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In recognition of a new media

The session on Interactive Newspapers and Convergence of Media-Impact on Print taken by Sunil Rajashekar of Times Interactive had all the fundas right, but it is uncertain if they are going to be accepted anywhere.

Rajashekar spoke of Roger Fielder who said that a 'metamorphosis of media' would occur, the transformation of a communication medium from one form to another, brought about by perceived needs and competitive pressures with the introduction of social and technological innovation. Sounds like the Internet. But that could have been convenient hearing.

The newspaper will never become extinct, said Rajashekar. Right from the town criers, to newspapers, to radio, to television, to cable and now the Internet, one medium has only metamorphosed into another. How we can get the best out of the medium is still to be understood and learnt, he said.

For advertisers every new medium throws up opportunities.

"Advertisers came to us in print; when they realise this medium has phenomenal reach, they will come to us,'' says Shekhar. He says there was no threat to online newspapers -- there are 60 of them, a few in regional languages. Of course, he distinguishes them from the e-zines produced for the Internet, India Abroad and, yeah, us, Rediff on the net , as examples of winners who may stay in the fray if they pump in more money.

Shekhar concludes by saying that Indian newspapers must leverage their USPs, which are "brand name, content, reputation and info databases. Unless they leverage on these benefits, they will lag behind,'' he warned.

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