News Initiative Project

Decoding the Star System: Understanding the barriers to network literacy among Indian journalists




Portfolio 1


The discourse around digitalisation and the subsequent advent of social media in the context of journalism has largely focussed on the democratisation of the news industry. However, the understanding of how social media today has also transformed the way journalists connect with peers in the news industry, in terms of the networks that emerge between them, and also the way they engage with their audience online is limited. Twitter, in particular, has not only emerged as a prominent social media platform for leading public discourses but also as a space facilitating the formation of networks between journalists. In this project, we are studying the nature of networks that emerge between journalists and different actors on Twitter. The research throws light on how Twitter has promoted the celebrity culture in the field of Journalism.