The New Nation - Internet Edition

Dr. M. S. Haq

The contribution of newspapers to for example, facilitating the building, 'modernization' and advancement of human civilization has so far been found, in an average sense and among other things, to be crucial, useful and result-generative - relative to time, space and other variables, though. Newspapers have been - in varying degrees and as appropriate - a source and a force of enlightenment for world people, for people-environment and environment-people transactions (used in a widest sense), and for the future of all concerned in the universe, to mention a few. It will not be out of place to mention here: newspapers were not in the past and are not at present immune to challenges and opportunities - whether natural or person-made or otherwise - associated with their (I mean, newspapers) survival, continuity and growth through a continually moving time, and a continually changing space at subatomic levels, per se. Besides, the newspaper has a rich history of its own despite ups, downs and parallels - from time to time and within the time - in its continuing life.

Please note: the term newspaper or newspapers has been used in a variety of senses in the article as the reference to the context appropriately permits. Further, the term newspaper or newspapers represents only the printed on paper form of newspaper or newspapers.

The domain of newspapers has, in the contemporary period, witnessed, relative to time, space and other variables - things like: mushroom or rapid or slow or steady growth of newspapers; poor or average or superior quality newspapers; newspapers having political or religious or other types of affiliation; newspapers possessing a variety of structural and non-structural dimensions; newspapers focusing on limited or wider areas and levels of interest or expectation or both; newspapers belonging to a variety of owners - public or private or of other types; sick or dying newspapers; healthy newspapers; birth or death of newspapers; newspapers with various faces or motives - commercial or semi-commercial or innovative or semi-innovative or non-innovative or profit making or non-profit making or otherwise; newspapers promoting tunnel visions or broader visions or other types of vision; newspapers taking sides - either directly or otherwise and in varying degrees - with say, ordinary people or poor people or rich people or influential people including inter alia knowledge people or hypocrites or powerful country (ies) or less powerful country (ies) or poor country (ies) or any combination of them; newspapers taking sides - either directly or otherwise and in varying degrees - with say, subjectivity or objectivity or honesty or fairness or terrorism or anti-terrorism or justice or injustice or freedom or liberty or human development or economic growth or diplomacy or poverty or gender equity and equality or global commons or entertainment or democracy or military rule or autocratic rule or human rights or corruption or anti-corruption or truth or false or any combination of them; newspapers having apparently satisfied worker-s (including inter alia journalists and press workers) or apparently dissatisfied worker-s or apparently motivated worker-s or apparently de-motivated worker-s or other types of worker-s; newspapers with classic orientations or non-classic orientations or other types of orientation; newspapers subscribing to say, communism or anti-communism or socialism or anti-socialism or capitalism or anti-capitalism or any combination of them; newspapers nearer to people or otherwise; newspapers facilitating for example, peace-making or peace-breaking or peace-keeping or war-making or war mongering or any combination of them; newspapers that are liberal or semi-liberal or anti-liberal or conservative or hypercritical or hypocritical or of similar or other types; newspapers promoting abstract thinking or realistic thinking, or creative thinking or destructive thinking or constructive thinking or strategic thinking or below the average level of thinking or average level of thinking or thinking of other kinds; newspapers marketing intra-disciplinary product-s or inter-disciplinary product-s or a mixture of above product-s of information, knowledge, understanding and application; and newspapers that facilitate unity or disunity (etc.) among world people or between world people - as appropriate.

In light of above, it now appears newspapers in their continually long journey through the human civilization have, among other things, created, met, sustained and promoted - from time to time and as applicable - a variety of markets (used in a wider marketing management sense - readers, market places, etc.), market segments, market demands, market supply chains, market accesses, market competitions, market facilities, market renewals and other opportunities; market challenges; market risks and vulnerabilities; market life cycles; market coping mechanisms; and market feedback mechanisms; all in pursuits of for example initiating, sustaining, promoting and recycling - either directly or otherwise - newspaper-market interfaces and market-newspaper interfaces for say, the satisfaction of stakeholders.

