Over the past decade, social media has become central to the outreach strategies of political actors across party lines in India. Politicians often engage with social media influencers, but where do journalists fit in?

These were themes discussed during “Journalism and the Weight of Social Media Influence”, a presentation by Joyojeet Pal, associate professor at the University of Michigan, at The Media Rumble 2023 that took place in Delhi on October 21. He talked about how influencers play a crucial role in setting political agendas, enabling micro-targeting, and driving political engagement.

“Influencers become a part of the disinformation campaign and actively spread misinformation online,” he said. 

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In India, foreign correspondents grapple with accessibility issues, press freedom sensitivities, and diplomacy nuances. What’s it like to balance journalism with global relations?

These were themes discussed during “An outsider’s view of India”, a panel discussion at The Media Rumble 2023 that took place in Delhi on October 21. Moderated by Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri and powered by the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, panellists comprised Mujib Mashal, South Asia bureau chief of The New York Times; Avani Dias, South Asia correspondent of ABC; Catherine Davison, independent journalist; and Lauren Frayer, London correspondent of NPR. 

Abhinandan highlighted the coverage of Israel and Palestine in India and his discomfort with some western media outlets. Mujib said, “We sometimes have to simplify a complex issue because we are writing for the lowest common denominator in terms of readership. But that is no excuse for being inaccurate.”

The panel discussed the need for digital and media literacy and accurate journalism.

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Climate change and environmental issues are significantly underreported in Indian newsrooms, with reportage often lacking depth. How can editors and reporters address the challenge of effective storytelling in this context?

These were the themes of “The Climate Change Beat”, a panel discussion at The Media Rumble 2023 that took place in Delhi on October 21. Moderated by journalist Nidhi Razdan, panellists comprised Naresh Fernandes, editor of Scroll; and independent journalists M Rajshekhar, Disha Shetty and Rishika Pardikar.

Nidhi talked about dwindling resources in mainstream television media, while Disha said journalists must be trained in reporting on climate and health. Rajshekhar said climate news stays on the margins, despite being a public health issue. 

“We need to look at climate change through every beat,” Naresh said, “whether it’s sports, food or politics.

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Films have the remarkable ability to bring people together and create awareness about social issues and communities. How do films use their storytelling to shed light on complicated issues? What impact do they have in inspiring collective action?

These were some of the themes discussed during a one-on-one conversation between writer and podcaster Anurag Minus Verma and filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan at The Media Rumble 2023 that took place in Delhi on October 21. 

Neeraj said the definition of entertainment is “lopsided”. “It can be escapist, but it can also be something that makes you think,” he said. He talked about the “Savarna savior” complex in films and the challenges of having no peers in the industry. 

Anurag and Neeraj also discussed the sanitization of artistic expression, especially on OTT platforms and YouTube, and the intersection of identity and politics. 

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Listen to the conversation here:

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With more news outlets introducing paywalls and subscriber models, readers now have more options than ever before. But are we in danger of subscription fatigue?

This was the theme of “Subscription Fatigue”, a panel discussion at The Media Rumble 2023 that took place in Delhi on October 21. Powered by Google and moderated by Newslaundry’s Chitranshu Tewari, panellists comprised Nandagopal Rajan, editor (new media) and business head at The Indian Express; Niyati Rajput, a subscription expert; Pradeep Gairola, business head at The Hindu; and Swetha Susan Elias, program manager at Google’s news partnership team. 

The panel contrasted how news subscription is seen as against subscriptions to OTT and music platforms. Nandagopal said subscriptions must “tap into loyalty and create new loyalties over time. Pradeep said it’s hard to retain audiences, and explained success with Indian Express’s epaper. Swetha brought up India’s linguistic diversity and said there’s a need to launch new verticals to accommodate varied audiences.

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India’s newsrooms lack diversity across roles and departments, isolating minority voices across communities. What’s it like being a minority voice in a newsroom skewed towards majority communities? How can media owners make their organisations more diverse?

These were some of the themes discussed during “Diversity in Media”, a panel discussion at The Media Rumble 2023 that took place in Delhi on October 21. Moderated by The News Minute editor-in-chief Dhanya Rajendran, the panel comprised Meena Kotwal, founder of The Mooknayak; Ankur Paliwal, founder of Queerbeat; Shadab Moizee, associate editor of The Quint; and Gunjan Singhvi, news product partnerships at Google.

