Nicole S Cohen and Greig de Peuter, New Media Unions: Organizing Digital Journalists, Routledge, March 24, 2020, [ISBN 978-1-138-32711-5] Pp.118
Artha Journal of Social Sciences; Vol. 19 No. 3 (2020): Artha Journal of Social Sciences; 93-96
Centre for Publications, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore
Copyright (c) 2020 Artha Journal of Social Sciences
Toward a Theory of Atypical Media Work and Social Hope
Most media work today takes place under atypical conditions, i.e. media professionals such as journalists, musicians, filmmakers, advertising creatives and game developers generally work without open-ended contracts. In this essay, a theory of atypical media work is outlined highlighting this way of working and being at work from the current culture of capitalism. Further, it also throws light on how dualisms, dominating the discourse on media work – such as contracted versus freelance labour, primary and secondary sector employment, good versus bad jobs, paid versus unpaid work – are not as useful as they seem to be is shown. It also delves into the different ways of making precarity, precariousness, constrained autonomy and lack of agency and highlights themas the key problematic features of atypical work – productive (beyond productivity narratives). Throughout the argument, the reasons and motivations for (doing and studying) atypical media work are articulated with a distinct sense of shared social hope.
Artha Journal of Social Sciences; Vol. 19 No. 3 (2020): Artha Journal of Social Sciences; 1-20
Declining Bargain Power: Streaming, Production, and Entertainment Labour
The fluidity of time and space, diverse collection, and personalized recommendations of streaming (OTT players) would mean a lot to a viewer looking for instant entertainment. On the other hand, such transitions from traditional viewing platforms pose a diverse challenge to everyone involved in entertainment productions. The remote select button is replaced with a scrolling option, but the difference is in the platform's 'thinking' or analytical algorithm, which was not part of traditional TV or Cinema hall. This global shift might be beneficial to a few and yet, lowers the number of personnel involved in productions. This is a conceptual paper looking into the interaction between streaming and the entertainment industry labour.
Artha Journal of Social Sciences; Vol. 19 No. 3 (2020): Artha Journal of Social Sciences; 21-35
A History of the State-Media Link in Kashmir
For decades, the media has been a powerful agency in presenting Kashmir and shaping views in the national and the international imaginations. Recognising the complex multiplexity of the influences on the media that report on Kashmir, this work is an endeavour to examine the history of the media’s relationship with the state through Archival Research. Documents accessed from Srinagar’s Civil Secretariat’s media section of the archives unravel the state’s attempts to establish a relationship with the media in the militarised region since the early 1950s. This research sheds light on the nature of the association between the media and the state, as this understanding is crucial in understanding any conflict region. Hence, it becomes necessary to uncover the trajectory of power, as well as the nuances of histo-political nature of the liaison between the two entities that have contoured the narrative on this region of conflict.
Artha Journal of Social Sciences; Vol. 19 No. 3 (2020): Artha Journal of Social Sciences; 37-60
An Autoethnography of Child Artists in Tamil Dance Reality Television Production
Reality Television shows that revolve around the lives of children have become popular to audiences of all ages, which is evident in their success across diverse channels and various demographics (Palmer, 2013). With the increase in the number of reality shows and child participants in them, emerges a critical need of questioning the power of those in authority and are in- charge of production over the powerless group (the children) who aren’t of an age to legally possess the right to consent on their work, but have become the primary focus of almost every aspect of media commercialisation. An analysis of the conditions and effects of child participation in reality shows is extremely complex as it is difficult to make a child share his/her experience with others. It is also true that the history of children’s daily experiences are extremely difficult to trace, since children themselves have had little or no access to those public forms of expression (Holland, 2004). This paper is an autoethnographic study that explores Tamil dance reality television's child artists during the period 2008-2020.The bodily performances of the dance reality television’s child artists and crew are studied by focusing on the intersections of body and space and with them developing in this context the concept of Biopolitics, as advanced by Michel Foucault (1979). The qualitative study covers a sample of 8 dance reality shows in five different Tamil channels with a focus on 12 child artists and how they spend their everyday lives in the shooting sets, rehearsal studios and other media production spaces. The researcher, being an insider in the reality television programmes, as a freelance floor director and coordinator for more than ten years now, provides this paper a significant leverage of the same and uses methods of memory work and self-reflexive writing along with in-depth interviews.
