The Missing Voices in Indian Media

In a country as socially complex and demographically vast as India, media representation remains stubbornly narrow. While discussions around inclusivity have grown louder in recent years, Indian newsrooms continue to be dominated by a small, elite class primarily upper-caste, urban, Hindu men.

A 2019 report by Oxfam India and Newslaundry revealed that over 88% of leadership positions in Indian media are held by upper-caste individuals. Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs, who together constitute more than 70% of India’s population, were almost entirely absent from key editorial roles. Muslim representation is even more dismal, with newsroom staff from the community estimated at under 3%.

The implications of this imbalance are visible in everyday reporting. Consider the 2020 Hathras case, where a young Dalit woman was brutally assaulted and later died. Coverage was slow and often sympathetic to official narratives. Similarly, during the Delhi riots, first-hand accounts from Muslim victims surfaced on social media days before mainstream outlets acknowledged them. In both cases, the media failed to reflect the reality experienced by those on the margins.

Ownership patterns reinforce this exclusion. Almost all major media houses from Network18 to India Today are owned by upper-caste business families. There is no prominent Dalit- or Muslim-owned national news network. This lack of structural diversity results in editorial decisions that marginalise or stereotype entire communities.

Even when atrocities against minorities are reported, they are often framed within a law-and-order lens, rarely addressing the systemic issues of caste and religious discrimination. Legal safeguards such as the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Cable TV Act are seldom invoked in media violations.

The path forward requires more than just symbolic gestures. There is a need for systemic change, affirmative action in media hiring, public funding for community media outlets, and policies that reward inclusive representation. Equally, civil society must continue to hold the media accountable and push for newsroom transparency in caste and community data.

In a democracy, media plays a foundational role in shaping public discourse. When its lens is skewed, so too is our understanding of society. India’s stories cannot be truly told until its storytellers represent the full spectrum of its people.