1. INTRODUCTION:

Media creates awareness in public. Media always keep an eye, if something is going wrong, it protects public interest. Media exposure helps to everyone in being updated from around the world. It also keeps connected everyone from every corner of world. Male or Female both has equal rights for keeping themselves updated and connected.In the words of Swami Vivekananda “There is no chance of the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on one wing”.

In present scenario time has changed. Women are also working as equivalent to men. Media communication helps them for getting new knowledge; even they are sitting at their home. People can get news and information of events happening in any area of world. It influences their social life in so many ways. Despite of living at distance people feel closer to each other due to media communication.

Kalisindh Thermal Power Plant (KaTPP) is constructed in state Rajasthan. It is located near village Undal approximately 15 km far from District Jhalawar. Effect of gender discrimination on media exposure of villagers living in vicinity of this power plant has been analyzed in this paper. Johnson (2001) quoted a number of respondents describing changes in gender roles as a result of television. Interorganizational Committee (1995) defined meaning of social impacts as the consequences to human populations of any public or private actions-that alter the ways in which people live, work, play, relate to one another, organize to meet their needs, and generally cope as members of society. The term also includes cultural impacts involving changes to the norms, values and beliefs that guide and rationalize their cognition of themselves and their society.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW:

Behl (1988) found Television to bring about great changes in the round of household activities, including a new definition of the concept of time, alterations in the appearance of the house and its inhabitants, and an increased democratization of human relations with respect to the status of gender and age.

Kottak (1990) reported on the basis of data from isolated areas in Brazil, and argued that the introduction of television affected views on gender, having more liberal views on the role of women at the workplace and in relationships.

Sen (1992) argued in his paper that there were 41 million “missing women” in India – women and girls who died prematurely due to mistreatment – resulting in a dramatically male-biased population.

Mankekar (1993, 1998); Fernandes (2000); Johnson (2001); Scrase (2002) opined that beyond providing entertainment, television vastly increases both the availability of information about the outside world and exposure to other ways of life. This is especially true for remote, rural villages; where several ethnographic and anthropological studies had suggested that television is the primary channel through which households get information about life outside their village.

Wilcox and Liard (2000) reported impact of media images of super-slender women on women’s self esteem. Report was based on women’s emotions on their personal cues. They concluded that some women enjoyed examining media depictions of extremely slender models, while others find such depictions produce feelings of inadequacy.

Johnson (2001) analyzed in his article the role of television in rural life, and the influence it has had on various social, economic and political processes that have been revolutionizing the landscape of village India in recent years. He discussed the unique characteristics of television that make it an important agent of cultural change.

Scrase (2002) reported that several of his respondents thought television might lead women to question their social position and might help the cause of female advancement. He stated that another woman reported that, because of television, men and women are able to “open up a lot more”.

Thomas (2003) stated that the number of television sets in Asia has increased more than six-fold, from 100 million to 650 million, since the 1980s. In China, television exposure grew from 18 million people in 1977 to 1 billion by 1995. La Pastina (2004) argued that exposure to tele-novels provided women with alternative models of what role they might play in society.

Jensen and Oster (2007) explored the effect of the introduction of cable television on gender attitudes in rural India. Using a three-year individual-level panel dataset, they found that the introduction of cable television was associated with improvements in women’s status. They found significant increases in reported autonomy, decreases in the reported acceptability of beating and decreases in reported son preference. They also found increases in female school enrolment and decreases in fertility.

Vigna and Kaplan (2007) observed large effects of the Fox News channel on voting patterns in the United States.

Olken (2009) investigated the impact of television and radio on social capital in Indonesia and found that increased signal reception, leads to more time watching television and listening to the radio, and less participation in social organizations and with lower self-reported trust.

Karra ET. al. (2016) analyzed impact of media profile on villagers’ social life. They concluded that villages are partially connected with communication network. They found that in villages people are dependent on TV for news and entertainment at home.

3. OBJECTIVES:

The study is focused to a single objective of analysis the effect of gender discrimination on Media exposure in villages.

4. RATIONALE:

Male or female both has equal rights to avail facilities of communication network to keep connected with their friends and relatives. People living in urban areas are not conservative, hence very well connected with the whole world through advance communication network. But people living in rural areas are how well versed about communication networks. Kalisindh Thermal Power Project is constructed near village Undal, Rajasthan. Few more villages are also situated in near about area of this Thermal Power Project. No study has been carried out to find out effect of gender on media exposure in these villages. This research is to analyze effect of gender on media exposure of villagers living in villages located near to the Kalisindh Thermal Power Project. The researcher has gone through exhaustive amount of literature available related to this field of study but very little research in this field is carried out till now. This study is an endeavour to plug this gap.

