FIRSTPOST NEWS PORTAL AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF INDIA’S INTERNET MEDIA

ABSTRACT

The article examines the trends of increasing the number of Internet users in India; identifies the key features of the Internet media; analyzes the Firstpost information portal for compliance with the basic requirements of online media.

Keywords: India, media, online media, Firstpost.

India is a progressive country in South Asia. Over the past 50 years, the population of this state has more than doubled. Thus, according to the world statistics resource Worldometers, which provides real-time information, in 1971 the number of inhabitants of the republic was 567,868,018 people. In 2022, more than 1.4 billion people already live on the territory of India (according to the request for October 12, 2022) [4, p. 1]. According to Cisco, 60% of them use the Internet, which is approximately 840 million users [3, p. 2]. In 2021, according to The global statistics, only 45% of the population were active users of the network. [5, p. 1].

It is important to note that the number of active subscribers of the network has grown significantly during the period of self-isolation due to Covid-19. So, during the first week of the acute course of the disease, the consumption of social networks increased by almost 75%. Streaming TV views increased by 71%. Newspapers were read by 64% more users.

At the same time, the popularity of billboards has decreased significantly and amounted to -91% in 2020. 89% of users have lost interest in radio stations [2, p. 1].

All of the above allows us to assert that the successful functioning and development of online media is very important for the media system of India. At the same time, in the conditions of a dynamically developing Internet space, online publications acquire features that differ from traditional forms of content submission. There are a number of features and advantages of network resources over traditional media. They allow us to rethink the usual attitude to journalism, since online publications have a number of fundamental differences from newspapers, magazines, radio and television.

Thus, A. A. Kalmykov and L. A. Kohanova identify nine advantages of online media: interactivity, hypertext, multimedia, personalization, infocentricity, instantaneity, measurability, scalability, flexibility [6, p. 18].

In this regard, we would like to analyze some publications of online publications in India for compliance with the basic principles of online media. Firstpost is a popular English-language online publication of India that exists only online. To conduct analytical work, we will consider the materials of the news portal for the period from October 7 to October 14, 2022 [1, p. 1].

1. Interactivity. There is no feedback form on the publication's website, which significantly complicates the process of exchanging opinions on any issue. You can leave a comment on the topic only in the accounts of the resource in social networks.

2. Hypertext. This method of expanding a news message is not actively used by the media. Links to other materials appear mainly at the end of the text to indicate news from other areas. In materials related to coronavirus infection, a hyperlink to the term Covid-19 appears, which sends the reader to the site asianpaints.com .

3. Multimedia. Firstpost prefers long informational texts accompanied by one or more photos. Less often on the publication's website you can find video materials. However, the resource provides users with a whole section called "manjul toon", in which caricatures on various current life situations and events are published.

4. Infocentricity. Despite the fact that the text in Firstpost is based on the basic principles of an extended note, it can be noted that in some cases the materials are overloaded with a large number of details and references. Such methods of presentation slightly complicate the reading process and can lead to a loss of interest among the public. In our opinion, in such cases it is better to use hyperlinks so as not to overload the information space.

5. Cross-border. The materials of the publication are published in English. Since this language is considered the state language, and historically India was a colony of Britain, it can be concluded that this resource is available to most residents of the country. Therefore, Firstpost implements this property of online media as part of its work.

6. Instantaneity. The information on the publication's website is published regularly and at different time intervals.

7. Flexibility and Scalability. The ability to edit materials at any convenient time, as well as to change the degree of localization of a communicative action, is embedded in the very structure of online media. Thus, we can conclude that Firstpost has these advantages over traditional forms of information submission.

So, recently in India there has been a large increase in network users. It is noteworthy that many residents of the country began using the Internet during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Firstpost news portal is one of the crucial Indian media resources, but the publications of the republic's online publication do not correspond to some key parameters that distinguish them from traditional forms of content distribution. Despite this, the Indian media market has great potential for further successful development in the country, as well as abroad.

References:

1. Firstpost / URL: https://www.firstpost.com\
2. Impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on media consumption in India as of March 2020, by type of media / Statista. URL: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1113485/india- coronavirus-impact-on-media-consumption-by-media-type/
3. India - Device Growth Traffic Profiles /Cisco. URL: https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/m/en_us/solutions/service-provider/vni-forecast-highlights/pdf/India_Device_Growth_Traffic_Profiles.pdf
4. India population / Worldometers. URL: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/india-population/
5. India Social Media Statistics 2021 / The global statistics. URL: https://www.theglobalstatistics.com/india-social-media-statistics/
6. Kalmykov, A.A. Internet journalism. Theoretical foundations. Academic textbook. / A.A. Kalmykov, L.A. Kokhanova - Moscow.: Academy of Media Industry, 2018. 370 p.