Pankaj Pachauri, the veteran journalist, former communications advisor to the Prime Ministers’ Office, now founder and editor-in-chief of
GoNews24x7, India's first app based news channel was all guns blazing at
Building India Inc., IIT Delhi. Here’s a taste of the REAL media industry, Pachauri style.
We in India don’t pay for news
This is in our blood, this is in our genes. We will not pay for information and that’s why the newspaper printed for 16 rupees per copy is sold for 2.50 – 3 rupees. These newspaper companies have to get their revenue from advertisements. To get the advertisement revenue you have to be dependent on either corporates that advertise or the government, especially this government which is advertising more and more.
The BHIM app was launched recently. GoNews did a study, for the BHIM app total transactions were 850 crores. The government paid more than 250 crores to have the BHIM app launched, the contracts to promote the BHIM app launch were distributed among media companies from a lucky draw.
Indian users do not buy information. We need information for free, so you have to come up with very innovative ideas to make money as a media company. GoNews is aiming to break even within a year. As a startup we started within 90 days and here we are stating we will break even within a year. I’m confident of this happening because there is enough money sloshing around in India. I go to my friends’ houses and everyone is buying either a new Range Rover or tweeting from St Petersburg or Kyoto. It means there’s enough money in the market. But how you’re going to get that money into the system - only Times of India seems to have cracked the code on that one.
Begging ministers to your events: “You’re an editor, go back… Send your marketing team”
I think the business [the money part] of media decides the content of the media. One revenue stream is advertising, which will tie you down to your content. I have seen it happen numerous times. IPL for example used to be the highest revenue generator for TV when it launched. So if you’re getting ad revenue from say the Delhi Daredevils, the Pune Warriors etc., you’re tied to the content. You’re obliged to turn a blind eye if a cricketer from that IPL team is doing some hanky panky; you may not be able to report on it. That’s a simple illustration of how the content will be decided. It’s as simple as that.
Talking about innovative revenue generation, one of my former employees would do 50 events in a year. That is one event a week. And the kind of events that will work in India are the kind with cricket stars, Bollywood stars or the ministers. These are also the three components of any content for your news site. Now this is something I said to my former editor, who also runs the company, I asked him, “How will you let your reporters run after these guys if you’re constantly chasing the same set of people to be at your events? And these are the best content points for you.”
And if you’re an editor, and believe you me I have seen editors come to the Prime Minister’s office when I was working there, pleading to “Please get the Prime Minister to our event.”
And I would say, “You’re an editor, go back. Don’t talk to me about this. Send your marketing team and we will discuss this with them.” I am frank with them because these are people I studied journalism with. If you’re tying yourself to the ministers and their offices and you put yourself or your marketing team for that matter, in a situation where you’re grovelling before them, then how can you report on a ministry?
That’s the problem with trying to earn money from ‘event management’ within a news company.
Not even Pankaj Pachauri has all the answers
Another kind of revenue stream is tying up with wealthy organizations and people in this world. GoNews is looking at forming coalitions with such organizations so that all parties concerned will operate without interfering in our content.
And that’s the biggest challenge a new age media company will face. Finding these people and organizations with money to tie up with who won’t compromise your content, editorial judgment or your ability to report uncensored news. Mind you, all the people I found like this were in Silicon Valley, and some organizations that fund good causes around the world like the Gates Foundation, the Rothschild Foundation, and the Ford Foundation.
The
NPR– National Public Radio is one of the best radio stations in the world and that’s a model we are trying to emulate. NPR is funded by people who partner with them. And there is
Public Radio International, they too are funded by people who partner with them, and those partners don’t interfere with their content. To me that is the way forward.
The easy way out is to do an event, call the Prime Minister and get the eye balls.
BW Reporters
Regina is a reporter for BW Businessworld. In her previous assignments, she has worked with Independent television Network as a news anchor and reporter in Sri Lanka
