De-Westernizing Media and Communication Education in India

Post World War II, many countries liberated themselves from colonial rule, started looking up to western media as role models. Later they realized that there has been an information imbalance. NAM also emphasized on alternatives to western news values. India is one such country which vied to establish individuality, create an identity and, an image for itself in the backdrop of its bitter past experience. In this process, developing countries in general and India in particular started developing alternative perspectives. In this context, Indian theories of communication such as Sadharanikaran, which existed 500 B.C., came into prominence. In this background, endeavors to de-westernize media and communication education started by incorporating alternative media, traditional folk media, community radio, Indian theories of communication etc., in the curriculum of mass communication courses. This paper analyses in detail how efforts are made to de-westernize media and communication education in India.