HONOUR IN THE NEWS: MEDIA REPRESENTATION OF HONOUR KILLINGS NIDHI SHENDURNIKAR, RESEARCH SCHOLAR (DEPT. OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, M.S.UNIVERSITY) Abstract The article focuses on the recent spurt of news on honour based crimes in India and the way the mass media has represented stories on these happenings. Though honour based violence is not something new; it has caught media attention only recently. Sporadic cases of honour killings especially in the northern parts of the country have been in news and have gone ahead to define the concept in the minds of Indians. Through an extensive literature review, the paper seeks to examine the quality of coverage by the media as also the relation between media and popular culture. Reporting by the media has played an important role in developing an understanding on the issue but at the same time there are concerns of biased and lop-sided coverage which have hurt the larger cause. Mass media has a deep impact on culture and vice versa. The manner in which media talks about such social crimes builds public opinion as also educates masses about regressive social practices around them. A debate on notions of culture, honour, society and inclusiveness is sparked when the media not only comes up with stories on such killings but also takes up a stand against them. Audience perception about honour crimes is definitely shaped by news which they read and views which they hear in the media. The paper tries to look at the issue not from the angle of 'newsworthiness' but as a larger responsibility of the fourth estate in the country to bring such social malpractices to the limelight. Key Words: honour, mass media, violence, news, culture, social practice, public opinion 1 -
Why only Honour Killings? If you happened to scan recent editions of Indian newspapers and hear news on prime time Television (TV), chances are likely that you would read or hear about the incidences of honour killings taking place in some parts of the country. Suddenly, the media has woken up to the reality of these killings which were taking place even as they were not making news. Honour killings have existed irrespective of cultural and religious differences. But these are only the extreme form of violence in a bid to protect honour. Honour based violence has rarely been the subject of media coverage. It is only when cases of killings appeared quite too often, that the media chose to give it some print and broadcast space. Honour based violence includes forced marriages, deprivation of education and freedom, lack of freedom to pursue one's ambitions and choose one's partner, giving in to demands of dowry, mutilation, females being sold off to slavery etc. It is only now that the media is freely talking about issues which it ought to have raised pretty earlier. Having said this, there is no denying the fact that the young populace has come to know about such incidences only through active reporting by the media. Had it not