Local Newspapers, Post-COVID (Entertainment 2.0)

Survival of Local Newspapers Post COVID

Alisha P. M.

Yash Arora

Statement

Providing alternative Systemic solutions for survival of Local Newspapers post COVID

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Background The overall revenues of print media publications have been declining since 2010 due to, the reducing number in ad revenues, vulture company takeover, and ultimate job lay-os. Newspapers tried to take appropriate sanitary care to keep the newspaper going the pandemic; but as per government guidelines- publications have been put on a halt for over 2 months. Despite having considerable readers on the digital platform; it doesn't help the overall publication or the newspaper circulation chain attached to it. Print media is not just the biggest provider of local and government-related news but also a safe haven for journalists. So providing an alternative systemic solution is essential for print media to survive post-COVID. Understanding the positively influenced and evolving narrative of print media on a global scale- by Political Satire, and it's impact- to highlight the importance of journalism; it'll be easier to understand the decline of this industry despite its tremendous societal contribution.

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Research Process_Formulating the Statement 1

Brainstorming:

During the pandemic, the political & social environment saw massive shift which forced entertainment outlets to change their narratives. One of the biggest influence to make it happen was the genre of Political Satire.

2

Social Network Mapping:

By following the roots of ‘Political Satire’- it’s impact on print media Journalists and News reporters can be tracked. And, the links between Political Satire & Journalism highlights the importance of Local Newspapers.

3

Video Analysis:

Naming Jon Stewart ‘The most trusted Man in America’ & ‘Fake Newsman who Made a Real Difference’ to, telling John Oliver - ‘Unfortunately, You are a Journalist!’; comedians Became the champions for the real Journalists and advocates for saving the dying newspaper industry.

4

Document Research :

The article archives since 2008 by New York Times, Washington Post to Times of India and Hindustan Times; have published data and reasonings for the economic decline in the Newspaper Industry.

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Casual Loop, to understand aftereffects of halted print media publications, for news circulation

The continues downfall of daily newspapers, removes an essential and reliable source of information from the society. Understanding the importance of newspapers, especially Local newspapers; is important to justify their necessity and survival.

Key Points based upon secondary data & Expert Interview

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National Newspaper has the circulation across the country whereas local newspapers are distributed within a city/ localized area.

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Newspapers are essential to maintain the moral and connectivity of a community; as Local Newspapers carry more straightforward reporting that focuses on the facts of a news event while the reporting in the nationals is interpretative.

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Local Newspapers are more connected to the community and have much more at stake if they don’t play straight.

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Research Process_Finding Solutions 1

Trend Analysis:

Looking at the current affairs in political & entertainment domains, which have inevitably intertwined with each other; both are being held accountable for the current prejudiced and divided society due to their created and implied Narrative.

2

Expert Interviews:

Interviewing two industry experts- one, a writer, editor turned creative writing’s faculty and second a veteran freelance writer with an experience of over 2 decades; gave a real insight of the print media industry. The problems which pilled up and have caused the unfortunate decline in the industry was addressed and opinions and criticism was given regarding a systemic solution’s proposal.

3

Online Archives:

The active steps taken by International daily publication to become weekly publications and changing the narrative to attract new readers, has resulted into gaining new readers and ad revenues; yet it is increasing in the digital domain more than the print.

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Key Question

Who has been aected the most by the halted Print Media Publications due to COVID? Cheap labor, paper & printing cost and a unique circulation system of newspaper delivery cross India- are three separate units which support the very existence of Print Media. The pandemic directly attacked these three essential units. As publications were ordered to closedown before the lockdown was announced; it forced thousand of people out of job.

Along with the increasing shift of ad revenues from print publications to digital platforms; it has taken a huge toll on this Industry.

These

conditions have already forced some of the well known Local Newspaper out of business. Hence, putting the very existence of Print Media on the verge of extinction. Which will result in the joblessness for the essential support units of the print media.

