The
Minister for Information & Broadcasting Shri Manish Tewari has called upon
the Magazine industry to strengthen its presence in the Digital and New Media
Age by playing the role of an objective, analytical and authentic source of
information. Innovation needed to be used as a sustained tool for bringing the
change in the lives of the readers rather than being a tool for ‘short-cut’ solutions.
Shri Tewari stated this while
delivering the inaugural address at the 8th Indian Magazine Congress here today
on the theme “Winning through Innovation”.
Elaborating
further, Shri Tewari said that in recent times, many iconic publications had
turned digital and the need of the hour was to empower the world wide web
through agreed rules of engagement. It
was necessary for the digital world to go through standard editorial checks so
as to ensure rich and authentic content in the New Media Space. The challenge
before the magazine industry was to withstand the flow of instant information
emerging from different media streams.
On the magazine industry trends, Shri Tewari said the
industry’s future performance would be a critical player determining the
macroeconomic environment necessary for
print media stakeholders. This
would be possible if the Industry was
able to achieve greater operational
efficiencies and connect with readers through delivery of high quality content.
The industry could focus on profitable growth by implementing cost control
initiatives and adopting technology across key business performance areas such
as planning, budgeting, customer relationship management, strategic
outsourcing, etc. While leading players had taken necessary steps, it was
necessary that the industry reviewed the process in its entirety.
On the trends for the print media industry,
the Minister stated, the market for regional and vernacular markets continued
to grow in an environment which was fruitful in view of rising literacy levels,
low print media penetration in certain areas and the desire of stakeholders to
use the platform. The Minister further added that the inherent advantages of
print industry – extensive reach, localisation benefits and ability to create
trust and achieve a higher ‘attention span’, were expected to serve as a base
for growth and ensure that print continues to be one of the most important
platforms for Indian advertisers.
Shri
Tewari further said that in marked contrast to the global trends, the Indian
print industry was growing with steady increase in both advertising and
circulation revenues. Although, internet broadband penetration has been
increasing at an enormous pace, print industry would continue an upward
trajectory due to growth in vernacular and regional markets. The Magazine
Industry, both vernacular and English, had shaped public discourse for over 60
years and still had potential to grow.
Speaking
on Digitization Shri Tewari mentioned that the first two phases had provided a
learning experience as far as implementation of the process was concerned.
These learnings would be incorporated
while implementing the remaining two phases. The Minister reiterated
that Digitization was bound to be a game changer for the sector and would define contours of orderly growth. Digitization while providing
qualitative choices to the consumer would also ensure that the subscription
revenues and skewed business models were rectified.
Courtesy: Press Information Bureau (pib.nic.in)
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