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PRINTPACK INDIA 2019 SHOW DAILY
2 February 2019 | Supported by Indian Printer & Publisher and Packaging South Asia
13
Freedom! Social Media. Economy. Education.
I
n an interview published in the
Times of India (18 January 2019),
Jiby J Kattakyam asked Malayalam
writer Paul Zacharia, “Is the public
space for intellectuals and free speech
shrinking despite new avenues like so-
cial media?” Zacharia’s reply was, “The
space for free speech for any citizen,
leave alone intellectuals, has shrunk to
a minuscule niche in today’s India. Free
speech is the proprietary privilege of
politicians. The media, if it wishes, can
still exercise free speech, but in general
prefers not to. For the first time in India,
intellectuals have been murdered for
representing reason, sanity and truth.
Social media’s failure to be a democrat-
ic and civilized space and the barbarism
with which some use it to attack free
speech is a tragedy of monumental pro-
portions. And given the shrunken minds
of India’s political class across parties
it is doubtful if even a regime change
will return India to a free intellectual
climate.”
Zacharia’s answer is an indictment
of politicians, the media and social me-
dia. As publishers and printers we are
to some extent in the service of, and us-
ers of, all three. Those who think their
publishing and printing businesses can
be neutral or uncaring of politics, in-
tellectual freedom and free speech or
indeed the issues of publicly supported
education, health and infrastructure,
are of course deluding themselves that
their businesses or their work can grow
merely by technology, monetization
or subscriptions. If news media and
book publishers continue to give in to
hate, fear, censorship, threats and self-
censorship, they will deservedly lose
relevance.
In addition to ad revenues, newspa-
per subscription revenues are down and
are not likely to recover or be saved by
digital subscriptions except for those
who can deliver content that readers are
ready to pay for. Social media, even as
we try to learn and understand it, has
lost much of its credibility and even
the power to influence beyond enter-
tainment, pornography and some viral
videos. Of the estimated Rs. 13,000
crore (US$ 1.7 billion) to be spent on
the coming general election by all po-
litical parties, it is estimated that Rs.
7,000 crore will go to below-the-line
spends such as rallies and other activi-
ties. The remaining Rs. 5,000 crore will
be divided between print media, televi-
sion, outdoor signage and social media.
Moreover, if the overall election ad
spend goes up, it is social media that is
likely to gain with Facebook the win-
ner, according to some experts. Social
media advertising is expected to rise by
as much 150% to Rs. 12,000 crore over
2019 according to the experts.
Economy
The publishing and print industries are
not really showing exceptional or even
real growth. Our experience in research-
ing these industries for the past 20 years
(in IppStar) has shown that high growth
that allows real investment only occurs
when the GDP growth rate is far above
6%. In the past three or four years this
does not seem to be the case, no mat-
ter what kind of numbers the govern-
ment cooks up and claims. Yes, there
is growth but most of it is absorbed by
the wider base engaged in minimal im-
provements in their subsistence. While
this too is an admirable achievement,
it does not create yet the economic dy-
namics for industrial growth and soci-
etal change for the better.
Education
The last point that I would like to make
is that notwithstanding the recently re-
leased ASER report on the dismal edu-
cational outcomes across India and the
relatively better results of private educa-
tion, education is a foremost government
responsibility. The decline in education
expenditure relative to the GDP (from
3.1% in FY 13-14 to 2.7% in FY 17-18)
is a shameful occurrence. The defects
and corruption of public education must
be overcome and not merely transferred
or shifted to the private education sys-
tem. Or, even to some digital or robotic
future. The educational system is of pri-
mary concern to publishers and printers
and if it is not fixed we are headed for
hypercompetition and economic bank-
ruptcy; and, not only the moral, spiritual
and intellectual bankruptcy that Paul
Zacharia is talking about.
– Naresh Khanna
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