Article on the occasion of Press Freedom Day, 3 May

Is there any hope for Press in India

Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee

Last Sunday, May 3 was World Press Freedom Day. I was thinking about the future of Press in India.

In India Media and Entertainment Industry (M&E) is in a paradoxical situation. As per records it is growing at a brisk pace. The business is growing. So is revenue- at least till the covid 19 struck the world.

But when it comes to news media- press- the situation is bleak. It has been turning bleak from globalization days. Post globalization days the situation only worsened. The politicians, political parties and corporate money bags  with their own opinion and agenda have almost taken over media ownership in India leaving little space for independent voice. It happened across the country in almost all states- all regions.

Many media academicians and pundits feel digital could be the solution, as it less capital intensive. It takes much less capital and logistical hassle to run a news site than running a newspaper or television news channel. Digital news consumption is also increasing. But even there, survival is a big question. In Odisha, press began to explore cyber space from only the fag end of last century. In twenty years- the space is so crowded that it is now an uphill task for all of them to stay afloat. And in a crowd- it is difficult to make one’s voice distinctive. Social media and citizen journalism on one hand and proliferation of fake news on the other made the news ecosphere to murky- that the audience is confused- whom to rely.

And then, almost out of the blue came Corona pandemic. The world knew about it on the last day of 2019. By mid-March four out of 5 of all countries of the world were fighting the pandemic. Several countries effected complete lock down. It impacted world economy so badly that as per a report published in 2 April 2020 in Economic Times- the UN has said that the global economy could shrink by up to 1 per cent in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, a reversal from the previous forecast of 2.5 per cent growth. UN has further warned that it may contract even further if restrictions on the economic activities are extended without adequate fiscal responses.

Covid 19 has brought a peculiar kind condition for the press. It is the biggest pandemic in our living memory- and therefore a big opportunity for the press to disseminate information, make people aware and educate them. It also almost spells doom for media, especially print media world over as newspapers can hardly be distributed in this locked down period. This might have a domino effect. Once a reader unsubscribes a newspaper, he may not again resume it, as by the time he is used to read the digital copy, which is largely free. Newspaper distribution as a business is increasingly becoming non-remunerative. As circulation plummets- so does advertisement revenue. Digital news consumption is increasing. Compared with the week of Feb. 10-16, 2020 visits to websites and mobile apps in the “General News” category increased by 61% in the week of March 16-22, 2020. But news consumption did not bring in money to run the business. Indian Newspaper Society (INS) in their letter dated 24 March 2020, sought two-year tax holiday after “triple whammy” of Coronavirus, falling ad revenues, and customs duty on newsprint.

Several media houses resorted to salary cut, lay off and retrenchment. On March 16, the Mumbai Press Club released a statement condemning the firing of journalists across the board.

Overall, news-media is passing through a very bad phase in this decade made worse by the spread of Corona pandemic. On 3 May 2020, Press Freedom Day UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message:
"As the (COVID-19) pandemic spreads, it has also given rise to a second pandemic of misinformation, from harmful health advice to wild conspiracy theories. The press provides the antidote: verified, scientific, fact-based news and analysis."

The silver lining is people have understood the menace of fake news and the importance of getting credible news, which the traditional kind of journalism with old values- press- can provide. Therefore there will be a demand for credible news and news that contextualize and explain, makes a meaning of the mass of data.

Press, on the other hand, needs to reinvent itself and redefine its role and stick to its old values. That is the mantra for survival and hopefully, growth.

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Published in www.prameyanews.com on 3 May 2020