Opportunities and challenges before the media

Opportunities and Challenges Before The Media

Ashutosh Mishra

Technology has transformed journalism.

As media continues to evolve a plethora of technology-driven opportunities have emerged, both for journalists and consumers of news. High- end technology has imparted unexpected momentum to news, making it available to consumers at breakneck speed. News is becoming increasingly real-time with its consumption getting amplified phenomenally. The evolution of technology in the field of media has been truly amazing. Journalists junked typewriters long ago and took to computers.

Then desktops were quickly replaced by laptops, tablets and other smart gadgets. Currently smart phones have become indispensable for most journalists not only for the purpose of gathering news but also filing stories. But technology has also thrown up challenges, some truly formidable. With news moving faster than lightning and getting disseminated through a vast network of media platforms including those using AI-assisted tools, audience expectations have gone up.

People are not only looking for real-time but also personalized news. Such demands are not easy to meet but intense competition takes care of all kinds of consumer whims and caprices. With competition getting increasingly cut-throat media platforms must look for sustainable business models. Journalism today is not just about reporting and adopting the latest technology, it is also about generating revenue to sustain news ventures.

The ideal combination for a media platform with the ambition of playing a long and meaningful innings would be adaptive technology, sensitive reporting and a sustainable business model. This, however, is not easy to achieve, especially the business part.

Some innovative models like 5WH offer hope in this regard. It is a unique platform that offers journalists the opportunity to sell their stories to top media houses around the world. It not only enhances their reach in terms of audience but also helps them get the best possible price for their works. Such business models, which create a win-win situation for both the seller and buyer of content, are hard to come by these days.

There are any number of examples of media start-ups being launched with great fanfare only to disappear without a trace within months. The number of failed ventures has been so high that one feels tempted to call the term “sustainable business model” a misnomer. Equally important is the issue of credibility. While the proliferation of media platforms has widened the choice for the consumers of news it has also created a crisis of credibility.

At a time when we are being bombarded with news coming from a maze of media platforms including newspapers, TV and web channels, some of them operating exclusively through smart phones, it is not easy to trust the information being received.

Hence, it is important to ascertain the credentials of those supplying news. Anyone who opens a YouTube channel cannot be treated as a journalist unless they provide credible proof of their training as gatherers and disseminators of news or their ability to analyse developments. The same is true of other media platforms, especially digital platforms which have mushroomed in the last one decade.

Quality is any day more important than quantity. The ideal news platform is one that releases news after rigorous vetting and uses technology to enhance its reach while sustaining itself financially with innovative business techniques like the example quoted above.