The COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world. The casualties are climbing, creating new records every day. The USA has been consistently reporting over 200,000 cases a day and a death toll of over 2000 people per day. Other countries, including Brazil, France, Russia, the UK, Spain, and Italy, are among the worst affected. India’s situation is no different, as can be seen from spikes in many states and partial shutdowns being implemented in different states yet again.
While the world has been writing gloomy stories and witnessing a real downturn, including that of media, India has been resilient. Unlike in the USA and other countries, where there have been mass lay-offs in the print media, Indian media has done well. As per Statista, newspapers and social media consumption have seen a robust increase in the early phase of lockdown. The newspapers saw a growth of 64%, while social media consumption saw a jump of 75% in the survey period.
If we have to assess the impact of the COVID-19 during the lockdown phase, when the entire nation remained indoors from 25 March to 31 May 2020, the print media took a real hit as advertisement revenues nose-dived, certain newspapers stopped printing. Lockdown months saw many disruptions. Earlier in May this year, over 100 journalists had tested COVID positive. Fifteen employees of the Jai Maharashtra news network had the virus, while the Punjab Kesari newspaper reported nineteen employees who tested positive.
But during this period, journalism saw a renewed zest and resilience as journalists kept reporting from the ground against all odds, something we all watched on TV all through the difficult times. Similarly, there has been increased coverage of web journalism. The news websites of all the media houses have seen a massive increase in readership; reporters and content creators worked from homes to ensure news distribution did not stop.
For the last couple of months, we are witnessing full-page advertisements in the leading newspapers, which peaked in the pre-Diwali festive season. This indicates that the economy is on the recovery path. Similarly, we can see loads of native advertisements on all news portals, which again is a positive indicator and induces confidence that the economy is bound to turn the tables in the coming months.
News channels have been reporting 24×7 with a skeletal staff, ditto with the news portals. Journalists not only have worked hard during this crisis, but they have also created huge respect for the profession through their unwavering commitment to their work. Today, they are counted among heroes who continuously bought pieces of inspiring stories for the world to read or watch during this gloomy phase.
India’s fundamentals are very strong as the internal consumption is huge. This is bound to help India’s economy rebound strongly. Moreover, COVID-19 has shaken the world’s confidence in China. Many leading corporations are either moving out of their factories from China or adding new plants in other countries. India is well poised to gain from this situation, as is evident from the fact that many companies have announced to invest heavily in India in the coming months.
As a nation, we have faced many crises in the past and have always overcome them with great vigour. This time too, the nation will come out stronger. India is taking this opportunity to become self-reliant in many fields, including many critical technologies. We come to know about all these stories about the development of new vaccines to new start-ups through different forms of media and active journalism. And that is how things will be in the times to come – the media and journalism will remain relevant as people will always be eager to read and watch stories that touch their lives.
MIT International School of Broadcasting and Journalism (ISBJ): your preferred destination for a career in Mass Media, including that of journalism
If mass media fascinates you, choose MIT ISBJ. After you finish your degree, you will be spoilt for choice. You could choose from a plethora of careers – content writing, PR, newspaper/TV journalism, anchoring, event marketing, or creative direction.
At MIT ISBJ, you will be able to choose your specialization in the final year that includes Broadcasting, New Media, Strategic Communication in addition to the core subject of Journalism and Mass Communication.
If you are serious about making a career in mass media, MIT International School of Broadcasting and Journalism should be your natural choice. ISBJ comes under the umbrella of renowned MIT-ADT University, which has been complemented by ASSOCHAM: “The Best University Campus” at the 10th National Education Excellence Awards 2017.
Admissions for the new academic year are on; please contact the admissions team for a seat in your chosen course today.
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