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

[Pawan Durani]

This 16% are born brahmins , and a large part of 86% are accidentaly
brahmins like some filmakers.

Pawan

On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 3:25 PM, Sanjay Kak <kaksanjay at gmail.com> wrote:

> ''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.
>
> Powered by: UNI
> ---------------
>
> 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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