Prashanth Bhat
Biographic Data
| ID | 6810753 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Prashanth Bhat |
| GIVEN NAMES | Prashanth |
| FAMILY NAME | Bhat |
| SIGNATURE | BHAT P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Houston |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 13 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
MainBhiChowkidar (I Am Also a Watchman)
During the 2019 Indian general election, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi launched his #MainBhiChowkidar (I am also a watchman) campaign, which can be understood as an attempt to undermine the institutionalized watchdog or monitoring system, including journalism, in democratic India. Through the lens of positioning theory, this qualitative study examines how 89 Indian journalists responded to Modi’s populist campaign on Twitter. Findings show …
Bollywood and Cultural Contestation
Reluctant Journalism
Investigating the Investigation
The Mob, the State and Harassment of Journalists via Twitter in India
Media scholars exploring online harassment of journalists have described it as a form of ‘mob censorship,’ a type of citizen vigilantism aimed at delegitimizing and silencing journalists. Arguably, this trend is most pervasive in India, where online supporters of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) troll and abuse journalists critical of the Narendra Modi government. Over the years, the BJP has harnessed the digital work of these o…
Expanding public debate? Examining the impact of India’s top English language political talk shows
As a genre, current affairs talk shows occupy a distinct space within the Indian television universe. Typically built around a single host and invited guests, talk shows constitute a relatively inexpensive format that most news channels deploy to market themselves. Although the extent to which such shows enhance the potential of rational-critical debate has been widely investigated in Western contexts, their implication for public deliberation re…
Coping with Hate
In India, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) employs a digital army of right-wing supporters to harass journalists who are critical of the party's Hindu-nationalist ideology. As a result, the country's press freedom rankings have significantly declined over the past decade. While scholars have examined the discursive strategies used by online Hindu nationalists against journalists, how reporters cope with these attacks remains unknown. This …
Alternative News Media and Critique of Mainstream Journalism in India
“Alternative news media,” that explicitly position themselves against mainstream media have emerged as an increasingly visible aspect of media systems globally including in India. And although such media can espouse left/right political positions, in the Indian context, such outlets are supportive of right-wing politics of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In this article—drawing on rhetorical approaches—we explore the ef…
Platform Politics
Widespread dissemination of hate speech on corporate social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube has necessitated technological companies to moderate content on their platforms. At the receiving end of these content moderation efforts are supporters of right-wing populist parties, who have gained notoriety for harassing journalists, spreading disinformation, and vilifying liberal activists. In recent months, several prominent ri…
Anti-media populism
Criticism of mainstream media as being “biased” has emerged as a defining characteristic of right-wing discourse all over the world. Such expressions are coupled with the establishment of right-wing news outlets that seek to undermine professional journalism. But while scholars have examined the operation of such outlets in the context of Western democracies, anti-media populism in the Global South has received little scholarly attention. Through…
Advertisements in the Age of Hyper-Partisan Media
This chapter begins with early America, a period when journalism and democracy both were on a new frontier. Colonial printers, in fact, operated much like modern-day bloggers, untethered by the yoke of professionalism or the need for formal journalism education. In the transformation of American culture during and immediately following the reign of Victoria, the country was bringing forth the first and second generations of cultural practitioners…
Anti-media populism
Criticism of mainstream media as being “biased” has emerged as a defining characteristic of right-wing discourse all over the world. Such expressions are coupled with the establishment of right-wing news outlets that seek to undermine professional journalism. But while scholars have examined the operation of such outlets in the context of Western democracies, anti-media populism in the Global South has received little scholarly attention. Through…
Coping with Hate
In India, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) employs a digital army of right-wing supporters to harass journalists who are critical of the party's Hindu-nationalist ideology. As a result, the country's press freedom rankings have significantly declined over the past decade. While scholars have examined the discursive strategies used by online Hindu nationalists against journalists, how reporters cope with these attacks remains unknown. This …
Investigating the Investigation
Advertisements in the Age of Hyper-Partisan Media
This chapter begins with early America, a period when journalism and democracy both were on a new frontier. Colonial printers, in fact, operated much like modern-day bloggers, untethered by the yoke of professionalism or the need for formal journalism education. In the transformation of American culture during and immediately following the reign of Victoria, the country was bringing forth the first and second generations of cultural practitioners…
Anti-media populism
Criticism of mainstream media as being “biased” has emerged as a defining characteristic of right-wing discourse all over the world. Such expressions are coupled with the establishment of right-wing news outlets that seek to undermine professional journalism. But while scholars have examined the operation of such outlets in the context of Western democracies, anti-media populism in the Global South has received little scholarly attention. Through…
Platform Politics
Widespread dissemination of hate speech on corporate social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube has necessitated technological companies to moderate content on their platforms. At the receiving end of these content moderation efforts are supporters of right-wing populist parties, who have gained notoriety for harassing journalists, spreading disinformation, and vilifying liberal activists. In recent months, several prominent ri…
Alternative News Media and Critique of Mainstream Journalism in India
“Alternative news media,” that explicitly position themselves against mainstream media have emerged as an increasingly visible aspect of media systems globally including in India. And although such media can espouse left/right political positions, in the Indian context, such outlets are supportive of right-wing politics of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In this article—drawing on rhetorical approaches—we explore the ef…
The Mob, the State and Harassment of Journalists via Twitter in India
Media scholars exploring online harassment of journalists have described it as a form of ‘mob censorship,’ a type of citizen vigilantism aimed at delegitimizing and silencing journalists. Arguably, this trend is most pervasive in India, where online supporters of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) troll and abuse journalists critical of the Narendra Modi government. Over the years, the BJP has harnessed the digital work of these o…
Expanding public debate? Examining the impact of India’s top English language political talk shows
As a genre, current affairs talk shows occupy a distinct space within the Indian television universe. Typically built around a single host and invited guests, talk shows constitute a relatively inexpensive format that most news channels deploy to market themselves. Although the extent to which such shows enhance the potential of rational-critical debate has been widely investigated in Western contexts, their implication for public deliberation re…
Coping with Hate
In India, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) employs a digital army of right-wing supporters to harass journalists who are critical of the party's Hindu-nationalist ideology. As a result, the country's press freedom rankings have significantly declined over the past decade. While scholars have examined the discursive strategies used by online Hindu nationalists against journalists, how reporters cope with these attacks remains unknown. This …
MainBhiChowkidar (I Am Also a Watchman)
During the 2019 Indian general election, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi launched his #MainBhiChowkidar (I am also a watchman) campaign, which can be understood as an attempt to undermine the institutionalized watchdog or monitoring system, including journalism, in democratic India. Through the lens of positioning theory, this qualitative study examines how 89 Indian journalists responded to Modi’s populist campaign on Twitter. Findings show …
Bollywood and Cultural Contestation
Reluctant Journalism
Investigating the Investigation
Political science (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Media studies (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Politics (7 works) · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection (6 works) · Journalism (6 works) · Social Media and Politics (6 works) · Media Studies and Communication (5 works) · Nationalism (5 works)