Media and National Security

The concept of National Security in the 21st century has expanded beyond our traditional dimensions of security as purely national defence by a state and its military, to policies that accommodate security from the perspective of state and its people. In this context, the powerful tool of media, colossal and integrated, has become an inseparable tool for information dissemination and a continuum in policy intervention for states to secure their integrity and sovereignty. Also, for a democracy like India with a diverse society, its multilingual media becomes an available and active platform for deliberation of actions and rationale to develop opinions and decisions that serves the purpose of independent and palpable citizens involved in the broader decision making.

Thus, moving beyond the textbook definition of media to educate and inform, the book focuses on the Indian media in particular as influential and imperative in the current scenario and its role in fighting the psychological war alongside the state and its forces, and against contemporary national security threats such as terrorism. It tries to understand the Indian media in its varied theoretical forms and the projection of its power to the people who employ it and those who synchronize its events. The book also tries to understand the intermingling of conflict and the Indian media, while indulging in newer concepts such as peace journalism and strategic education. However; the role of the Indian media continues to be under question due to its nascent pragmatic endeavours, and thereby needs to be defined categorically and holistically in the Indian domain. This exercise aims to centre the Indian media on its role as an eminent player and collaborator of policies on security and at the same time futuristically assess the extension of its perceived role in the larger dimensions of India's national security.