NAVIGATING THE DIGITAL MEDIA ECOSYSTEM: COMMERCIAL SOCIALIZATION, PR DEPENDENCIES, AND THE STATE OF LOCAL WATCHDOG JOURNALISM IN UTTAR PRADESH
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69980/wja92w09Keywords:
Hyperlocal Journalism, Digital Media, Watchdog Journalism, Editorial Independence, Public Relations DependencyAbstract
The research examines revenue and structural factors affecting the development of hyperlocal digital journalism in Uttar Pradesh, especially the relationship between the backgrounds of platform founders and editorial practices. The research analyzes the influence of different forms of capital, namely institutional cultural capital, prior professional socialization and locational social capital on watchdog journalism, reliance on public relations material and revenue models, using Pierre Bourdieu’s Field Theory and Shoemaker and Reese’s Hierarchy of Influences model. The study is based on a cross-sectional quantitative survey of 162 founders, CEOs, and producers of digital-native hyperlocal news platforms across Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Raebareli. The study found significant correlations between socio-cultural background and platform behavior. The findings reveal that 77.2% of hyperlocal operators have no formal training in journalism, while those who have been educated in journalism have a significantly higher watchdog orientation. Producers with a background in commerce or public relations tend to rely more on press releases from the government and promotional material. Local embeddedness in the long run improves advertising opportunities but increases dependence on local political and commercial networks, often at the cost of editorial independence. The paper shows that hyperlocal journalism in Uttar Pradesh exists in a structurally fragile ecosystem in which economic precarity, professional background, and social networks shape journalistic, independence and democratic accountability.
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