It was Day two of Talk Journalism at Fairmont Hotel, Jaipur, and the JWB team was, as usually, reached the event in high spirits, all geared up for the illuminating sessions.

My first stop was at the session, ‘The Indian Media in the World,’ discussed by Director and Head, New Media, Indian Express, Anant Goenka, Senior Vice-President, Strategy, News Corporation, Raju Narisetti, Bureau Chief, The Economist, Alex Travelli, the Editor, Catch News, Bharat Bhushan and moderated by Nikhil Kumar, South Asia Bureau Chief, Time Magazine.

Nikhil commenced the session by asking the speakers, “In your views, how’s India covering the global news?”

Anant: There’s so much to cover in India that it limits our scope to venture into the market of global news. Also, Indian audience’s interest in the global news has not been that high which is why Indian media doesn’t pay much heed to the global news. However, India’s interest in the US Presidentship is the proof that the scenario is fast changing.

Raju: It is shameful that what scarce resources the Indian media is investing to cover the world news. And, the content of their stories is so superficial that I would recommend that they may not cover them at all.

Bharat: And, what’s more, shocking is that India is not covering our neighborhood countries. India doesn’t cover the world as the world, but how India looks at the world – and that should change.

Alex: I believe that freer flow of information between countries would help in generating more dynamic and authentic content.

Nikhil: But there is a potential interest Indian audience has for the global news. What shall push the Indian media to invest more into it?

Anant: Yes, there’s a huge audience, but at the end, it all boils down to the feasibility and profitability. And, I believe the risk of going worldwide is higher than the audience we’ll attain.

Raju: I beg to differ. I think the Indian media is only losing its large audience to Huffington Post, The Washington Journal, etc., because of this attitude.

Nikhil: India is a rising global profile; and how will it attain its aspirations of becoming a great media power?

Bharat: We will have to come out of our shell and engage ourselves and the audience with the world.

Later the session was opened for the audience.

JWB: Huffington Post is gaining its edge by bringing forth the news from the perspective of the local people and journalists. The investment is also lowered this way. But, why is Indian media not using it?

Anant:  The verification is a very big issue in this, and we cannot risk the authenticity of our brand because of it.

Raju: The personal account of the incidents by locals can be a source material for a journalist but, they can never be journalists themselves.

After the session, JWB also had a chat with Anant Goenka and Raju Narisetti.

I asked Raju, “You were also the founder editor of the ‘Mint,’ of Hindustan Times. But, then you stepped down from the position. Do you feel proud of its growth?”

Raju replied, “I have two daughters, and ‘Mint’ is my third child. 12 out of the 18 people on the Editorial Board are the ones I hired during my term. I will always be proud of its success and growth.”

I also enquired Anant about the survival and sustainability of the print media in the future, to which Anant said, “Print is not going anywhere in the near future. Till it’s profitable, we should be good.”

Me: A few years back no one imagined that we would be reading news on a 5-6 inch screen. How do you think people will read news, after 30-40 years?

Anant: *smiles* *thinking* Maybe a screen in the shower will be giving us the daily dose of our news while we’ll be enjoying our hot bath. Honestly, you can never predict what’s going to happen. You can just go with the flow.

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