The cause, the effect and the causality of above and other developments pertaining and ancillary to present day newspapers are being instrumental in making the future of newspapers - in an increasingly interdependent world, a product of growing realization in pertinent areas - dependent on a host of factors: that are both within and beyond the control of newspapers; that are both linear and non-linear in nature and scope; that are both known and unknown to newspapers; to mention a few. A number of them have been presented below - not in the order of priority or importance - they are relative to time, space and other variables (as applicable) and they are based on developments in pertinent areas up to today, 21st day of December 2008.

1. The nature, scope and pace of present day development in areas say, science, engineering and technology has increasingly been instrumental in inter alia strengthening, sustaining and enlarging spaces for electronic media, including inter alia electronically driven cyber media, at local, global and other levels - putting a continuous pressure on for example, the survival, continuity and growth of newspapers throughout the world. It should, however, be noted here: the degrees of impact of above development on individual newspapers are not the same or the equal at a given time because the impact mentioned is, among other things, directly and inversely proportional to the coping capacity of respective newspapers at that time. In short, the reality is: the outcome of development in relevant areas is affecting - perhaps in a more negative way than in a positive way and in varying degrees - the health and the future of newspapers.

2. The present day challenges arising out of factors such as and as appropriate: internet insecurity; internet access related limitations on account of technological and non-technological inabilities in pertinent areas - long queues, long waiting time; and the continuing disparity when it comes to say, computer and computer use related choices of world people; have increasingly been instrumental in affording opportunities for newspapers to inter alia regaining and sustaining their lost spaces at least through a certain period of future time - at least until developments in pertinent areas such as: a full and meaningful use of upcoming quantum computers, that could hopefully do away with some of above limitations, takes place with a full speed; a maximum equity and equality in the use of computers is in place throughout the world; and breakthroughs focusing on media diversifications or media change or both take a significant toll - whether for good or otherwise - on the existing media, print, electronic and others. In short, it can be said: there could exist the prospect of a better future for newspapers in the days ahead provided that above and other opportunities in pertinent areas are harnessed in a timely and proper manner - facilitated by solid visions and missions, for example.

3. The gap between the number of website visitors (news related visits, etc.) and the number of newspaper readers; the gap between the average time, interest and effort available for reading newspapers and the average time, interest and effort available for visiting news websites; the gap between the affordability (used in a wider sense) of news website visitors and the affordability (used in a wider sense) of newspaper readers when it comes to the fulfillment of their needs and expectations in relevant areas; the gap between the culture of newspaper reading and the culture of visiting news websites, all in qualitative and quantitative terms - as far as practicable, though; the gap between the profit motive associated with newspapers and the profit motive associated with news websites; and other gaps associated with news websites and newspapers could inter alia be instrumental in the determination of future of the demand side and the supply side of newspapers.

4. Factors such as and as appropriate: ramifications of existing and potential conflicts - conceptual or otherwise - between and among traditionalists, non-traditionalists, neo-traditionalists and others; possible future roles of genomics - in terms of say, genes management and applications - in shaping intra-generational and inter-generational attitudes and perceptions in respects of life, living and continuity in the universe; implications of environmental challenges - physical, non-physical or otherwise - on human developments, used in medical, non-medical and other relevant senses; and changes in say, human anatomy, human habitation, human life style including inter alia leisure spending style, human working style and moral, as well as ethical standards of human beings in the next hundred year could either help alter for example, the present day mindset of newspaper readers and other stakeholders - increasing or decreasing or balancing risks, threats and vulnerabilities associated with the future of newspaper or help facilitate a progressive extinction of present day newspapers from the universe at an arithmetic rate of progression or at a geometric rate of progression or at other rate-s.

