Comprehension

The post-truth era is, expectedly, marked by a discerning erosion of public trust in sources of information. Mass media — both traditional and new-age avatars — has borne the brunt of this mistrust. And for good reasons too. Social media, its most popular platform, is a harbinger of falsity. It is thus encouraging to see that at least the old guard of the media ecosystem — the newspaper — continues to defy this discouraging trend. A pan-India survey of media consumption by Lokniti found that print media remains the most trusted source of information. The finding is consistent with the heartening surge in public endorsement of the reliability of newspapers since the pandemic. An earlier survey, which attempted to examine the impact of the lockdown on ‘reading patterns’, had found that the number of readers who used to spend over an hour on newspapers every day had risen to 38%, up from 16% in the pre-lockdown period. The increased trust in newspapers is because the lockdowns coincided with the dissemination of the crudest kinds of misinformation about the pandemic in India and around the world and newspapers played a pivotal role in exposing these lies.
But that is where the good news ends — for the print media, at least. Among other things, the data collated by the survey found deepening footprints of social media in rural and urban constituencies while television continues to dominate the screen. These developments are consistent with global trends that reveal that the newspaper industry is struggling to contain the migration of readers and revenue to other formats, especially digital media. Ironically, the pandemic, which saw a resurgence in collective trust in newspapers, adversely affected the print media as traditional advertisers, reeling under the economic fallouts of Covid-19, cut back on advertisements. But the crisis in print precedes the pandemic. Newspapers have been outpaced by speedier, but also spurious, sources of information. The dominance of the image over text as a cultural phenomenon is another formidable challenge. The print media’s hopes of remaining competitive and profitable must, therefore, centre on using this collective trust as a form of capital. Survival strategies, especially the revenue model, must be re-explored and the emphasis shifted to in-depth analyses of news as well as eyecatching layouts now that newspapers are slower to reach news to the audience.
[Extracted, with edits and revisions, from “Good news: Editorial on print media remaining the most trusted source of information”, The Telegraph]

Question: 1

Which of the following is the author most likely to agree with?

Updated On: Aug 21, 2024
  • The Covid-19 pandemic was an unmitigated disaster for the newspaper industry
  • The Covid-19 pandemic had negative as well as positive effects on the newspaper industry.
  • The Covid-19 pandemic only had good effects on the newspaper industry.
  • The Covid-19 pandemic had no effect at all on the newspaper industry.
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The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

The correct option is (B): The Covid-19 pandemic had negative as well as positive effects on the newspaper industry.
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Question: 2

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the author’s arguments?

Updated On: Aug 21, 2024
  • Social media is a reliable source of true and accurate news and information.
  • Social media is a highly unreliable source of news and information and should not be trusted.
  • Social media is a good way for people to stay connected with each other.
  • Social media is a speedier source of information than newspapers.
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

The correct option is (A): Social media is a reliable source of true and accurate news and information.
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Question: 3

Which of the following would be an effective way of making print media more competitive?

Updated On: Aug 21, 2024
  • Slowing down the process of print media production.
  • Using more expensive printing methods that achieve better print quality, even if it results in newspapers becoming more expensive.
  • Only publishing newspapers on alternate days.
  • Developing ways of ensuring that print media can reach readers more speedily.
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The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

The correct option is (D): Developing ways of ensuring that print media can reach readers more speedily.
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Question: 4

Based on the author’s arguments, which of the following, if true, would have resulted in the weakening, rather than deepening of public trust in newspapers since the pandemic?

Updated On: Aug 21, 2024
  • Newspapers were very careful in ensuring they reported accurate and true news during the lockdowns.
  • Newspapers played a leading role in exposing lies and misinformation spread during the lockdown.
  • Newspapers actively disseminated misinformation during the lockdowns and made no efforts to expose lies spread by others.
  • Newspapers alerted the public to the fact that a number of sources were spreading crude forms of misinformation during the pandemic
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The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

The correct option is (C): Newspapers actively disseminated misinformation during the lockdowns and made no efforts to expose lies spread by others.
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Question: 5

What would be the impact on the readership and revenues of the print media if the image were not dominant over text as a cultural phenomenon?

Updated On: Jul 18, 2024
  • Print media would not suffer as much of a reduction in readership and revenue as readers shifted to other formats.
  • Print media would suffer a greater reduction in readership and revenue as readers shifted to other formats.
  • There would be no impact on the readership and revenues of the print industry.
  • There would be an increased demand from readers that newspapers carry more images and less text.
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

The correct option is (A): Print media would not suffer as much of a reduction in readership and revenue as readers shifted to other formats.
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Question: 6

How does the author suggest newspapers can overcome the problem of being outpaced by speedier sources of information?

Updated On: Aug 21, 2024
  • They offer direct means by which newspapers can become faster to publish and deliver to readers.
  • They encourage a complete and immediate shift to digital media as a way of ensuring newspapers are not outpaced by other sources of information.
  • They offer ways to reduce production costs, which would offset the losses caused by readers shifting allegiance to faster sources of information.
  • They offer alternative means for newspapers to become competitive and profitable, but do not solve the problem of how newspapers can become faster sources of information
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The Correct Option is D

Solution and Explanation

The correct option is (D): They offer alternative means for newspapers to become competitive and profitable, but do not solve the problem of how newspapers can become faster sources of information.
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