Faculty, Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Bengaluru City University, Karnataka
Political news coverage has gained prominence in Indian news media. Exclusive prime-time slots in television channels are dedicated for political news debates. Owing to the effects of audio-visual elements, political affiliation of panelists, dominance of male speakers, media ownership, selective classification of debate topics, and average discussion time per panelist; a plenty of questions are raised on authenticity of these prime-time (9-10pm) news discourses.
Using quantitative content analysis method, this study has examined on the way prime-time TV news has framed or presented news stories to its audiences. Examining the prevalence of media frames taken from earlier studies, this study has analyzed the authenticity in prime-time (9-10 pm) television news debates and, media framing in prime-time (9-10 pm) television news debates.
Findings have shown an astonishing violation of journalistic code of ethics in prime-time debates, biased packaging and presentation of news, unequal representation of women as panelists. This study suggests inclusivity in gender profiles and uniform representation of all political parties in the panel.
As this is a dominant area of discourse, the study suggests news media literacy and fact checking as vital areas demanding a personalized campaign to make informed choices. This paper adds to the slowly growing literature on framing analysis in the Indian television news media.
Framing, TV debates, Prime-time, Political news, India
