BJP TODAY

May 16--31, 2003 - Vol. 12, No. 10

One- sided media perception and image of India in Western Media
AAL Dr. Agnihotri's efforts of projecting right image

During the visits of Dr. B.K. Agnihotri, Ambassador-at-Large (AAL) for NRIs/PIOs to various places in the US and to countries including Canada, UK and the Caribbean and his wide-ranging interaction with the Diaspora, the NRI and PIO community has been voicing their concern about the wrong, narrow and one-sided media perception and image of India being presented by Western media.

The Office of the Ambassador-at-Large had, as part of its on-going work, established nine Project Groups consisting of Indian professionals and intellectuals throughout the US, Canada and the Caribbean who had offered their enthusiastic support and assistance to the AAL during the interaction. One of these Groups includes Media Project Group which had been assigned the project of studying the reasons and proposing ways by which the Indian community could work with different media sources to correct the misinformation and media imbalances. This group had submitted a draft proposal for further consideration and follow-up.

The Office of the Ambassador-at-Large is facilitating the Project in formulating long-term policies and suggestions which would help improve media coverage and the image of India therein. It was decided to hold workshops in various regions of the USA to create broader awareness and to receive more input from a large number of community members for formulating action plans. Workshops were held in Los Angeles, New York, Houston, and Atlanta.

These workshops were organized at area universities with participation from academicians, media personnel, eminent NRIs/PIOs and interested local Indian populace from the region. Each workshop put forward suggestions and action points which were to be further studied for formulating proposals for implementation.

There was active involvement by the audience in discussing the relevant issues. The workshops were designed to encourage audience participation, so that a constructive dialogue could be developed between the speakers and the audience. Audience members also made recommendations for the various groups discussed at the workshop. Based on the interest indicated by the communities all over, awareness workshops may be conducted in other states in the future.

Part of the process of creating the final report has included a draft summary of the Media Workshops created by Mr. Vivek Menon and Mr. Sanjay Ramabhadran (Houston, Tx). The draft summary was forwarded to the Media Committee of the Office of the Ambassador-at-Large for NRIs/PIOs (Honorary Associates-Mr. Amit Sarkar, Mr. Udayan Chattopadhyay, and Mr. Sanjay Acharya) for further action. In addition to this, the draft summary was sent to the panelists of all the Media Workshops for review and comment. Their comments and the comments of the Media Committee were sent back to Mr. Vivek Menon and Mr. Sanjay Ramabhadran to be incorporated as needed in order to create the final report.

Executive Summary

The 1.7 million strong Indo-Aerican community has seen an unprecedented growth in the last decade. Having established its professional and economic credibility, the community has matured over the years and has lately focused on the image of India and Indo-Americans in the media. Recognizing this heightened level of concern within the diaspora, the Office of the Ambassador-at-large initiated an effort to enhance India's image in the western media. A series of workshops were initiated to understand the perception of India in the western media, analyze the present level of coverage and recommend initiatives to enhance India's image. The first workshop at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) set the stage for the series of workshops that followed at Pace University in New York, the University of Houston, and Atlanta. Each workshop drew on the success of the previous and attracted panelists and audience from the length and breadth of the United States.

It is critical to understand that the western media operates like a business and its coverage being dictated by ratings. This in turn means the media must reflect the interests, values and prejudices of the general audience and the interest of its business. Consequently, foreign news coverage often tends to be limited to sensational news items such as coups, catastrophes and corruption. The stability of India's democracy has resulted in recent coverage focusing on the undesirable adverse news items. India has to be "different" in important ways to the western world. A well thought out, clear and feasible strategy followed by a nation-wide concerted effort is critical to enhance the image of India.

There is a dire need to convey the message of the Government of India and Indian Americans in a clear, concise, compelling, credible, captivating and timely manner to appeal both to the media and its audience. Recognizing that the messenger is as important as the message, spokespersons for the community need to be chosen, presentable, knowledgeable and articulate. Improving India's image gets a significant boost with the individual participation of Indian Americans.

