How Digital Media Has Pushed Conventional Journalism to the Brink of Irrelevance
By Mrinal Talukdar
The world of conventional media, whether broadcast or print, is rapidly staring at irrelevance. The sweeping rise of digital media has not just disrupted but fundamentally altered journalism itself.
It has democratized information dissemination, making it more accessible yet more fragmented. Moreover, the relentless shrinking of consumer attention spans has accelerated this decline, making deep, investigative, and issue-based journalism nearly extinct.
This is a global phenomenon, visible across developed and developing nations alike. India, and particularly Assam, exemplify this transformation in ways both subtle and stark.
The Digital Takeover and the Decline of Traditional Media
Digital media has become the dominant mode of news consumption, displacing newspapers, television, and radio from their once unshakable positions. The reasons for this shift are clear: mobile accessibility, real-time updates, personalized content, and interactive user experiences have drawn audiences away from traditional sources.
With the rise of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, news no longer needs to go through traditional gatekeepers. Anyone with a smartphone and an internet connection can become a news source, often sidelining professional journalists and media houses.
As the demand for instant news grows, the structure of conventional journalism is crumbling under pressure. Investigative journalism, deep reportage, and long-form content, which require time and resources, have taken a backseat. Instead, breaking news is now about who reports it first, often at the cost of accuracy and depth.
This shift has also introduced a troubling paradox: while information has become more accessible, its credibility has been eroded. Fact-checking, editorial oversight, and journalistic ethics—hallmarks of traditional media—are increasingly absent in the digital news landscape.
How This Shift Plays Out in India and Assam
The effects of this transition are evident across India, where digital platforms have overtaken television and newspapers as primary news sources. In Assam, the transformation is particularly stark.
The media landscape in the state has evolved into an echo chamber of event-based and byte-based reporting, with hardly any space for in-depth journalism. The relentless pace of digital news cycles has led to a situation where even the most significant stories are forgotten within hours, with no follow-ups or comprehensive analysis.
The most visible example of this in Assam is micro-reporting. What dominates Assamese media today is a relentless focus on event coverage—meetings, press conferences, government launches, and accidents. PR-driven stories have become the mainstay of news coverage.
Political leaders, organizations, and interest groups dominate headlines through carefully crafted soundbites, while real investigative stories are nearly non-existent. The essence of journalism, which involves uncovering truths, holding power accountable, and delivering nuanced perspectives, has been overshadowed by a barrage of shallow, click-driven content.
Why Depth Has Disappeared from Assamese Journalism
One of the primary reasons behind this decline is the economic model of media houses. With the rise of digital platforms, print and television advertising revenues have plummeted as the viewership has gone down.
Many newspapers and television channels, struggling to stay afloat, have resorted to cost-cutting, leading to an over-reliance on press releases, government handouts, and event coverage that requires minimal effort and resources.
Journalists today are often expected to produce multiple stories daily, leaving little room for detailed investigative pieces. The fast-paced nature of digital media, combined with dwindling resources for field reporting, means that reporters are now chasing clicks rather than pursuing truth.
Moreover, news consumers themselves have changed. The audience’s attention span has significantly reduced, with studies suggesting that people now engage with content for only a few seconds before scrolling to the next item.
This has led media houses to prioritize sensational, short, and easily digestible content over well-researched, multi-layered narratives. In Assam, this has meant that even critical issues such as floods, ethnic conflicts, environmental degradation, and socio-economic challenges are often covered superficially, if at all.
The Vanishing Art of Follow-Ups and Investigations
Another glaring issue in Assamese journalism today is the complete absence of follow-ups. News is treated as a one-time event—reported once and never revisited. If a scandal erupts, it is covered with frenzy for a few hours or days, but there is rarely any effort to follow through with deeper investigations or accountability checks.
This is a stark departure from journalism’s fundamental role in maintaining public memory and ensuring that powerful entities do not evade scrutiny.
Take, for instance, major corruption allegations or environmental issues. They might make headlines for a day, but what happens afterward? Without sustained reportage, the public remains uninformed about the resolution (or lack thereof) of these matters. This is where Assamese journalism is failing—by neglecting its responsibility to act as the fourth pillar of democracy.
Event Journalism and Byte-Based News: The New Normal
The structure of newsrooms in Assam has undergone a massive transformation. Today, most news is covered through quick soundbites—short interviews, single-paragraph news reports, and viral social media posts.
This byte-based journalism thrives on instant reactions rather than substantive discussions. Political leaders, celebrities, and officials capitalize on this format, knowing that a well-timed statement can dominate the news cycle without facing deeper scrutiny.
Additionally, the rise of video-based news platforms and YouTube channels has reinforced this trend. Short, visually engaging content often takes precedence over well-researched stories. News anchors and reporters now compete not just with fellow journalists but also with influencers, vloggers, and independent content creators who command massive online followings.
Ashwini Vaishnaw’s Call for a Compensatory Model
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has highlighted the urgent need for a compensatory model wherein digital media platforms share their revenue with traditional media houses. Acknowledging the crisis faced by conventional journalism, he has pointed out that large tech companies profit immensely from news content generated by mainstream media while offering little in return.
His proposal suggests that platforms such as Google, Facebook, and YouTube should financially compensate legacy media for their content, ensuring sustainability for print and broadcast organizations.
This model, inspired by similar regulations in countries like Australia and Canada, aims to restore balance in the news ecosystem. If implemented effectively in India and Assam, it could offer struggling traditional media outlets a lifeline, allowing them to invest in deeper, investigative reporting.
While this proposal is still under discussion, its potential to address the economic disparity between digital giants and traditional media could be a game-changer for journalism’s future.
The Financial Void: Where is the Money for Change?
The biggest challenge in implementing corrective measures is the sheer lack of financial resources. Mainstream media in Assam operates on razor-thin margins, barely managing to sustain itself.
Unlike global media houses that have diversified revenue streams, Assamese media relies heavily on government advertisements and event-based PR content. There is no financial cushion to fund investigative journalism or long-term reporting projects.
Without independent funding sources, newspapers and television channels find it difficult to invest in quality journalism, which is already vanishing.
The future of news and the business of journalism appear increasingly bleak as traditional models struggle against declining revenues and trust deficits. Meanwhile, unregulated, social media-driven content is reshaping public discourse, often amplifying misinformation and sensationalism over factual reporting. The lines between credible journalism and unchecked narratives are blurring, leading to a chaotic information ecosystem. In this fragmented landscape, the role of journalism as a pillar of democracy is under threat, leaving the future of informed societies hanging in uncertainty.