U.S. foreign policy interests and themes about India in the U.S. press after the Cold War

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study researched portrayal of India in the U.S. press after the Cold War. It studied whether the U.S. media portrayed India in accordance with policy stances of the U.S. government. To do so, this study took into account 143 stories about India from The New York Times and uncovered qualitative themes about India from the news stories. The research used Indexing theory. The study found that common themes about India in the U.S. press were supportive of India and that the press portrayal was consistent with U.S. policy stance on India after the Cold War. The study concluded that Indexing theory finds support from this study. Findings of the study have ramifications for press-state relations in the U.S., because in 2019 the United States was ranked only 48th in the World Press Freedom Index.

KEYWORDS:

• India
• U.S.
• Indexing
• media

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abhijit Mazumdar

Abhijit Mazumdar is an assistant professor of journalism at Park University.