5. The present day - newspaper philosophy; newspaper economy; newspaper related commerce; newspaper market competition; newspaper organization; newspaper behavior; newspaper politics; newspaper journalism; newspaper transaction and transactional mechanics; newspaper image; newspaper contribution to say, societies; newspaper strength; newspaper weakness at say, conceptual and operation levels; stakeholder-newspaper convergence, as well as divergence; newspaper-stakeholder convergence, as well as divergence; newspaper morality; newspaper management; and newspaper worker satisfaction; to mention a few, have been, among other things and in varying degrees, influencing the creation, recreation, sustenance, promotion and destruction of the future of newspaper.

In countries like, Bangladesh, the future of newspaper is increasingly becoming victims - in varying degrees, though - of internal, external and other types of barrier and constraint, in addition and as applicable to what have been discussed so far in the article. A few of them have been presented below - not in the order of importance or priority - relative to time, space and other variables:

(i) Most of the newspapers have not yet been able to liberate them - either in part or in full - from the owner driven money machines. A few lucky ones, though, have so far been able to at least cope with the situation if not change the situation through measures such as and as appropriate: excessive print media commercialism; product diversifications; product economy (say, low priced and small sized newspapers); and business alignment or realignment (or both) initiatives, whether or not the capital of those initiatives is a product of corruption or a product of other type-s of illegal gratification or something else. In any event, the outcome of above situations is threatening, among other things, the future of quality of newspaper journalism in the country.

(ii) The average contribution of print media workers (other than journalists) to maintaining the present day health of newspapers is, in certain ways, found to be more effective and efficient than that of the journalists. One of the reasons for that is: while the market for all types of print media worker (including journalists) is shrinking at varying rates and speeds, the competition among say, the technical workers of print media for retaining their jobs even at a lowest possible rate of compensation via skills accumulated through years of work and against the backdrop of basic necessities of newspaper owners for keeping their newspaper machine running - is relatively higher than concerned others. It implies inter alia skills and competitions in a demand constrained market are among the driving forces behind the present day performance of technical workers - as applicable.

(iii) The critical mass of present day efforts towards bringing about a wholesome improvement in areas say, journalistic vision, journalistic expertise, journalistic skills, journalistic conduct and journalistic outcome is not seemingly adequate for strengthening and sustaining core bases of newspapers - between now and the future.

Further, journalistic excellence is yet to come out as a formidable force in support of ensuring and promoting at least a sustainable future for Bangladeshi newspapers through the foreseeable future. The factors such as and as appropriate: the quality of editorial products; poor editing; sleepy or complicated or stressful faces of newspapers; the extrovert or the introvert or the ambivert personality trait of newspapers; content-wise poor news items - say, 45 percent poor or 70 percent poor; priority-wise poor news items; arrogance; hypocrisies - committing something on the front page of newspapers and promoting something else on the same or on following pages; the 'always right' attitude of newspapers; naïve realism and conservatism on the part of newspapers when it comes to say, change for better in relevant areas; truth hiding and false mongering roles of newspapers - deliberate or otherwise; justification starved stances of newspapers; the game of deliberate misinterpretation or deliberate wrong interpretation or deliberate misrepresentation or deliberate misguiding for cheap popularity; and poverty associated with research, analysis, innovation and application facilitation when it comes to newspaper products dealing with substantive matters of say, local and global importance have been creating barriers - direct, indirect or otherwise - to future making processes of newspapers in Bangladesh.

