---
layout: default
title: "Vibodh Parthasarathi"
description: "Biography of Vibodh Parthasarathi, Indian academic and researcher in media policy, media governance, communication studies and the digital media economy."
categories: [Biographies]
permalink: /vibodh/
created: 2026-10-24
---

**Vibodh Parthasarathi** (born 3 January 1969 in Bombay, now Mumbai) is an Indian academic and media policy researcher, and an associate professor at the Centre for Culture, Media and Governance at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. His work examines media regulation and ownership, media governance, the political economy of India's media industries, digital transitions in newspapers and television, creative industries, and the history of recorded music. He completed a doctoral dissertation on the regulatory history of press ownership in India at the University of Helsinki. His books include the co-edited volumes *The Indian Media Economy* (2018) and *Platform Capitalism in India* (2020).

Parthasarathi has worked in television production, research and media policy, and has contributed to teaching and curriculum development in media governance. He was one of the seven founding members who signed the Memorandum of Association of the [Centre for Internet and Society](/cis/) (CIS) in 2008, and was later listed as a member of its board. In 2013, he spoke at CIS's fifth-anniversary programme about the transition to digital cable television, drawing on research prepared for the Open Society Foundations' *Mapping Digital Media* project.

## Contents

1. [Education](#education)
2. [Career](#career)
3. [Centre for Internet and Society](#centre-for-internet-and-society)
4. [Research](#research)
   1. [Media policy and governance](#media-policy-and-governance)
   2. [Media economy and digital platforms](#media-economy-and-digital-platforms)
   3. [Media history and recorded music](#media-history-and-recorded-music)
5. [Publications and editorial work](#publications-and-editorial-work)
6. [References](#references)
7. [External links](#external-links)

## Education

Parthasarathi studied history at St Stephen's College, University of Delhi, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in 1990. He received a master's degree in Mass Communication from the Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia Millia Islamia in 1992, followed by a master's degree in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague in 1994. 

His doctoral dissertation, *A Considered Silence: The Regulatory History of Press Ownership in India*, was published by the University of Helsinki in 2024. It examines the regulatory history of press ownership in India.

## Career

Parthasarathi worked as an independent television producer in New Delhi from 1995 to 1997 and again from 1999 to 2002. He was an independent researcher and policy analyst from 2002 to 2006, then a visiting professor at Jamia Millia Islamia's Centre for Jawaharlal Nehru Studies in 2006–2007. Earlier in his career, he worked at the Manipal Institute of Communication and the Centre for Co-operative Research in Social Sciences.

He joined the Centre for Culture, Media and Governance (CCMG) at Jamia Millia Islamia in 2007. His teaching and curriculum work has included the MA programme in Media Governance and courses on media policy and regulation, transnational communication, and media advocacy, as well as curriculum development for media and communication programmes.

He has held visiting positions at the University of Queensland, KU Leuven, the University of Helsinki and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. He has also been associated with Lund University's Swedish South Asian Studies Network. He has presented research at conferences and universities in India and abroad, including events organised by the International Communication Association and the International Association for Media and Communication Research.

## Centre for Internet and Society

Parthasarathi was one of the seven founding members who signed the [Memorandum of Association](/cis/moa/) of the [Centre for Internet and Society](/cis/) (CIS), registered in Bengaluru on 4 July 2008. He was later a member of its board, including during 2013–14.

In May 2013, during CIS's [fifth-anniversary programme](/cis/fifth-anniversary/), Parthasarathi gave a talk titled "Why did I buy a set-top box?: What we know, don't know and need to know about Digitalisation". The session considered the reasons for the move to digital cable, its implications for viewers and the proposed digital switchover of the public broadcaster. The talk drew on his country report on India's media for the Open Society Foundations' *Mapping Digital Media* project. His association with CIS's Society or Board lasted 14 years, according to a later [anniversary account](/cis/18/).

## Research

Parthasarathi's research spans media policy and regulation, media governance, media diversity, the political economy of communication, creative industries and media history. His work has examined the relationship between media ownership, regulation and pluralism, as well as the economic and institutional structures of television distribution and the newspaper industry in India.

