ISSN: 1550-7521
ISSN: 1550-7521
Jitendra Singh*
Department of Mass Communication, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh Uttar Pradesh
Received: 25-Mar-2022, Manuscript No. gmj-22-58430; Editor assigned: 28-Mar- 2022, PreQC No. gmj-22-58430 (PQ); Reviewed: 13-Apr-2022, QC No. gmj-22-58430; Revised: 18-Apr-2022, Manuscript No. gmj-22-58430(R); Published: 25-Apr-2022, DOI: 10.36648/1550-7521.20.50.301
Citation: Singh J (2022) Impact of New Media on the News Content of Dainik Jagran: A Quantitative Analysis. Global Media Journal, 20:50.
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The dawn of the new millennium has brought about a revolution in every sphere of human life. No doubt despite the universality of the concept of the new media there exist differences of the opinion about the nitty-gritty of the notion of new forms of media. The newspapers too could not keep themselves aloof from the effects of this incredible phenomenon. The advent of new media has led to structural changes in the news content of print newspapers. Nearly all newspapers and magazines maintain the web versions of their publications. Even if the editorial policy continued to be unaffected, however, the quantity of news content experienced drastic changes. This paper concerns the trend of ‘News Content’ on the front page of the national Hindi daily Dainik Jagran from the year 2005 to 2015. The basis of our study is Media Content Analysis Method. To select the sample of newspaper we used Systematic Random Sampling Technique. We selected the sample of Dainik Jagran from first Monday of January followed by first Tuesday of February, followed by first Wednesday of March and so on and so forth. Hence, twelve issues of each newspaper from each month are selected for study each year. We chose the front page to study the changes in the news content of Dainik Jagran. Our findings clearly show that Dainik Jagran registered a sharp decline of forty two per cent in the news content on the front page during the study period. Dainik Jagran showed a downward trend in the overall news content during the period of study.
New media; Print media; Newspapers; News content; Dainik Jagran
New Media did not come to being overnight rather it is a long and sustained journey of more than a century. World Wide Web (www), electronic mail (Email) and, last but not the least, social media proved crucial in the success as well as the popularity of New Media. Creation of Facebook in 2004 gave shot in the arm to social media and subsequently numerous blogging sites emerged on the internet. The dawn of the new millennium has brought about a revolution in every sphere of human life. Technology, determines our lives like never before. The newspapers too could not keep themselves aloof from the effects of this incredible phenomenon. One of the most striking features of online versions of the newspapers is that they provide the readers with “On The Go” reading experience. The online onslaught has forced the traditional print media to bring about radical changes in the news content. Nearly all newspapers and magazines, besides print editions, maintain the web versions of their publications while a small minority are ‘web-only’ or ‘online-only’ newspapers. Even if the editorial policy continued to be unaffected, however, the quantity of news content experienced drastic changes.
Of course, when the newspapers shift to online platform it undergoes a lot changes in news selection as well as news presentation. The paradigm shift in news gathering has not only given rise to “citizen journalism” but has also posed a serious challenge to the traditional definition of news as well. One of the disadvantages of the newspapers is that its pages are static that is they can be updated after a particular period of time whereas, on the other hand, the web editions can be updated anytime. As soon as the news breaks the online versions flash them while print newspapers have to wait till the next publication to print that news. And by that time it loses its news value. Although, it was apprehended that with the advent of new media the newspapers might be rendered irrelevant and may even be wiped out from the surface of the earth. But the reality check allays all such unfounded fears. Despite the tough cut throat competition from the internet, the newspapers continue to exist albeit shrinking news content.
At the moment JPL owns the Dainik Jagran. The JPL is the largest print media group in the country as it publishes ten titles in five languages across thirteen states of India with a total readership of 88.66 million. In terms of circulation, Dainik Jagran, in the year 2016, ranked fifth in the world while in India it is stood second. [World-press-trends-2016-facts-and-figures. (2017, July 10). Retrieved December 13, 2020, from during the year 2019 Dainik Jagran experienced a fall in readership: 73.673 million, 72.559 million, 70.430 million and 68.667 million in the quarters first, second, third and fourth respectively.
