Journal Description
Media Watch is a double-blind peer-reviewed tri-annual media and communication journal demonstrating high-quality academic standards at all levels of its publication. Published jointly by Centre for Academic Social Action and SAGE-India, the journal reflects the international scope of the field and encourages contributions from scholars and researchers worldwide.
Each issue of Media Watch presents the latest research on a wide range of topics related to media and communication and invites original articles under the following categories:
- Media, democracy and citizenship
- Children and media
- Grassroots and alternative media
- Civic journalism
- Peace and conflict communication
- Ethnicity and mass media
- Politics, economy and mass media
- Cultural communication
- Advertising and public relation
- New media technologies and communications
- Globalization and mass media
- Communication theories and practices
- Media audiences
- Advertising and public relations
- International communication
- Scholastic journalism
- Visual communication
- Media law, ethics, regulations, and policy
- Media industry trends and dynamics
- Communication and culture
- Journalism research and education
- Media management (Organisational and business communication) and economics
- Sports journalism
- Cinema and traditional media
- Print, electronic and online media
- Media, health and climate change
The journal is supported by an international editorial advisory comprising leading academicians worldwide.This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Journal Feed
- by Aubree A. HermanMedia Watch, Ahead of Print. This study analysed college students’ perceptions of body image on TikTok, specifically regarding face filters. Undergraduate college students (N = 508) completed an online survey focused on their perceptions of face filters, cultural beauty standards and the role of social media in reinforcing beauty industry pressures on users. This cross-sectional data set was analysed to explore which face filter features were most frequently reported by respondents and what cultural beauty standards college students perceive as most salient. Findings suggest that emerging adults are susceptible to cultural beauty standards and may utilise face filters to cope […]
- by Gregory GondweMedia Watch, Ahead of Print. This study examines the motivations, resilience and innovative contributions of exiled journalists from sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on those from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Zimbabwe. It categorises these journalists into voluntary exiles, who leave due to a commitment to journalistic integrity and dissatisfaction with censorship and corruption, and involuntary exiles, who flee threats, violence or imprisonment linked to their investigative work. Through in-depth interviews with 32 exiled journalists, the study explores their adaptation strategies in host countries, their persistent motivations despite significant challenges and their use of new […]
- by Wu XinruiMedia Watch, Ahead of Print. Over the past 4 years, The Wandering Earth series has garnered significant acclaim and recognition within the market and film festival circuits. This study examines The Wandering Earth series, including The Wandering Earth and The Wandering Earth II, through the lens of ‘a community with a shared future for mankind’. Utilising qualitative content analysis, it explores the representation of global cooperation in these Chinese science fiction films, transcending conventional Western-centric narratives. The study reveals a unified international community by analysing film narratives, characters and visual symbolism, focusing significantly on China and non-Western countries’ roles in […]
- by Maja JerrentrupMedia Watch, Ahead of Print. Looking at the hashtag #depression on Instagram, this article examines how the topic is presented and which effects this may have. As a sample shows, the hashtag is often used by people from the field of counselling/therapy, but also by micro-influencers. Posts offer information, advice and self-disclosure, aiming at affected individuals and their social surroundings. It can be assumed that the phenomenon has positive effects both for people posting through the chance of communication and networking and for affected recipients, especially as most other posts on Instagram present people very positively and provoke social comparison. […]
- by Indroneil Bir BiswasMedia Watch, Ahead of Print. The rise of digital technologies in the past three decades transformed how individuals and societies consume and interpret media. This digital penetration impacts almost every aspect of social life, including the form, content and affordances transnational media conglomerates offer. The post-2000 shifts from traditional broadcasting to digital streaming introduced new questions about contemporary media technologies. One such question is the significance of global media conglomerates’ localisation of technologies and texts in diverse markets such as India, where the streaming industry is expected to hit $15 billion by the decade’s end. This study, grounded in the […]
- by Uma Shankar PandeyMedia Watch, Volume 15, Issue 3, Page 275-277, September 2024.
- by Debra C. SmithMedia Watch, Volume 15, Issue 3, Page 405-416, September 2024. This article uses popular mass media to illustrate the Black man’s burden regarding the presidential candidacy and subsequent presidency of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017. It draws on news accounts from November 2008 to January 2009, which vividly depict the burden Black people placed on Barack Obama’s presidency and the burden they endured due to his visibility in holding the highest office in the United States. The article’s inception resulted from the author’s revisiting articles from Newsweek magazine, USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston […]
- by Mark GoodmanMedia Watch, Volume 15, Issue 3, Page 417-440, September 2024. Spirituality has been a core component of human existence from the very beginning of human life. From mysticism to healing to psychics, millions of people throughout history have explored their spiritual connections to something greater than themselves. We explore the nature of spirituality and why it is so hard for humans to understand its dimensions.
