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Newslaundry discusses Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2021
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Gesu Bhardwaj
2:29
Hello and welcome to the Newslaundry's Reuters Institute Digital News Report. The panel is benched by, Manisha Pande, Sashi Kumar, Rasmus Nielsen, Supriya Sharma, Dhanya Rajendran. The discussion is based on 'Concept of Neutrality'.
2:31
While speaking about the concept of neutrality, Manisha who is the executive editor of news laundry explains how the majority of news consumers want media to be neutral and what is the expectation of a consumer from a media organization.
2:33
Moving on, Dhanya, the co-founder and editor in chief, The News Minute contests that neutrality does not exist. We shouldn’t aspire to be neutral because bias is an inseparable part of the media. However, the news consumers can demand that journalists must write both sides of the story.
2:35
Adding to the discussion, Supriya described the mission of journalism as one that holds power to account. "To demand the same accountability from ordinary citizens doesn't make sense. Give space to every view, give a chance to every side of the story. I don't think this is a question of symmetry", she added.
2:38
Further contributing to the panel, Sashi Kumar points out that, neutrality as a quantum makes no sense. Objectivity exists as a fair minded approach towards anything. He emphasizes on the importance of giving people a fair chance.
He says, “It’s fragmented, it’s a filter bubble, it’s an echo chamber.”
2:42
Speaking of the role of journalism as an informant during cases of human rights violation like Hathras or Kashmir issue, Dhanya says every person wants their "version" of the news. "People want my way or the highway", she added.  We need to be objective and give our side but cannot demand both the sides of the pudding all the time .
2:45
Continuing the thread, Manisha explains how people ask for balance in reportage of all crimes, however trusting the source that they choose is usually trusting the brand . She questions that, "Journalists are truth seekers but if the audience just chooses their truth seeker what does it do to journalism then?"
2:48
Interestingly, Sashi Kumar delved deeper into the discussion by revealing that in the Reuters report, the apparent contradiction, the channel like Republic TV comes fourth but when it comes to trust, Republic TV comes at last. He further asks, "Does this mean that people are watching the least trusted channels?"
2:51
Manisha, while replying to Sashi Kumar says, "People watch republic as entertainment, it’s a reality TV show." 
To this, Sashi Kumar said, this can be said for all TV channels. "There is no news bulletin in news channel, it’s more like reality TV", he added.
2:53
Carrying the discussion ahead, Manisha says that maybe the question is why journalists function the way they do or why do they choose a particular piece of news.
2:55
Rasmus replies to this narrative by contesting how no single journalist should be made the mast head of fairness and how everyone's side of the story matters. "If a lot of people are not taking journalists as watchdogs but as lapdogs, then it makes more sense for what people aren’t trusting a brand," he added.
2:59
As the discussion draws pace, Manisha brings in DD and AIR to the discussion table. She says, it is people’s wanting of news in a pleasant tone without shouting that might be one of the reasons for romance with DD. Even when DD did not speak about the government falling short during Covid, people continue to watch DD.
3:00
Putting forth a counter view, Sashi Kumar argues that, "Nobody believes Doordarshan. It is a propaganda arm of the government, period. If that’s what you want, then there is a different perception of what news is."
3:03
Supriya also gives her two cents about DD where she mentions, "People are only looking for very basic information and they think Doordarshan gives you that kind of information." She also expands on the role of the journalists and says "The journalists should stick to more reporting and not fall for lucrative low cost way of generating opinions."
3:06
Manisha, directs a question to Supriya while differentiating between the types of bulletins of a private channel vs that of DD. She asks, "Have you seen in a shift in trust in your news consumers? How’s the experience been with your news readers?"
3:08
Supriya elaborates on how investigative reports have been read widely. Eg: PPE kits, Oxygen. She says, "I felt that readers not only saw us as a trusted source but also contributed to our ground reporting fund." As per her, the sense of public accountability has resonated with her readers.
3:10
While supporting Supriya's case, Dhanya adds how there are two sets of people, ones that deny the news that they read and ones that accept it. She explains how during Covid, the audience realized that news portals were not necessarily polarized.
3:14
Supriya adds that mainstream media is least interested in questioning the government. Taking from this argument, Sashi Kumar speaks about the importance and impact of digital and social media in keeping checks and balances on both, the mainstream media and the government. He says that digital media platforms are more courageous and gradually the mainstream media is borrowing their narrative.
3:17
He further adds that newspapers because of their history are sustaining while digital media which is barely a decade old is expanding. These digital portals are always running the risks of being tracked down by the government 

The elephant in the room, this is more about the English and Hindi media. The big story of media in India is multi-lingual. We have so many languages, the trajectories are different, newer readership is taking at a rapid place - we should under score and emphasis on this.
3:19
Sashi Kumar also added the importance of lingual inclusivity in Media. How languages apart from English and Hindi need to be explored. Rasmus, expressed his concern over this by saying that, "Growth of regional media puts a lot of pressure on advertisements and that is concerning to me."
3:21
Keeping on with the lingual debate, Dhanya, skims through the quick and commendable adaptation of regional channels which also have a digital facet. She says, "the traffic they have is scary at times."
3:24
Manisha then raises questions about the subscription model and what might be the motivating factor for people to choose subscription. Rasmus takes on to answer this and says, "Paywall is necessary in India. It is very challenging in the particular Indian context, it is not particularly welcome in news." News organisations have to convince people to drive traffic.
3:25
While wrapping up the discussion, Sashi Kumar says, "I am optimistic about subscriptions in the longer run. Hindu paywall is a good example of that. It’s not rosy yet, but it could become a revenue model. 
Brand loyalty for one channel or paper is not there anymore. There are very few organizations that give you all good news and give a paywall."
3:27
Rasmus, at the very end closes the discussion by saying that NY times is a less interesting example because it is very unique. He calls The Guardian’s decision to take another rule is because of their principles "brave". Rasmus says, "There are a range of different models that can work in the future, but it won’t work for everybody."
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