India: Schism between English and regional language press leading to elitism

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Schism between English and regional language press leading to elitism

Express News Service

Pune, February 12: THE socio-cultural divide between the English and
regional language press had given rise to English elitism and a peculiar
caste and class structure in the Indian media, said Loksatta editor Kumar
Ketkar. He was speaking at a University Grants Commission-sponsored
National Conference on Regional Language Press: New Era, New Challenges
organised by the UoPs Department of Journalism and Communication Studies
on Monday. With English becoming the lingua franca in the country, Ketkar
said that there was a rift between the English and regional language
media, wherein the former looked down upon the latter. The change in the
socio-economic and political structure has also resulted in a greater
impact by the English newspapers across India, he said.

As a result, Ketkar said that local politicians also sought greater
visibility in the English press, so as to make an impact on the
policy-makers or the national elite. These local elite will turn to
regional media only during elections, or when they want to position
themselves favourably in internal power struggles by emphasising their
regionalism, Ketkar said. This ultimately leads to a disconnect between
the media and the people. We have a situation where the local press is
compelled to reflect the culture of the local language elite, who desire
prominence among the national elite, said Ketkar, adding that this
reflection may lead to huge circulation within the region, but ultimately
would cause disintegration in the country similar to that in Yugoslavia.

Veteran journalist-writer Arun Sadhu, on the other hand, chose to take a
contradictory stance, saying that the vernacular press had its finger on
the pulse of the people. There was a time when press conferences would not
begin before representatives of the leading English paper walked in. This
is changing now, indicating increased respect for the regional press, said
Sadhu. Sakaal managing editor Prataprao Pawar said that the regional
language press should adapt to the changing times to combat the aggressive
marketing strategies and price wars waged by the English press.


http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=221967

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