“Polarizing Indian Political Discourse and Rising role of New Media: A Study on Web Sites Content of Indian News Media”

RESEARCH PAPER FOR PUBLICATION

Title:- “Polarizing Indian Political Discourse and Rising role of New Media: A Study on Web Sites Content of Indian News Media”

Brief Introduction of Author:-

Anjani Kumar Srivastava- working media professional as an Assistant Professor, Journalism &Mass Communication in Lingaya’s Lalita Devi Institute of Management & Sciences, havingexperience of more than 20 years in media industry as a Journalist, National BureauCorrespondent, Reporter, Correspondent & Senior Sub Editor in various newspapers &magazines. He has been working as Assistant Professor –Journalism & mass communication forthe past 5 years. Email id: [email protected] ; Phone: +91-9711478325; 09868975310

Abstract:- Internet based New Media have been changing paradigms ofNews-Media and News-concept itself in the recent past. Now, with thecombination of streaming video and faster 3G internet connections inIndia, the internet based New Media has become the fastest way to findnews stories. The internet based New Media appears to differ fromother mass media from the point of degree of niche targeting ofpolitical information-oriented Web-sites. India has been witnessingthe increasing role of Internet media over a decade into politicalawareness among masses.

During elections (Pre & Post) period, all major parties utilize thenew media in campaigns and publicity as they use blog sites, emailsand a lot of news writings through public relations firms streamed viainternet based web-sites of all major print and electronic media. Asmall political update gets streamed instantly on web pages ofnewspapers and television channels and public get to know it withinseconds.

Our this research study focuses upon the increasing role of new mediainto political dialogues or political communication between politicalleaders and public who use the new media or masses.

Indian media has witnessed a sea-change in media scenario since 2000year. Be it newspaper, magazine or television news channels or radio

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channels, every news media now have their own news websites oninternet or live video streaming or live channels on internet or e-papers or websites i.e. dot.com and audience members now find it easyto watch or read those newspapers or magazines or television channelson internet and their laptop or computer systems because all mediaform is now being converged at one point- technology i.e. internet.So, in the period of convergent media, political groups, parties orpolitical communities have to be one step ahead to connect public orvoters.

Our research paper would be based on quantitative and qualitative bothapproaches.

Methods:- We have taken stratified sampling technique and selected 2news websites of famous newspaper media organizations- The Times ofIndia and The Indian Express; and 2 news websites of famous televisionmedia organizations- NDTV online and TV Today online as samples.

We have used content analysis methodology to measure the quantity andquality both of the news items in the perspectives of politicaldialogues and political communication. Also, to analyze the content ofthese news websites, we have used the tabulation and classificationtechniques, wherever it required.

Possible Outcome:- In the above perspective, as a researcher we haveused observation method firstly and have found that number of viewerson these news-websites have been increasing day by day. The politicalleaders in India have now realized the power of internet based Newmedia very much and they know that maximum number of voters who belongto youth section of society use the internet based new media or newswebsites, blog sites and social networking sites to share their ideasor spread the messages. Our results show that how some big politicalleaders in India have started to connect the voters on socialnetworking sites or news-websites blog sections to seek publicopinions on some crucial contemporary issues.

Conclusion:- Our data analysis through content analysis lead us toderive the conclusion that Indian political discourse has now startedto polarized on the issues of using media for political communication.Some advocate still about popular media use like TV news channels orTraditional newspaper- broadsheet or News magazines, but manypolitical community members have now realized the power of New mediaor Convergent media or digital media and they know that internet based

this new media will take them many step ahead to grasp the pulse ofpublic or voters within no time.

Key Words:- New Media, Media bias, Polarization, blogs, agenda setting, politicalcommunication, convergence media.

References:- Allen, B. A. (2000). E-governance and government online in Canada: Partnerships, people, and prospects. Ottawa: Faculty of Administration, University of Ottawa.

Allen, C. (2005). Foreign news coverage in selected U.S. newspapers 1927–1997: A content analysis. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Louisiana State University.

Alterman, E. (2003). What liberal media? New York: Basic Books

Althaus, S., & Tewksbury, (2002). Agenda setting and the “new” news: Patterns of issue importance among readers of the paper and online versions of the New York Times. Communication Research, 29, 180–207.

Anttiroiko, A. (2004). Introduction to democratic e-governance. Hershey, PA: IGI Publishing.

Armstrong, J., & Zúniga, M. M. (2006). Crashing the gate: Netroots, grassroots, and the rise of people-powered politics. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Pub. Co.

Title of Research Paper-

“Polarizing Indian Political Discourse and Rising role of New Media: A Study on Web Sites Content of Indian News Media”

Introduction:- India has been witnessing a sea-change inMedia since the beginning of 21st Century and every walk of humanactivities, be it business, social, cultural or political is notuntouched with the impacts and role of “New Media” or internetbased Web Media or New media technologies today. India is one of

the largest countries in terms of highest number of internetusers and this number has been increasing day by day.

