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In the area of news
and current affairs we have been monitoring 30 national newspapers - 25 English
and 15 Hindi and 99 regional papers - 36 English and 53 regional editions as well
as 14 public and private channels. Today our database has over 16,000 news
bulletins and 400 current affairs programs and more than 2,400 books/reports on various
issues.
Media Tracking is being done in the following forms:
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Print clippings
- Electronic clippings (with visuals and footage)
The issues that we have been tracking
are:
| Since 2000 CFAR
has been partnering the Positive Women's Network (PWN+). And as of 2004 we have
been partnering NGOs working in HIV/AIDS prevention programs at the state district
and taluk level in six states with vulnerable communities - women in sex work, injecting
drug users and men who have sex with men. Our database has over 43,000 clips from
print and online media and over 700 from the electronic media. The issues covered
range from stigma and discrimination to law and policy, treatment and care, surveillance
to funding, condom use and human and drug trafficking and much more.
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| We have been documenting women's issues since 1999 and presently our database has
over 22,0000 clips from the print and electronic media. The issues we have been
tracking include sexual and domestic violence, dowry and landmark cases of violence
against women like that of Shivani Bhatnagar and Naina Sahani. Women centric events
and various aspects of women and development -livelihood, employment, poverty, reservations
for women, gender budgeting, women in the unorganized sector, gender equality and
laws and policies concerning women.
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| Our database covers child-centric events and almost every aspect of child welfare
from hunger and malnutrition, adoption and trafficking to abuse and exploitation
and those living with disabilities. In 2006-07 CFAR in partnership with CRY undertook
media advocacy on child related issues in 10 states. During this period we tracked
8 television channels, 8799 reports in 39 languages, 13 English newspapers and 18
language and 3 English weeklies. In all we have almost 10,000clips on these issues.
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| CFAR has been tracking
issues related to Reproductive and Child Health, infant and maternal mortality and
the various schemes and policies related to health.
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| CFAR has been working on Sex-Selective Abortion and Female Foeticide issue since 2000 when a PIL was filed
against the non-implementation of the PCPNDT Act which bans sex selection and female
foeticide. We have in partnership with the government machinery and IFES been creating
awareness among stakeholders about the Act and stressing on the need for compliance.
Our database has over 5000 clips not just on female foeticide but the various schemes
and campaigns that have been launched to highlight the plight of the girl child,
the impact of the two child norm and other related issues. We have also conducted
a 'real dissemination' of the Census 2001 figures on the declining girl child ratio.
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| Over the last year CFAR in partnership with
other organizations have been setting up community-led forums that will advocate
on issues concerning access to basic entitlements and services. But documentation
of issues concerning the urban poor goes back to 2005 and comprises of over 2000
clips from the print and electronic media. The issues tracked include urban poverty,
children in difficult circumstances, livelihood, health, sanitation, the public
distribution system and basic infrastructure and amenities.
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| Tracking has been done of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)
including the debates in Parliament on the issue, the Rozgar Adhikar Yatra, the
Special Economic Zone, natural calamities and related issues like poverty, hunger
malnutrition and migration. Our database has over 400 clips from both the electronic
and print media.
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| Elections: Monitoring was
done during the 1998,199 and 2004 elections resulting in a rich database that includes
over 488 hours of monitoring of the electronic media. We have also done studies
on the quantitative and qualitative changes witnessed in the coverage of the elections
by news and current affairs channels. |
In the area of television
entertainment, documentation goes back to 1995 when 148 episodes from different
channels were recorded for a study, the Media Advocacy Group was doing on the trends
and characteristics of soaps and serials on the small screen. Consequent to that
we recorded episodes for various clients - the
Japan Foundation, Ford Foundation, National Commission for Women and others.
While working on
these projects we realized that the formats
based on media research in the west were not adequate for assessing the shifting
patterns of Indian programming and that culture-specific monitoring tools were required.
Our monitoring tools are,
therefore, being constantly revised to keep pace with the
developments in programming styles and content. This has helped us to understand
the shifting balance of representation in terms of gender, minority and marginalized
groups, the portrayal of men and women and much more.
As a result we have a database of 994 episodes of serials
across channels. Of these we have processed data of 432 episodes that look at the
portrayal of lifestyles, familial and societal transitions, gender roles, the use
of traditional symbols and rituals, conflict resolution and the representation of
concerns like domestic violence, disability, rape and legal issues.
TV Commercials
We began tracking television commercials
after Basti Manch members expressed concerns over the advertisements for fairness
creams that were reinforcing traditional perceptions that one had to be fair to
marry well, achieve something. Similarly, advertisements for sanitary napkins during
prime time were proving to a source of embrassment.
These concerns motivated us to monitor
and track television commercials on products as diverse as ice cream and underwear.
Today we have a rich database of 287
television commercials on popular brands and public service campaigns.
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This rich database has resulted in a number of studies on
a range of issues. They include the portrayal of sexual violence in television soaps,
the treatment of domestic violence, man-woman relationships, the impact of media
violence on children and how people with disabilities perceive their realities in
relation to the images portrayed in popular serials.
Analysis has also
been done on the commercial importance of
the beauty industry, the impact of television commercials on children, the portrayal
of women in advertising and the violation of codes related to advertising.
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Viewers'
Forum
Since its inception in 1995 Viewer's
Forum, an audience collective comprising, primarily of women, from all age groups
and socio-economic stratas have been enabling viewers to play an active role in
defining the media products they view.
Interactions are held
with viewers at the level of neighborhood meetings, community associations and women's
networks. The feedback is collected through focus group discussions, surveys and
response diaries and viewer's opinions are presented to relevant stakeholders -
program producers, channel executive and policy makers at interactions and public
meetings. Petitions are also sent to regulatory bodies, etc.
more ...
Services
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The data in the documentation is available to the internal and external users.
- On specific request we provide - raw and processed information, published reports,
footage of specific programmes.
Clients
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Media Practitioners
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Research
Scholars
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Academicians
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Social Science
Students
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NGOs
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Women’s
Studies
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Government and International Organisations
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Development
Initiatives
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Film-makers
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Journalists
To see the projects done by us in
the field of media monitoring click here.
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