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

OBSERVATIONS Based upon Stakeholders Mapping & Statistical Analysis

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Usually stationed near bus stops, railway platforms or market places- they carry all the newspapers of their particular area Newspapers usually write columns especially for students to help them study adding to their GK

People who deliver paper from door to door

newspapers vendors

Readers Newspaper deliverer

Students

Stakeholders Relay on newspapers to publish the official statements and reports- due to their public reach and availability

Stakeholders

Journalists

State governments

Depending upon cellular range, internet access and even electricity being scarce in most of the villages- newspapers are their key source of information

Publication employees, Deliverers, vendors, Readers, Students, State governments, Vulture corporations,

Publishers Rural villages

Compared to news reporters, journalists get to remain anonymous if required and can focus on one story at a time and keep publishing it without intertwining with others.

Journalists,

Publication employees

The actual company in charge of the newspaper or magazine

From the receptionist to the cleaning people, the entire sta associated to the

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

Social Media Platforms

Red Indicates direct relation with the key StakeholderPublishers

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

HIGH

High Power, Low Interest

Stakeholder Mapping

Vulture corporations,

Readers

Influence/Power of Stakeholders

High Power, High Interest

State Government

Social media platforms

Analysis: The Low Power/High Interest - Publication Low Power, Low Interest

Students

Low Power, High Interest

Publication employees Deliverers, vendors

employees, delivered & vendors will be most affected in this situation.

The Students, will be affected in this situation as well,

LOW

but there are possible alternatives for their problems.

LOW

Interest of Stakeholders

HIGH

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Statistics- courtesy of Washington Post; to analyze the downfall & circulation system of newspapers.

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

In 2008, President Barack Obama became the first politician to successfully adapt and relay on Social Media to connect with voters. After this, the wave of social media and internet media platforms, reached across the world; and the Decline of daily print media started noticeably.

The statistics shown might be based on the US newspaper circulations, but the number and statistics are terrifyingly similar to the Indian circulation system.

The workforce within the publication has been declining; but it never bothered the circulation chain- which includes the newspaper delivered and vendors.

For top 50 newspaper websites; the number of visitors for the newspaper websites has been decline as well- as the social media like Facebook and Twitter have been dominating the news sharing spectrum as well.

As the statistical difference isn’t too far apart- the obvious exceptions to the contrary are New York Times and the New Yorker magazine.

It overall indicates that, it is absolutely necessary to build up a steady online audience which can followup on the print outlet of the publicationonce it resumes.

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Key Problems

As any print publication, cannot be fully regulated until active COVID cases are resolved

Publications halted due to the risk of spreading the virus through its physical nature

Sudden halt in publication drove almost all workers connected to the publication to joblessness. Hence, stopping their economic source in the midst of a Pandemic

As some parts of the states have partial access to internet, cellular connectivity and electricity; their source of information has stopped during the crucial time of a Global Pandemic

Relationship w/ stakeholders

Reasons

The unchanged format of cluttered news and advertisements

Journalists, working on important stories who no longer have a platform for publishing

Decreased number of newspaper readers due to the sophistication of digital platforms Decreased number of prime advertisers Ad revenues moving towards social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram Vulture Company takeovers to save the publication from failing revenues Failed attempt of daily sanitization to keep the newspaper going during the pandemic- Due to cost and sta management PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

Vendors, their livelihood depends upon delivering or selling print publications.

Reader. From feral to urban, the public reach of a newspaper is unmatchable

State Government. Governments have designated columns in paper, and due to their sudden halt, it is difficult to simply rely of news reporters and adapting to the social media- to reach people.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

INSIGHTS Primary Research Notes & Defining Benchmarks

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Expert Interview Notes

The readership for weekend supplements or the Sunday tabloids has been consistent... Discussing the Newspaper Supplements.