New media technologies like Weblogs, social networking sites,News media websites, and video sharing sites (like You Tube) havebig effects on Indian society (especially in Urban India). Sincethe last general elections (Election process for ParliamentaryDemocratic Government) held in 2009, the Political community-political parties, pressures groups, or common man have realizedthe power of New media tools like Facebook, Twitter, etc. andBlog Websites, News Media Websites as these new mediatechnologies have been facilitating extremely in terms of savingtime, access of everybody to a kind of media to share their views& opinions in seconds.

News Websites like NDTV.com, TV Today.com, CNN.com or Print medianews media websites like timesofindia.com, indianexpress.com,hindustantimes.com etc. have given the platform for thenewspersons or journalists to create blog sections for a electioncandidate or any elected member of parliament or ministerssitting in the government to seek the opinions of readers ortheir audience-fan to share their opinions about politicalsituations of any kind on this platform and even link it to othersocial networking websites like facebook or twitter. In all, anysingle message or opinion put up by a single reader or audienceon these news websites spreads like wild-fire to other audiencemembers or masses in no time. This is the power of New media andit has changed the way of “Political Discourse” or politicaldialogues among the public, journalists and political candidatesdrastically.

In the advent of New Media technologies, average citizen in Indianow have the opportunity to get more involved politically thanearlier when they were only passive audience in big politicalgatherings during election times organized by big politicalparties and leaders. The reason is now citizens of India can

raise their voice and build opinions in favour or against of anypolitical leaders, candidates or parties which is crucial forpluralistic nature of democratic society and government in anycountry of the world.

Politicians Building Platforms for Opinion Building Process-India politicians themselves have taken advantage of Internetbased new media and have developed their own personal websitesand many applications to increase their accessibilities to thepublic. These platforms are

Polarizing Indian Political Discourse and Rising role of New Media: A Study on Web Sites Contentof Indian News Media- Pg.2

great ways for staying connected with his or her supporters andallow political candidates to maintain an online presence. Moreand more Indian Politicians are incorporating these aspects ofnew media into their campaigns and are getting success.

News Media Websites and Political Discourse- Indian News Media(Print media and T.V. News media) have witnessed many changes inthe media behaviours of Indian audience in the past one decade.Today, increasing number of audience members belong to mobilecategory of audience, i.e. more and more audience members nowhave not much time to sit in home before their television sets tosurf news channels or read newspapers because they are outsidetheir homes to work or business or study. Internet based newmedia and almost all Indian News Media when they have startedtheir News websites, have given these kinds of audience members aeasy opportunity to access updated news and information whilethey are on move.

Changing Nature of Media landscape has also changed the mediabehavior of Indian audience members at present. There are many

News Media organizations like Times of India, Indian Express, TVToday Network, Times Now, CNN-IBN etc. have started their Webmedia divisions at full fledge. 24-Hour News Web-sites of theseNews media organizations like www.timesofindia.com ,www.indianexpress.com, www.aajtak.com, www.ndtv.com, etc. havecreated tremendously innovative platforms for integratedpolitical discourse in Indian Political Scenario.

Indian Public or citizen or voters, political leaders, electioncandidates, governments and constitutional bodies like “ElectionCommission” now all have started to use these platforms for fastpaced political dialogues and thus it has created the opportunityto many hidden conflicts to come up as visible as people of Indiasee, hear or read in news forms not daily but at hourly basis orwe can say in minutes to minutes, new information or news relatedto political process come up at scene.

In this way, all traditional or popular Indian News Media likeNewspapers, Radio, and Television and News magazinesorganizations have adapted themselves according to New Media orWeb based Media and have converged at one platform i.e.Convergent Media Technologies like Internet based media orComputer or Smart-phones based on Window or Android computerbased digital software.

In the above light, we, researchers, framed our research topic toanalyze the contents about political News items published on Newsmedia websites or study analytically the political discoursegoing on new media technologies like Websites of News MediaOrganizations.

To analyze the content of these News Websites, we have set someobjectives and framed some research questions and hypothesis.


http://www.ndtv.com/

http://www.aajtak.com/

http://www.indianexpress.com/

http://www.timesofindia.com/

Review of Literature-

There are various studies done on the use of New Media forpolitical dialogue among public, government and political partiesby some researchers in the recent past to know the effects of Newmedia technologies.

Political candidates in U.S.A. democratic set-up have beenutilizing social networking sites like YouTube, Flickr, Digg,and Twitter (Davies, Frank. "The Race Online: Obama, Rivals BringInternet Campaigning to New Level." McClatchy-Tribune BusinessNews. February 24 2008). U.S.A. President Barak Obama has beenparticularly successful in using these applications, as he hashis own YouTube user profile, Flickr photostream, and Twitteraccount. Obama's campaign mobilizes his supporters by sendingmass text messages to them, encouraging them to vote in futureelections, (, ABC. "ABC News Joins Forces with Facebook." ABCNews. December 16, 2007).

Television and the Internet based New Media are shaping Indianpolitical discourse in many ways. Researcher, Neil Postmandetails how television shaped political discourse in hisbook, Amusing Ourselves To Death. In the book, Postman comments onthe state of political discourse while showing how it has beenchanged because of television. What Postman doesn't go into ishow the Internet, blogs, advertising, and programs like the DailyShow affect political discourse.

