Two buzzwords that have become a hot topic of debate in the news media over the past couple of years are also becoming dominant factors in the space – AI, and independent news influencers or news creators.
Though the use of AI has slowly scaled up in parts and silos across legacy and emerging media houses, news creators – the go-to space for news and information for the new generation – are very much here, challenging legacy news media outlets.
According to a recent Reuters report, more than a quarter (27%) of respondents globally get some news from news-focused individual creators or influencers, and almost half (46%) get some news from creators of any type. The reason: the creators are more entertaining, easier to understand, and more relatable than traditional news outlets.
In India, a large number of journalists have taken up the independent route via YouTube, social media, or their own portals. These include people who were either retrenched during and after the Covid-19 pandemic from legacy media houses or those who quit after the ownership changed hands.
From what we have seen or observed via discussions in various news media forums or our own experience, the legacy media is taking a beating due to its reluctance to come out of its comfort zone and failing to adapt to the variety of news preferences of the new generation.
Media observers feel the over-dependence of legacy news media on advertising – a large chunk of which is government tenders, ministry, public sector or party ads – as well as the political inclinations of some of the new owners have also prevented it from airing unbiased news or showing the true picture.
This prompts readers and viewers to turn to alternative news sources, which they feel or find trustworthy or easy to understand, or those that freely air their views without taking a side. This is common to India or any other part of the world.
Take the example of the Gaza war or the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Across the world, it was the independent news creators who provided blow-by-blow, unedited information of the events that unfolded even as legacy media houses were bound by government narratives.
Without belaboring this particular issue, we saw much of this twisted mainstream coverage in India too. Independent media has stepped into realms, terrains or issues ignored or downplayed by certain sections of the mainstream media for various reasons – forcing people to look for news sources they believe won’t toe the dictated line and show them a clearer picture.
That said, this ‘tussle’ or competition between creators and legacy news is also fraught with dangers and directly affects trust in news. The Reuters report says trust in news has fallen in 29 of the 48 markets this year, resulting in an overall drop to the lowest level (37%) recorded since it started to measure trust in 2015. Interest in news is also falling. A quarter (25%) of respondents are casual news users who consume news once a week as they have little to no interest in it, up from 16% in 2021.
The flip side of the news creator economy is that it has given rise to a host of influencers and wannabe journalists peddling fake news for views, misinformation or disinformation – challenging the readers to trust any side. The flip side of the legacy media is that they too want to be creators and have started patching up film for their branded channels from various sources with narratives that they dare not carry in print.
Take, for example, the ethanol controversy or the Jantar Mantar protests. In the ethanol episode, quite a few legacy media houses chose to toe the government line that E20 fuel is safe. News creators and influencers, on the other hand, claimed damage to vehicles. A host of videos were shared, some of which were later found to be fake. But amid the tussle by both sides to prove their claims, the question of whether ethanol is safe remained unanswered and left the reader confused.
The same goes for the Jantar Mantar protests. While the mainstream media mostly chose to stay away in the initial days, it was left to the independent platforms to cover the issue. But then there were an equal number of mike-holding creators who were present just for fun, footage, or were busy creating narratives – for or against the protest organizers.
In this context, the Delhi high court’s recent observation gains significance. The court felt virtually anyone armed with a mobile phone and microphone can claim to be a reporter without accountability, and called for a legal framework to regulate the media while safeguarding press freedom. That, again, is another debate and subject to interpretation.
As for AI, we hope to keep learning and discussing it also.
