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DOI: http://ijmer.in.doi./2023/12.07.94 Publisher: Sucharitha Publication, India
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THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN INDIAN DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM - A BRIEF ANALYSIS

1
Suresh Kumar, 2Parineeta, 3Vikas Thakur, 4Naresh Kumar
1.
Lecturer in Political Science (Department of Higher Education, Himachal Pradesh )
Government Senior Secondary School Ghagus , Tehsil Sadar,District Bilaspur (HP), India.
2.
Primary Teacher (JBT) , Department of Elementary Education Himachal Pradesh, India.
Govt. Primary Centre School Rambag (Barmana) Tehsil Sadar, District Bilaspur (HP) India .
3.
Lecturer in History (Department of Higher Education, Himachal Pradesh)
Government Senior Secondary School (Boys) Bilaspur, Tehsil & District Bilaspur (HP) India
4.
Lecturer in Political Science (Department of Higher Education, Himachal Pradesh )
Govt. Senior Secondary School Kathla, Tehsil Sri. Naina Devi Ji , District Bilaspur (HP), India.

Abstract

Media are platforms through which communication are passed from one person to another, or from one place to another.
Media is an aspect of marketing management. It stimulates citizen engagement in politics; these include, political party’s
membership registration, voters registration, elections and electoral campaigns, electorates management, are among the
major political activities. Media is considered a heart of democratic Society. There are four major types of media,
namely; traditional media, print media, electronic media and social media. It makes a people conscious of different
happenings from grounds such as Politics, Economic, Sports and Social etc. Therefore media is the most utilised and most
useful tool in the hands of any government as well citizen to run the country with most effective and most updated way.
The present paper is an attempt to examine the role of media in Indian Democratic System .

Keywords:- Communication , Democracy, India, Media, Politics .

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY :

• To explain the functions of media in India.

• Examine the impact of media in Indian Politics.

• Examine media's influence on Public Opinion .

METHODOLOGY

The initial step of the methodology involves conducting a comprehensive literature review to gether relevant information
on media's role in the Indian democratic system. Scholarly articles, academic paper, books, & reports are reviewed to
understand past research and existing knowledge on the subject. This helps in identifying key themes, theoretical
framework, and concepts associated with the role media in Indian democratic system.

INTRODUCTION

Without media or free press democracy cannot be successful. In simple words democracy is the government of the people,
for the people and by the people. Media is considered as the fourth pillar of democratic society after executive, legislature,
and Judiciary. In the sense for the active and vigilant participation of free press is essential in a democratic society. It is
voice of people. It plays an important role in the shaping healthy democratic system. Starting from the 1780 till today the
Indian media were ornamented with different mode and approach and also burn with the orders/instructions of different

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 ISSN:2277-7881; IMPACT FACTOR :8.017(2023); IC VALUE:5.16; ISI VALUE:2.286
Peer Reviewed and Refereed Journal: VOLUME:12, ISSUE:7(5), July: 2023
Online Copy of Article Publication Available (2023 Issues)
Scopus Review ID: A2B96D3ACF3FEA2A
Cover Page Article Received: 2nd July 2023
Publication Date:30th July 2023
DOI: http://ijmer.in.doi./2023/12.07.94 Publisher: Sucharitha Publication, India
www.ijmer.in Digital Certificate of Publication: www.ijmer.in/pdf/e-CertificateofPublication-IJMER.pdf

media giants but truth always comes up flying different hue. In a broad brain the media can be of Print , and electronic but
if we dive deep the reach are unlimited. Starting from Newspaper, Magazine, Radio, Telivision, Cinema, Mobile, Internet
(Social Media) the Indian media along different development country media are promoting itself with time and situation.
The very beginning of the newspaper was started from Bengal Gazette (1780) The India Gazette, The Calcutta Gazette,
The Madres Courier (1785), The Bombay Herald (1789), Bombay Samachar founded in 1822 and printed in Gujarati is
the oldest newspaper of Asia Region still in print. On 30 May1826 Udant Martand (The Rising Sun), the first Hindi
language newspaper published in India, started from Calcutta (Now Kolkata) published every Tuesday by Pt. Jugal
Kishore Shukla, The Times of India (1838), The Hindustan Times (1924) and The Hindu started in 1878.