- by Sumedha DhasmanaMedia Watch, Volume 15, Issue 3, Page 386-404, September 2024. In September 2023, Indian politics witnessed two significant events: the transition from the 96-year-old parliament building to a new one in Sansad Marg Area and the passing of the Constitution 128th (Amendment) Bill, 2023—the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. Women’s Reservation Bill, which passed with an overwhelming majority in both the Houses of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha), culminates several previous attempts. The journey of this bill began in 1996, followed by attempts in 1998, 1999 and 2008, with a 2010 bill passing in Rajya Sabha but lapsing […]
- by Michelangelo PaganopoulosMedia Watch, Volume 15, Issue 3, Page 278-296, September 2024. In further developing Helland’s model axis towards new typologies and fields of ‘digital religion’ (Siouda, 2021), this article proposes one such dynamic arena of investigation to be that of ‘digital pilgrimages’ as part of the wider dialectic between ‘pilgrimage tourism’ and ‘digital monasticism’ focusing on the ‘Athos Digital Heritage’ project. Under the perspective of pilgrimage studies, this article develops Helland’s axis from ‘religion online’ to the more specific type of pilgrimage online (referring to online journeys into the landscape by following designed digitised paths to the monasteries via their objects […]
- by Mehedy Hassan RazibMedia Watch, Volume 15, Issue 3, Page 330-344, September 2024. Journalism has emerged as a crucial avenue for creating awareness of the increasing importance of addressing environmental risks that transcend national boundaries. This study examines the Guardian newspaper’s coverage of environmental issues in Bangladesh, a country profoundly affected by climate change and natural disasters. Through analysing 345 news articles from 2011 to 2021, this research employs topic modelling to explore the international framing of climate concerns. The findings reveal thematic framing across various topics, including occupational environment, health and safety in the ready-made garment (RMG) industry, flooding along transboundary rivers, […]
- by Gülgün Afacan AdanırMedia Watch, Volume 15, Issue 3, Page 297-312, September 2024. This study investigated the motivational factors that impact Instagram use among young Kyrgyz individuals. The theoretical framework was based on the uses and gratifications theory (UGT). In this respect, the study considered a target group actively using the Internet and social media applications. The study sample covers 515 Kyrgyz individuals between 14 and 23. Data from the sample were collected through a questionnaire based on the UGT. The study adopted a quantitative approach; hence, statistical approaches such as factor analysis, multivariate analysis of variance and correlation analysis were employed for […]
- by Ugyal Tshering Lama YolmoMedia Watch, Volume 15, Issue 3, Page 367-385, September 2024. This study is a crucial element of a broader initiative to evaluate political participation and awareness among university students. It was a mixed-method study comprising a survey to examine the political awareness and participation levels and a semi-structured interview to examine gender differences. The article outlines the gender differences in political awareness and political participation and the reasons for them, according to respondents. The results showcase that there was a significant gender difference in political awareness (t = 1.976, p < .05) and political participation (t = 4.575, p < […]
- by Noha MellorMedia Watch, Volume 15, Issue 3, Page 313-329, September 2024. The comparative study of cultural policies in the Arab region remains a relatively underexplored domain, particularly in how these policies influence nation branding and nation-building efforts. This exploratory study seeks to contribute to this nascent field by adopting a comparative lens to examine the cultural policies of three Arab nations: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Through a document analysis of key policies from these countries, this research unveils the intricate ways cultural strategies are employed to articulate and disseminate national, ethical and political ideologies. The article […]
- by Shaista IrshadMedia Watch, Volume 15, Issue 3, Page 345-366, September 2024. Bollywood, or the mainstream Indian Cinema, has been presenting the idealised image of male characters as machismo or super-hero, revered and emulated by all, while simultaneously demoting women to trivial or insignificant roles. However, during the last two decades, celluloid developed new experiments projecting its female characters as redefining and reconstructing the stereotypes redundantly dominating the silver screen. In this article, I propose to explore femininity through the lens of hegemony in opposition to the emphasised femininity of Connell and alignment with Mimi Schippers and Carrie Paechter’s understanding of hegemonic […]