News media facing existential threat?
The Front Page | December 5
Prominent economist Yusuf Nazar discusses the state of Pakistani media at an event organised by our advocacy group
Khursheed Tanveer, Husain Naqi, Yusuf Nazar and Mazhar Abbas (seated from left to right) pictured with members of The Front Page
IF the news media is unable to keep up with, understand, and embrace new technology it will become irrelevant and die.
That was the view of Yusuf Nazar, an eminent political economist, who spoke at an event held at the Karachi Press Club on December 4.
Nazar stressed the need to break away from the traditional approaches of editors in conventional media and to keep up with the rapid advancements in technology. He highlighted how technology has transformed editorial requirements exponentially and has grown into a monstrous force to which editors can no longer afford to turn a blind eye.
The event of The Front Page (a forum established to carry forward editorial ethics and international best practices into Pakistan’s deteriorating media landscape) provoked lively discussion. Veteran journalist and human rights activist Husain Naqi commented that the media is still in the grip of censorship and that while the fight against censorship continues, the task of keeping pace with technological advancements seems like a distant goal.
Mazhar Abbas talked about how the economic model of journalism has changed and how technology and social media can actually reduce journalists’ dependence on news organisations because of the independence and revenue-generating opportunities they offer. He observed that many journalists are now becoming financially independent by using technology and that some now earn significantly more from their online content than they would working for traditional media houses. He said that even Pakistani media owners use platforms like YouTube because they can attract more viewers and generate more revenue from this than from conventional TV broadcasts.
Various concerns were expressed about the rapid adoption of technology without giving adequate thought to editorial best practices and the basic principles of traditional journalism.
Professor Tauseef Ahmed Khan raised the question of how ‘objectivity’ could be ensured in this new tech-driven model. Umber Khairi commented that one problematic approach has been to task tech-savvy non-journalists with producing content rather than using them to distribute and market material produced by journalists. She said she had witnessed the negative impact of this while she was with the BBC and that this trend had sidelined working journalists and eroded editorial thought.
Nazar answered several questions and he emphasised the urgency of adapting to the new media environment and understanding how to maximise the reach and impact of your content. He pointed out that this is ‘a war’ and technology is a ‘weapon’ rather than a tool.