The U.S. Media and India: Interest, Image and Kargil

Abstract

It is true that the existence of a comparatively unfettered information system, epitomized by a free press, forms a fundamental premise of a liberal democratic political system. The vibrant expression of public opinion not only mobilizes the articulation of wants but is also the vehicle for systemic and policy evaluation. However, it is also true that even in such democratic polities, very often the press tends to support the establishment line in the field of the international. The images projected of international issues, conflicts, situations and actors, more often than not, cater to the national interests that are officially projected by the government. The US media, with few exceptions, has followed the official position; in certain cases in it's anxiety to project the right image it has revealed a lack of objectivity and a propensity to ignore the realities. The U.S. media's projection of India and its conflicts illustrate the point. A brief study of the representations by the American press of India during its international conflicts situations, in this case, the Kargil conflict, sheds interesting insights into the nature of the international dimensions of political communication with reference to the linkages between image contouring and the requirements of state policy.