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Panel discussion on Reuters Institute - Digital News Report 2021
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Rudransh
12:16
Hello and welcome to ACJ Chennai's live report on the Panel Discussion on Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2021. The discussion features Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, director of the Reuters Institute, Shashi Kumar, journalist and media entrepreneur, Supriya Sharma, executive editor of Scroll, and Dhanya Rajendran, editor-in-chief of the News Minute. It is moderated by Manisha Pande, executive editor of Newslaundry.
12:17
Here are the panelists!
12:20
Dhanya kicks off the discussion. She says journalists, organizations and news consumers should understand that neutrality does not exist simply because we are human beings who do stories. She thinks we should not aspire to be neutral.
12:21
12:22
"If there's a story get A's version and B's version and just put it across that also doesn't work for a lot of stories these days because A and B's versions are not the same maybe B's version has to be questioned and A's need not so these are things that journalists
have to think about right many people really simplify news as put A's or B's and C's versions and that's it," she says.
12:25
Supriya chimes in by saying that a general consumer can't be held accountable like the government. She says impartiality isn't about "symmetry" but about showing every view equally.
12:28
Shashi also adds on the subject. He says that apart from being fair, we can allow a collision of viewpoints from different media platforms. One media can put forward one view and another platform can represent another view and the audience can navigate themselves.
12:29
"It's either my way or the highway for most people when especially when it comes to crime news," says Dhanya.
12:31
Manisha brings up an important question. She cites the example of a rape case in Uttar Pradesh and asks why people don't trust the traditional news sources and rely on other ways to get news.
12:33
Shashi answers by bringing up Republic TV. He says it has big traditional audience and a brand but can't be trusted.
12:34
Rasmus calls the neutrality question "problematic", says only four out of 10 people trust media in India.
12:36
Shashi agrees with Rasmus. He says the likes of Republic and Wire are promoters of opinion "eco chambers" in India.
12:38
Manisha and Sashi discuss Doordarshan. They say it isn't trustworthy and is a propaganda tool for the government but people associate a sense of "romanticisation" with it.
Have you ever encountered fake news being published by traditional media houses?
Many times (0% | 0 votes)
 
Sometimes (0% | 0 votes)
 
Never (0% | 0 votes)
 
Total Votes: 0
12:39
Supriya says it's very hard to take a position as a journalist in this "polarised" time.
12:40
Manisha asks Supriya if she has seen a shift in trust among her readers. She says the response to her organisation's reporting was "heartening", people loved investigative stories.
12:43
Dhanya agrees with the eco chamber point. She says there will always be people in support and opposing a media organisation, though after Covid-19, those opposing softened their position after seeing coverage of their issues.
12:46
Surpriya and Sashi discuss the relationship between mainstream media and new media during and after the pandemic. They say mainstream media took cues from "real frontline journalism" platforms like Scroll and Newsminute to challenge the government during the pandemic, which they never did before.
12:48
Manisha doesn't think audience's perspective and the lack of trust in media will change anytime soon.
12:49
Shashi believes print media is still the "major player" because the government is cracking down on digital media. He says it will be interesting to see how it pans out with the pacy rise of regional languages.
12:51
Rasmus disagrees. He says with the government-centric advertisement models, print will find it difficult to survive.
Do you think Indian Tv channels did a good work while reporting on pandemic?
Absolutely (0% | 0 votes)
 
Partially (0% | 0 votes)
 
No (0% | 0 votes)
 
Total Votes: 0
12:53
Dhanya asks to broaden the views on the growth of regional media to TV and digital platforms. "You cannot even compare the number of people streaming an English channel to someone who's streaming a Malayalam or a Tamil channel. It's like 10 times more for a Malayalam or Tamil channel because these channels
have quickly adapted," she says.
12:54
Dhanya adds that regional media has more influence through TV channels and their impact is very underrated.
12:55
Sashi concurs by pointing out the growth of literacy rates in regional languages.
12:56
Manisha brings up her last question. She asks what is India's view on adopting the subscription model and what is its current status?
12:58
The subscription model of The Economist
1:00
Rasmus says it's "challenging" because in India prices of newspapers have been traditionally very low. He says they might take the risk of "challenging" the audience to pay for news but adds that they'll have to be very careful about the rural and urban regions in doing so. He adds that people willing to subscribe won't be in a majority anytime soon.
1:02
Manisha asks the same question to Supriya. She says Scroll provided perks like no ads to its subscribers when it started the model 2018. But, she adds, the strongest drive for their readers was the good investigative journalism.
1:05
Dhanya adds that News Minute, which started its subscription model in 2020, sees a spike in subscriptions whenever there's a viral story. But, she adds, there are only a small group of people willing to pay and even for them, it's not sustainable to support every good organisation.
1:06
Manisha calls for media literacy to understant that small outlets can't survive without funding.
1:08
Subscriptions of media houses doubled during the pandemic.
Sashi says he is optimistic about the model in the long run. He cites the example of The Hindu and says it is working well. He says this might bring an end to "brand value" in journalism.
1:11
Rasmus concludes the panel discussion by saying that this model will only work if organizations can convince people to buy their product i.e. news. He says there are a range of models but none can work for everyone.
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