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The purpose of introducing supplements in main newspaper was to add the no. of voices in public domain. Till the evolution of supplements, it was only political news which captured the limelight. But with the launching of supplements voices raising issues pertaining to other aspects of society and its dynamics started entering the public domain.

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The narrative of these supplements are different from the actual newspaper because they are targeted at different audiences than the usual readers of the newspaper.

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This eventually gives an wholesome experience to know what’s going on in the the community we live in from every perspective from every domain.

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Defining the Benchmarks

The Times Publications’ The New York Times Magazine •

The daily newspaper had a very specific structure and the Cultural, Arts and Sports related news were the headlines- in order to stand out, they focused

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more upon the magazine.

The Magazine became more political and thrived on weekly independent stories- which made a difference in the society. This gave a huge opportunity to the journalists to focus on one story without having the pressure of

• •

generating new headline or breaking news everyday.

The weekly magazine compared to daily newspaper; became more profitable as- it was published once a week.

As their website is very neat and device friendly; readers are able to enjoy the famous comic strips, daily crosswords and the exclusive weekly interviews as usual during the halted publication.

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Presenting Final Hypothesis

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Probable Solution

The Tri-Weekly publication: Probable Solution •

Out of the 10,000 daily print publications in India, only 7-8 Bi-Weekly or TriWeekly publications exist. They are limited to a specific locality and have gained people’s trust in the community over the years.

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Using it to it’s advantage, the newspaper can focus on such areas- and the prime AD revenues can be utilized in a much more efficient manner. Triweekly publications are published thrice a week- Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday; and have a similar format as a Sunday Newspaper.

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They talk about education, art and culture, home decor, health, cinema and much more. And the narrative is different from the actual newspaper as they are targeted at different audiences than the weekly readers

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This format will also follow government health guidelines to resume the publication once they resume.

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Probable Solution

The Tri-Weekly publication: Initiation during COVID •

As local newspapers are putting out PDFs of their daily spreads- along with the daily Social Media Updates; once the TRI-Weekly publication can be introduced and receive first hand response from the readers, online.

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As the local businesses seek endorsements on a popular platform; they can be easily endorsed on the digital & print media of the local publication.

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As the population and the audience is greater and loyal for local publications; the probability of such concept to be accepted is grater, not just for the survival of newspaper; but to actually gain a whole new audience.

@mataonline / @maharashtratimesonline

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Articles

References

Video

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/qa-senior-indianjournalist-hartosh-singh-bal-200503182258798.html

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Season 3 - Episode 20/ Journalism/ Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

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https://theprint.in/india/covid-19-hits-print-media-hard-adsand-circulation-dip-editions-see-major-digital-push/388514/ https://www.journalism.org/fact-sheet/newspapers/

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Volume 6 - Episode 5/ Why is News Industry Dying/ Patriot Act

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https://youtu.be/-nCLTfV86dE

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https://youtu.be/EPaAmWdjT-0

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https://youtu.be/DBo1mFKV2F0

• • • •

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/print-medialooking-at-loss-of-rs-15000-crore-need-aid-ins/articleshow/ 75482599.cms https://inc42.com/infocus/the-reset/the-reset-will-printmedia-finally-succumb-to-the-digital-onslaught/ https://www.newslaundry.com/2020/02/03/is-indiasnewspaper-industry-dying

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https://theprint.in/india/covid-19-hits-print-media-hard-adsand-circulation-dip-editions-see-major-digital-push/388514/

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/ 2015/02/11/how-jon-stewart-changed-journalism/

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https://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/sundayreading-the-power-of-political-satire

PROJECT BY: Alisha P. M.

Interviewees Special Thanks To

• Deepa

Kumar: creative writing professor with a decade long experience in news media.

• Dwarkanath Sanzagiri: a freelance journalist with an experience of over 2 decades with prominent Marathi Local Newspapers.

MENTORED BY: Yash Arora

Thank You! Send Feedback & connect at amalisha9123@gmail.com

Alisha P. M.

Yash Arora