(iv) The present day realities such as and as appropriate: (a) a drastic lack of political will to develop newspapers as for example, a vital interface between the people and the state in joint pursuits of peace, security, progress and prosperity of Bangladesh and the world at large; (b) the absence of a comprehensive law - governing the terms and conditions of service of media workers (used in a wider sense), facilitating the protection of people, media workers, media employers, media owners and concerned others from media abuses, media excesses, and other unfair practices on the part of media owners, media workers and concerned others, establishing grievance handling procedures for aggrieved media workers, media users, media employers, media owners and concerned others and procedures for settlement of dispute - all in one place, precise, concise and user-friendly; (c) the absence of a continually productive regulatory regimes for protecting, preserving and promoting the interest and satisfaction of all media stakeholders, the freedom of media and the welfare of media workers and concerned others - focusing on say, pay, overtime, fringe benefits and accident compensation; and (d) the paucity of development opportunity, motivation and incentive for media, media workers, media owners and concerned others aiming at say, facilitating the development of newspapers and promoting free and balanced thinking in societies are being instrumental in inter alia constraining a proper and sustainable growth of newspapers in Bangladesh.

(v) The present day media tendency towards copying things from others, a less than the required effort towards productive and legitimate media integration at local, global and other levels, poor intra-media and inter-media coordination in pertinent areas, media developments not based - as applicable - on lessons and best practices, the ongoing media divide and the media conflict at local, global and other levels, poor media monitoring (for example, self-activated), limited media focuses on science, engineering and technology, and limited media focuses on problem-solving and capturing the future are, among other things, affecting the competitiveness of newspapers as a viable component of the 21st century print media.

While it is clear newspapers have come under intense competitions from different directions and sources, it is also clear they are at present lying on the bed of opportunities, provided that the opportunities are harnessed in a timely and proper manner in pursuits of ensuring sustainability and growth of newspapers at a continually higher rate through the foreseeable future.

The success of newspaper in future would depend on several things. A few of them have been presented in a question form:

I. How best and quickest newspapers could establish their 21st century vision, promote that vision and implement that vision in the greater interest of newspapers, world people world countries and others?

II. How best and quickest newspapers could improve its competitiveness and acceptability in areas say, news research, news analysis, problem-solving, future hunting, forecasting, entertainment and inter-disciplinary knowledge, understanding and application? How best and quickest newspapers would be instrumental in inter alia enriching knowledge, understanding and application in the domain of journalism, for example?

III. How best and quickest newspapers (particularly, those suffering - at present - from financial hardships) could benefit initially from sustainable livelihoods practices? How best and quickest newspapers could transform existing challenges - mentioned above and others - into opportunities, existing opportunities into useable and recyclable opportunities, and evolving challenges into new opportunities, to mention a few?

III. How best and quickest cooperation of all stakeholders could be harnessed in favor of what I would call repositioning newspapers in local, global and other markets of development? How best and quickest newspapers could act as a catalyst to development efforts at local, global and other levels?

IV. How best and quickest newspapers, institutions of newspapers and other concerned institutions could adopt and adapt, in a sustainable fashion, to changing realities of life, living and continuity in the universe?

V. How best and quickest newspapers could improve, sustain and promote their comparative, competitive and other advantages when it comes to people's perceptions of newspapers as a reliable and dependable source of help and assistance in pertinent areas during peace times and in emergencies? What about newspaper cooperatives at grassroots and other levels - as applicable?

VI. How best and quickest newspapers would be able to ensure and promote, on a continuous basis, the right person for the right job at the right time and with the right type of compensation?

VII. How best and quickest newspapers would be able to build, sustain and promote popular people-newspaper and newspaper-people constituencies throughout the world for the benefits of all concerned? How best and quickest newspapers could fortify its position as for example, a promoter of human rights, freedom, liberty, equity, equality, anti-poverty, anti-terrorism and balanced as well as result-oriented decision-making in the universe?

VIII. How best and quickest world people would be able to establish at least a re-engineered media related world order for the benefit of all concerned?

IX. How best and quickest a universe formula (to be discovered) could - at least to a greater extent - internalize uncertainties associated with, for example, the domain of media including inter alia print media - newspapers and others?

The last word: let us work towards building, sustaining and promoting a prosperous future for newspapers in a collective, innovative, result-oriented and sustainable manner. Happy birthday to The New Nation! Happy New Year 2009 to all!