Abstract
The role of the press is underpinned by a concern for public welfare, and the discourses and debates in journalism practice and theory stem from the notion that the press is one of the pillars of a democracy and an essential element of the public sphere (Rosen, 1999; Dahlgren and Sparks, 1991). The public sphere in turn is linked to the theory of modernisation and the development agenda of a society, where media plays an important function as a watchman, a policy disseminator, and as a teacher (Schramm, 1964). This paper looks at the promise of citizen journalism via information and communication technologies to provide yet another opportunity to mainly disadvantaged communities in India to communicate potentially with the world. The new media also opens up the possibility of these earlier de-franchised communities to become partners in the country's development and democratic agenda. This is a preliminary paper based on a survey of initiatives undertaken by various community groups in India to provide new media/technologies access to communities who would otherwise remain silent.