Bhubaneswar: With the lockdown severely affecting the distribution of newspapers across the country the users of digital platform have grown manifold. Most Indians now use smartphones, so during the threat of pandemic COVID-19, these sets bring news at your fingertips. For regular updates on news regarding coronavirus and other important information, people are now frequenting the digital media every now and then.
Most newspapers have shifted to the e-paper mode as distribution to consumers through hawkers have more or less stopped or have been severely distributed due to the coronavirus threat. Hence their subscribers are also viewing news on the digital platforms, thereby increasing the traffic manifold.
India over the last few years has seen a boom in net users. Cheap data plans since Jio came on to the playing field, have also helped in increasing the number of netizens. People these days prefer reading news on their phones, laptops or desktops rather than go for printed versions. This is now most applicable for on-the-move Gen X.
The older generation, however, still prefers the smell of the print and paper. But now they have also been forced to turn to the digital platform as supplies have turned irregular. With the entire country going under lockdown Tuesday midnight onwards, it is certain that the number of digital platform users will once again grow.
Digital media has another advantage over the print media as it is quicker to access. For a person living in a remote area, getting a newspaper is still a luxury, but news is not because of the growth of the digital media. Now the coronavirus threat has also acted as a huge boon at least to the digital platform as more and more people are becoming dependant on it.
PNN
