The new media and Tamil diaspora identity: A case study of Jallikattu protests

The new media spring has brought several issues including the Diaspora community into the limelight thus making the presence of citizen journalists felt. The minorities generally do not find a place that easily on the television but the internet and other new media do map their representation. It is said that after the internationalization of the mediaoccurred, there are no long distances. Hence this paper analyzes the news articles on how the Tamil Diasporacommunity across the world reacts towards the Jallikattu protests which happened from 8th to 23rd of January, 2017 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The main objectives of the research are: • To analyze new media’s crucial role in bringing the “Tamil Diaspora community” to limelight. • To examine the cultural identity of Tamil Diaspora represented through the new media in reference to selected Jallikattu related articles. • To understand the human rights issues involved in the Jallikattu protests by the Tamil community.