Five years back we came up with our Marathi publication titled “Mumbai Manoos” (www.mumbaimanoos.com) an online edition. Mrs. Amruta Fadanvis, a versatile personality, a trained classical singer, a social activist, and a banker has inaugurated this portal. While the mainline print media is facing an existential crisis over the rise of digital media, developments in the regional space paint a different picture. We need more local and regional bulletins to connect the people of soil with their issues and updates. The regional news space has grown phenomenally over the years. These days’ people prefer to read the news on apps through digital media; they want to stay tuned with their city and state. Our intention is to join these dots and bridge the gap. Connecting the Mumbaikar of the entire globe is out the motive. The regional press is scripting a new high for the print media industry. If you look at the growth of the regional press, it has been very promising over the years. This has also encouraged us to start more editions.
We have our English Daily “Afternoon Voice” (www.www.afternoonvoice.com) but that is not enough to be in touch with local readers. The very own language of land can give a sense of belonging to the readers. Moreover, we are parallel media house having no political or business group backing, this is the newspaper run by a journalist to fight the evil and odd in the fourth estate and maintain the democracy. Regional-language newspapers are easier to understand. We will ensure that our regional newspapers will connect more and more Marathi Manoos and Mumbaikar in the coming years.
Though print, especially the vernacular dailies might be witnessing robust growth in terms of readership and revenue, many wonders if print would eventually keep pace with the speed of digital news. The reality is that websites or digital news portals have ‘feet on the ground’ than competing news printed. Of late, newspaper managers are translating their local strength onto their websites on priority. India will continue to witness positive growth and there is no threat to this industry because the online publication has nothing much to lose. Social media has turned us all into citizen journalists with the ability to make the news whoever and wherever we are.
Reading a printed newspaper can be a sensory experience, but the fact is that these days newspapers suffer major drops in distribution numbers. Not only are users feeling more and more comfortable reading digitally, but digital reading also allows for easier switching between sources and content and looking for the right content. A strongly increasing number of people do not want to buy the whole newspaper anymore, where they only read a few articles.
Digital media is a major part of our world, and publications are using social media and website content as a cost-free way to market themselves. Many independent publications are even introducing a digital version of their publication, in the hope that it will complement sales by targeting those who like to view content on the go. In some aspects, print media becoming insignificant as people can access similar content through online websites. Blogs are becoming increasingly more popular due to their ability to give ordinary people a fashion presence, allowing them to share their opinions or showcase their own creative work. Over the past few years, the newspaper industry has entered a new period of decline.
As I have mentioned in my various edits, for ten long years, I tried my level best to keep parallel media alive. We are committed to uphold fair journalism and live with its integrity. The world is going digital and the existence of print medium for small organizations like us doesn’t make much sense. We are widely read by readers online, we could establish a good existence through this medium. We are a small newspaper and could not fetch much readership through print, but created our existence already. People have started noticing us. Sometimes, I get scared of getting vanished due to rat race competition in media. To strengthen our roots and remain here forever, we are making one more attempt towards the digitalization of our publications. Your support is our next step towards a fruitful journey in media.
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