5. HYPOTHESIS:

Following hypotheses have been framed and tested for the study:-

H1: “There is no significant effect of gender on receiving a newspaper at home”

H2: “There is no significant effect of gender on receiving magazine at home”

H3: “There is no significant effect of gender on own TV at home”

H4: “There is no significant effect of gender on own radio at home”

H5: “There is no significant effect of gender on availability of FM/MW/SW in radio”

H6: “There is no significant effect of gender on Internet connection at home”

6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

The descriptive type of research is used here. A survey of villagers living in five villages i.e. Devri, Motipura, Nimoda, Singhania and Undal have been carried out. During survey information was collected by filling a structured questionnaire form. All villagers belong almost from the same background, hence convenience sampling considered appropriate for selection of villagers. Reliability analysis was done to identify internal consistency of the variables. Table -1 shows Cronbach alpha value of the scale. Which is greater than 0.7. It shows adequate internal consistency. Frequency, percentage, simple arithmetic mean and ANOVA are the statistical tools used for the analysis.

Table – 1: Reliability Statistics

Name of Village	Cronbach Alpha
Devri	0.735
Motipura	0.771
Nimoda	0.724
Singhania	0.757
Undal	0.809

7. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS:

Media exposure helps to everyone in being updated from around the world. Male or Female both has equal rights for keeping themselves updated. In this paper our objective is to study effect of gender on Media exposure in villages. For this purpose following indicators were considered:-

Ø Receive a newspaper at home

Ø Receive a magazine at home

Ø Own TV at home

Ø Own Radio at home

Ø Availability of FM/MW/SW in Radio

Ø Internet connection at home

As the result of Data Analysis following findings have emerged:-

7.1 Effect of Gender on Media Exposure in villages:

Table – 2 and Bar Graph – 1 show that most of respondents from all five villages, who participated in this survey, are male. Very few female respondents participated in this survey. Only 15% females from village Undal, 28% females from village Singhania, 7% females from village Nimoda and 4 % females from village Motipura participated in this survey. No female participated from village Devri. It infers that still in villages’ position of females is backward; they do not come in front.

Table –2: Gender

Name of Village	Male (%)	Female (%)
Devri	100	0
Motipura	96	4
Nimoda	93	7
Singhania	72	28
Undal	85	15

Bar Graph - 1: Gender

7.2 Interpretation of ANOVA:

Statistical tool ANOVA has been applied on all indicators considered for Media Exposure in villages. The findings and interpretation have been described as under:-

7.2.1 Interaction between Gender and Receiving a Newspaper at Home:

ONE WAY ANOVA for indicator ‘Receive a Newspaper at home’ of ‘Effect of gender on Media Exposure in villages’ is presented as below:

Table 7.2.1 - ANOVA: Receive a newspaper at home

	Sum of Squares	Df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Between Groups	0.009	1	0.009	0.055	0.815
Within Groups	40.110	251	0.160
Total	40.119	252

It can be observed from the above table that F value of interaction between gender and receiving a newspaper at home is 0.055 with degree of freedom 1, which is not significant. It means that there is no significant difference between perception of male and female with respect to receiving a newspaper at home. In light of this the null hypothesis namely “There is no Significant effect of gender on receiving a newspaper at home” is not rejected. Hence, it may be concluded that indicator ‘receiving a newspaper at home’ of Media exposure in villages is independent of gender and perception of male and female are at par for this indicator.

7.2.2. Interaction between Gender and Receiving Magazine at Home:

ONE WAY ANOVA for indicator ‘Receive Magazine at Home’ of ‘Effect of Gender on Media Exposure in villages’ is presented as below:

Table 7.2.2 - ANOVA: Receive magazines at home

	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Between Groups	0.002	1	0.002	0.249	0.618
Within Groups	1.982	251	0.008
Total	1.984	252

It can be observed from the above table that F value of interaction between gender and receiving magazine at home is 0.249 with degree of freedom 1, which is not significant. It means that there is no significant difference between perception of male and female with respect to receiving magazine at home. In light of this the null hypothesis namely “There is no significant effect of gender on receiving magazine at home” is not rejected. Hence, it may be concluded that indicator ‘receiving magazine at home’ of Media exposure in villages is independent of gender and perception of male and female are at par for this indicator.

7.2.3. Interaction between Gender and own TV at Home:

ONE WAY ANOVA for indicator ‘Own TV at Home’ of ‘Effect of Gender on Media Exposure in villages’ is presented as below:

Table 7.2.3 - ANOVA: Own TV at home

	Sum of Squares	Df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Between Groups	0.666	1	0.666	2.900	0.090
Within Groups	57.603	251	0.229
Total	58.269	252

It can be observed from the above table that F value of interaction between gender and own TV at home is 2.9 with degree of freedom 1, which is not significant. It means that there is no significant difference between perception of male and female with respect to own TV at home. In light of this the null hypothesis namely “There is no significant effect of gender on own TV at home” is not rejected. Hence, it may be concluded that indicator ‘own TV at home’ of Media exposure in villages is independent of gender and perception of male and female are at par for this indicator.

