Summary
Contents
Subject index
Richly detailed and empirically grounded, this first book-length study of infotainment and its globalization by a leading scholar of global communication, offers a comprehensive and critical analysis of this emerging phenomenon. Going beyond - both geographically and theoretically - the ‘dumbing down’ discourse, largely confined to the Anglo-American media, the book argues that infotainment may have an important ideological role, a diversion in which ‘soft news’ masks the hard realities of neo-liberal imperialism.
Indian Infotainment: The Bollywoodization of TV News
Indian Infotainment: The Bollywoodization of TV News
One of India's most respected television news channels, NDTV 24×7, broadcasts a regular popular comedy programme, The Great Indian Tamasha. Loosely translated, ‘tamasha’ means ‘show’, but the word has other connotations that could make it a metaphor for the state of television news in India. Tamasha has its roots in a popular form of folk theatre in Western Maharashtra (the state in which Mumbai is located): with its suggestive dances and lyrics, it has traditionally been immensely popular among rural communities. Generally bawdy, often funny, its aim is not just to tickle the public but to make them roll in the aisles. The genre has been adapted skilfully by the Mumbai-based Bollywood, ...
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