• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 6, 2017

According to an Exchange4Media report, by Author Ruhail Amin, the speed of news generation and news consumption that digital media facilitates, makes newspapers and magazines, at best, a repository of second-hand information. Many feel that print journalism, especially magazine journalism, is becoming increasingly tough to practice, and some have even started writing obituary pieces about this format of journalism.

Recently Union Minister for Finance, Defence Corporate Affairs, went on record to describe it in these words, “Magazine journalism in India is today probably the most difficult one. Thanks to technology, the definition of news has itself changed.”

News these days is whatever the camera is ready to capture, says the report, or alternatively, what digital media is able to get attracted to. Print journalism both in terms of technology and timing faces that radical challenge. Even for daily newspapers, one really cannot read in the newspapers what one has seen several times over on TV the previous evening or read it on the smartphones.”

Traditional journalism has never been beset with an existential threat like it faces now, says the report. Thanks to the growing popularity of online media, news is increasingly getting generated by the minute and consumed within a similar span. In such a situation traditional media outlets, especially print publications, have come under great stress, claims the report.

According to Pitch Madison says the report, print grew at 7% in 2016, with dailies registering a growth of 8% while magazines saw negative growth. Demonetization resulted in leading print advertisers holding back on spends in the last quarter. In 2017, the print advertising market is expected to grow by 9.5%, with dailies and regional publications leading the growth.

The report further states that in terms of category contribution, FMCG is the largest contributor to the print pie, with a contribution of 15%. Automobiles are the second largest contributor at 14%, followed by Education (10%). Contribution of E-commerce comes way down with just 3%.

In terms of Volume, Hindi publications continue to be ahead of English publications contributing 35% of the total volume, while the latter contribute only 26%. But in terms of growth of volume, English publications have grown by 8% while Hindi publications grew by only 3%.

According to Raj Chengappa, Group Editorial Director, Publishing, India Today Group and President, Editors Guild of India, “The biggest challenge is how the technology has made news available anywhere and anytime. The most popular platform is emerging to be the smartphone. However… there is no discrimination between news items… (the) print is all about display, size of the headlines, the picture that we use and even the graphics… people are getting confused by all this… what people are looking for is relevant and credible news.”

Stating that magazine journalism is all about curated content and distilled information, Chengappa further adds, “What magazines do is to take complex information, distill it and bring clarity… the clarity which print magazines can bring out has better writing, better display, better visuals and it is an art by itself… most people are seeking clarity about what they read and want curated news… “

Anant Nath, Editor, Caravan and Executive Director, Delhi Press stated that readers are willing to buy print publications if they are available at a convenience to them… “If a print product is readily available at their doorstep or at a point of purchase which is accessible and convenient, then readers are more than willing to buy… The problem with magazines is that we as an industry have not been able to somehow ensure as effective distribution as we should have. Therefore, we are still counting on the reader to make some efforts to buy a magazine while there needs to be active involvement from the publishers’ end…”

Some media veterans argue that magazine journalism has the advantage of connecting deeply with the consumers which TV and digital lack. However, they also suggest that in order to keep the readership intact, the distribution approach needs to be reworked to make print publications, especially magazines, conveniently available for readers.

“… I think magazine journalism has the advantage of engaging the reader in an in-depth way… this is not the case with TV and digital and this in itself is a big plus that the magazine publishers can leverage… “ stated Alok Mehta, veteran journalist and former Editor-in-Chief, Outlook Hindi.

While explaining the innate difference between digital and print, Nath says that magazine journalism has its distinct flavor which cannot be replaced by any other platform. He says “… in most cases, online reading is more geared towards news and current affairs and breaking news… The articles… in our magazines are far more in-depth and for engaged reading. For people who want to read such articles, mobile is not the ideal format… online as a medium has too many distractions and it does not offer a much focused reading experience… print will always have an important space. It will co-exist with the online space and all the media will finally find equilibrium,” stated Nath.

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