In the past two decades recent changes in the media may have madePostman make some very different assumptions about the state ofpolitical discourse. Politics have been transformed by the rapidvisual image on the television screen and continue to change in

http://twitter.com/BarackObama

http://twitter.com/BarackObama

http://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom

http://www.youtube.com/user/BarackObamadotcom

http://www.twitter.com/

http://digg.com/

http://www.flickr.com/

http://www.youtube.com/

the stream of the multifaceted Internet and its forms ofcommunication.

According to Chris Kasch, a professor of Communications at BradleyUniversity, one of Postman's assumptions is that "the televisioncommercial is a primary instrument of political discourse" (2007). Uponanalyzing, this means that political candidates, senators,representatives, people elected by citizens of America, are usingtelevision commercials to spread an extremely basic level of politicalknowledge to the public. Political discourse has faded in such mediums asprint and has transformed


into something more visually appealing and less serious. Postman givesexplanation writing, "the television commercial has profoundly influencedAmerican habits of thought. Certainly, there is no difficulty indemonstrating that it has become an important paradigm for the structureof every type of political discourse" (1985, p. 126).

In U.S.A. democratic set-up, in 1987, the primary way for peopleto get information from television was from local news programsand 24-hour news programming. The big networks likeABC, NBC and CBS each had their own forms of local newsprogramming. For a large part of the 1980s CNN was the only major24-hour news network (Hughes, 2004). However, the nineties camealong and many other networks such as Fox and MSNBC grew fromwhat CNN had already established. Lain Hughes, professor at theUniversity of Georgia writes, "By the late 1990s CNN faced stiffcompetition from other cable news channels, such as MSNBC (ajoint venture of Microsoft and NBC) and Fox News Channel (ownedby billionaire Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation), both of whichwere launched in 1996" (Hughes, 2004). After the terrorist

http://voices.yahoo.com/topic/2933/fox_news.html

http://voices.yahoo.com/theme/1199/microsoft.html

http://voices.yahoo.com/topic/42659/msnbc.html

http://voices.yahoo.com/topic/16243/cbs.html

http://voices.yahoo.com/topic/21951/nbc.html

attacks local news programming began an uphill battle with thebig news channels. Paul Bedard of U.S. and World Report notes, "In anew poll, Myra Miller, of the Winston Group, finds CNN and Fox inthe national TV news driver's seat, largely because people liketuning in for headlines whenever they want" (2004). It isn'tbecause people don't like the stories local news programs have tooffer, rather, it is because they don't want to wait until thesix o' clock newscast or the ten o' clock newscast to hearstories. However, with the growing presence of the Internet, 24-hour news may one day be in the shoes of local news programs.

In the above perspective, India as a democratic set-up has alsobeen witnessing great conflicts between 24-hour television news-channel and internet based new media or News websites of the same24-hour television news-channels and national newspapers likeTimes of India and Indian Express for the advertising pie oradvertisement shares. In India, also, 1990s has seen upsurge ofsatellite television news channels and these were only strongmedia for political discourse at Indian political scenario.Starting with 2000 and till 2010 also was the period of strong24-hour Television news channels for political dialogues amongits stakeholders. But, starting with 2010 and for the last 4years almost all Indian News media organizations, newspapers andtelevision, have started their web sites or New media divisions.


The rise of the Internet continues to change public discourse as24-hour news did in the past. The Internet is now undercuttingmuch of the major news media. Eric Alterman, writer for TheNationpoints out, "NBC slashed its news-gathering operations and

plans to shutter its state-of-the-art MSNBC headquarters, dumpingmuch of its (admittedly awful) programming" (2006, p. 10).

The Internet has begun to threaten television and even print.Simply put, immediately finding information is easier thanwatching TV and waiting for a news item to come on. "Young peopledon't buy newspapers or watch the evening news-even or perhapsespecially, with cute Katie Couric reading it to them. Blogs aremore fun to read and sometimes more reliable" (Alterman, 2006, p.10). Blogs offer the reader a chance to participate. Bloggingoffers citizens a chance to comment on stories in a way thattruly allows freedom of speech.

Nicholas Lemann of The New Yorker gives insight into blogs andwrites, "citizen journalists are supposedly inspired amateurs whofind out what's going on in the places where they live and work,and who bring us a fuller, richer picture of the world than weget from familiar news organizations, while sparing us thepomposity and preening that journalists often display" (2006, p.45).

Blogs offer people a new and more personal perspective on theworld around them as they offer commentary on nearly every facetof life ranging from home life to being a soldier. While justabout anyone with the ability to write and an Internet connectioncan blog, Lemann thinks there should be some sort of standard forthe new online journalism. "Internet journalism has to meet highstandards both conceptually and practically: the medium has to berevolutionary, and the journalism has to be good.