### Media policy and governance

From the late 2000s onwards, Parthasarathi coordinated and co-directed research projects on media governance, media advocacy, media pluralism and media policy. These projects received support from organisations including the Ford Foundation, the International Development Research Centre, HIVOS, the Social Science Research Council, the Indian Council of Social Science Research, the University Grants Commission and the Open Society Foundations. These projects included work on measuring media diversity, tracking access and diversity in television distribution, and developing teaching resources on media policy and law.

His publications on media regulation include "Deciphering Chindia: Two Accents of Media Governance" (2010), "On the Constituted Contexts of Public Communication" (2014), "Rein and Laissez Faire: The Dual Personality of Media Regulation in India" (2020, co-authored with Simran Agarwal), and "Dismembering Media Diversity: A Tryst with Two Press Commissions" (2021). His doctoral dissertation, *A Considered Silence*, extended this research into the regulatory history of press ownership in India.

### Media economy and digital platforms

Parthasarathi has studied the changing business and market structures of Indian media, including television distribution, newspaper digitisation, online video and digital platforms. His work on newspaper transitions includes a 2016 Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism report, *Digital Transition of Newspapers in India: Dainik Jagran, Hindustan Times, and Malayala Manorama*, co-authored with Zainab Aneez, S. Chattapadhyay and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen. His research on television distribution has addressed ownership patterns and the regulatory and commercial dynamics of cable networks.

In 2018, he co-edited the two-volume *The Indian Media Economy* with Adrian Athique and S. V. Srinivas. Published by Oxford University Press, the work examines the industrial dynamics and cultural adaptation of India's media economy, alongside market dynamics and social transactions across media industries.

In 2020, Parthasarathi and Adrian Athique co-edited *Platform Capitalism in India*, published by Palgrave Macmillan. The collection examines the development of platform economies in India and their relationships with business, labour, politics and culture. His later work has addressed video-on-demand markets, digital media infrastructures, creative industries and the regulation of digital markets.

### Media history and recorded music

Another strand of Parthasarathi's research concerns the history of media industries and recorded sound in India. His publications include "Construing a 'New Media' Market: Merchandising the Talking Machine, c. 1900–1913" (2005), "Not Just Mad Englishmen and a Dog: The Colonial Tuning of 'Music on Record', 1900–1908" (2007), and "The Evolution of an Early Media Enterprise: The Gramophone Company in India, 1898–1912" (2013). This work considers the commercial, cultural and historical conditions through which recorded music developed as a media industry.

## Publications and editorial work

Parthasarathi's publications include books and research reports, journal articles, and chapters on media policy, media industries, digital platforms and media history. The following list brings together key works recorded in his CV and Google Scholar profile. Duplicate records and entries with incomplete or inconsistent bibliographic details have been consolidated or left out rather than guessed.

### Books, edited collections and research reports

- *Platform Capitalism in India*, co-edited with Adrian Athique (2020).
- *The Indian Media Economy*, two volumes, co-edited with Adrian Athique and S. V. Srinivas (2018).
- *Mapping Digital Media: India* (2012), Open Society Foundations.
- *Digital Transition of Newspapers in India: Dainik Jagran, Hindustan Times, and Malayala Manorama*, with Zainab Aneez, S. Chattapadhyay and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (2016), Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
- *Indian News Media and the Production of News in the Age of Social Discovery*, with Zainab Aneez, S. Chattapadhyay and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (2017), Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
- *In Credible India: Multitude and Diversity in the Indian News Landscape* (2013), Centre for Culture, Media and Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia.
- *Pedagogy in Practice: Project-Based Learning in Media Policy and Governance*, with Biswajit Das and Santosh Panda (2022).
- *Media and Mediation*, with Bernard Bel, Biswajit Das, Jan Brouwer and Guy Poitevin (2005).
- *L'idiot du village mondial*, co-edited with Michel Sauquet (2004).

