This original and lively study is an analysis of the dynamics of British press reporting of India and the attempts made by the British Government to manipulate press coverage as part of a strategy of imperial control. The press was an important forum for debate over the future of India and was used by significant groups within the political elite to advance their agendas. Yet it also provided the wider British public with the information and images from which they formed their conception of the subcontinent. The repercussions of press reporting were accordingly considerable, being felt not only in Britain, but also within India and the wider world. For this reason British imperial administrators felt the need to integrate press management with their approach to government. Kaul focuses on a period which represented a critical transitional phase in the history of the Raj, witnessing the impact of World War I, major constitutional reform initiatives, the tragedy of the Amritsar massacre, and the launching of Gandhi's mass movement.
The War was also a watershed in official media manipulation and in the aftermath of the conflict the Government's previously informal and ad hoc attempts to shape press reporting were placed on a more formal basis, being explicitly incorporated into official strategy. This book should be useful reading for students of the British empire, Indian history and the British press. It also offers important insights for students of media and communications studies and the history of political communication - and indeed anyone concerned with understanding the ever-deepening relationship between politics and the mass media today.
By:
Chandrika Kaul
Series edited by:
Andrew Thompson,
John MacKenzie
Other:
Rebecca Mortimer
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 17mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780719061769
ISBN 10: 0719061768
Series: Studies in Imperialism
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 23 October 2003
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Dedication, prefatory statements and acknowledgements List of tables,iIlustrations and appendices List of abbreviations 1. Introduction PART I: The Networks of Information and Communication 2. Communications and the Indian Empire 3. Fleet Street and the Raj PART II: Information Management and Imperial Control 4. Empire and news management: India and the London Press c1880s-1914 5. War and government publicity 6. Edwin Montagu, publicity and news management at the India Office, 1917-1922 PART III: Case Studies 1917-1922 7. ‘Bringing India to the fore’: selling Indian constitutional reforms to Britain, 1917-1918 8. Managing the Crisis? Fleet Street, government and the Jallianwallah Bagh massacre, 1919-1920 9. Ambassador of Empire: The Prince of Wales tour, Fleet Street and Government Publicity, 1921-1922 10. Conclusion Appendices Bibliography Index -- .
Chandrika Kaul is Lecturer in Modern History at the University of St Andrews
