Foreign Participation in Media

The Indian media scene has gone through a dramatic shift recently both in terms of content and control. While media content is more and more market driven, control has now shifted although indirectly to foreign corporates. And yet our political masters continue to revive irrelevant debates like the one of 1955 cabinet decision against foreign capital into Indian print media when in fact the foreign factor is already moderating the priorities of most media in the country. The debate on foreign equity perhaps is meant to sideline the core of the issue the direction of Indian media. Today advertising and market research in many ways determine the scope of media. Both these functions are in the hands of corporates controlled by foreign corporates.