Digital Journalism and Techno Feudalism: A Study of Stringers' Work on Indian News Platform s

Abstract

Abstract

This paper examines the intersection of digital journalism and techno feudalism by analysing the labour conditions of stringers working for Indian news platforms. The study addresses a critical research gap: while scholarship on digital labour and precarity has expanded, limited attention has been paid to stringers in the Global South, particularly within India's rapidly platformising news economy. The research is guided by three central questions: (1) How do techno feudal structures influence the working conditions of stringers in Indian digital news platforms? (2) What dimensions of precarity characterise the everyday work experiences of stringers in Indian digital journalism? (3) How do stringers negotiate vulnerability and exercise agency within techno feudal news ecosystems? The study draws on 27 in depth interviews conducted with stringers in Rajasthan and Odisha to answer these questions. The theoretical framework integrates perspectives on digital labour precarity, and techno feudalism to situate stringers within broader debates on media labour under digital capitalism. Findings reveal that stringers' work is marked by systemic precarity, absence of contractual protections, and deep dependence on platform driven hierarchies, exemplifying techno feudal logics. However, the study also highlights the contingent strategies stringers deploy to assert professional agency, thereby contributing new insights into India's uneven and contested terrain of digital journalism.

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