Currently India publishes about 1,000 Hindi dailies that have a total circulation of about 80 million copies. English, the
second language in terms of number of daily newspaper, has about 250 dailies with a circulation of about 40 million
copies. The prominent Hindi newspapers are Dainik Jagaran, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, Devbhoomi Mirror, Navbharat
Times, Hindustan Dainik, Prabhat Khabar, Rajasthan Patrika & Dainik Aaj. In terms of readership, Dainik Jagaran is the
most popular Hindi daily with total readership (TR) of 70,377,000 according to IRS Q1 2019. Dainik Bhaskar is the
second most popular with a total readership of 51,405,000. Amar Ujala is third position with a total readership of
47,645,000 . The prominent English newspapers are The Times of India, The Hindu, The Economic Times, Mumbai
Mirror, The Telegraph, The Indian Express, The New Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle, Mid- Day & Mint (Ref. Indian
Readership Survey Q12019(1).

Radio broadcasting was initiated in India in 1927 but became a state responsibility only in 1930. In 1937 it was given the
name All India Radio & since 1957 it has been called Akashvani. Limited duration of television programming began in
1959, and complete broadcasting followed in 1965. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting owned and maintained
the audio- visual apparatus - including the television channel Doordarshan -in the country prior to economic reforms of
1991.The Government of India played a significant role in using the audio- visual media for increasing mass education in
India's rural swathes. Projected television screens provided engaging education in India's villages by the 1990s . In 1997,
an autonomous body was established in the name of Prasar Bharati to take care public service broadcasting under the
Prasar Bharati Act. All India Radio and Doordarshan, Which earlier were working as media under Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting became constituents of the body. India has over 500 satellite channels ( More than 80 are news
channels) and 70,000 newspaper, the biggest newspaper market in India world with over 100 million copies sold each day

With the advent of Digital format of media in early 2000s many traditional print media transform itself to modern digital
Version & now a days India become the hub of many online publication including digital newspaper , magazine, news
portal and publishing house . Digital India Programme - Digital India was launched by the Prime Minister of India
Narendra Modi on 1 July 2015, with an objective of connecting rural areas with high speed internet network and
improving digital literacy.

SOCIAL MEDIA IN INDIAN POLITICS

In the year November 2008 India has used Social Media for the first time at the time of Mumbai Attack and is 2009
general election of Loksabha. The new political arena is full of commercials, blog post, and hundreds of tweets . Through
social media, politicians are now able to constantly display their massage through endless commercials ,see direct
response to their actions via Facebook or Twitter and connect with public. Social media creates a new political dialogue. It
is the power of political messaging away from the mass media model and places it firmly into peer-to-peer, public
discourse.

In recent times, Indian political landscape has seen two major national parties. Bhartiya Janta party and Indian National
Congress Party fighting an online political battle. Online propaganda is aggressively used against each other. Each and
every medium is used to wage war of words. One tweet leads the other to respond immediately. The most famous tweets

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Peer Reviewed and Refereed Journal: VOLUME:12, ISSUE:7(5), July: 2023
Online Copy of Article Publication Available (2023 Issues)
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DOI: http://ijmer.in.doi./2023/12.07.94 Publisher: Sucharitha Publication, India
www.ijmer.in Digital Certificate of Publication: www.ijmer.in/pdf/e-CertificateofPublication-IJMER.pdf

from both sides were, BJP calling Sh.Rahul Gandhi as 'Pappu' and Congress calling Sh. Narinder Modi as 'Feku'. The
political parties have their own website which was not seen some years back and some of them also use other social
mediums to interact with people. Mr. Shashi Tharoor of Congress Party, was one of the first politician to start tweeting.
Hon'ble Prime Minister Sh. Narender Modi has use all media to interact with people. He has been effectively using social
media disseminate information and remain in touch with all type population of India . He has often quoted that power of
media should be harnessed to involve every one in democratic process. The impact of his approach is visible in 16th
(2014) and 17th (2019) Loksabha Elections.

IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN KARNATAKA ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2023

The Karnataka Assembly Elections of 2023 has witnessed a significant influence of social media in shaping public
opinion and political discourse. With over 62 million interest user in the state, social media platforms such as Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp have emerged as powerful tools for political parties to connect with voters and spread
their messages. Indian National Congress Party, Bhartiya Janta party & Janta Dal (Secular) have all actively used social
media to reach out to voters & shape their campaign. Political Party employed social media team to create engaging
content, run targeted ads, and monitor online conversation around their party and their opponents. one of the most
significant impacts of social media on the Karnataka elections has been it's ability to reach out to first- time voters and
young people who make up significant chunk of the electorate. Political Party have used social media platforms to engage
with these voters and create as sence of belonging to their respective political ideologies. The BJP, which has massive
social media presence has been particularly active in the online space. The party 's social media team has been churning
out viral content, including videos, memes, and inforgraohics, to create a buzz arround their campaign. They have also
launched a massive online outreach campaign, called the " Karnataka BJP Social Media Army," which has over 50,000
volunteers who are active on social media platforms.

