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Media Watch

Journal Description

Media Watch

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

  • Understanding Viewer Fascination with Reaction Videos: A Discourse Analysis of YouTube Comments
    by Anirban Ghosh
    Media Watch, Ahead of Print. Reaction videos have gained significant popularity among the vast array of content available on YouTube, especially during the pandemic. Despite them being an essential part of the YouTube creator economy, scholarly exploration of why reaction videos are popular remains limited. Therefore, this research delves into viewer motivations for watching reaction videos by analysing user comments from four prominent reaction channels: Jaby Koay, The Normies, Blind Wave and RTTV, and understanding them from a uses and gratifications approach. Findings suggest that reaction videos fulfil diverse needs, serving as a means of identity affirmation, promoting fan engagement […]
  • Window Shopping Humans in the Dating Store: What User Bios Tell Us About Online Dating
    by Sreedeep Bhattacharya
    Media Watch, Ahead of Print. This essay explores certain aspects related to the projection and objectification of the self on dating apps. I explain how romance and intimacy have become a part of a wider consumerist logic—governed by ease of access, multiplicity of choice, frivolous interactions and diminished attention span. In an algorithm-induced mechanism, where human options are quick-swiped like commodities, visual displays and textual descriptions invariably play a significant part in determining choice and getting matches on an anonymous platform. I focus more on the careful curation of the self-image through short descriptions called user bios and what these […]
  • Discriminatory Meme Culture on Football Twitter: Othering and Racialisation Through Insensitive Humour
    by Eleanore Glynn
    Media Watch, Ahead of Print. There is currently a lack of sociological research surrounding the analysis of discriminatory memes on social media, with it appearing that their usage now has a home online, often without any condemnation from other users. This article explores the footballing Twitter community and its creation and use of insensitive racialising memes during the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship final between England and Italy. Twitter removed almost 2,000 tweets following the Euro 2020 final, with most tweets coming from the UK. This qualitative study collected tweets regarding the Italian footballer Giorgio Chiellini’s foul on the English […]
  • Foreign Solutions Over Local Realities: Impacts of Leading Global News Networks on Framing of COVID-19 News in Bangladesh
    by Arif Md Tareque Habib
    Media Watch, Ahead of Print. This study examined the extent to which leading Western news networks had influenced the local framing of COVID-19 news in Bangladesh, a small South Asian country, considering geographic and economic terms. Using a qualitative content analysis complemented by a computational text analysis method, this study analysed over 5,300 news stories about the COVID-19 pandemic published in a significant Bangladeshi news network called bdnews24.com that supplies news to other local news outlets. The findings show that the West-headquartered networks such as Reuters and The New York Times substantially influenced the pandemic’s regional coverage. While a vast […]
  • Examining Instagram Addiction and Social Isolation: Study Conducted Among Iranian Students Based on Uses and Gratification Theory
    by Toktam Namayandeh Joorabchi
    Media Watch, Ahead of Print. This article concentrates on identifying problematic usage of Instagram, emphasising the mediation effects of Instagram use gratification among students. A quantitative methodology was employed via a structured questionnaire survey. A sample comprising 392 students from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in Iran was selected utilising a stratified random sampling technique. The students’ ages varied from 18 to 47, with the majority being in the younger group of 18 to 23. The pattern and purpose of using Instagram influence the gratification derived from its use. Instagram use gratification demonstrates significant associations with social isolation; however, this correlation […]
  • Actor-Networks in Action: Unveiling the Interplay of Humans and Technology in Shaping Contemporary Society
    by Uma Shankar Pandey
    Media Watch, Volume 16, Issue 1, Page 7-9, January 2025.
  • Counter-Stereotype Portrayals: Exploring Factors Affecting Young Men’s Perception Towards Contemporary Indian Advertising
    by Priya Shaw
    Media Watch, Volume 16, Issue 1, Page 71-92, January 2025. Counter-stereotype advertising is a new phenomenon to portray gender roles in contemporary advertising. Advertisers no longer stick with the traditional portrayals of women but instead promote gender equality in household and office chores. The necessity of teaching household chores to a man is a trend in recent advertisements. The study aims to identify factors affecting young men’s perception towards counter-stereotype gender role portrayals in contemporary Indian advertisements. The sample included 200 young men from central universities located in Delhi. Five factors were identified that affect men’s perception of gender role […]
  • Face Off: Exploring College Students’ Perceptions Regarding Face Filters on TikTok
    by Aubree A. Herman
    Media Watch, Volume 16, Issue 1, Page 93-107, January 2025. 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 […]
  • Echoes of Exiled Journalists from Africa: Motivation, Resilience, Values and Innovation of Global Journalism
    by Gregory Gondwe
    Media Watch, Volume 16, Issue 1, Page 38-56, January 2025. 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 […]
  • Filmic Representation of ‘A Community with a Shared Future for Mankind’ in The Wandering Earth Series
    by Wu Xinrui
    Media Watch, Volume 16, Issue 1, Page 108-125, January 2025. 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 […]
  • Depression Goes Social Media
    by Maja Jerrentrup
    Media Watch, Volume 16, Issue 1, Page 57-70, January 2025. 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 […]
  • Global Leader, Local Challenges: An Overview of Streaming in India
    by Indroneil Bir Biswas
    Media Watch, Volume 16, Issue 1, Page 10-37, January 2025. 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. […]