The quality of Internet journalism is bound to improve over time,especially if more of the virtues of traditional journalismmigrate to the Internet." Although the Internet and blogs arestill relatively new, they are still being shaped by Journalism

standards that were initially set by television and print.Blogging continues to evolve into something more than it wasintended to be, just as television did within the past severaldecades.Polarizing Indian Political Discourse and Rising role of New Media: A Study on Web Sites Contentof Indian News Media- Pg.6

Research Hypothesis/Research Questions-

Our topic- “Polarizing Indian Political Discourse and Rising roleof New Media: A Study on Web Sites Content of Indian News Media”focuses upon the patterns and natures of news items or contentbeing provided on the websites of Indian news media organizationslike the Times of India, The Indian Express, NDTV.com etc.

Hypothesis- Before setting our research hypothesis, as aresearcher we must examine some previous findings related to thistopic. “What people have not grasped is that the Internet willchange everything” (Friedman, 1998). Some scholars have searchedfor evidence of such effects in the conduct of 21st- centurypolitical campaigning and discourse, the impact of internet as acommunication medium often seems hidden in plain sight. In fact,many traditional journalists have failed to grasp that theInternet’s comparatively modest production and distribution costsremoved the decision of “What is News and What is not News”.

1. In the above light, as a researcher we make the assumptionthat Online News Websites (New media technologies) haveblurred the line between hard news stories and soft newsstories when it compared to traditional news media likeNewspapers and 24-hours T.V. news channels. As timeliness isthe only factor which differentiates between hard & softnews stories.

2. New media based News websites of traditional newspapers andtelevision news media organizations have invented integratedplatforms for immediate feedback from audience members andthus speeding up (accelerating) the political news stories

flow for the round the clock developing news stories relatedto political discourse in Indian democratic set-up.

Research Questions- The following research questions are to beresolved in this research study-

Q.1- What are the nature and characteristics of contentspublished online on Indian News media websites?

Q.2- How the more digital space in comparison of traditionalnewspaper space does provide the opportunity and platform to newsmedia producers and news media audience for coming together atthe same time as there is no time lag between online publicationand audience uses?

Q,3- What is the ratio of political news items among differentnews items content published on these Indian News Media Websiteslike TimesofIndia.com and IndianExpress.com?

Q.4- How the online News websites of 24-hour television newschannels like AajTak and NDTV have transformed Indian politicaldiscourse as they hold audience while they are on move?


Q.5- How the different sections on these News websites of IndianNews media organizations like Blog section, Feedback, Opinion ofaudience section have shaped political discourse in a new form ascontinuous feedback from audience give the opportunity to improvepolitical happenings and situations and thus creating more andmore political discourse further?

All the above research questions are constructed in order toexamine and analyze the content nature of news websites of IndianNews Media organizations and to arrive at the conclusionsregarding polarizing Indian political discourse.

Theoretical Perspective-

We have based our research study on the theoretical perspectiveof “Cultivation Theory and Agenda Setting theory”. As Blumler andKavanagh (1999, pp.221-222) argue that the presumption of massexposure to relatively uniform political news content which hasunderpinned three leading paradigms of political effect- AgendaSetting, the Spiral of Silence and the Cultivation hypothesis-can no longer be taken for granted.

These News media websites publishes continuous political newscontents on these websites and continuous postings of blogs,opinions and feedback from audience members on these newswebsites is the proof for cultivating political ideas amongIndian audience or masses. These news media websites also set thenews agendas for audience because of they get huge advertisingsupports from political managers and corporate houses who want tomould the public opinions in their favour.

Research Methods and Data-

To conduct our research study on this topic, we researchers haveused “Content Analysis” method. The content analysis method isused to analyze the various variables in the contents to come upat the conclusions.

Regarding our Research Topic, the population or the universeincludes all Indian News Media organizations- newspaper media andtelevision news media.

Sampling-

To study the content of these news media websites, we have takensome samples among this whole population or universe. For this,we have taken 4 samples- www.timesofindia.com,www.indianexpress.com, www.aajtak.com, and www.ndtv.com on thebasis of at-random sampling technique. At- Random samplingtechnique which comes under the category of non-probability





sampling technique provides us the chance to study equally as allthe members of


whole universe or population are considered as homogenous. Here,all news media websites are taken as homogenous in nature and wehave used non-probability sampling type and At-random samplingtechnique for our research study.

Secondly, we have taken the sample for time or duration of thesefour news websites as 7 days or One-week duration. Apart fromthis, as Web Media- websites are flooded with continuous newsflow but previous stories are hold or stay on the website and newfew stories are added as the developments or events take place,so we have decided to observe for one day or 24 hour. So, weagain had taken sample, i.e. daily for whole day.

We have observed these news media websites for continuous sevendays and each day for One Hour duration and analyzed theircontents especially political news items or dialogues in the formof public opinions or feedback on these websites by the use ofresearch method- Content Analysis.

Content Analysis of four Indian News Media Website-

To study our research topic, we researchers, have used the“Quantification System”- at ratio level as we have measured theextent of political news content published online or New mediabased websites in percentage. The amount of television newsprogram and political coverage on 24-hour news channels and thesame being published on their online news websites is measuredhere at ratio level.