Renowned journalist and freedom fighter Puran Chandra Gupta along with J.C. Arya and Shri Gurudev started the Hindi language daily newspaper Dainik Jagran from Jhansi in 1942. After five years Kanpur edition was also launched while Rewa and Bhopa editions were added in 1953 and 1956 respectively. Narendra Mohan – one of the finest journalists of that time was Dainik Jagran’s first editor. Beginning this century Dainik Jagran undertook a major expansion drive and inaugurated several city editions including Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Panipat and Bhagalpur [1]. Haldwani and Ludhiana (2004) and Muzaffarpur, Jammu and Dharmshala (all 2005). In 2010 Jagran Prakashan Limited (JPL) acquired Mid-Day and Nai Duniya in 2012 [2, 3].
(2012, April 2012). The Indian Express.] Respectively. This paper concerns the trend of ‘News Content’ on the front page of the national Hindi daily Dainik Jagran. Our study period is from the year 2005 to 2015. Thus, we cover a period of eleven years which is sufficient enough time to arrive at meaningful results. We break down our findings on yearly basis. The unit of measurement for News Contents is ‘Column’.
The notion of “New Media” basically carries a time-frame wherein historicity is an essential component that, “Encompasses a wide variety of web-related communication technologies, such as blogs, wikis, online social networking, virtual worlds and other social media forms” [4]. It is interesting to note that although there is definitely some degree of “newness” in the “New Media” yet essentially there is some historicity involved in the functioning of new media. “The newness of new media is, in part real, in that these media did not exist before” [5]. According to Beal, “The phrase ‘new media’ is in relation to ‘old media’ forms, such as print newspapers and magazines that are static representations of text and graphics [6]. New Media. Retrieved May 23, 2020, from According to Giraud “New media theory, broadly speaking, conceptualizes the implications of digital technologies: from the novel socio-political configurations fostered by computer-mediated communication, to the aesthetic and cultural significance of digital culture”. Scholars such as Gitelman & Pingree (2003) focus on “forms and practices” of the emerging media as “new” because “they are considered within their historical context, in their novelty years While attempting to conceptualise “New Media” Lievrouw & Livingstone, (2006) take into account three factors namely (a) message (b) the technology and; (c) social context. Manovich( 2003) sums up the concept of New Media with help of the eight postulates which are: (a) New media versus cyber culture (b) New media as using computer technology as a distribution platform (c) New media as digital data controlled by software (d) New media as the mix between existing cultural conventions and the conventions of software (e)New media as the aesthetics that accompany the early stage of every new modern media and communication technology (f) New media as faster execution of algorithms previously executed manually or through other technologies (g) New media as the encoding of modernist avant-garde; new media as metamedia and (h) New media as articulation of similar ideas in post-WWII art and modern computing. New York based New Media Institute has put forward a thorough ranging definition of New Media which is states [7].
New Media is a 21st Century catchall term used to define all that is related to the internet and the interplay between technology, images and sound. In fact, the definition of new media changes daily, and will continue to do so. New media evolves and morphs continuously. What it will be tomorrow is virtually unpredictable for most of us, but we do know that it will continue to evolve in fast and furious ways”. A good number of scholars have tried to ascertain the definition of “new media”. No doubt despite the universality of the concept of the new media there exist differences of the opinion about the nitty-gritty of the notion of new forms of media. believes that new media are “those digital media that are interactive, incorporate two-way communication and involve some form of computing” and is “very easily processed, stored, transformed, retrieved, hyperlinked and, perhaps most radical of all, easily searched for and accessed [8]. “Describes” new media as, “content made available using different forms of electronic communication made possible through the use of computer technology. According to “New media are forms of media that are computational and rely on computers for redistribution “New media”, according to) are, “The digital media channels that take place in the lives of individuals with the development of information and communication technologies. These include internet, mobile applications, social media “New media” affirms “are forms of media that are native to computers, computational and relying on computers for redistribution” argues New Media are “those digital media that are interactive, incorporate twoway communication and involve some form of computing” and also, new media is “very easily processed, stored, transformed, retrieved, hyperlinked and, perhaps most radical of all, easily searched for and accessed”
The advent of new media has led to structural changes in the news content of print newspapers while the “daily newspapers are finding it harder to keep people’s attention” Indeed, “the look and feel of the layout of e-newspapers is different than the aesthetics that the reader of the printed newspaper has” and it “has transformed the way news and entertainment content is disseminated around the world” [9]. The newspapers, “although increased in size”, however, “there has been a decrease in the number of articles in the main news section of the newspaper” and it became “more tabloidised in its range of topics, layout and use of language [10].
