After somewhat of a shoddy research and
largely based on my experience on the ‘World Wide Web’ I have come to a
conclusion that the so called transition of journalism from newspapers to online
is a myth. Simply put, this can be best explained through the arch rival of internet
– Television.
As a child you are glued to cartoon network,
when you transit into your teens, music channels such as MTV and Channel V take precedence,
and finally you are hooked on to news, sports channel, discovery, religious and cookery
channel or whatever your taste is. But staple channels such as Star, FOX and CBS…continue
to be a part of your TV guide.
Exactly it is with the newspaper. The basic
premise of my hypothesis is that today people log on to read about their
interests or look for specific information. Example: How a particular company/
share doing or whether that cute Vampire movie couple are back together or not.
In the process the particular website or
content aggregator may lure his audience to something else which may or may not
be of his interest but overall a good read. Like a title “How to pleasure your
partner,” will attract more hits than “OPEC Nations to decide on oil quantity.”
The moot point is that a reader/audience will
always want a newspaper unless there has been a total transition online, which
at least in India
I am presenting a few case examples and
hoping that the so called editors or media moghuls who think that online is the future may take a stand which may change journalism for the betterment. In my opinion (which perhaps does not matter at all) one should look at changing the strategy either for internet (Future Strategy) or for Newspaper ( Current Strategy)...
CASE 1
TIMES OF INDIA
Check out Story
NO 3 on “Erection” and “Hospital Mall” they both are aggregator’s great idea popping
somewhere underneath a story like NO 1, 4, or even Salman-Karan Johar stoy….
This is TIMES OF INDIA, India’s largest
selling English daily and people want to read on its website, how to get a
stronger erection or they want to know that what makes a loser like Fardeen
Khan, whose movie career has bombed and was a drug addict “Feels like a dream.”
So if we go by the logic of what reader
wants then should not be Times of India banner screaming ---- 6 WAYS TO GET A
STRONGER ERECTION
CASE 2 --- THE ECONOMIC TIMES
On the website of financial paper, The
Economic Times, the top 5 read stories were:
Now understandably on any given day on any
medium, newspaper or online people will like to know about Vikram Pandit given
the circumstances under which he had to resign. But what about Story No 2 on ‘Eight
bad financial habits..” and Story No 5 on “Honda diesel variants.” This clearly
indicates that what sells on online is PERSONAL FINANCE stories or SOFT STORIES…
Because the day when Vikram Pandit still remains
top read it had been more than 48 hours since RBI has come out with no change
in its monetary policy and there was a reported tiff between RBI and Finance
Minister.
MY POINT IS: An ONLINE reader does not want
to know that. He had his share of entertainment through STAR, FOX or CBS (as
explained above). He needs content which either he is looking for…
“What the fuck happened to Pandit?” or the aggregator
lured him like “ Eight bad financial habits.”
CASE 3 -- FIRST POST
This is from FIRST POST, another emerging
wholesome website….
At a time when there has been a cabinet
reshuffle. There is a storm in USA
CASE 4 -- MONEYCONTROL
To prove my case that the online reader is
looking for specific info is the kind of TOP READS on financial website MONEYCONTROL
On Moneycontrol the audience is looking for
specific info and hence best explained if you look at the kind of stories and
my favourite is “How Hurricane Sandy will affect investors,”
-----
Thus I end my hypothesis with the argument
that people want to read soft stories or whacky stories on the internet. They
may go to specific websites to look for information that they have heard of and
want to know more about. An online audience is typically looking for views or new information or very very specific information. Websites need to take that into consideration....
For those who believe that online is future
should start adapting to this trend so as to get more eyeballs on their website. And those who believe that some journalism
is still left in papers should drive their reporters to do better stories.
And the rest of all garbage can always be
your MOST READ STORY if you only know how to place it….
