Reporting the Raj: The British Press and India, C. 1880-1922

This original and lively study is an analysis of the dynamics of British press reporting of India and the attempts made by the British Government to manipulate press coverage as part of a strategy of imperial control. used by significant groups within the political elite to advance their agendas. Yet it also provided the wider British public with the information and images from which they formed their conception of the subcontinent. The repercussions of press reporting were accordingly considerable, being felt not only in Britain, but also within India and the wider world. For this reason British imperial administrators felt the need to integrate press management with their approach to government. the history of the Raj, witnessing the impact of World War I, major constitutional reform initiatives, the tragedy of the Amritsar massacre, and the launching of Gandhi's mass movement. The War was also a watershed in official media manipulation and in the aftermath of the conflict the Government's previously informal and ad hoc attempts to shape press reporting were placed on a more formal basis, being explicitly incorporated into official strategy. history and the British press. It also offers important insights for students of media and communications studies and the history of political communication - and indeed anyone concerned with understanding the ever-deepening relationship between politics and the mass media today.