Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 5 Jun: Doon Library and Research Centre organised a lecture on “Media and Democracy: Entrepreneurial Journalism and Digital Publics”. The lecture was delivered by media scholar Prof Anup Kumar.
In his presentation, Prof Kumar emphasised that understanding the relationship between media and democracy requires a deeper understanding of how public opinion is formed. Drawing upon foundational research and scholarly debates in the field of public opinion and media effects, he explained the role of contemporary digital media and entrepreneurial journalism in shaping public opinion and influencing democratic processes.
Prof Kumar noted that the rise of entrepreneurial journalism on YouTube and social media platforms, along with the rapid growth of digital publics, has transformed journalists into opinion leaders, often referred to as influencers. This development, he said, has revived an old question in journalism and public opinion studies: Should journalists tell people what issues are important to think about, or should they tell people how to think about those issues?
According to Prof Kumar, many entrepreneurial journalists on YouTube and social media are increasingly telling audiences how to think rather than what to think about. He suggested that this may be because only a limited number of digital journalists engage in original reporting, which is essential for establishing facts and identifying important public issues. As a result, audiences are often exposed to competing interpretations and conflicting narratives.
He further pointed out that algorithms controlling news feeds on YouTube and other social media platforms tend to show users content that aligns with their existing preferences. This can limit exposure to diverse viewpoints and may draw audiences deeper into a cycle of opinion-driven content rather than fact-based information.
Prof Anup Kumar is a distinguished scholar of media, politics, and society. He currently serves as Director and Professor at Cleveland State University, USA. Before entering academia, he worked as a journalist in Uttarakhand. His research on the sociology of news and media-politics relationships has been published in leading international academic journals. He is the author of “The Making of a Small State” and is currently working on a major book examining digital sociology, digital publics, and emerging forms of media and journalism.
At the beginning of the programme, Chandrashekhar Tiwari, Programme Officer of Doon Library and Research Centre, welcomed Prof Kumar and the audience. Himanshu Ahuja introduced the speaker.
The event concluded with an interactive question-and-answer session. Writers, journalists, literary figures, and citizens from across the city attended the programme, including Raju Gusain, Sundar Bisht, and Jagdish Singh.