### Journal articles

- "Curating Video-on-Demand: Silences and Interruptions by a Neo-Liberal State" (2023).
- "Labyrinths Behind the Screen: Ownership and Control in TV Cable Distribution", with A. Srinivas (2022).
- "Institutional Constraints and Accordant Interests: The Speckled Life of an 'Ownership Bill' in India" (2022).
- "Dismembering Media Diversity: A Tryst with Two Press Commissions" (2021).
- "Rein and Laissez Faire: The Dual Personality of Media Regulation in India", with Simran Agarwal (2020).
- "Market Matters: Interdependencies in the Indian Media Economy", with Adrian Athique (2019).
- "Problematic Ownership Patterns: The Evolution of the Television Distribution Networks in India", with A. Srinivas (2019).
- "The Conundrum of 'Relevant Market': Market Definition in India's Complex TV Distribution Business" (2019).
- "Digitalization as Formalization: A View from Below", with A. Amanullah and S. Koshy (2016).
- "Digitalisation of TV Distribution: Affordability and Availability", with A. Amanullah and S. Koshy (2016).
- "The Digital Switchover of Doordarshan: Intriguing Dynamics of Policy Options", with S. Chotani (2015).
- "On the Constituted Contexts of Public Communication: Early Policy Debates on the Press in India" (2014).
- "The Evolution of an Early Media Enterprise: The Gramophone Company in India, 1898–1912" (2013).
- "Murdoch's India: A Hedge Against Uncertainty" (2012).
- "Deciphering Chindia: Two Accents of Media Governance" (2010).
- "The Scramble for Sound" (2010).
- "Articulating His Master's Voice: Reflections on the Ecology of Early Recorded Sound" (2009).
- "Not Just Mad Englishmen and a Dog: The Colonial Tuning of 'Music on Record', 1900–1908" (2007).
- "Construing a 'New Media' Market: Merchandising the Talking Machine, c. 1900–1913" (2005).

### Book chapters and other contributions

- "Darbari Redux: The Dystopian Roots of Public Communication", in *Raag Darbari: Polity as Fiction, Fiction as Reality* (2026).
- "Reading Power Without Responsibility from the 'Periphery'", in *Media Pasts and Futures: Critical Reflections on Power Without Responsibility* (2025).
- "Burdens of Legacy: Enumerative Accountability in Digital Markets", in *The Economic Lives of Platforms* (2024).
- "Desires and Fears of Heterodoxies: Notes on Disciplining Media Studies", in *Practising Interdisciplinarity: Convergences and Contestations* (2024).
- "The Media as We Knew It: Dislocations in the Digital Media Economy" (2024).
- "Platform Challenges to Creative Industries in India", with C. Ithurbide, P. Bouquillion and P. P. Sneha (2023).
- "Cross-sectoral Relations in VoD Markets: Frontend, Backend, and Deepend in India", with Philippe Bouquillion and C. Ithurbide (2023).
- "Platformisation of Matchmaking: Reconfiguring Social Economies in India", with Simran Agarwal (2023).
- "Expanding Horizons of Media Bazaars: Topography of the Digital Media Economy in India", with P. Raghunath (2022).
- "Document Analysis for Media Policy Research", with R. Sinha (2022).
- "Enumerating Media Diversity", with A. Kaisii and N. Inayati (2022).
- "The Market Idea in a Multilingual TV Milieu: A Postscript" (2021).
- "The Public Sphere of Marketed Sound: The Business of Early Recorded Music in India" (2020).
- "Between Strategic Intent and Considered Silence: Regulatory Imprints in the TV Business" (2017).
- "Market Dynamics of the Indian Media Economy" (2017).
- "Media Research and Public Policy: Tiding Over the Rupture", with Biswajit Das (2011).
- "Interventionist Tendencies in Popular Culture" (2010).
- "A Tale of Two Radios: Tracing Advocacy in a Deregulatory Milieu", with S. Chotani (2010).
- "A Pop-up Newsroom to Fight Fake News: A View from Swedish Elections", with A. Mattsson (2018).
- "Using Narbs for Political Prediction", with A. Mitra and S. Mamani (2015).
- "Networks of Influence", with A. Srinivas (2016).
- "Indian TV Anchors on Twitter: Technological Practice and Textual Form", with A. Mitra (2017).
- "Silencing SMS: The Anatomy of 'mCurfews' in India", with A. Amanullah (2012).
- "The Problem" (1997).
- "For a Sustainable Development of NGOs" (1993).