We have used the research tool- Tabulation by manual method torecord the amount of various kinds of content or news items onthese websites for example like political news coverage incomparison with other kinds of news items.

Data (Content Coding) Categorization & Tabulation-

Our research study based on content analysis methodology measuresdata or content on sampled News websites at ratio level techniqueof content analysis for quantification of data or content. Wehave categorized observed contents or data in various tablesgiven below; We have also coded and categorized all contents ornews items published or messages or feedback posted by audiencemembers on sampled four News media Websites in the followingvarious categories in given tables below-

Table-1

Measurement or Number of news items related to Political news ormessages vs. other Non-Political News items published online on 2Print Media News organization Websites TimesofIndia.com andIndianExpress.com sites:-


News Media Website- www.timesofindia.com , sample time: 7 Days & forwhole each day

Sr.No.

Date ofEdition

Number ofpoliticalnews items inorder tomeasurePoliticaldialogue

A

Numberof Non-political newsitems

B

Totalno. ofNewsitems

C = A+B

No. ofaudience-opinions orBlogsorfeedbackpostedonlinerelatedto

Aggregate no.ofitemsinvolved inpoliticaldiscourse

E= A+D


politicaldialogue

D

1. 13/10/13 ;Duration OneDay

85 135 220 32 117

2. 14/10/13; OneDay

65 168 233 26 91

3. 15/10/13; OneDay

88 174 262 18 106

4. 16/10/13; OneDay

54 138 192 22 76

5. 17/10/13; OneDay

58 173 231 30 88

6. 18/10/13; OneDay

60 140 200 40 100

7. 19/10/13: OneDay

70 180 220 45 115

Table no.-1 shows that the sample no.1 of our research study,i.e. ‘www.timesofindia.com’ categorically devoted its space to‘Coverage of Political News items’. Though, the data from our


research shows that the mean average of political news itemscovered per day by this daily is just 69 out of almost total 225news stories covered in one day and during one hour as sampletime; it reflects that Times group news media organizationallocate equal space and duration for political news items evenon its Web media division i.e. News Website also.

At the same time, on this news website, audience member also takeparticipation in political dialogue or Political Discourse as ourdata in Table no. 1 shows that mean average of number of messagesor blogs posted by audience members is around 30 messages postedon times of India news website.

Table-2 :- Percentage of Political News items covered Vs. Non-Political News items covered and Percentage of Audience FeedbackMessages among total Dialogues messages (News items+ Blogs oraudience messages posted) on Web media site- www.timesofindia.com

Sr.No.

Date of Edition ofpublished Onlinewebsite-www.timesofindia.com

PercentageofPoliticalNews Items

Percentageof Non-PoliticalNews Items

Percentageof Audiencefeedbackmessagesamong totaldialogue

D= ?% of E

1. 13/10/13 (38.6) 39% 61% (27.35) 27%




Duration One Day

2. 14/10/13

Duration One Day

(27.89) 28% 72% (28.57) 29%

3. 15/10/13

Duration One Day

(33.58) 34% 66% (16.98) 17%

4. 16/10/13

Duration One Day

(28.12) 28% 72% (28.94) 29%

5. 17/10/13

Duration One Day

(25.10) 25% 75% (34.09) 34%

6. 18/10/13

Duration One Day

(30.0) 30% 70% (40.0) 40%

7. 19/10/13

Duration One Day

(31.81) 32% 68% (39.13) 39%

Table no. 2 shows the ratio of political news items covered onTimes of India news website in comparison to other news items aswell as ratio of audience member share in political dialogue interms of messages or blogs posted on this site;

Our data shows that mean average of political news items share isaround 30% of total news items posted on this site. It reflectsthat highest share of political news items on this news websiteindicate higher political communication or dialogue by the use ofNew media. On the other hand, almost 70% other news itemspublished on times of India news website reflects that this newsmedia organization focuses upon equally other important issuesfor audience members.

Most importantly, the share of audience members in politicaldialogue or discourse is reflected by our data i.e. around 31%(30.71) participation of audience as 31% of total politicalcommunication messages or news items belongs to only Audienceblogs and opinions or messages; and on the other hand, 69%political news items belonged to other political news items whichare published by times of India News media organization.

Table No.3- Measurement or Number of news items related to Politicalnews or messages vs. other Non-Political News items published onlineon 2 Print Media News organization Websites TimesofIndia.com andIndianExpress.com sites:-

News Media Website- www.indianexpress.com , sample time: 7 Days & EachDay One Hour

Sr.No.

Date ofEdition

Number ofpoliticalnews items inorder tomeasurePoliticaldialogue

A

Numberof Non-political newsitems

B


C = A+B

No. ofaudience-opinions orBlogsorfeedbackpostedonlinerelatedtopolitical


E= A+D


dialogue

D


28 122 150 15 43

2. 14/10/13; OneDay

18 88 106 20 38

3. 15/10/13; OneDay

25 110 135 25 50

4. 16/10/13; OneDay

22 115 137 22 44

5. 17/10/13; OneDay

20 80 100 16 36

6. 18/10/13; OneDay

16 90 106 15 31

7. 19/10/13: OneDay

23 95 118 18 41

Table no.-3 shows that the sample no.1 of our research study,i.e. ‘www.indianexpress.com’ categorically devoted its space to

‘Coverage of Political News items’. Though, the data from ourresearch shows that the mean average of political news itemscovered per day by this daily is just 22 out of almost total 128news stories covered in one day and during one hour as sampletime; it reflects that Times group news media organizationallocate equal space and duration for political news items evenon its Web media division i.e. News Website also.