7.2.4. Interaction between Gender and Own Radio at Home:

ONE WAY ANOVA for indicator ‘Own Radio at Home’ of ‘Effect of Gender on Media Exposure in villages’ is presented as below:

Table 7.2.4 - ANOVA: Own Radio at home

	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Between Groups	0.004	1	0.004	0.375	0.541
Within Groups	2.960	251	0.012
Total	2.964	252

It can be observed from the above table that F value of interaction between gender and own radio at home is 0.375 with degree of freedom 1, which is not significant. It means that there is no significant difference between perception of male and female with respect to own radio at home. In light of this the null hypothesis namely “There is no significant effect of gender on own radio at home” is not rejected. Hence, it may be concluded that indicator ‘own radio at home’ of Media exposure in villages is independent of gender and perception of male and female are at par for this indicator.

7.2.5. Interaction between Gender and availability of FM/MW/SW in Radio:

ONE WAY ANOVA for indicator ‘Availability of FM/MW/SW in radio’ of ‘Effect of Gender on Media Exposure in villages’ is presented as below:

Table 7.2.5 - ANOVA Availability of FM/MW/SW in Radio

	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Between Groups	0.004	1	0.004	0.375	0.541
Within Groups	2.960	251	0.012
Total	2.964	252

It can be observed from the above table that F value of interaction between gender and Availability of FM/MW/SW in radio is 0.375 with degree of freedom 1, which is not significant. It means that there is no significant difference between perception of male and female with respect to availability of FM/MW/SW in radio. In light of this the null hypothesis namely “There is no significant effect of gender on availability of FM/MW/SW in radio at home” is not rejected. Hence, it may be concluded that indicator ‘availability of FM/MW/SW in radio’ of Media exposure in villages is independent of gender and perception of male and female are at par for this indicator.

7.2.6. Interaction between Gender and Internet connection at Home:

ONE WAY ANOVA for indicator ‘Internet connection at home’ of ‘Effect of Gender on Media Exposure in villages’ is presented as below:

Table 7.2.6 - ANOVA : Internet connection at home

	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Between Groups	0.001	1	0.001	0.017	0.896
Within Groups	7.747	251	0.031
Total	7.747	252

It can be observed from the above table that F value of interaction between gender and Internet connection at home is 0.017 with degree of freedom 1, which is not significant. It means that there is no significant difference between perception of male and female with respect to Internet connection at home. In light of this the null hypothesis namely “There is no significant effect of gender on Internet connection at home” is not rejected. Hence, it may be concluded that indicator ‘internet connection at home’ of Media exposure in villages is independent of gender and perception of male and female are at par for this indicator.

8. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS:

In modern era communication network is necessary to keep updated and connected people with each other. The study revealed that Gender has no significant effect on Media exposure in villages. Thus, we conclude that Media exposure in villages is independent of gender and behaviour of male and female are at par in rural area too.

There is lot of competition in every field of business. Companies are deriving new offers for attracting the customers. Communication companies can use these villages as an opportunity for expending their business and develop communication network of their companies. It may help villagers to keep connected with outside world and communication companies can get their business.

9. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

· The study is limited to the villagers living in villages located near to the Kalisindh Thermal Power Plant only; therefore findings cannot be extended to other areas.

· Non probabilistic Convenience sampling has been used for collecting primary data from villagers for the study and it has its own limitations.

· Results cannot be generalized.

10. REFERENCES:

1. Behl, N. (1988). Equalizing status: television and tradition in an Indian village. Equalizing status: television and tradition in an Indian village, 136-157.

2. DellaVigna, S., and Kaplan, E. (2007). The Fox News effect: Media bias and voting. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122(3), 1187-1234.

3. Fernandes, L. (2000). Nationalizing the global': media images, cultural politics and the middle class in India. Media, Culture and Society, 22(5), 611-628.

4. Jensen, R., and Oster, E. (2007). The power of TV: Cable television and women's status in India (No. w13305). National Bureau of Economic Research.

5. Johnson, K. (2001). Media and social change: the modernizing influences of television in rural India. Media, Culture and Society, 23(2), 147-169.

6. Karra R., Mishra P. N. and Jain P. (2016). Media Exposure among Villagers with reference to Kalisindh Thermal Power Project (KaTPP), Jhalawar, Rajasthan. International Journal of Advanced Research, 4(12), 281-291.

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16. Wilcox, K., and Laird, J. D. (2000). The impact of media images of super-slender women on women's self-esteem: Identification, social comparison, and self-perception. Journal of Research in Personality, 34(2), 278-286.

Received on 15.12.2017 Modified on 05.01.2018

Asian Journal of Management. 2018; 9(1):337-341.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2018.00052.5