Down but not out – yes, we have been able to fight back

 So, we have finally passed what has been a terrible year. Now, we look forward with new hope at seeing better days ahead. Before the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 arrived, things were not too bad for news publishing houses. There were some encouraging trends, such as growth in digital subscriptions. Although advertising and digital subscriptions remained at the heart of the revenue strategies of many publishers, there was an increasing recognition of the need for diversification. Several publishers looked at growing alternative income streams. 

It required an unprecedented collective effort in which the role of news organisations and journalists would be essential. People everywhere were looking for information that was useful, truthful, complete and accurate. The need to stimulate solidarity and public awareness had perhaps never been greater in recent times. 

In the midst of all this, advertising revenue was drying up, revenues from media-related events, a new and growing source of funds, also plunged, as social distancing measures were put in place. Newsrooms lost their resources, many were even shut. There were loud voices from the news publishing industry – for financial assistance, tax incentives, for increased government advertising.

 

On the field, the challenges for reporters, photographers and editors were immense – unprecedented in recent memory (the PII-ICRC Awards recognised a few of them). One of the challenges was to report accurately and safely and helping readers understand the crisis better. 

At the inaugural of the WAN-IFRA India eSummit in September last year, K.N. Shanth Kumar, director on the WAN-IFRA South Asia Board, said that the media industry had taken “a severe beating to put it mildly”. Advertising, he said, had been so severely impacted with 50 per cent of the revenues that news publishing houses were forced to restructure businesses by recasting or reemploying resources, cutting costs drastically, finding new ways to do good journalism within limitations, and looking for revenue opportunities. He mentioned the need to find ways to monetise digital offerings quickly. Production costs, he pointed out, had become a big component of the newspaper business and news organisations were under severe pressure to bring costs down due to reduced revenues. 

So, there’s no doubt that the media landscape has been buffeted by strong and ugly winds as never before. Advertising and revenue are down, jobs have been lost, many organisations are struggling to stay afloat, and many have shut down. However, in the midst of all the doom and gloom, things are slowly beginning to look up. We can only hope and pray for better times ahead.

 

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