At the same time, on this news website, audience member also takeparticipation in political dialogue or Political Discourse as ourdata in Table no. 1 shows that mean average of number of messagesor blogs posted by audience members is around 40 messages postedon Indian Express news website.


Table No.4-Percentage of Political News items covered vs. Non-Political News items covered and Percentage of Audience FeedbackMessages among total Dialogues messages (News items+ Blogs oraudience messages posted) on Web media site-www.indianexpress.com

Sr.No.

Date of Edition ofpublished Onlinewebsite-www.indianexpress.com




D= ?% of E

1. 13/10/13 (15.3) 15% 85% (34.88) 35%




Duration One Day

2. 14/10/13

Duration One Day

(16.98) 17% 83% (52.63) 53%

3. 15/10/13

Duration One Day

(18.51) 19% 91% (50.0) 50%

4. 16/10/13

Duration One Day

(16.05) 16% 84% (50.0) 50%

5. 17/10/13

Duration One Day

(20.0) 20% 80% (44.44) 44%

6. 18/10/13

Duration One Day

(15.09) 15% 85% (48.38) 48%

7. 19/10/13

Duration One Day

(19.49) 19% 81% (43.90) 44%


Table no. 4 shows the ratio of political news items covered onThe Indian Express news website in comparison to other news itemsas well as ratio of audience member share in political dialoguein terms of messages or blogs posted on this site;

Our data shows that mean average of political news items share isaround 17% of total news items posted on this site. It reflectsthat highest share of political news items on this news website

indicate higher political communication or dialogue by the use ofNew media. On the other hand, almost 83% other news itemspublished on Indian Express news website reflects that this newsmedia organization focuses upon equally other important issuesfor audience members.

Most importantly, the share of audience members in politicaldialogue or discourse is reflected by our data i.e. around 46%(46.28) participation of audience as 46% of total politicalcommunication messages or news items belongs to only Audienceblogs and opinions or messages; and on the other hand, 54%political news items belonged to other political news items whichare published by Indian Express News media organization.

Table No.5- Measurement or Number of news stories related toPolitical news or messages vs. other Non-Political News stories postedand broadcasted (by video or online telecast) online on 2 TelevisionMedia News organization Websites- www.aajtak.com and www.ndtv.com websites:-

News Media Website- www.aajtak.com , sample time: 7 Days & Each DayOne Hour

Sr.No.

Date ofEdition

Number ofpoliticalnews storiesin order tomeasurePoliticaldialogue

A

Numberof Non-political newsstories

B


C = A+B

No. ofaudience-opinions orBlogsorvideopostedorfacebook


E= A+D




linkedmessageonlinerelatedtopoliticaldialogue

D


27 123 150 15 42

2. 14/10/13; OneDay

32 120 152 18 50

3. 15/10/13; OneDay

22 116 138 12 34

4. 16/10/13; OneDay

18 100 118 10 28

5. 17/10/13; OneDay

28 112 140 16 40

6. 18/10/13; OneDay

25 135 160 15 40

7. 19/10/13: OneDay

24 126 150 13 37

Table no.5- shows that the sample no.1 of our research study,i.e. ‘www.aajtak.com’ categorically devoted its time and space onits website to ‘Coverage of Political News items’. Though, thedata from our research shows that the mean average of politicalnews stories posted online per day by this daily is just 25 outof almost total 135 news stories covered in one day and duringone hour as sample time; it reflects that TV today group newsmedia organization allocate equal space and duration forpolitical news items even on its Web media division i.e. NewsWebsite also.

At the same time, on this news website, audience member also takeparticipation in political dialogue or Political Discourse as ourdata in Table no. 1 shows that mean average of number of messagesor blogs posted by audience members is around 14 messages postedon AajTak television channel news website.

Table no.6- Percentage of Political News items covered vs. Non-Political News items covered and Percentage of Audience FeedbackMessages among total Dialogues messages (News items+ Blogs orVideo messages posted) on Web media site- www.aajtak.com

Sr.No.