This report broadly classifies recommendations as those to be undertaken by the Government of India and those undertaken by Indian Americans. The focus needs to be on measurable goals leading to a nationwide movement to enhance India's image in the western media. Understanding the existence of an inter-relationship between the media and governmental policy, the services of a Public Relations/Lobby firm would greatly benefit the cause. There is a need to continually and effectively monitor the media and foster relationships with media personalities at the local, state and national level.

Having recognized the need to influence the western media as a business, the Indo-American community has to orchestrate a coordinated effort. The complete solution involves the role of Indo-Americans not merely as ambassadors of India but as volunteers in a concerted effort to cultivate, nurture and develop long-term relationships with the media. This effort is within the control of the local communities all across the country and needs to be coordinated nationwide. The synergy of a collaborative effort between the Government of India and Indian Americans would greatly accelerate attaining the goal of enhancing the image of India in the western media.

Background

The Indo-American community has seen an unprecedented growth in the last decade as evidenced by the 2000 US census. Known for its professional and economic achievements and contributions, the community has matured over the years and has lately focused on the image of India and Indo-Americans in the media. The majority of the 1.7 million strong community feel that the western media focuses more on the negatives than on the positives of India's image. The recent adverse coverage and seeming non-recognition of key events in the sub-continent have been a cause for concern amongst the diaspora. While the Indo-American community is a force to reckon with at the local level in terms of its contributions, there is a need for a concerted national effort to address India's image.

Introduction

Recognizing the heightened level of concern within the diaspora, the Office of the Ambassador-at-large has initiated an effort to understand, evaluate and enhance India's image in the western media. Deeply concerned with India's insignificant coverage in the western media, a series of workshops were initiated, devoted to understanding the perception of India in the western media, analyzing the present level of coverage and recommending initiatives to enhance India's image.

The Media Workshop Series

The first workshop at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) set the stage for the series of workshops that followed. Second in the series was a workshop held at Pace University in New York. Third in a series of four, the Houston workshop built on the success of the earlier two workshops with participation from the University of Houston's Department of Communications. The final workshop was held in Atlanta. The workshop series saw both panelists and audience participants from the length and breadth of the United States.

The Panels

The illustrious panels consisted of experts from the media, academicians, corporate executives, doctors, attorneys, political activists and those intimately involved with the activities of the Indo-American community. The panelists included:

Mr. Rajiv Malhotra
Attorney Madvi Verma
Dr. Sudhir Parikh
Dr. Rajesh Shukla
Dr. Surendra Kaushik
Mr. Ram Narayanan
Dr. Krishna Reddy
Ms. Anna Prasad
Mr. Narpat Bhandari
Dr. Kumar Patel
Dr. Satinder Swaroop
Dr. Lakshman Koka
Mr. Indra Gandhi
Mr. Jaydev Rao
Mr. Ravi Tilak
Dr. R. Anand
Mr. Mahinder Singh
Mr. Navin Doshi
Mr. Harish Dhruv
Mr. Sanjay Acharya
Dr. Chandrakant Panse
Mrs. Usha Chopra
Mr. Amit Sarkar
Prof. Rishi Raj
Mr. Devinder Singh Sawhney
Mr. Udayan Chottopadhyay
Mr. Narayan D. Kesawan
Mr. Chandrakanth Pancholi
Dr Garth Jowett
Dr. Stephen Klineberg
Dr. Alok Bhargava
Dr T.R.N. Rao
Mr. J.V. Lakshmana Rao
Mr. Bernard J. Shapiro
Mr. Pramod Kulkarni
Mr. Pradeep Anand
Dr. P.V. Pathak
Mr. Vivek Menon
Mr.Sockalingam(Sam) Kannappan
Mr. Amit Kataria
Mr. Dhirubhai Shah
Mr. Subash Razdan
Mr. Basant Tariyal
Mr. BhuDev Sharma
Mr. Ram Sidhaye
Mr. Srikanth Konda
Mr. Shyam Tiwari
Mr. Amit Shah
Mr. Bikhu Patel
Mr. K. K. Vijai
Mr. Amitabh Sharma
Mr. Girish Patel
Mr.Ashwin Patel