RELEVANCE OF PRINT JOURNALISM

Vanshika Kothari

NAME- VANSHIKA KOTHARI
SEM- 1
ROLL NO.- 24/080
DATE – 04. 09. 2024

RELEVANCE OF PRINT JOURNALISM
British archaeologist and diplomat T.E Lawrence had called printing press, “the greatest weapon in the armoury of a modern commander.” And his words very accurately depict the power and influence print journalism and newspapers have held since the conception of printing press. The advent of printing press sometimes is said to be synonymous with the emergence of true journalism due to its “mass communicative” nature. And so when we talk about its relevance in today’s day and age, it is extremely important to acknowledge that print journalism are the very roots of what has developed into other mainstream forms of journalism today like television, digital and social media.

If we look at data and global statistics, the digital age has overtaken the world of news and media so quickly and convincingly, that we have had no time to process the transformation. Mobile phones and laptop screens have replaced newspapers for majority of the masses. But does that mean that print media is not relevant anymore? The end of newspapers is near? Definitely not. Worldwide statistics have shown discrepancies in newspaper consumption in different regions of the world. While in developed countries like USA and certain West European countries, there has been a significant decline in newspaper circulation and readership, the story for developing and less developed countries has been vastly different. This difference can also be attributed to the state of online penetration in a region. The decline in circulation for developed countries stem from challenges posed by the growing digital media and the changing consumption patterns of the people. On the other hand, the boom that newspapers seem to enjoy in the less developed regions of the world are majorly due to two intertwined factors- lack of digital infrastructure and increase in literacy rate. While there has been a large scale increase in the literacy rate in countries worldwide, their digital infrastructures have encountered considerable difficulties in keeping up. And naturally, since these less developed countries have higher instances of poverty it makes this “digital vision” less accessible to their people. And so, this allows print journalism to be relevant to majority of the world today. On the contrary, the growing ecological problems of the world create an urgent need to limit paper consumption and from that lens, the decline of print media is imminent, required, and inevitable.

However, it is very important to mention the timeless nature of newspapers and print media. Newspapers have been an integral part of our routine and have immense preservation value. They provide a window to the past and their “feel’ is still too precious today, making it impossible to do away with them. They allow us to reach a broader spectrum of people and provide an impetus to learning all over the world. They are a pillar of democracy and the voice of the people, and have been the trigger of every major revolution. The relevance of print journalism in democracy, economy and ecology is multi-faceted and complex, yet profound.