I learned to read the newspaper in my mother’s lap. For me, and many like me, preserving the newspaper is a serious matter because even today, in this age of media proliferation, it remains a deeply personal object. In a way the newspaper is connected to one’s identity.When I think of the newspaper, my thoughts immediately return to my middle class home in Shivaji Park, where at the age of five, I sat and listened to my mother read out the score of the then Indian Cricket team’s disastrous performance at Lords, and then when that depressed me, she read out the comic section to me to lighten my dark mood. That’s where my love for newspapers took root in my heart and that’s also how I learned to read. Ever since then, I have loved reading the newspaper. that is, until recently.Nowadays, every morning, instead of that mandatory single, lean and affectionately put together paper, a heap of papers has suddenly invaded my home, slowly suffocating and killing my pleasure in the reading of them. As I struggle to figure out which one I should read, I find myself getting stressed and a feeling of defeat assails me when I realize that I can’t possibly read them all. Instead of the newspaper adding value to my day, it now leaves me feeling incomplete and guilt ridden. My middle class sensibility cringes at the thought of so much wastage.A section of India is also suffering from that familiar disease of the 21st century. It is fast becoming an overly communicative society, which is dramatically affecting the way in which people consume or ignore the information being offered to them. Just as over consumption of food leads to toxic waste in the system, people are now beginning to feel the effects of over indulgence through the media as well. And the saying ‘getting away from it all’ has extended to include the uninspiring newspaper. One can process just so much information. Today there are two types of consumers in the market. First the reading type, who see the newspaper as a gourmet restaurant. Second the user type, who see it as a cafeteria. The reader types respond to storytelling and narrative, to depth and complexity. Users see the newspaper as a daily compendium of data to help them cope with their immediate needs.Alarmists proclaim that for newspapers and traditional journalism the death watch is on. Nearly everyone, especially the young, read less. Infotainment is overwhelming serious news and detractors say that in this age of television and internet, by the time the newspaper lands up at the doorstep it is stale, dull and obsolete. But in the heart of every crisis, they say, lies hidden opportunity. Instead of wallowing in the problem, the moment is here for newspapers to consider what these changing times are crying out for. Having hit rock bottom, it is for them to seize this historic chance and to make the newspaper reclaim the status of an indispensable social institution. Awash as we are in a perplexing information age, never before have we so needed a good newspaper. An expert who has given several months to the study of this issue suggests to me that in the present scenario newspapers can not only survive but thrive only if they meet these two conditions.First, if they act to secure a place as information clearing houses for their communities; and second, if they dedicate themselves to public interest, both by paying attention to what the audience is interested in at the moment, and by serving the broader public interest in the long term. Because in a symbolic way, the newspaper belongs to the people, and in the long run, any journalism that does not serve the public will certainly fail. Those papers which target only the high demographic audiences will soon realize to their horror that they will be pushed to the margins.There is no denying that newspapers shouldbe fun. They cannot reject all entertainment news and frivolous news in the name of sacred tradition. But for God’s sake, being serious does not mean being dull. Catering to readers’ needs for Bollywood news doesn’t always signify crass commercialization. In short, newspaper people must be wise enough to balance principle and playfulness, since the times scream out and say that there is no room for being sanctimonious and crabby. Newspaper headlines must sparkle and they should exude exuberance, because at the end of the day, it’s much more fun to read papers when it seems that the people putting them together are having fun too!A writer says ‘‘A newspaper should have the personality of our favourite teacher or an uncle or an aunt, who’s warm, dependable, wise and helpful but always a bit unpredictable.’’These are unpredictable times, in which only unpredictable products will survive. At the end of the day, getting bigger does not mean getting better. Just because I am given an abundance of the same news over and over again, it does not translate into a gratifying experience. What newspapers need to do, therefore, is to perhaps personalize their individual brands, so that when I pick up a certain paper, I do so for a strong reason. Because as of now I am lost.The writer is a filmmaker