Hypotheses
1. The hypotheses of the study are:
2. Except for a slight variation four and more than column news stories on the front page of Dainik Jagran exhibit a declining trend all across the study period.
3. Except for a slight variation three column stories on the front page of Dainik Jagran maintain downward trend all throughout the study period.
4. There is a sharp fall in the overall news content on the front page of Dainik Jagran from 2005 to 2015
The objectives of the study are to
1. To observe the trend of four column stories on the front page of Dainik Jagran from 2005 to 2015.
2. To examine trend of three column stories on the front page of Dainik Jagran from 2005 to 2015.
3. Determine the trend of overall news content on the front page of Dainik Jagran from 2005 to 2015.
The basis of our study is Media Content Analysis Method since it is, “the primary message cantered methodology” [11]. Which “is “inherently non-intrusive that allows examination of a wide range of data over an extensive period” [12] and is an “objective and systematic counting and recording procedure to produce a quantitative description of the symbolic content in a text” [13]. Additionally, within the Media Content Analysis Method we confine ourselves to Quantitative Content Analysis for the simple reason that it is a useful tool to “collect data about media content and frequency” [14]. It is prudent that the changes in the news content on the front page of Dainik Jagran would be studied in a time frame with a particular time gap in between the frames. To select the sample of newspaper for the study we used Systematic Random Sampling Technique. We selected the sample of Dainik Jagran from first Monday of January followed by first Tuesday of February, followed by first Wednesday of March and so on and so forth. Hence, twelve issues of each newspaper from each month are selected for study each year.
Since the Front page is regarded as the ‘face’ of the newspaper and reflects 16/18 pages of newspaper and throws important light the news items and stories inside, therefore, we chose the front page to study the changes in the news content of Dainik Jagran. All news stories, pocket stories, box items that appear on the front page of Dainik Jagrn are the unit of analysis for this study. The size of the news stories is measured first in columns and then their length and breadth is measured in centimetres. To calculate the total size that a news item occupied the product of length and breadth is taken in centimetre square.
The print media is struggling to survive because of substantial decrease in advertising revenues primarily due to changing reading habits, “As consumers turn to the Internet for free news and information” [15]. Consequently, many newspapers and magazines are on the verge of bankruptcy and to save the face are turning “Web-only publication” [16] this has led to a considerable drop in newspaper circulation not only in the India but at the international level as well. However, it is yet to acquire unmanageable proportions. “Newspapers has shown steep decline of circulation and advertising revenue in the west. Online advertising is taking away the majority of advertising revenue from print and increasing printing costs is also a major concern for the decline of profits of newspapers” [17]. To offset financial challenges, “Most media companies today have come to realize that to gain the best advantage of their digital media assets and meet the needs of their customers, they must deploy scalable, integrated and synergistic content to remain agile, competitive, and viable” [18]. The willingness to change and remain flexible could mark the difference between a newspaper with declining profits and one with a healthy future [19]. Finally I draw attention to some of the important changes in the layout and content that the new media has caused such as:
Nonessential print is being removed from the masthead; stress is placed on readable type that lessens eye strain; more white space is left around pictures, making them stand out; emphasis is placed on a horizontal progression in contrast to the vertical columns that characterised the layout of earlier newspapers [20].
