Has technology elevated or weakened local news?

Local news, once the lifeblood of a community, now faces a grim future. Technology may have helped it reach a larger audience, but inadequate monetisation is making its existence unsustainable. Adding to this is the reliance on social media platforms, as well as the growing threat from citizen journalists or news influencers. These were some of the topics discussed by an afaqs! Diginews World panel. 

Moderated by Satrajit Sen, Chief Operating Officer, Events, afaqs!, the panellists were:

Idris Loya, CEO, Head of Innovation & Technology, IDPL

Litisha Mangat Panda, Senior Business Associate, Odisha Television Network

Neha Tandon, Revenue Head, ABP Digital

Here are the key takeaways from the discussion:

What mantra can a regional media player learn from a national media player?

Idris: We can't really teach anything because the game is so different. National media outlets are failing; no one is making money. When there were newspapers, print was profitable. When television arrived, newspapers stopped generating money, while TV made money. When digital arrived, everyone stopped earning money. Nobody is benefitting from the disruption.

Let me rephrase the question: What can national media learn from regional media houses?

Litisha: It's not an apples-to-oranges comparison because national and regional media rates are vastly different from each other. But neither generates money. It's difficult to make money in media. One thing national media may learn from regional media is how to be less polarised; national media has become quite polarised, resulting in a loss of confidence and credibility.

Neha: We are partly responsible for this. We allow others to set the terms, which prevents us from making money in the haste to stock up on inventory. We as an organisation adopted a direct revenue-first strategy, particularly for our regional platform. We can confidently say that 75% of our revenue comes from direct business, something that is rare to find in today's digital landscape. We understood that you couldn't hand everything over to a third party and have them set the rules if you wanted to be in the game longer and make money.

Durga Puja is the most important festival for us. We raise our programming base pricing two months before the festival. If you buy my inventory programmatically, the cost will be higher than if you bought it directly. If you want to cover that market as the market leader, you must come to me. That's where we play the game: when you're contacted because you're the better option, you can bargain harder, add more value, and increase ticket and campaign sizes.

How do regional and national consumers' content expectations differ?

Neha: Regional languages are in high demand in digital media today, especially among advertisers. We are no longer just publishers who sell ad space on websites; we are now brand solutions experts for marketers. We bring not just the platform, but also the market knowledge.

When you focus on a single state, do you appeal to multiple consumer segments?

Litisha: Great narrative influences consumer preferences. Visual mediums take the cake, followed by smartphones; consumers are always watching something, generally short-form information, as their attention spans diminish. 

How can technology, which has enabled content to reach the last mile, be used to cater to specific audiences or demands?

Idris: Earlier, content quality was limited to your region, which gave local businesses an advantage—many expected technology to allow locals to take their content anywhere. Unfortunately, local media has lost its audience since, sitting in a village, I can read anything. When you lose your audience, you lose control and revenue. If you lose revenue, you lose quality of resources, content, and technology investments. Therefore, local media is struggling, and disappearing.

I am a Bengali from Assam working in Delhi. I am familiar with Bengali, Assamese, Hindi, and English. What is the use case scenario for reaching out to a person like me?

Neha: Bengalis prefer their language above English, which is good for us. It's critical to strike a balance between providing appropriate coverage of national news and ensuring that someone in Kolkata believes the news is relevant to them. If you can crack that code, you will advance.

The democratisation of the internet has greatly aided us. Previously, digital was thought to be a metropolitan phenomenon. Three years ago, when we covered West Bengal, 80% of our readership was located outside of Kolkata. We're now at 60:40 in favour of Kolkata.

We have an average time spent per user of 18 to 20 minutes; this demonstrates the potential that a regional platform can bring to the table when done properly.

Technology has empowered people to publish. As a news organisation, do you feel the weight of user-generated content (UGC), and how can you cater to readers better than UGC?

Neha: Legacy media companies struggle with digital transition as consumer and content needs change. I'm interested in engaging with local journalists and content makers to provide more hyperlocal material and solve issues that national media cannot. There is no other way forward but for large businesses to work with local creators to create more hyperlocal content.

Most regional publishers rely on political advertising. How do you monetise content for national brands looking to reach the last mile?

Idris: More than that, it is not limited to national brands; local firms are also represented. Local monetisation existed previously. Whatever happened to it?

Do local businesses still prefer local networks over national networks?

Idris: That's correct, possibly because we can't match their needs. One of the most difficult issues is that national media is often unsuitable for local advertising because their audience is small and they do not want to pay more than necessary.

With technology, it is possible to limit the ad to a certain location. In such a situation, we can cut our price to a level that is appealing and feasible for them, even if it is a national platform.

As publishers, are you concerned that Facebook, Instagram, or short video apps have greater reach?

Litisha: Community interaction on social media is both a blessing and a curse. India prioritises leisure and sports over media and news. Earlier, it would take time to reach different audiences, but today, social media allows for rapid transmission of news.

However, recommendation engines come into play, showing the content that users like rather than what is valuable to the society.

The second challenge is developing a positive relationship with tech giants because reliance on them is unsettling. If they back out, our distribution will suffer. We ask them to pay, and they refuse. The best path forward is to lessen reliance on social media without completely cutting it off. For regional news, the situation is much more risky because there isn't much money coming in.

Advertisers invest more in regional media than in national media due to the targeted audience. Advertisers prefer top networks in that region because they offer greater value. I don't believe anyone pays for news because generations have relied on free news.

Neha: I'd disagree. At the end of the day, if you offer value to your audience, they will pay. With AI, several national platforms are diversifying into multilingual feeds.

Do regional media outlets have the workforce to create paywalled content?

Idris: People want to read local news, but their purchasing power is limited, and the main issue is scale. Even if everyone in the audience subscribes, will it be enough to run a profitable business? You still need advertisements.

Neha: The top talent has relocated to Tier I cities. AI would greatly benefit regional news channels. We launched India’s first metahuman AI anchor, and it’s been a success. Discovering more local talent and developing existing resources is a great opportunity.

We would like to thank our sponsors, MGID (Co-Partner) and Jagran New Media (Gold Partner), for their support.

Photo by Tanmay Tiwari/Pexels