Can privacy and foreign affiliations thwart academic research? Empirical challenges in the Indian mediascape

Abstract

Collecting data for academic research is often fraught with challenges, but my experience as a Ph.D. candidate attempting to gather (survey) questionnaire responses from women journalists in India, highlighted three particularly formidable obstacles: acute privacy concerns, distrust in my research owing to a foreign university affiliation, and direct hostility from potential respondents. My research study is centered on online harassment of women journalists in India and its repercussion on journalism. The study aims to investigate manifestations of the psycho-emotional toll (including the resilience) that journalists exhibit, women in particular. The topic holds incredible significance considering the vitriolic nature of online harassment, which has witnessed severe proliferation in India, under the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) regime (Ghoshal, 2020; RSF.org, 2024). My research sheds light on the systemic and structural issues of sexism and discrimination within the media sector. It investigates the professional obstacles women journalists encounter, including its embodiments in several forms “every single day,” and how these challenges affect their professional and personal lives (See also: Subrahmaniam, 2019). The research necessitated a survey to assess the magnitude of online harassment, followed by in-depth interviews for deeper insights. Numerous academic studies have explored methodological challenges in qualitative research (Bloch, 2007; Fenton et al., 2001; Stern et al. 2014); nonetheless, I am narrating a personal account of the practical challenges owing to some of the most unfathomable factors as discussed below (See: Mc Gregor, 2007).