While expressing his concern over financial crisis in Indian news industry, renowned journalist Vinod Mehta on Tuesday said the industry is going through a severe financial crisis and most of the newspapers are in trouble. Mehta, an advisor to the Outlook magazine, further stated that newspapers lack an ideal revenue generation model which leads to biased reporting and unbalanced perspectives of a newspaper.
Speaking on the topic of Is Print Media DeadIJ on the occasion of Indian Institute of Mass Communication’s 49th Foundation Day ceremony, Mehta stated that today ethical journalism has been replaced by money making. He said, “Though money making is also important, the editors of the newspapers need to attain a perfect revenue model which does not become a hindrance and creates a balance between news and advertisements.”
When asked whether the role of editors is still intact, he said, “Things have changed and today in a newspaper, a marketing head’s position has become more prestigious than the news editor.” Discussing the plight of newspaper journalists in front of the new batch of students of mass communication, Mehta said that the future of print media is interesting, challenging and insecure as several means of communication like online medium has replaced its position. “People want everything for free and online media is giving them the opportunity,” he added. Mehta though stated that there is still a lot in store for the Indian print media as it needs to spread its wings across a large part of the country.
Encouraging the new journalism students, he said that one should not be a cynic and have skeptical approach towards news for becoming a successful journalist.