JotCast | Newslaundry discusses Reuters Institutes Digital News Report 2021

elisha vermani

4:51

Panel discussion on Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2021

4:58

Hello and welcome to the panel discussion on Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2021. The speakers for this panel are Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Sashi Kumar, Supriya Sharma, and Dhanya Rajendran.

4:59

The discussion begins with Manisha talking about the concept of 'neutrality' in context of journalism.

5:02

According to Dhanya, neutrality has no space in journalism. Supriya adds to this by saying: "The mission of journalism is to put power to account."

5:05

Sashi Kumar goes on to point that neutrality, in this scenario, makes no sense and that there is value in looking at things objectively. He says: "It is possible that neutrality will come through a position of including various news points."

Explaining neutrality in context of journalism

5:07

Dhanya argues that people don't want what news organisations expect them to read. They only want what they want to read themselves.

5:09

Manisha says: "Feedback in the coverage of Hathras case demands neutrality. In India, people trust the brand that they have chosen, and this seems like hyperpolarised news space."

5:10

She then asks: "If the audience is going to choose from the various sources that are out there, and if they do not see us as neutral, then what is going to happen to journalism?"

5:12

Sashi responds to this by saying: "In the Reuter's report, one of the contradictions is that a channel like Republic TV rates well. But when it comes to 'trust factor', it’s the least trusted."

5:13

Dhanya agrees with Sashi on the fact that even people who watch Republic TV see it as entertainment.

5:14

How to restore trust in Journalism?

5:17

Rasmus joins the discussion by stating: "One of the most difficult things for a journalist is to distinguish between bad faith attempts."

5:18

Sashi adds to this by saying that on the brand trust scale, both The Wire and Republic TV are at the bottom. TOI is the most trusted, followed by Doordarshan.

5:20

Manisha responds to Sashi's comment on trust in brands and says: "I think with Doordarshan (DD), it is people's longing for news devoid of shouting, and that's why there is so much romance to DD."

5:24

Sashi says he started his career with DD. "No one believes the news that they give out. They know this as well. DD is a propaganda arm of the government," he adds.

Which news channel do you trust the most?

Republic TV (0% | 0 votes)

ABP News (0% | 0 votes)

Aaj Tak (0% | 0 votes)

News18 (0% | 0 votes)

Doordarshan (0% | 0 votes)

NDTV (0% | 0 votes)

Total Votes: 0

5:26

According to Supriya: "Public accountability journalism has been very popular among readers."

5:29

She says that their investigative stories during the pandemic have struck a cord with readers and people see them as a trusted source. "The readers also contributed to our ground reporting fund because our investigative stories resonated with them," she adds.

5:30

Supriya adds to this by saying: "Indians across many states felt abandoned by the mainstream media, especially during the second wave of the pandemic."

5:32

Role of media during Pandemic

5:33

Dhanya agrees with Supriya and says that there are 2 groups of news consumers: one that believes journalists and the other that does not.

5:34

She says: "The second group, however, has had a shift in this belief during COVID-19. The pandemic has shown to the public that there is a part of Indian media that cares about the public."

5:37

Sashi says: "I think digital media portals like The Wire and Quint are at the front line of journalism. It doesn't matter where they stand on the scale of trust. The government is targeting them because they are being bold."

5:38

He believes that a big shift is taking place where the people are not only holding the government accountable but also the mainstream media.

5:42

Do you agree that mainstream media is being held accountable for the partisan coverage of the news?

Yes (0% | 0 votes)

No (0% | 0 votes)

Total Votes: 0

Manisha throws another question at the panel: "Newspapers are still seen as the most trusted source of news, but the second wave has had a blow on the ad-driven media. So what does their future look like?"

5:45

Sashi responds by saying: "The growth of digital news is very fast. The elephant in the room is — this is more about the Hindi media or the regional language media. They are growing at a notorious pace," he adds.

Rasmus argues that he's personally not convinced that regional newspapers with regional ads paces won't adapt to this changing environment.

5:47

He says: "With the growth of new media which is much more focused than regional papers, it becomes more difficult for local structures to survive. They will be under tremendous pressure for years to come."

Rasmus believes there will be a huge reliance on government funding for such organizations in the coming years.

5:48

Traditional vs new age media

5:49

Dhanya counters this by saying that regional television media has adapted very quickly.

Manisha asks: "Globally, and specifically in India, what is the news consumers attitude towards subscriptions? Is there an understanding that we should pay for news if we want good news?"

5:50

Rasmus responds: "It is challenging to make paywalls and subscriptions work in India. Ad revenue will play a role for the years to come but its effect will be minimised over time."

5:51

He says that the upside in all this is that there is a minority of people who are willing to pay for news.

Supriya adds: "Scroll started the subscription model in 2018. We realised that the factor that influences people most to take subscriptions is good journalism. In 2019, we came up with the idea of a ground reporting fund. And people contributed there. It is still small, but it is not insignificant, and they want to support newsrooms that are doing good journalism"

5:52

Would you pay for news?

Yes (0% | 0 votes)

No (0% | 0 votes)

Total Votes: 0

Sashi is also optimistic about subscription. He says: "People will pay eventually. Like the Hindu paywall, it’s not rosy yet, but it’s working. It can become a revenue model soon."

5:53

The discussion ends on a note of optimism for the future of journalism.

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