually rooted in the
> > ideology of Brahmanical Hindutwa. This is the most deplorable form of
> > cultural nationalism, which likes to ground the very idea of
> > citizenship in it. Even the Indian constitution is anathema to this
> > band of nationalists,who fortunately did not enjoy the mandate of more
> > than a fifth of all Indian voters even in their best days! In the 2004
> > elections they seemed dangerously close to a second tenure of office
> > thanks to the oprtunist realpolitiking by the regional parties and to
> > the support of the upper caste dominated media."
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> http://venukm.blogspot.com/
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