Whose News? The Media and Women's Issues

The first edition of Whose News?: The Media and Women's Issues (1994) by Ammu Joseph and Kalpana Sharma quickly became an international classic which was widely used both by students and practitioners. The decade that has passed since its publication has witnessed dramatic developments in the media environment across the world. As a consequence, the coverage of gender issues in the media today has to be viewed and evaluated against the background of globalization in general and media globalization in particular. This is just what this new and updated edition of the 1994 classic does. In particular, it addresses the set of questions that has arisen in recent years concerning women's access (as users) to the media and to information, their participation in media and communication structures, and their portrayal and perspectives in media content.

This new edition retains its unique gender analysis of media content, and situates, views and evaluates the coverage of gender issues in the media within the context of recent trends in both the economy and the media industry. Employing a novel and nuanced methodology, it offers a distinctive view of the history of both the media and the women's movement in India at the beginning of the 21st century. It also examines current media coverage of women's issues such as dowry-related violence, rape, sex selection, Muslim women's legal rights, and the practice of sati. Overall, this topical and insightful book vividly depicts the complexities of media representations of women. It will be of considerable interest to media professionals, students of mass communications and journalism, and those concerned about the status of women in contemporary India.