His editorial and advisory work has included roles associated with *Global Media and Communication*, *Media Asia* and the India Media Centre at the University of Westminster. Other professional affiliations and roles have involved the Media and Journalism Research Center, The Media Foundation, MIT Press, Oxford University Press, *Platforms & Society* and the *Journal of Digital Media & Policy*.
## References

1. [Vibodh Parthasarathi: Curriculum vitae](https://jmi.ac.in/upload/employeeresume/vparthasarathi.pdf), Jamia Millia Islamia, publication date not stated; accessed: 24 October 2026.
2. [Vibodh Parthasarathi](https://www.jmi.ac.in/Centre-For-Culture-Media-%26-Governance/Faculty-Members/1620), Centre for Culture, Media and Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia, publication date not stated; accessed: 24 October 2026.
3. [Vibodh Parthasarathi (Dr)](https://www.iicom.org/profile/vibodh-parthasarath/), International Institute of Communications, publication date not stated; accessed: 24 October 2026.
4. [A Considered Silence: The Regulatory History of Press Ownership in India](https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/publications/a-considered-silence-the-regulatory-history-of-press-ownership-in/), University of Helsinki Research Portal, 2024; accessed: 24 October 2026.
5. [Vibodh Parthasarathi](https://www.sasnet.lu.se/staff/sasnet-affiliated-researchers/vibodh-parthasarathi), Swedish South Asian Studies Network, Lund University, publication date not stated; accessed: 24 October 2026.
6. [The Indian Media Economy](https://india.oup.com/product/the-indian-media-economy-2-volume-setvol-i-industrial-dynamics-and-cultural-adaptationvol-ii-market-dynamics-and-social-transactions-9780199482658/), Oxford University Press, 2018; accessed: 24 October 2026.
7. [Vibodh Parthasarathi](https://jmi.academia.edu/VibodhParthasarathi), Academia.edu, publication date not stated; accessed: 24 October 2026.
8. [Platform Capitalism in India](https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-44563-8), Palgrave Macmillan, 2020; accessed: 24 October 2026.
9. [Centre for Internet and Society](https://sunilabraham.in/cis/), The Sunil Abraham Project, publication date not stated; accessed: 24 October 2026.
10. [Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations of the Centre for Internet and Society](https://sunilabraham.in/cis/moa/), The Sunil Abraham Project, document dated 4 July 2008; accessed: 24 October 2026.
11. [Centre for Internet and Society: Annual Report 2008–09](https://sunilabraham.in/cis/annual-report-2008-09/), The Sunil Abraham Project, 2008–09; accessed: 24 October 2026.
12. [Centre for Internet and Society: Annual Report 2013–14](https://sunilabraham.in/cis/annual-report-2013-14/), The Sunil Abraham Project, 2013–14; accessed: 24 October 2026.
13. [Fifth Anniversary of the Centre for Internet and Society](https://sunilabraham.in/cis/fifth-anniversary/), The Sunil Abraham Project, event held 20–23 May 2013; accessed: 24 October 2026.
14. [Centre for Internet and Society: 18th Anniversary](https://sunilabraham.in/cis/18/), The Sunil Abraham Project, 4 July 2026; accessed: 24 October 2026.
15. [Vibodh Parthasarathi](https://www.bloomsbury.com/in/author/vibodh-parthasarathi/), Bloomsbury Publishing, publication date not stated; accessed: 24 October 2026.

## External links

- [Vibodh Parthasarathi](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qFuEE2AAAAAJ&hl=en) on Google Scholar
- [Vibodh Parthasarathi](https://jmi.academia.edu/VibodhParthasarathi) on Academia.edu

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