Newspaper coverage and people s perceptions on demonetisation a study of Punjab

Abstract

Demonetisation is literally defined as an act of compulsively retiring old unit of currency by introducing new ones. Globally, this practice of phasing out specific units of currency is in vogue since early nineties. The specific reasoning behind the introduction of currency ban, though, differ country wise but in larger perspective the governments opted for the demonetisation with an objective of applying curbs on ever increasing menaces of black money and counterfeit currency across the world. The outcome of such moves varied from country to country and so did the public perceptions. In some countries the demonetisation proved successful and was perceived as an effective tool , whereas in other countries it proved to be a big disaster thus leading to negative perceptions. In India, though, this extreme step had been experimented in past too but the latest ban on currency notes of 500 and 1000 as announced by Indian Prime Minister on November 8, 2016 made international headlines in media. Undoubtedly, the media in general and newspapers in particular played a crucial role as newspaper coverage is understood to have largely influenced and shaped the public perception about demonetisation. Debated at various levels the topic of demonetisation virtually led to evolution of sharp division in opinions and the media too could not stay away from this sharp contrast of opinions. To catalogue this contrast and variation in flavour, tone and tenor of the newspaper reportage on demonetisation and allied aspects, this study has been proposed to acquire a better understanding of the role of newspapers in shaping public perception about demonetisation. For the study, the content of three newspapers namely Times of India in English, Dainik Jagran in Hindi and Ajit in Punjabi was analysed and a chosen sample of 600 respondents equally represented by male and female from across the Punjab was taken into account. newline