The future of print media

The Hindu has a report on the recently concluded Media Perspectives symposium in Chennai:-

Sanjay Pinto, senior special correspondent, NDTV, said the issue of ethics in the use of hidden cameras in sting journalism had to be seen in the light of whether the exercise was for the public good.

Blog journalism was emerging as an alternative to the editorial content of newspapers, Ashok Malik, Senior Editor, The Indian Express, said. However, the issue of broad regulations and censorship/monitoring needed to be examined.

Earlier, N. Murali, Joint Managing Director, The Hindu, said though India had emerged as one of the fastest growing media markets, the growth pattern was ``on the back of flimsy economics.'' Predatory price wars and excessive dependence on advertising revenue had disturbed the economic stability (of newspapers) and journalistic independence. ``What is happening in the market place defies all logic and [we need to return to] sound business principles. Unless newspapers are priced right, the frenetic growth may not be sustainable,'' he added. The Indian media was headed the American way, with news being increasingly doctored to suit advertisers, Kamlendra Kanwar, Resident Editor, The New Indian Express, said. There was a steady erosion of journalistic freedom and trivialisation of content, necessitating safeguards.

The Internet had emerged as the medium of the future and though it needed enormous technological investment, it later bought in incremental revenue, George Zacharias, President and Chief Operating Officer, Sify, said. Though the web had emerged as everybody's medium, the challenge was in leveraging it to give real benefits to real people.