What makes news and how is it fast changing contours. How is news consumption and its reporting changing in the light of digital explosion, ubiquitous smart phones, social media platforms etc.

2. “The media's the most powerful
entity on earth. They have the
power to make the innocent guilty
and to make the guilty innocent,
and that's power. Because they
control the minds of the masses.”
Malcolm X

3. SHIFTING MEDIA POSITIONS

4. Print media continues
to grow regionally
• Print media readership in India has
grown by 40% in the last 3 years –
from 2014 to 2017 (IRS 2017)
• Much of this growth is coming from
regional markets
• More younger readers (12+) joining
the bandwagon
• There is no English daily among the
top 10 most read newspapers in India
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5. Indian media getting
rapidly reWIREd
• Web magazines are moving from
fiction to force
• With lower budgets needed for
survival, the nimble web news makers
are the new powerhouses in town
• Revered names like Barkha Dutt and
Shekhar Gupta are devoting greater
energies on their digital properties
2

6. News is Paid News
• Proliferation of paid new continues to
grow unabated
• Big sponsorships, content
partnerships, native content contracts,
co-branded properties are the new
ways of creating positive news
• It is increasingly finding acceptance
among media houses and corporates
3

7. Digital India: Power of
illiterate-literate
• Free or cheap internet and
smartphones are making illiterate as
new media consumers
• Creating demand for video and voice
mass content in regional languages
• These are new channels to connect to
the electorate
4

8. Everybody is a Journalist
• People are coming out on from the
closet to express views on what they
feel for
• A viral video by a Tej Bahadur, a BSF
Jawan on bad food made national
headlines; triggered damage control
and policy interventions
• Dissolving barriers related to
platforms, technology, identity and
massive community support are
fuelling the trend
5

9. Custom & personalized
news is the new way
• As news consumption moves from the
broadsheet to palmtop, viewers are
personalizing content
• Platforms are intelligently
personalizing content using data And
predictive analytics, with deeply
integrated feedback loop
• New strategies for seeding brand and
corporate messages in new genres like
entertainment, trivia etc
6

10. Angry nation journalism
style reigns supreme
• The ‘nation wants to know’ style of
journalism has caught the fancy of the
audience making Republic TV the
fastest growing success
• Impact is On TV and Off TV - television
channels are one of the biggest users
of social media strategies to promote
their debates and programmes
7

11. State influence on media
finally getting toe-hold
• The nexus between the ruling party
and top tier media has never been
stronger
• Big media has been toeing the line –
with fewer anti-government breaking
news and lot more support to positive
progress of the Government
• This is giving birth to below-the-line
news phenomenon – with people
turning to web magazines and social
channels to gather the Real News
8

12. Fake News: Focus back
to the source
• Facebook’s war on fake news has
amplified the issue to new
proportions
• Aadhar has also triggered a debate on
the real identity
• Shift from what is being said, to who
is saying it
• Creating a case for the POV of editors
and people with strong credentials
more relevant in the digital
environment
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13. Business as usual with
smashed reputations
• Board room battles at India’s two
most revered companies was historic
• New insolvency law has also opened a
can of worms for big business houses
• However, the business continues as
usual signalling larger reputations
survive troughs
10

14. 11
Digital is again
changing the rules of
engagement

15. Everyone is potentially
reachable
• All pervasive affordable smartphones,
digitization of services, and access systems,
digital identity creation programs and dirt
cheap data connectivity have enabled those
who were always in the fringes- tribals,
remote dwellers, poorest of the poor - come
to the mainline and Govts, corporates and
other stakeholders can now reach them in
various ways
• This digital core provides people with many
benefits. For instance, the states of Karnataka
and Kerala are using a lot of citizen data to
improve their services and develop new
strategies

16. Industry boundaries are
getting blurred
• Digital is blurring industry boundaries and
enabling new cross industry partnerships to
be formed
• Realizing societal benefits through digital
begins with the identification of
opportunities in different sectors - for
example in transport and energy - and then
requires strong cross sector collaboration to
agree on the policies, incentives, standards
and pilots to unlock societal value for
everyone

17. Intelligent conversation is
the new communication
• Made possible in part by AI, companies are
investing in chatbots and similar interactive
technology that allows customers, prospects,
and partners to interact with the company in
a real-time, conversational format
• These interactive systems are taking a
number of forms and exist as part of
numerous ecosystems and platforms. Many
are installed and operated from a company
website.
• Others leverage Facebook Messenger to
interact with consumers directly through the
social media platform

18. People are becoming
unstoppable force
• The combination of simplified smart phones,
dirt cheap data connections and social media
have removed various barriers to expression
of self – technology, identity, lack of
community & support systems – hence
people can come out in hoards for something
they feel for.
• This was first evident at the time of Arab
Springs and recently with #MeToo campaign.
Closer home Maggie fiasco is a case in point

19. Platforms will evolve
Into ecosystems
• Digital platforms have been a growing
imperative for businesses of all types. The
digitization of products, services, and
operations continues to be a primary driver
for growth and innovation.
• But, with increased digitization comes the
introduction of a bigger system for such
advancements.
• Increasingly, multiple platforms are being
designed to integrate with a bigger and
broader set of other platforms–thus, forming
ecosystems of interconnected platforms

20. Going back to the
organic roots
• The social media platforms will evolve again
to become organically driven engagement
platforms once again.
• The process has started with the new
changes to the Facebook’s algorithm where
posts which are capable of inciting
conversations will be given priority in the
timeline
• This will mean that marketers will have to
work hard again on the fundamental aspects
such as copy and creative once again to gain
attention, rather than just spend money to
get precedence in gaining eyeballs

21. Credibility of source will be
the biggest asset
• In the wake of fake news scandal people are
becoming vary to trust anything which is being
propagated and liked by many in mass
communication platforms.
• They now want credibility of source, hence
moving forward for any message to be able to gain
mindshare, it needs to come out from a credible
source. This source can be company executives,
bonafide employees or third party relevant
influencers with impeccable integrity and respect
• What a credible and relevant influencer can do is
evident from #MeToo campaign where one tweet
in support by an actress started a movement
which resulted in billions of mentions and millions
of participation

22. 520 Mn
60x
75%
$26 Mn90%
65%
96%
Future Outlook 2020
Source: Frost & Sullivan
Smartphone Penetration
Mobile Wallet Growth
Mobile Data spent on
video/audio
OTT Subscription
Videos in Hindi or
Vernacular
Earning Population
Small Screen Video
Viewership
Artificial Intelligence to
transform content
creation and
consumption

23. Assessable - supported with data, facts and figures
S
M
A
R
T
Meaningful for the community so it triggers open discussions
Significant development – for the society not the organization along
Reliable source - emanates reputed source – third party or company
Top leadership involvement in a humane manner
News need to be SMART