Where print is still winning

While much of the world's print industry seems to be sinking, India's newspapermen appear to be doing just fine. Much of it is due to the poor online offerings in the country:

For all the country's vaunted IT prowess, only 6.9% of Indians regularly surf the web. Apart from a smattering of web-exclusive news, newspaper websites tend to be a photocopy of print editions. They are dependent on wire services like PTI, Reuters, and the like, to fill online column inches. Most regional and vernacular newspaper websites are infamous for shoddy user interfaces and broken links.

Just as an aside, I recently saw the documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times. I found it extremely interesting, and was surprised to learn that it was poorly received by critics. Perhaps I found it more engaging because – let's face it – I've had something of a media crush on the Times for a long time now, much like my New Yorker obsession.

While anyone on the internet is sure to believe in the power of their medium, I don't have the Huffington-style ignorance of believing that everything is well in the world of distribution. People's appetite for journalism hasn't diminished, we're told: if anything, it has greatly intensified. It's the distribution that matters.

But the media industry is in an awkward position. One of the legs is being sawn slowly from its stool, and until everything moves online, it's unlikely that the kind of important journalism we need will get the funding it deserves. While sending reporters to warzones may strike accountants as a financial indulgence, the reality is that it's a journalistic and cultural necessity. I don't think you'll find a Huffington Post reporter in Kabul anytime soon.

Although I get almost all of my news and analysis online, most of it isn't native to the internet; it was intended for dead trees. The transformation hasn't really happened yet.