Janhavi Tandon
With the advent of digital media, there has been a noticeable reduction in people’s goldfish-like attention spans, particularly among the youth. With catchphrases and headlines overshadowing the actual news stories and ‘Inshorts’ becoming relevant by the day, one is compelled to wonder whether the relevance of print journalism is fading.
The answer, fortunately, is – no, especially in a country like India. No matter how “digitized” we become, we remain connected to our roots, and print media is deeply embedded in those roots. With languages changing every mile, regional language newspapers become crucial as not only do these papers deliver news but also act as the identity of a particular linguistic or social group. For instance, Mumbai Samachar, the oldest Gujarati newspaper continues to be in print today, even after two centuries.
Airports and railway stations continue to have newspapers kept to be consumed by rushing passersby. We can infer that there still is a demand for print media thus there continues to be a supply.
Newspaper vendors buy piles of papers and deliver them routinely to each house, they act as the harbingers of world politics, national sports, state economics, and local entertainment.
Newspapers like the ‘Times of India’ advertise the importance of print media by emphasizing that it enhances one’s retention capacity apart from providing other benefits like credibility and emotional connection. Communicating to people on a personal level, print journalism holds a significant share in the media industry.
Even though the buzz of magazines like ‘Brunch’ or ‘Vanita’ has declined others like ‘Vogue’ still dominate the global arena. Amul billboards creatively communicate current events and grasp one’s attention from a distance thus serving as prime examples of the pertinence of print media.
Since the digital divide is quite extreme, more people can afford to observe their environment or buy a newspaper rather than buy a smartphone, only to be consumed by half-baked headlines or drown in the multitude of fake news. It is agreeable that what is written in print is most often the truth and what is written on screen is usually a ‘doubtful fact.’
In the media industry, print remains one of the most important segments not only in terms of journalism but also in advertising, public relations, and marketing. Thus, one can conclude that the ink of the words creates a powerful impact even today and it is incorrect to believe that this ink will fade with time.
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