Print Media has been around for a long time and is widely popular among Sri Lankans who are used to spend free time reading newspapers and discussing current political and economic scenarios. In Sri Lanka, Newspapers are available in Sinhala, English and Tamil languages and those newspapers have a high circulation in preferred areas. COVID 19 and its precautionary safety measures such as curfew and work from home mechanism have brought newer challenges to this industry which otherwise sprinted swiftly. As of now, when Sri Lanka is experiencing a certain lockdown situation, distribution of newspapers has come to a temporary standstill. Some journalists and marketing experts perceive the inability of distributing newspapers as the main challenge in front of them right now.
Let’s see how it affects the overall society
Print Media had accounted to a steady audience who used to read newspapers on a regular basis. People from all walks of life had accustomed to buy daily or weekly newspapers making them an essential among households and many workplaces.
These days, people who used to read newspapers as a mandatory part of their lives have to turn towards an alternative. This is a period where everyone stays at home and having a newspaper would have been ideal right now to break the momentum of a somewhat long and bored days. Having a newspaper at home would have got the family members engaged in reading which is also a good habit for children to practice as well while they have lost a considerable amount of school time. This lockdown situation is sometimes perceived as a headache by some people who always loved to keep themselves busy throughout the day. For them, this situation is a complete pain even though nothing could be reversed, and newspapers would have been a solution to pass time and get accurate information on the prevailing situation.
Businesses are another aspect who which were greatly impacted from the lack of newspapers. Many businesses rely on newspaper advertising to take their brand names to the general public and maintain top of the mind recalling of their brands. Businesses carry out many activities to reach the general public in this time of need but without newspapers it has been somewhat difficult.
Plight of conventional people
There are villages in rural parts of the island which have not yet been exposed to the modern technical infrastructure and there are people who are faithfully sticking to newspapers for their information requirements. Halting the printing and distribution of newspapers have made a huge impact on these people and they do not have a trustworthy source of information with regards to the current situation.
This is the time when people need newspapers the most. A newspaper is capable of carrying out a lot of information and news which allow users to slowly digest. Unlike a news broadcast on TV which is telecasted at a scheduled time, a newspaper can be read multiple times and one newspaper can be shared among many readers thereby creating a greater impact. Newspapers can come out with government notices, special notices of high importance, preventive measures taken by the government and also as a medium to create awareness among people.
Alternative at present
Due to the ongoing social distancing period, newspaper organizations are operating with a minimum number of staff and almost every newspaper has relayed the e-paper versions to facilitate the vast number of internet users. It is also reported that there is a visible increase in the number of people referring to e-papers around the world surpassing the local users. E-papers are being issued free of charge for the soul purpose of trying to disseminate news to a wider audience. Even people who were not used to reading e-papers earlier now read them and this is a trend that bodes well for the future.
What to expect in the future?
When inquired from leading newspaper organizations, they are optimistic about distributing newspapers as soon as the island wide curfew lifts. They also highlighted that they were able to distribute newspapers to areas where curfew was lifted in the last few weeks. According to them, there is plenty of news to be sent out to the public and even the public is waiting eagerly for newspapers. The ongoing situation has increased the demand for newspapers more than ever, but the main issue lies in the distribution process. Finally, they noted the need for a reliable mechanism on which they can distribute newspapers Island wide given the unpredictability of the situation.
