Publication

Abstract : The Indian society which was once threatened by severe class and caste clashes had tried all means to develop an ecumenical environment. However, the disparity in the media industry has made matters worse. Unlike the yesteryears when the skirmish was limited at individual levels, the twenty first century Indian society fights at a more complicated level. It is the era of the „Star wars‟. Instead of controlling the bewildered herd, as believed by Lipmann, the media barons and conglomerates want them to fight, oppose and evict each other for the latter‟s petty interests. Well, though the audience isn‟t that gullible as put forward in the hypodermic needle theory or the Magic Bullet hypothesis; it is true that the mass can be convinced and their opinions moulded by the media giants around us. Thus contradictory to Lipmann‟s remark, it is the media conglomerates who are the giant beasts and not the public. These giants try to put information and misinformation in our minds so much so that we become different creatures altogether within a short span of time. Although what we learn in school and from family and peers contribute to build our mind set, but as we grow up with age our bonds with family and peers get detached. Then the most common source of information, misinformation, distortion, and stereotypes to us is the media; both the news and entertainment sections. Their told stories are so repetitive and frequent that they often penetrate our psyche and pose as “the truth.” Just as the Indian society was divided into various castes or creeds on the basis of the jobs performed during the early Vedic civilization, the 21st Century Indian media society is also divided into various classes.