'Print journalism to face winds of change'

“It will not be long before print journalism in India will be replaced by online and mobile phone journalism. There are already 900 million mobile phone subscribers in India alone,” director of WAN-IFRA Newsplex Training Centre, Randy Covington has said.

He was speaking at a seminar on  ‘Changing Audience - Changing Newsrooms’  organised by the Kerala Press Academy here on Saturday.

He said that the audience has changed considerably. The technology is available at the finger tip of the common man, hence there is easy access to all types of news, anytime and anywhere.

This is the biggest challenge faced by print journalism. In the United States and Europe, people have lost interest in reading newspapers. Newsrooms in the country blame it on the inability to have accepted the changes that were required of them.


 “In India, the situation is not very different. Modern technology is replacing the traditional methods of delivering and reading news. To keep in pace with the technological advances, it is high time that print journalism in the country accepts the change,” Covington said.He added that in a country like India which has 60 per cent of the population under 35, it is mandatory that journalism caters to the needs of a young population.

For this, change is essential, he said. However, the print newsrooms in the country have less to worry about for the next few years as the internet has only penetrated  10 per cent of the audience.

Covington spoke of the need to deconstruct a story to make it easier for the public to comprehend.

“Tell the reader why it is necessary for him to take the story seriously and also give him an impression that it is mandatory he should care about the story,” he said.  Covering the ethics of journalism, Covington said facts are sacred and it is necessary that the truth be always told, in spite of the immense pressure of a newsroom.