Artha Journal of Social Sciences; Vol. 19 No. 3 (2020): Artha Journal of Social Sciences; 71-92
Artha Journal of Social Sciences; Vol. 19 No. 3 (2020): Artha Journal of Social Sciences; v-ix
Political Culture and Democracy in Bhutan: An Insight
The democratic transition of Bhutan is often romanticised in popular media through utopian projection of Gross National Happiness. While it is glorified for its top-down democratisation, it has a flip side with no effective opposition either from the parties or the people. Adhering to the democracy as tailored by the King is viewed by the Bhutanese as a gift to live by without questioning or even criticising. This has largely to do with the policies long adopted by the Bhutanese Royals to develop a strong sense of national loyalty that does not bespoke of any form of opposition. Accordingly in an age of globalisation where people in most democracies vociferously voice their opinions even on the social media platforms, a quiet adherence to government rules and policies in Bhutan gives a mystified picture. A demystification of this phenomenon perhaps lies in the study of the political culture of Bhutan which is unlike that of other democratic countries. Political culture implies the system of beliefs and values that the people have towards their political system. It denotes the emotional attitudinal environment within which the political system operates. Accordingly, the paper will examine the political culture of Bhutan so as to give an insight into its process of democratic transition and functioning. It will attempt to understand the Bhutanese political culture to analyse the danger of inaccurate conclusions based on misconceptions not entirely true to Bhutan’s reality. This article is written with the support of the ICSSR postdoctoral fellowship programme (2018-2019) on ‘Democracy and Nationalism in Bhutan: Challenges and Prospects’.
Artha Journal of Social Sciences; Vol. 21 No. 2 (2022): Artha Journal of Social Sciences
Copyright (c) 2022 Artha Journal of Social Sciences
Trying and Failing and Trying again: Work in the Media
This paper is an historical auto-ethnographic account by a middle aged journalist who has worked in the English language media in India for about 20 years. English language media staff is among the best paid in the country. Even so, work conditions are far from ideal, and the pandemic this year has rendered several journalists jobless. This is a personal account of one career trajectory that spans book publishing, work on national radio, newspapers and a news agency. Growth prospects are curtailed for women in the news media; one boss at the Times of India¸ India’s largest English daily, told the author that her “body language” betrayed a lack of interest in work.
Artha Journal of Social Sciences; Vol. 19 No. 3 (2020): Artha Journal of Social Sciences; 61-70
Psychotherapeutic Praxis in India: Incorporation and Application of Indigenous Worldviews
This research aims to gain insight into the incorporation of indigenous worldviews on mental health. Unstructured interviews were used on 16 counsellors who practised in Bangalore following the phenomenological paradigm. The interviews were audio- recorded and transcribed following which it underwent the 4 stages in Giorgi’s method. The revelatory themes obtained from this study were that clients viewed counsellors as authority figures, they experienced shame and guilt, lack of social support, ostracism, isolation, faced language barriers, feared diagnosis and medication and so on. The main conduit of religion and culture, the family, is influenced by class, education, rural or urban origin, joint or nuclear setup and so on. Counsellors developed the skills and sensitivity to respond to these demands.
Artha Journal of Social Sciences; Vol. 19 No. 1 (2020): Artha Journal of Social Sciences; 77 - 89
Management of Anxiety in Pre-Operative CABG Clients
Anxiety and stress affect cardiac functions leading to the development of various heart diseases including Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) where cholesterol build-up leads to coronary artery occlusion causing angina, cardiac arrest and possible death. Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) is a surgical procedure to treat CAD in severe cases. This study aims to employ psychological intervention to reduce anxiety in pre-operative CABG patients. A case-control study measuring anxiety levels was conducted in 30 participants. They received psychological interventions and their anxiety levels were determined by administering HAM-A rating scales pre and post assessment prior to surgery. The intervention group had better prognosis and recovery after CABG than the control group who received no psychological intervention. Reduction in anxiety pre-surgery leads to a better outcome.
Artha Journal of Social Sciences; Vol. 19 No. 1 (2020): Artha Journal of Social Sciences; 67 - 76