The Congress, in the other hand, has been using social media to counter the BJP's online propaganda. The party has been
running targeted ads to reach out to specific voter groups and has also created social media content to highlight their
achievements in the state. The Janta Dal (Secular), led by HD Kumaraswamy,has also been actively using social media to
connect with voters. The party has a significant pressure on social media platforms and has running a campaign to portary
themselves as the alternative to the two dominant parties.

Apart from political parties, social media has also played a crucial role in mobilizing civil society and activists, Several
social media campaign, such as #Karnataka Votes and #Karnatka Elections , have trended on Twitter,with people sharing
information, analysis, and opinion about the election. However, social media,s impact on the Karnataka election has not
been entirely positive. Fake news, hate speech,and misinformation have also been rampant on social media platforms.
Political parties and their supporters have been accused of spreading fake news to discredit their opponents and sway
public opinion. To tackle the problem of fake news and hate speech, the Election Commission of India has set up social
media monitoring cell to monitor social media platforms for any violation of the Modal Code of Conduct . The cell has
been working with social media platforms to remove any content that violates the law. While social media has played a
positive role in mobilising voters and creating a sense of political engagement,it has also been used to spread fake news
and misinformation.

MEDIA AS MEANS FOR THE FORMATION OF PUBLIC OPINION

Media outlets, including newspaper, television channels, & digital platforms provide news, analysis,and perspectives on
verious issues, The way these issues are reported and analysed can influence public opinion. For instance, if a news outlet
consistently projects a certain political party in a negative light while highlighting the achievement of another party,it can
shape public opinion towards favouring or disapproving of those parties . Media coverage that highlights corruption
allegations against a candidate can deter public support for a such person. Entertainment media: Bollywood movies &

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 ISSN:2277-7881; IMPACT FACTOR :8.017(2023); IC VALUE:5.16; ISI VALUE:2.286
Peer Reviewed and Refereed Journal: VOLUME:12, ISSUE:7(5), July: 2023
Online Copy of Article Publication Available (2023 Issues)
Scopus Review ID: A2B96D3ACF3FEA2A
Cover Page Article Received: 2nd July 2023
Publication Date:30th July 2023
DOI: http://ijmer.in.doi./2023/12.07.94 Publisher: Sucharitha Publication, India
www.ijmer.in Digital Certificate of Publication: www.ijmer.in/pdf/e-CertificateofPublication-IJMER.pdf

television shows can also influence public opinion. These media form are powerful tools for social messaging and can
shape public perception on verious issues, including gender roles, societal norms and political ideologies. Movies like
"Kashmir Files" (2022) which highlighted the tragedy of Kashmiri Pandits, or Brahmins and inspired Hindu community,
Hindu Organisations and Government of India to rehabilitate them Actual position and took the harshest steps to bring
them to justice.

Investigative journalism plays a crucial role in exposing corruption, fraud, and other unethical practices. Media outlets
that prioritize investigative reports contribute to building public opinion against those involved in such activities. The
2010 Commonwealth Games corruption scandal in India, where media extensively covered irregularities and
embezzlement, led to public outrage and demands for accountability. Radio and television are also one of the most
powerful means of influencing public opinion.They affect everyone, educated and uneducated. People in remote rural area
also get various news of the country through them . Radio and television help to form public opinion though it's news
coverage, review and survey. But in many cases the government has control over Radio and television. As a result, there
is no anti-government discussion. Overall, the media,s role in shaping public opinion in India is significant. However,it is
important to critically analyse the information presented and consider multiple sources to have a well - rounded
understanding of any given issue.

