A Report on Sexual Violence Journalism in Four Leading English Language Indian Publications Before and after the Delhi Rape

The presence of women in the information of Spanish, Italian, British, Portuguese and French digital European media

“…The feminine identity, conditioned by certain television series, was studied since it was deformed by the filters of media-disseminated consumerism (Guocong, 2014). Thus, while the patterns of matriculation by gender in journalism studies were modified (Becker, Vlad, Tudor & Holly, 2014), the management of sexual violence on media of countries like India became a perfect research topic to understand the social dynamics of violation of women's fundamental rights (Drache & Velagic, 2014). The fact is that, as mentioned earlier, the academic studies made clear, that there is a bond between media and social behaviour, even in matters so apparently unrelated such as sexual behaviour or human reproduction in certain countries (Jah, Connolly, Barker & Ryerson, 2014).…”

Violence against Women Digitized: An Analysis of Times of India Online Videos after the Delhi Gang Rape

“…It is this deep-seated patriarchy that explains why honor killings still take place in India today despite being "grossly" against the Indian constitutional right to equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws; these killings are mainly directed towards women and thus give rise to gender inequality (Malik, 2013, p. 2). Drache and Velagic's (2013) study shows that the Indian press often engages in incidentbased reporting of sexual crimes and does not examine the causes and prevention of such violence from a gender justice perspective. They conclude that the "Indian press needs to take a hard look at its coverage of sexual violence if it intends to have a higher standard of journalism with a modern view of sexual crimes and violence."…”

“…"The structure of patriarchal power has worked against the interests of women in the way sexual crimes are reported in India and other societies" (Drache & Velagic, 2013). It is this deep-seated patriarchy that explains why honor killings still take place in India today despite being "grossly" against the Indian constitutional right to equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws; these killings are mainly directed towards women and thus give rise to gender inequality (Malik, 2013, p. 2).…”

“…They conclude that the "Indian press needs to take a hard look at its coverage of sexual violence if it intends to have a higher standard of journalism with a modern view of sexual crimes and violence." Drache and Velagic (2013) found that the Indian print media usually highlight "the individual story of one survivor, one event, or one episode of violence" without providing context and analysis. A story that gets top coverage one day may disappear completely in little time unless civil society groups protest or keep the issue alive.…”

“…The press needs to move beyond merely reporting the incident and its sensational aspects to an in-depth analysis of the structures of patriarchal power. Drache and Velagic (2013) argue that the culture of the Indian newsroom also needs to change: "The responsibility for a different kind of news culture relies on both the editorial direction of the newspapers we examined, and also the reporters, who are the frontline professionals." Khan (2010) argues that Indian media compromise quality for quantity in their coverage of sex crimes: "Often stories on violent crimes are poorly researched, insensitively reported, intrusive, more sensational than accurate, sexist, class-biased and occasionally even personally motivated" (p. 86).…”