Date of Edition ofpublished Onlinewebsite-www.aajtak.com






D= ?% of E

1. 13/10/13

Duration One Day

(18.0) 18% 82% (35.71) 36%

2. 14/10/13

Duration One Day

(21.05) 21% 79% (36.0) 36%

3. 15/10/13

Duration One Day

(15.94) 16% 84% (35.29) 35%

4. 16/10/13

Duration One Day

(15.25) 15% 85% (35.71) 36%

5. 17/10/13

Duration One Day

(20.0) 20% 80% (40.0) 40%

6. 18/10/13

Duration One Day

(15.62) 16% 84% (37.50) 38%

7. 19/10/13

Duration One Day

(16.0) 16% 84% (35.13) 35%

Table no. 6 shows the ratio of political news items covered onAajTak television news website in comparison to other news itemsas well as ratio of audience member share in political dialoguein terms of messages or blogs posted on this site;

Our data shows that mean average of political news items share isaround 17% of total news items posted on this site. It reflectsthat highest share of political news items on this news websiteindicate higher political communication or dialogue by the use ofNew media. On the other hand, almost 83% other news items

published on Aajtak or TV today news website reflects that thisnews media organization focuses upon equally other importantissues for audience members.


Most importantly, the share of audience members in politicaldialogue or discourse is reflected by our data i.e. around 36%(36.57) participation of audience as 36% of total politicalcommunication messages or news items belongs to only Audienceblogs and opinions or messages; and on the other hand, 64%political news items belonged to other political news items whichare posted and telecasted by AajTak or TV today News mediaorganization on its Website.

Table no. 7- Measurement or Number of news stories related toPolitical news or messages vs. other Non-Political News stories postedand broadcasted (by video or online telecast) online on 2 TelevisionMedia News organization Websites- www.aajtak.com and www.ndtv.com websites:-

News Media Website- www.ndtv.com , sample time: 7 Days & Each DayOne Hour

Sr.No.

Date ofEdition

Number ofpoliticalnews storiesin order tomeasurePoliticaldialogue

A

Numberof Non-political newsstories

B


C = A+B

No. ofaudience-opinions orBlogsorvideoposted

Aggregate no.ofitemsinvolved inpoliticaldiscour




orFacebooklinkedmessageonlinerelatedtopoliticaldialogue

D

se

E= A+D

1. 13/10/13Duration OneDay

18 102 120 20 38

2. 14/10/13; OneHour

15 95 110 18 33

3. 15/10/13; OneDay

22 110 132 17 39

4. 16/10/13; OneDay

24 90 114 23 47

5. 17/10/13; OneDay

20 102 122 16 36

6. 18/10/13; OneDay

26 104 130 21 47

7. 19/10/13: OneDay

18 105 123 15 33

Table no.7- shows that the sample no.4 of our research study,i.e. ‘www.ndtv.com’ categorically devoted its time and space onits website to ‘Coverage of Political News items’. Though, thedata from our research shows that the mean average of politicalnews stories posted online per day by this daily is just 20 outof almost total 100 news stories covered in one day and duringone day as sample time; it reflects that NDTV group news mediaorganization allocate equal space and duration for political newsitems even on its Web media division i.e. News Website also.

At the same time, on this news website, audience member also takeparticipation in political dialogue or Political Discourse as ourdata in Table no. 7 shows that mean average of number of messagesor blogs posted by audience members is around 18 messages posteddaily on NDTV television channel news website.

Table no.-8- Percentage of Political News items covered vs. Non-Political News items covered and Percentage of Audience FeedbackMessages among total Dialogues messages (News items+ Blogs orVideo messages posted) on Web media site- www.ndtv.com ;

Sr.No.

Date of Edition ofpublished Onlinewebsite-www.ndtv.com






D= ?% of E

1. 13/10/13

Duration One Day

(15.0) 15% 85% (52.63) 53%

2. 14/10/13

Duration One Day

(13.63) 14% 86% (54.54) 55%

3. 15/10/13

Duration One Day

(16.66) 17% 83% (43.58) 44%

4. 16/10/13

Duration One Day

(21.05) 21% 79% (48.93) 49%

5. 17/10/13

Duration One Day

(16.39) 16% 84% (44.44) 44%

6. 18/10/13

Duration One Day

(20.0) 20% 80% (44.68) 45%

7. 19/10/13

Duration One Day

(14.63) 15% 85% (45.45) 45%

Table no. 8 shows the ratio of political news items covered onNDTV television news website in comparison to other news items aswell as ratio of audience member share in political dialogue interms of messages or blogs posted on this site;

Our data shows that mean average of political news items share isaround 18 % of total news items posted on this site. It reflectsthat highest share of political news items on this news websiteindicate higher political communication or dialogue by the use ofNew media. On the other hand, almost 82 % other news items

published on NDTV or NDTV news website reflects that this newsmedia organization focuses upon equally other important issuesfor audience members.

Most importantly, the share of audience members in politicaldialogue or discourse is reflected by our data i.e. around 36%(36.57) participation of audience as 48% of total politicalcommunication messages or news items belongs to only Audienceblogs and opinions or messages; and on the other hand, 52%political news items belonged to other political news items whichare posted and telecasted by NDTV or NDTV.com news mediaorganization on its Website.


Findings & Conclusions-

Our research study implies that New Media or Internet basedDigital Media now have taken a important place in our life. But,it has not replaced the popular media like Television,Newspapers. The New form of Media- digital media now has giventhe platform where all previous traditional-popular mediaconverge at one point and becomes “Convergent Media” and providesfurther the big facility to those audience members who have notime to read, watch and listen any communication medium due totheir other businesses (involvement). As there are no new theoryof communication flow model based on new variables constantlychanging over time periods, we as researchers has made hereby an

effort to innovate new theory of communication flow model givenbelow (Anjani Kumar Srivastava).