ROLE OF MEDIA IN SEEMA HADER's MATTER

The Seema Hader matter highlights the significant role of media in bringing attention to and faciliting discussions on
important issues. Seema Hader, a high-profile public figure, recently found herself embroiled in a controversy that
garnered widespread media coverage. In this case, the media played a crucial role in investigating and reporting on the
allegations made against Seema Hader. Through in-depth reporting and analysis, media outlets provided the public with
information regarding the nature of the allegations, the individual involved, and the potential consequences. By
highlighting the Seema Hader matter, the media not informed the public about the allegations but also acted as a
watchdog, ensuring transparency and accountability. Without media coverage, the matter may have remained hidden or
overlooked, potential denying justice to those affected. Additionally,the media facilited public discussion and debates on
the Seema Hader matter. Through news articles, televised debates,and social media platforms, citizens were able to
engage in dilogue about the allegations and the implications they have for society. The media's role in this matter goes
beyond simple reporting in the facts. By providing a platform for different perspectives and opinions, the media enables
citizens to critically analyze the allegations and form their on judgements . This contributes to healthier democratic
system, as it encourages citizens to actively participate and make informed decisions. However, it is essential to note that
media coverage of sensitive matter like the Seema Hader case must also be approached responsibly and ethically. Media
organisations should prioritize fairness accuracy, and impartiality in their responding, ensuring that individuals'
reputations are not unjustly tarnished and that due process is followed. In brief, the media plays a crucial role in case like
Seema Hader matter by investigating, reporting, and faciliting public discussions. By bringing attention to important issue
and ensuring transparency, the media contributes to maintaining accountability and fostering a vibrat democratic system.
However, it is vital for media organisations to maintain ethical standards and uphold the principles of fairness and
accuracy in their reporting.

IMPACT OF MEDIA ON SOCIETY

Earlier the Indian society presumed that women are weaker in terms of earning capacity and physical stamina. The society
was patriarchal and hence women were given less importance. Also gender discrimination, lack of access to healthcare
and gender based violence are some reasons which was prevailing in the Indian Society. These are some of the main
reason of terrible crimes which used to dominate our country. So the awareness about such problems was communicated
to the people by media. Actually the information about this heinous crime was provided to the people through television
drama, animated news packages, influential radio documentary and persuasive films. Now government started using

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www.ijmer.in Digital Certificate of Publication: www.ijmer.in/pdf/e-CertificateofPublication-IJMER.pdf

media as platform for eliminating social evils and bringing positive change. Finally the people reacted positively to its and
now the case of social evils are decreasing. The media as an unbiased informer acts as an eduy, as a mantor, as the
guardian with the free participation of the public. So unless in a society everyone is equal that society can't be considered
to be a democratic society. It is beause equality is one of the essential features of the democracy. Promoting equality is
actually making an attempt to strengthen democracy.. Therefore the media plays a very significant role in strengthening
democratic system in India.

CONCLUSION

In the current era, the role of media in the Indian democratic system is more important than ever. With the rise of social
media and digital platforms, the media has become a powerful tool in shaping public opinion, facilitating dialogue, and
holding those power accountable. One significant example of the media's role in the Indian democratic system today is its
ability to expose corruption and misconduct. Investigative journalism has played a crucial role in uncovering scams and
scandals, bringing truth to light, and ensuring that individuals in power are held accountable for their actions.
Additionally, the media plays a vital role in informing the public about political developments , policies and electoral
process. Through news reporting analysis, and commentary, media outlets provide citizen with the information they need
to make informed decisions and participate actively in democratic process. Moreover, media acts as watchdog, bringing
attention to issue that may otherwise go unnoticed or ignored. It champion the cause of marginalized and
underrepresented groups by giving them a voice and shedding light on their struggles and aspirations.

However, it is crucial to acknowledge the challenge that exists within the media landscape, such as fake news,
sensationalism, and biased reporting. In the quest for ratings and traffic, media organisations sometimes prioritize
controversy and sensationalism over factual reporting, leading to a distortion of information and a loss of trust among the
public. Despite these challenges, the media remains an indispensable pillar of Indian democracy. It has the power to
inform, inspire, andmobilize citizen,and it is crucial for media organisations to upload ethical standards and prioritize
accurate and impartial reporting.

In conclusion, the role of media in the Indian democratic system today is multi- faceted, ranging from exposing corruption
to informing the public and giving a voice to the marginalized. As the digital era continues to reshape the media
landscape, it is essential for media organisations and citizens to upload the principles of responsible journalism, media
literacy,and active participation in order to nurture a strong and vibrant democracy in India.

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 ISSN:2277-7881; IMPACT FACTOR :8.017(2023); IC VALUE:5.16; ISI VALUE:2.286
Peer Reviewed and Refereed Journal: VOLUME:12, ISSUE:7(5), July: 2023
Online Copy of Article Publication Available (2023 Issues)
Scopus Review ID: A2B96D3ACF3FEA2A
Cover Page Article Received: 2nd July 2023
Publication Date:30th July 2023
DOI: http://ijmer.in.doi./2023/12.07.94 Publisher: Sucharitha Publication, India
www.ijmer.in Digital Certificate of Publication: www.ijmer.in/pdf/e-CertificateofPublication-IJMER.pdf

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