Market pressures do result in changes to a newspaper’s content, layout and tone, though these changes may not necessarily be in the direction of tabloidization” [21] As Everett (2011) rightly suggests, “To remain competitive news sources, newspapers are implementing new technologies, such as web sites, blogging and text/instant messaging, to deliver information” Apart from the technological aspects, “cultural, historical and market pressures also need to be considered when examining” [22-27]. The impact of new media on the layout and content of the traditional print media (Table 1).
Table 1 depicts year wise distribution of the number of four and more than four column and three news stories that appeared on the front page of the Dainik Jagran in the year 2005 (Table 2).
| Columns | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 & > 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 |
| 3Columns | 6 | 6 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 14 |
| Total | 9 | 9 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 12 | 17 | 20 | 20 | 15 | 17 |
Table 1. Year wise Distribution of News Stories (2005-2015).
| Newspaper | R | R2 | Adjusted | F value | df1 | df2 | p-value | Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R2 | ||||||||
| Dainik Jagran | 0.224 | 0.05 | -0.055 | 0.476 | 1 | 9 | 0.508 | -0.42 |
Table 2. News Content Growth on the Front Page of Dainik Jagran (2005-2015).
Table 2 displays the overall growth in the news content on the front page of Dainik Jagran from 2005 to 2015. The p-value is 0.508 which is statistically significant (Figure 1).
Figure 1 shows the total news content on the front page Dainik Jagran. In the year 2005 it was at its peak at sixty five-anda- half percent but the size of news content on the front page started decreasing continuously and finally by the end of the year 2015 it reached to a low level of fifty seven percent of the total area on the front page (Table 3).
Figure 1 Total space occupied by News Content on the front page of Dainik Jagran from 2005 to 2015.
Table 3: displays the ANOVA result of Regression Analysis for the Dependent Variable ‘News Content’ on the front page of Dainik Jagran newspaper. The p-value for Dainik Jagran is 0.502 and associated F-Value is 0.476. Since F- value > 0.05 which suggests that the total space occupied on the front page by the News Content in Dainik Jagran underwent significant change during the period of study [28].
| Newspaper | Sum of Squares | df | Mean Square | F-value | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dainik Jagran | Regression | 0.002 | 1 | 0.002 | 0.476 | 0.508 |
| Residual | 0.037 | 9 | 0.004 | |||
| Total | 0.038 | 10 | ||||
Table 3. Regression ANOVA.
Our findings clearly show that the space covered by the news content on the front page of Dainik Jagran shrunk by almost ten percentage points from almost sixty seven percent to around fifty seven percent. Also, Dainik Jagran registered a sharp decline of forty two per cent in the news content on the front page during the study period. Dainik Jagran showed a downward trend in the overall news content from 2005 to 2015. Thus, there was observed a steep decline in the space covered by news content on the front page during the period of study.
Despite the fact that the new media is growing at a very fast pace, yet the print continues to maintain its high credibility quotient. One, among many, advantages of new media is that it is endowed with the facility of embedded messages that is multimedia content such as videos, animations; interactive info graphics can all be places together at one place along with the text of the news. These characteristics turn the web versions of newspapers more eye-catching and fetch soaring reader traffic. Hence, we maintain that “Newspapers are transforming to adapt to the changing media landscape and are now providing a compelling, integrated experience for readers and advertisers alike In spite of these immense challenges we are confident enough that, “newspapers are in the best position to lead the online news market because of their credibility and journalistic expertise.
Our study accounted for only the front page of first Monday of January, first Tuesday of February, first Wednesday of March and so on and so forth. To have a better understanding and broader results it is imperative to study the a larger sample size that may include inner and back pages as well more number of days. We believe that the market pressure and falling advertising revenues is the main reason behind the declining news content in newspapers. Therefore, in order to dish out more news content Dainik Jagran ought to focus on effectively countering the market forces as well as search for other avenues of revenue generation. In our view three more aspects such as collaboration, digitisation and telecommunication may also be added to list of Lievrouw & Livingstone.
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