Meena talked about the launch of Mooknayak and how small news organisations can show the way for Big Media to achieve diversity. Dhanya said there’s a gap in inclusive policies and their implementation, and equality doesn’t guarantee equity. 

“If you leave people on the margins,” Ankur said, “they will leave you.”

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The “occupational hazard” of being a journalist is facing a barrage of online abuse, threats and intimidation. In India, the situation is worse for Muslim journalists. How did things get so bad, and are editors today glorifying the need for journalists to grow a thick skin?

These were some of the topics tackled in the discussion “Occupational Hazard” during The Media Rumble 2022, which took place in Delhi on October 14 and 15. 

The session was moderated by Dhanya Rajendran, cofounder and editor-in-chief of the News Minute. The panel comprised Bram Logger, cofounder of SPIT, an investigative collective; Fatima Khan, senior reporter with the Quint; Colin Pereira, director of HP Risk Management; and Hartosh Singh Bal, political editor of the Caravan.

Hartosh explained how, in the current climate, “there is no larger choice than to accept that it is going to happen, recognise it, and try to ensure it doesn’t get to you emotionally”.  He also talked about what to do when physical threats become dangerous.

Colin added that in the past few years, there’s been an “awakening” among younger journalists and women journalists saying “look, it’s not okay that we’re beaten up because of our jobs, it’s not okay that our bosses don’t look after us, it’s not okay that the environment we live in is a hostile one”.

Text by Hardik Dogra.

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The civil society in India has shrunk in both size and scope. But who is to blame? What is the role of the media in this phenomenon? Will the increasingly symbiotic relationship between governments and corporations allow for meaningful freedom of speech and action? 

The Media Rumble 2022 tackled these questions and more at the session titled "Shrinking Civic Spaces." TMR 2022 was held in Delhi on October 14 and 15.

The session was moderated by Amitabh Behar of Oxfam India. The  speakers were Biraj Patnaik of the National Foundation of India, Safoora Zargar of Jamia Millia Islamia, lawyer Suroor Mander, and Dalit activist Nodeep Kaur.

"The government has created a structure where some of us either by choice or, by force, speak in a language within a specific structure," said Zargar. 

Commenting on the state of the media, Behar said, "Indian journalism is alive and thriving, but Indian media is long dead."

The speakers also discussed the need for India to have a public broadcaster, accountability in journalism, and the grassroots work needed to restore and sustain the civil society space.

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Text by Reet Kaur Sahni.

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How did India’s education sector cope with the disruption of the pandemic? Did the resultant push to conduct classes online affect marginalised groups adversely? What lessons did the industry learn?

The Media Rumble 2022 discussed all this and more at the session titled “Digitising Education”. Moderated by Mohit Satyanand, entrepreneur and chairperson of Teamwork Arts, which organised the media festival along with Newslaundry, the session had as speakers Aashish Mandhwani of Shri Ram Schools, Kishalay Bhattacharjee of the Jindal School of Journalism and Communication, Maya Mirchandani of Ashoka University, and Paroma Roy Chowdhary of Byju’s. 

“Learning for us was two ways,” said Mirchandani. “One was to re-tailor our content that was meant to be imparted in a physical classroom. Second was to learn from digital-savvy students to make our classrooms more interesting.”

The session also tackled the question of whether the pandemic furthered the inequality in the education sector.

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Text by Aanchal Poddar.

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Is the representation of marginalised groups in mainstream media going to change anytime soon? Why does the Indian legacy media cover crime against women the way it does?

What are the challenges female journalists face in India? 

These questions made for an insightful discussion at The Media Rumble 2022 session "Women in Media". TMR 2022 was held in Delhi on October 14 and 15. 

The session, moderated by Akash Banerjee of The Deshbhakt, had for speakers Babita Gautam of the Voice Media and the Dalit Desk, independent journalist Priyanka Dubey, Priyanka Kher of Breakthrough, and Sayema Rahman of Radio Mirchi.

"There is representation of women in the media but as victims. Rape stories and abuse," said Rahman. "Women are largely still a fair and lovely camp, even in newsrooms. Women are not in power and impact positions."

The speakers also discussed the role of popular culture in the glorification of violence and the impact of media on public psychology.

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Text by Reet Kaur Sahni.

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