Measuring Communication Justice: The Visibility Equity Index in BBC Tamil’s Digital Journalism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17231/comsoc.50(2026).7040Keywords:
New World Information and Communication Order, communication justice, visibility equity, BBC Tamil, digital globalisationAbstract
This study examines communication justice and visibility inequality in BBC Tamil’s digital journalism by developing and applying the visibility equity index (VEI). Revisiting the principles of the New World Information and Communication Order in the platform era, the study investigates whether a transnational Tamil-language news service produces equitable representational visibility for Tamil-speaking audiences or reproduces broader hierarchies of symbolic power within digital journalism. Drawing on media imperialism, visibility theory, and glocalisation, the study develops the VEI as a measurable framework for assessing proportional visibility across actor categories, sourcing structures, editorial prominence, and thematic prioritisation. Using a mixed-methods design, the research combines quantitative content analysis of 2,500 BBC Tamil news items with audience surveys and semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that while Tamil-regional actors appear at frequencies close to proportional parity, Western/global actors and institutional sources receive significantly greater editorial prominence, sourcing authority, and thematic priority. In contrast, other Global South actors and grassroots civic voices remain underrepresented in frequency, prominence, and sourcing. Audience findings further indicate that Tamil-speaking users perceive BBC Tamil as professionally credible yet culturally distant, frequently describing it as “global news in Tamil” rather than locally grounded Tamil journalism. The study argues that linguistic localisation alone does not ensure communication justice or equitable representation within multilingual digital news environments. By operationalising symbolic visibility through the VEI, the study offers a new methodological framework for assessing representational inequality and extends debates on the New World Information and Communication Order, digital globalisation, and communication justice in transnational journalism.
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Copyright (c) 2026 J Joynes, Ashish Kumar Dwivedy, Pradeep Kumar Sahu
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