ABSTRACT
In this chapter, it is being argued that media is one of the key perpetrators of the multi-dimensional, multicausal, and historical phenomenon of marginalisation. Marginality is based on the binary opposition of centre and periphery which is broadened further by the ‘mainstream media’ by talking about the Northeast in a certain fixed frame, or not talking about it all, leading to misrepresentation or underrepresentation. In both these cases, marginality is perpetuated by either ignoring the periphery, rendering it voiceless, or narrating about it in a manner that ‘charms or benefits’ the power centres. In simple words, it implies that the critical role of media in relation to the society within which it operates is to move away from the predictable role of merely being the information disseminator. And it necessitates that the media takes a position for a cause or belief, in cases where minorities or others are being victimised or dispossessed. Media representation is also suggestive of the process of representing or reconstructing a new reality. Thus, the primary argument of this chapter is (1) an analysis of media representation, which reflects that in the case of the Northeast, media itself engages in the process of ‘othering’, in which the region remains largely absent in the mainstream media, leading to an exclusion from the ‘national’ discourse. (2) Owing to the almost negligible presence of political prowess from the region, media too can safely disregard the region leading to marginalisation and information deficit. (3) Digital media has emerged as a tool for changing the discourse about the region, owing to ‘fluidisation of the boundaries between information and any circulation form in the public space’.
