Effect of New Media on Reporting Conflict in Kashmir

Abstract

From the onset of ongoing conflict in Kashmir since 1989, the region has attracted tremendous media attention. Whether it is national media or international media, the news related to Kashmir conflict has never ceased to die. For whatever the outside world knows about Kashmir conflict or the perspective that people have about Kashmir, the credit goes to media. However, at the same time, what is reported from Kashmir is not always based on reality. And this type of coverage has increased mistrust and frustration against the media in the people of Kashmir. In order to tell the world the stories which are either left out or ignored by the mainstream media, they are uploaded through the Internet on social networking sites like YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp groups by the new generation of techno-savvy youth of Kashmir, which are recognised as ‘Cyber activists’. The present paper is an attempt figure out the role of new media technology in highlighting ongoing conflict in Kashmir. Methodology: This study based is on secondary sources available and attempts to understand the usage of new media tools like social networking sites during 2010, 2014, and 2016 uprisings in Kashmir. The study will adopt a broader approach in studying the emergence of Cyber activism during these uprisings and the debates they generated online.

Keywords: Conflict, Communication, Kashmir, New Media

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