Key Points
Dr Ambedkar has contributed to the making of India in various capacities women empowerment, maternity leaves, labour laws; [He has contributed] to economic development, parity and social justice, yet the traditional media outlets have narrowed down his work to a certain gaze and typecasting, he told me, adding that Ambedkar is invoked at opportune moments like Whenever anything on reservation, caste discrimination, Constitution, caste atrocity, social identity is discussed..
The News Beakfounder Sumit Chauhan,who has also worked withIndia News,Zee Media Corporation LimitedandABP News, told methat he had to quit his job in traditional media due tomanypersonalandprofessional conflicts.They also consistentlydiscouraged himfromworkingon stories concerning the Dalit-Bahujan community, he said.According to Chauhan,corporate media is essentially caste media anditsnarratives are farremoved fromAmbedkars ideasaboutequality, fraternity and social justice.Indian media is treading on a different, anti-national path, he stressed.Dalits on social media lack the technical infrastructure of a BJP IT cell, but they still help in nation-building and promoting the ideals of solidarity Ambedkar stood for...
And yet, were expected to be gratefulthattheresat least some conversationaboutthe Dalit-Bahujan mass in mainstream mediatoday.Social justice is the spirit and vision of the Indian Constitution;Ambedkar wanted to create a casteless, classless society based on the principles of liberty, equality, fraternity and social justice...
The limited space that Dalits occupy in mainstream media canbe very well attributedto the anti-caste movement and the persistent advocacy of Bahujan intellectuals.As a result,the Gen Ys and Gen Zs who were raised within the realmof the anti-caste movement,familiar with figures like JyotibaPhule, Periyar, Ambedkar, Savitri Mai et al,felt and liveda dichotomous life in their own country.But these young people also became the most active users of this new media landscape, doingwhat mainstream media and fundamentalistsdidnt expect...
This phenomenon createdanunderground scene where artists like Bakery Prasad, Priyanka Paul, Artdekar, Big Fat Bao, Shrujana Sridhar, Divya Kandukuri, Bhumika Saraswatiengaged audiences bytalking about issuesthat really affected them and were rooted in Ambedkarite thought.Despite the persistentalgorithm challenge,social mediahas genuinely emerged as a powerful tool for sharing lived experiences...
