Does internet serve journalism better?

The hit and run case of the Reliance-owned Aston Martin in Mumbai and the sexual assault case on Tarun Tejpal can be interesting case studies for the India media, as it fights a battle of survival with the online world.

 

It is now well known that the traditional media will not survive in its present form. The Darwinian principle will ensure an internet takeover, as it is faster, cheaper and engaging. Magazines are already dying and print will take its space. As a politician reminded me, “The only place I see magazines these days is either at my dentist’s clinic or in flights.”

 

But a question usually ignored is whether the internet serves journalism better?

 

Going back to Tejpal and Reliance, it isn’t hard to ignore the common threads. First, both these stories grew on social media. It was their popularity on twitter, which forced the hands of print and television. And, second, both Tejpal and Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance are influential institutions. They have stakes in media houses.

 

Hence, the moot point is whether these stories would have survived without the social media? Probably they would have, but only to die a slow death. Television wouldn’t have ran them on loop, as they did in the case of Tejpal. 

 

Herein lies the lesson for the media. The internet may have its own set of problems, but one cannot ignore that it is democratising news. If earlier a small clique of editors and owners set the news agenda, today they are forced to take note of what is trending on twitter. This has ensured that it is far too difficult for a newspaper to ignore any news, even if their own are involved in it. The reader whose only access to the newsroom earlier was the ‘letters to the editor’ has now become much more articulate. He now not only influences news, but also occasionally sets the agenda. 

 

This development serves the idea of free press well. Therefore, even as the traditional media worries about revenues going online because the young prefer to read on the internet, it may pause to think whether he is finding the online world more credible. People like me, who practice the profession, should introspect on whether our complacency provided a free run for news websites to occupy space. Hasn’t there been a loss of faith because of paid news, Radia tapes, etc? And if introspection doesn’t provide an answer, you may do well to ask the man on the street of what he thinks of a journalist. You shouldn’t be surprised by his response.