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Photo: K. Gopinathan

Out goes print, in comes screen Youngsters prefer online news to the traditional newspapers

“We youth, at least some of us, are interested in news. But, it’s not the way the newspapers present it.” For some, the text on the page feels so remote. Often, they feel, it isn’t engaging enough and certainly cannot relate to what is dished up on the page. “I just don’t like on-the-one-hand, on-the–other-hand mush in newspapers.” Well, on the other hand, there are five fingers.

News in YouTube era engages rather talks down to the audience. Youth find news streaming in at them in various formats. Cool and on the button. Added to this is their felicity with technology. “Newspapers have that top-down orientation, a few people sitting and spouting, aloof from real world,” says Srinivas, a media watcher. But, the web is slam-dunk, straight-up, people-driven, with multimedia contextualising the text. Friendly, informal feel about the online media captures many.

The no-holds-barred blogs are craze among the youth. Youngsters don’t go for straight news anyway, like, the minister champions this or that cause. “We know the government makes policies, but how does that affect the people, the story,” he wonders.

As if our politics is not thrilling enough, 24-year-old Satya K., a guy itching to weigh in on any topic, logs into YouTube. “I like to watch Obamicans ramping up the pitch for Barack Obama. It’s the video, audio, and the blogs that rivet him. I like our electioneering go on YouTube,” he says. Taking a cue from the fans of Obama, he adds: “I will be ready with a blog for our next elections.”

Bookmarking sites like Digg.com and Del.icio.us have created a virtual beehive of newsy activity. People rate stories that appeared in print or online, the thing that gets more rating ends up on top of the web page.

It feels more grass-root and user-driven. “I constantly update myself with the latest from Digg.com,” says Chandra S., a 23-year-old who also likes newspapers. “Sometimes, our newspapers carry things which have already created a buzz on the web. Moreover, the interactivity that web offers engages readers at a different level. Most news sites and blogs have features that make real-time interaction possible,” he says, lamenting: “Sadly, we don’t find the interactivity on our news sites.” Opening up news stories for online comments and newspaper blogs can draw in more youth to news content.

Social networking sites are great for not only networking, but for around-the-campfire way of sharing stories, news, happenings, tidbits. “It’s a two-way street, your friends send you some photos and interesting video clips and you send them some.” Actually, it’s multi-lane newsgathering. Readers of RSS feeds collect stories, topics and updates on the stuff they are interested from a wide variety of sources. “You get bored reading through newspapers,” says Sampath, who has a craving for bells and whistles of the web. “I like the participatory aspect of the web.” Interesting content gets viral; real-time conversations and feedback have the youth opting for online news. The web is vast and you can find whatever interests you at any given moment.”

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