Vibes Academy organises seminar
on future of print newspapers
Talk in the industry about the end of print newspapers is heard all around. But the ground
reality in India is something else! Total extinction of print newspapers could happen only
when digital news media eliminate them completely. With a focus on this,
Vibes Academy organises a seminar ‘The Way To Readers’ Delights’ predicting
what future holds for the news media industry.
Presumption around the
industry is that online
digital mobile technology
is taking over the once
indomitable print media as 900
million television viewers, 975
million registered mobile users,
345 million internet subscribers
are posing against a mere 140
million print newspaper readers
in India. This is believed to be
an indicative of the changing
market preference. But the fact
is that print newspapers are not
yet attained saturation stage in
the regional markets; there is
still room for them to penetrate
into the rural geographies that
remained extensively untapped
till date.
New readership
Why do newspaper houses see
a scope of expansion in rural
geographies of the country?
The reason is that only onethird
of the rural population
in India own smart-phones and
only second household in the
region has television set. In
such regional domain, expansion
for print newspapers is feasible
for different target readers in
which ‘women’ who are the
market drivers and purchase
decision makers constitute a bit
of part. Presenting these facts,
Vibes Academy has organised
a seminar titled ‘The Way To
Readers’ Delights’ in which a
host of leaders from the print
newspaper world presented
inspiring thoughts, ideas and
trends in the industry, persuading
the gathered print fraternity.
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The main objective of Vibes
Academy for organising ‘The
Way To Readers’ Delights’
was to create a platform where
the printing fraternity could
meet under one roof and share
ideas, knowledge and exchange
expertise. The seminar was
structured and designed to
involve the manufacturers of
print and allied machineries,
vendors and end users. Also
the programmes were meant
for fresh minds that have the
determination and willingness
to climb the corporate ladder
quickly.
Core discussions
Sponsored by PRESSLINE India,
Q.I. Press Controls India and
Elegant Offset, key participants
at The Way To Readers’ Delights
were from some of the leading
newspapers, a weekly and a
printing firm, namely, Dinamalar,
The Times of India, The Hindu,
The New Indian Express, Kalki
Weekly, Malayala Manorama,
Mathrubhumi, Thompson Press
and Anna University. During
the seminar, VS Narayanan,
general manager, Dinamalar,
talked about the importance of
print enhancement techniques
and S Sekar, general managerproduction,
The Times of India,
inspiringly motivated the crowd
in his speech on profiles engaged
in colour management.
‘Content Management’ was a
stimulating topic which Anand
Jeeth, director, CADGRAF
Digitals, spoke at length. In
the subsequent sessions of the
seminar, Amritha Nath, managerproduction,
Mathrubhumi,
explained about ‘waste control’
in connection to cost and material
saving. S Selvaganapathy and
J Manikandan, senior engineers,
The Hindu, explained the ways
to control quality and quality
failure cost.
As part of the day’s programme,
a symposium on ‘The Future
of Newspapers is Now’ was
conducted by Vijay Pandya,
managing director, Q.I. Press
Controls India and Dr B Kumar,
professor, Department of Printing
Technology, Anna University,
who talked about advanced
technologies, such as high-quality
optical measure and control
systems, in newspaper printing.
The interactive sessions and
content-packed presentations
brought out technical and business
facts and figures on possibilities
that await newspapers. The data
deliberated on circulation trends
and share of media advertisement
spend clearly indicated a
sustainable future of newspapers
in India.
Vibes Academy is an education
centre, a professionally managed
group with multi-divisional
operation under the training
and development segment,
dedicated to the print fraternity.
Moreover, a unified response
resonated during The Way To
Readers’ Delights was that print
newspapers in India will stay
for decades at least!
