It appears
that Rupert Murdoch, has monopolised and ‘tabliodised’ the Indian press- in
turn creating political implications, and possibly the notion of bias, which
could be transmitted onto television screens in India. According to table 2
‘National reach of main news networks’ (the Murdochization of news? The case of
Star TV in India) Murdoch owned network ‘Star TV’ reaches 38.4% of the Indian
population- which as of 2013 had 1.27 billion residents.
The rapid growth of the Indian economy may
be partly due to, Murdoch’s investment in media organisations. According to the
International Monetary Fund (IMF, 2013) India has the tenth largest economy in
the world, worth $2 trillion. However, according to the same organisation,
before Rupert Murdoch bought ‘Star TV’ India was in financial difficulty, with
countries such as Spain, Canada and Mexico having a bigger economy. This point is exemplified by the
Murdochization of news report, when it states ‘Star news has the resources to
influence the news market substantially.’
Murdoch appears to promote sensationalised
news, demonstrated in the UK with his ownership of News Corporation, which is
responsible for producing titles such as ‘The Sun’ and the controversial now defunct
‘News of The World.’ He appears to have taken this approach to India, validated
by the study discussing a relationship between two famous Indian actors: ‘The
grainy pictures intercepted through the mobile telephones of the two young
actors, were repeatedly aired on Star News as an exclusive news scoop.’ This is
the kind of image printed by tabloid newspapers, and therefore, implies that
Star News places a heavy reliance on celebrity, gossip, news and scandal.
Rupert Murdoch’s successful business ventures
in India appears to stem from a desire to produce, localised content and sport
which matters to the Indian people. This is shown by Star News transforming
itself into a ‘Hindi-only channel to widen its appeal in the language spoken by
the largest number of Indians.’ Murdoch has widened his demographics, by
producing content into India’s main language; therefore, localising news and
possibly gaining the respect of the Indian people, they may also be far more
responsive to content that is created, produced and distributed into their
mother tongue.
Murdoch has popularised television in India, verified by a quote from the Indian commentator Ninan (2004)
‘thanks to Mr. M, we watch more TV than ever before.’ In addition, when Murdoch
purchased Star TV in 1992, it was estimated that only 1.2 million homes in
India had access to television. However, by 2005, this figure rose to 400
million, with cable and satellite television reaching 61 million homes
(Satellite and Cable TV, 2005, Vasudev)
Murdoch’s obsession with his rivals stems
from a desire for his company, to be the number one broadcasting service in
India. Reliance, one of India’s biggest corporations was in the spotlight in
2005. Star News, reported heavily on a feud between the brothers who co-own
Reliance, discussing every minute detail about the argument between the
brothers, on how best to re-organise the institution. However, during the same
period, there was a major story constantly evolving, about a path-breaking
agreement between Pakistan and India, regarding a gas pipeline, which would
have ‘benefited millions of rural Indians’ and this issue was hardly given a
mention on Star News.
In
conclusion, Murdoch’s vision to conquer the Indian media market, has given the
Indian people more ways to consume media. He has also seen his organisation,
accumulate profitability and respectability, by ‘tabliodising’ the market, and
concentrating on celebrity, sport and controversial topics. Murdoch has in turn
boosted the Indian economy considerably, and offered an alternative to the
existing media on offer in the Asian co
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