On the one hand, “New Media has changed the audience behavior inpresent days while it has brought closer the senders of message(Mass media producers) and the receivers (audience members) andthus changed the nature of physics in communication flow model,on the other”, (A new finding- Anjani Kumar Srivastava). It,further, is explained in new terms- number of messages in theform of news items and blogs and feedbacks has been increasedremarkably. Time lag between News items or messages posted onNews websites and audience feedback or blogs posted on thesewebsites is now very less. In other words, feedback come veryfast and it gives catalyst to create more messages or impacts offeedbacks given by audience members create more new News items inturn.

In other terms, Speed of News flow now has been accelerated sinceprevious days when there were no digital media very much popular.Senders of messages or News Producers now have increased theacceleration in pushing more new news items in order to bindingmore new audience members to their television news channels ornews media organization.

Here, definitely, some more new variables have been added inCircular model of communication flow given by Wilbur & Schramm(1956). Thus, here, a new communication flow model has beencreated (Anjani Kumar Srivastava, October, 2013). Here, feedbackagain becomes a new kind of original message or news items.Advertisements are now new variables changing the patterns ofcommunication flow; they are the impetus responsible for thespeed and velocity of News flow or message-feedback flow in ourNew communication flow model. We here refer “velocity of newsitems” because advertisements or sponsors push certain kinds ofnews stories towards targeted audience members in order to getdesired impacts or effects upon those audience members.

In our research findings, as we observe that present digitalmedia based News Websites like our samples-www.timesofindia.com ; www.indianexpress.com ; www.aajtak.com ;and


www.ndtv.com are having all categories of news stories posted.Equally, an audience member posts their blogs or feedbacks onthese websites on every category of news or messages.

Political News items created by news producers and politicaldialogues in form of blogs and feedback messages posted byaudience on new media websites share the major percentage ofwhole news items or messages published online.

Our research findings shows that audience participation inpolitical dialogues or communication created in form of blogs andfeedbacks on websites is around 50% of whole political messagespublished online. New media has definitely changed “Politicaldiscourse in Indian democratic set-up”.

These news websites (especially two belonging to television newschannels), no doubt, have changed the way audience’s mediabehaviors these days. Now, no audience member can miss theirfavorite television news programs or news items published inNewspapers or broadcasted on television as it can be accessedonline news websites in the same original form.

Thus, political class, public, and media producers all three havenow been in constant touch. For example, if at the particularmoment some news stories are published on www.aajtak.com orwww.timesofindia.com and some audience members read or watchthat, the next moment the producers of that stories or the partyinvolved (political leader) in that story immediately find the







feedback or blog posted by audience member either on the samenews-website or linked social networking website like twitter orfacebook.

The speed and velocity in messages or news stories flow in ourNew theory of communication model has definitely changed thepolitical discourse or dialogue in Indian Democratic system. Nowpolitical leaders in election time are using digital media or newmedia based News websites more and more. Social networkingwebsites are linked on the pages of these News media Websites, asour research findings for four samples show, are again newvariables adding new catalysts and accelerating the speed ofmessages being posted on news websites.

Here, velocity of messages refer to speed of messages or newsbeing posted online in a particular direction or targetedaudience members in order to get desired results. Running a Newswebsites incurs a huge capital amount or budget andadvertisements money support this. But, advertisements postedonline including viral advertisements on all news websites whichagain share the space and time on these new media websites havebeen identified as new variables in our research study.

Thus, our New Theory of Communication flow model, which is theproduct of our research study implies how new impeccablevariables have changed the nature of physics of


communication flow among public, political class and mass media.And thus, in this particular case, it has affected the politicaldiscourse among public or audience, political class, media ormessages producers or mass media.

References:- Our research study is original effort by ourselvesas researcher and authors but it certainly has been based on somereferences which has taken by us in the below given list-

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Alterman, E. (2003). What liberal media? New York: Basic Books

Althaus, S., & Tewksbury, (2002). Agenda setting and the “new” news: Patterns of issue importance among readers of the paper and online versions of the New York Times. Communication Research, 29, 180–207.

Anttiroiko, A. (2004). Introduction to democratic e-governance. Hershey, PA: IGI Publishing.

Armstrong, J., & Zúniga, M. M. (2006). Crashing the gate: Netroots, grassroots, and the rise of people-powered politics. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Pub. Co.Hermes, J. (2006). Citizenship in the Age of the Internet. European Journal of Communication,21(3), 295-309.

Shyles, L. (1984). Defining "Images" of Presidential Candidates from Televised Political Spot.Political Behavior, 6(24), 171-181.

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Hume, E. (1998). How new technologies are changing the news. In C. Harper (Ed.), What's Next in mass communication. New York: St. Martin's Press.

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http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

“Polarizing Indian Political Discourse and Rising role of New Media: A Study on Web Sites Content of Indian News Media”

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