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Dark Shrouds of Technology Eclipsing the Newspaper Industry

Article by author Thalluri Prashanth Vidya Sagar, Saradhi Kumar Gonela

They were the protagonists of personified underlying spirit. Many a monarch tried to choke them to death, many a ruler tried to limit their reach and many a bureaucrat tried to cuff them by law. But they withstood. They withstood to be an account of human progression, they withstood to kindle the spirit of revolution, they withstood to celebrate the extension of anarchism and they withstood to scent the airs of liberty.

And that won them the title “School Masters of Common Man” from legendary men. As the relevance of School Masters, their relevance is put to a litmus test by the progression of human kind. The new age digital world has bestowed self-learning tools and the luxury of real time updates. Why should a kid wait till next dawn to know the result of 9X8? Why should an adult wait to be updated over the congress session? The answers are just a click away.

Prepared by Author :

Every click is enhancing the importance of digital information to the new generation and every click is taking the human race away from black print on white paper. If there is any industry that can closely reveals the journey of mankind, it is the news paper industry. But that industry is being discarded in the journey. Of course none can climb the ladder by not leaving the just stair, but none should rule out the relevance of it.

With its revenues declining, the newspaper industry is desperately searching for the rescuers, the real X-Men. The Newspaper Association of America has estimated latest figures that the total advertising revenues have declined more than 17% for print media, while the classifieds have come down by nearly 30%. With the continuously declining revenues and lacking patronage in the new millennium, the newspapers were becoming defunct and the news agencies have been shutting down by laying-off their intellectual staff.

The digital competition coupled with the economic down turn has been showing double impact on the newspaper industry. Can the newspaper industry protect itself from the threat of extinction? Guided by the knowledge provided by the newspapers and satisfying their appetite for wisdom, now the destructive innovation of web has started showing severe consequences. We can enjoy the fruits of a big tree, but we cut it off, there will not be any more fruits, no greenery and no nests for the birds to stay cool. Thus, its not only that the newspaper industry only get affected by these severe consequences, but it will definitely going to show its impact on the economy and democracy too.

The intelligentsia is of the opinion that the Federal Administration can easily rescue the dying industry, if it wants. Citing that the Administration has given a number of bailout packages for the investment banks and Detroit automobile houses, they have been forcing the Administration to do something or the other. Pressurised by the fans of newspaper industry, now the Senate Judiciary Committee has come forward to shield the industry.

I have stumbled on the troubles of the newspaper industry in the digital age. Perhaps, the troubles can be termed as unintended consequences of digitalization. What we are witnessing is the slow death of this much hailed industry. Can’t something be undertaken by the media barons to breath new life to this industry? The critical question still remains. With all the great digital forces ready to ringing a death knell to the industry with their destructive competitive threats, how the dying industry should adapt to the changing landscape? Whether it will force the industry to adapt any new form or will it force the industry to go into the obscurity of time in a disinterested way. It remains to be seen whether the Federal Administration really give a bailout in true letter and spirit or directly emasculate the print media?