Abstract

In late November 2020, tens of thousands of farmers marched to New Delhi, the capital of India, to oppose planned new agricultural regulations introduced hastily by Narendra Modi’s BJP government in June 2020. Up to 250 million people throughout the subcontinent engaged in a 24-hour general strike in support of the farmers of India and their cause. This movement has received international attention and prompted the government to meet the protesters in December 2020, a first in Prime Minister Modi's six-year rule. Throughout the coverage of these protests, news media in India have been heavily divided. This research focuses on an analysis of the news frames mobilized in online coverage by independent news outlet Newslaundry and RepublicTV, one of India’s most popular English-language news outlets. Using a frame analysis, this research concludes that the two news organizations greatly varied in their approaches to covering the protests. RepublicTV branded the farmers as ‘uncooperative’ and the leaders of the farmers’ union as ‘willing to do whatever it takes’ to have the laws repealed. They were called ‘anti-nationals’ who brought ‘shame’ to the nation and the ideals of democracy. Newslaundry, on the other hand, highlighted the voices of the farmers and their plight during the protests and focused on fact-checking other outlets’ coverage while emphasizing the importance of press freedom in India at such a polarizing time. This thesis also goes into detail about the current state of media in India and the rise of biased journalism in the industry.