First Information Report(Fir) And Media: Informational Universe Of Crime And Violence In Contemporary India
Author: Twinkle Siwach, twinkl29_ssg@jnu.ac.in
Department: Centre for Media Studies (CMS)
University: Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Supervisor: Rakesh Batabyal
Year of completion: In progress
Language of dissertation: English
Keywords:
Information Universe
, Crime
, Violence
, Media
Areas of Research:
Communication, Knowledge and Culture
, Historical and Comparative Sociology
, Social Indicators
Abstract
There has emerged a new informational universe around us. New technologies of media have shaped its contours and this universe, in turn, has drastically changed the web of relationships between the social structures and institutions. Advanced critical thinking around the world has been engaged in understanding the forms and directions that these configurations have taken so far and shall continue to do so in the future. Rational deliberations which constitutes the template of the public sphere have the scope of expansion in a democratic society. The medium of communication is a significant factor in such expansions with the flow of information both, vertically and horizontally. At the core of their work lies a common concern, that is, locating codes of an informational universe. There is a need to look into these insights and study concrete realities of our daily lives where information and media reign. It is along these lines that the present work proposes to examine the way the informational universe is constituted in the cases of crime and violence in contemporary India, by tracing the career of an important institution, that is First Information Report (FIR). The case studies help us to examine the flow of information on the one hand, and on the other help us to understand how the audience is constituted, and whether within or outside the web of information. In this process, FIR is treated as a crucial document carrying signifying knowledge for the criminal and legal institution.
