There is a decline in reading of newspapers by the younger generation as it is consuming content on the go in their smartphones, chairperson and editorial director of Hindustan Times group Shobhana Bhartia today said.
"The younger generation does not consume content by reading newspapers every morning unlike us. They consume content on the go and get updated by alerts on their smartphones whenever something is happening," she said at an interactive session organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.
This, she said, was also becoming true for the older generation to "some extent".
"We are in the business of giving content. In rural India there is a still lot of hankering for newspapers - a trend which is declining in the urban centres and leading to a shrinkage in readership," Bhartia said.
Commenting on the digital space where many media websites have sprung up, she said "No one has been able to crack it effectively to monetise it effectively."
"Many websites are giving niche offerings, which can be lifestyle or entertainment. Money is coming from where? This is nothing but a valuation game. How long they will sustain?" she wondered.
However, it is the digital media which is helping to the know the readers which was not possible in the case of newspapers.
Engineers now sit side-by-side with journalists in the newsrooms as it is the engineers who can suggest selection of appropriate words which would help in optimising the search engines. "It is absolutely necessary to optimise the search engine as Google and Yahoo are driving content."
Comparing TV and print journalism, Bhartia said "TV journalism is a different thing altogether. I start everyday by watching the BBC. But TV journalism in India is all about breaking news."
"The role of a newspaper is more analytical, more in- depth and more qualitative in nature as opposed to basic reporting in TV... Our experience with Mint has been successful and adopts long-form journalism with analytical reporting not tantamount to heavy reading."
On language journalism, she said there is still room for growth but it cannot escape the trend.
"We (HT) are not looking at any other language other than Hindi and English", she said.
Clarifying her position on the cessation of HT publication from Kolkata, Bhartia said "There is a simple reason. Though personal bonds are there, business has got a different meaning as we had an insignificant presence in the city.
"My heart is in Calcutta and my father (late industrialist K K Birla) always wanted to bring the paper to the city," she said.
Though the market for print journalism is shrinking globally, "there is still a runway for a decade for the print media in India", the HT group chief said.
"So we wondered how to keep going. We wanted a viable business model. Our core presence is in Delhi and northern India. It was a painful decision and for streamlining the business, we removed some of the editions and Calcutta was one of them".
Talking about her stint in Rajya Sabha as a nominated member, she said "It was a very humbling experience although I went there with a condescending air."
Bhartia said her mantra for the present is to learn from the younger generation.
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