Will Print Hold?

Written by Basil Nabi Malik • December 2010

In most of the developed world, the role of the print media in disseminating information and news to the masses has substantially decreased with the advent of technology and advancements in the aforementioned societies. In fact, the same has been labeled by many as a ‘dying business’. However, in India, the exact opposite may be true. The print media industry is not only seemingly booming, but even foreign publishers and publications have started investing in and creating a niche for themselves in this relatively new and lucrative market.

In a nutshell, the Indian print media has shown a moderate growth of 2 per cent in 2009 and reached around Rs 175 billion in size. In addition to this, print advertising volumes grew by an estimated 3 per cent, whereas the election print advertisements saw an increase from 0.8 per cent in 2008 to 1.6 per cent in 2009. Finally, and importantly, the print industry is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9 per cent in the next five years to reach Rs 269 billion by 2014, therefore validating and encouraging the notion that print media is alive and kicking in India.

It must be noted that there are certain factors which have contributed to and have resulted in the expansion and enrichment of the said Indian print industry. One reason for the surprisingly robust performance of the print media is the fact that the Indian digital media is not considered to be a viable and serious source of reliable information in regard to current affairs. Television news channels are considered to be subservient to ratings, and therefore, more of a source of entertainment than actual news. In addition to this, the ability of the print media to cater to various ethnic groups with divergent languages and dialects across India has also contributed to its increasing usage. In relation to the internet, although a potent alternative, the same is a recent phenomenon in India, and therefore is still in the process of gaining a firm foothold. Hence, in times of greater literacy and awareness, and relatively less efficient alternatives readily available or accessible in the market, newspapers seem to be filling the proverbial vacuum.

However, although the future of the Indian print media in the immediate future seems to be quite secure and promising, it appears that the same shall be quite dependent upon the increasing usage and dependence of the youth on alternative forums such as the internet, as well as the quality of news programs aired on various television channels beamed directly into the homes of the citizens of India. Furthermore, the costs of various newspapers and magazines shall also have a direct impact on circulation considering that the Indian print market is considered to be extremely sensitive to price increases. In conjunction with this, it should be noted that with increased internet accessibility, the idea and notion of having to ‘pay’ for news shall become an increasingly curious idea, which in turn would create greater difficulties for the print media in terms of justifying the costs involved for the end consumers.

Therefore, in a nutshell, although the immediate future of print media in India seems to be secure in terms of the factors mentioned herein above, the same is vulnerable to a future decline as a result of a multitude of factors including increased accessibility to alternatives such as the internet, issues of pricing and increased costs in the production of newspapers.