IMC Day One: ‘You are defined by what you do not do than what you do’

The eighth edition of Indian Magazine Congress witnessed a panel discussion on curating content in the era of information overload.

Anant Nath, editor, Caravan, and director, Delhi Press, noted that while the information overload being faced from digital and social media has brought about democratisation of content, the institutional responsibility (such as fact checking) of traditional media was also under pressure. “NY Times is now competing with a random Twitterati or a blog post when it comes to delivering news,” he said.

He added, “With content aggregators such as Buzzfeed, most publications are forced to upload content without the earlier pre-requisites. Because when it comes to online space, advertising depends on impressions and that is dependent on content creation.”

Fiona McIntosh, editor, Grazia, observed, “As far as social media and content goes, we are living in very interesting times. Print media cannot compete with news dissemination, and that is where digital is streaming ahead. But what print media can focus on is getting viral through social media, and getting stories pushed through it.”

Prasanto K Roy, editorial advisor, CyberMedia, underlined that while there were pressures emanating from social media, what matters at the end of it is the content and experience.

Giving examples of his own publication DN Mukerjea, editor, Fortune India stated that magazines should pick their own battles. “You are defined by what you do not do than what you do, and publications should keep that in mind,” he surmised. 

Also read:

IMC Day One: “Magazine industry should emerge as objective and authentic source in information-loaded world”: Manish Tewari

IMC Day One: ‘Magazines occupy a small and strong niche’: Sam Balsara

IMC Day One: ‘Innovations happen when you connect different dots and that is when you make a connection’: Anand Kripalu

IMC Day One: ‘Move away from the authoritative publishing mentality’