“Newspapers offer us quality information. Reading the columns of great columnists and newspaper editors is much more beneficial than being friends with them on a social media platform.”- Extract from an article

People may have different reasons to read newspapers. Some might be reading newspapers to prepare for competitive exams; some might be genuinely interested in reading newspapers; some might be reading them as a result of the habitual compulsion of reading newspapers since childhood; and some might be spending their retirement life reading newspapers. Having said this, the number of newspaper readers has significantly declined in our society. I don’t have actual data in this regard. But I recently happened to meet a former manager of a reputed newspaper who told me that Soporians would buy around 5 thousand newspapers a day before 2020. In my area, namely Bomai, around 1,000 copies were sold daily. Which is quite higher than the number of current buyers of newspapers.
Why did newspapers lose their huge audience? Probably because they were told that it is a digital age and therefore information is freely and easily accessible on various social media platforms. But what we fail to understand is that social media isn’t an alternative to newspapers, given the authenticity of the news and information provided by the latter. A piece of news or information posted on a social media handle can be wrong, substandard, misleading, or even a scam in some cases. While writing so, my intent is not to undermine the importance of social media and associated science and technology, but it is a fact that many people have lost their lakhs because of fake schemes and lotteries advertised on social media. The primary issue that makes me think twice before trusting a piece of information posted by a random person on his social media platform is that most social media platforms have given the freedom of posting to each user. On the other hand, information carried by newspapers happens to be very authentic, giving them an edge over social media when it comes to the delivery of news, even in the age of science and technology.
Besides the authenticity of the news and information, newspapers offer us quality information. Reading the columns of great columnists and newspaper editors is much more beneficial than being friends with them on a social media platform. Because on social media we see the personal side of a person, but on the newspaper, we see his or her intellectual side. On a social media platform, we will get to see pictures of great editors and thinkers posing on beaches, not their valuable thoughts, but while reading newspapers, we can truly benefit from their real potential and their calibre.
Thirdly, the newspaper is the right place for intellectual activities. I remember an evening walk with a professor when he told me, “I See your posts on the ABC app. I find them quite interesting, but I don’t think social media is the right place to post your thoughts. You should consider writing for newspapers.” Taking inspiration from some more good friends, I ultimately ended up deactivating all of my social media handles. Primarily because I would usually receive fewer likes on my thoughts, while my pictures and videos would receive a higher number of likes and comments.
The reach of a newspaper might be lower than any other platform. But don’t worry, we are conversing and presenting our thoughts to a limited but quality audience. Who reads your posts on social media? Take some minutes to think. Then think about who reads your thoughts in the newspaper. I will tell you that the educated class of society—teachers, principals, officers, social activists, and others who have a great role to play in society—reads your articles in newspapers. And at some point or other, you influence their way of thinking. And your words end up bringing about a real change in society.
My inclination towards newspapers has increased so much that I won’t become a close friend of a person if he or she isn’t a daily reader of any newspaper. Because without doing so, he or she won’t have anything to offer to a person like me. Having said this, I would give due respect to anyone, whether he reads the newspaper daily or not. Newspapers are a medicine that each person requires daily, a person must be aware of what is happening around him. Where did science and technology reach today? Did any medical researchers come up with any new inventions in the field of medicines and vaccines today? How do people in that part of the world live, eat, and think? In conclusion, I would say that we should benefit from social media; we should Google our queries; we should read books; but we should also restore our habit of reading newspapers. I believe that aiming for proper intellectual development without reading newspapers is like aiming for green leaves to conduct photosynthesis in the absence of sunlight. Yes, reading newspapers daily holds the same importance in our intellectual development as sunlight holds in photosynthesis.
The writer can be reached at [email protected]

Arbaz Ahmad Bhat