They say no news is good news. But can we really imagine a day without news?
On World News Day, it is worth pausing to think about how deeply news has become a part of our everyday lives. We may complain about too much news, too many notifications and too many opinions, but the moment we wake up, most of us still want to know what happened while we were asleep.
In the good old days, news came at fixed times. There was the morning newspaper at the doorstep and the radio bulletin at a particular hour. You waited for the news to arrive. The newspaper was read over a cup of tea, and the radio brought the important developments of the day. News had a rhythm.
Today, news waits for no one. It is available 24x7, on the go and at the click of a button. A notification can tell you about an event on the other side of the world even before you have finished your breakfast. What was once a morning ritual has become a continuous stream of information.
The number of news platforms has multiplied. Newspapers have moved from print to digital. Television channels beam news around the clock. Digital publications, news apps, podcasts, newsletters and social media platforms have created an entirely new news ecosystem. The smartphone has effectively become a newspaper, television set, radio and newsstand rolled into one.
Yet, despite all this change, our basic need has not changed. News is almost like salt in our food. We may not consciously think about it, but take it away and something feels missing. For many of us, the day does not quite begin until we have read or heard the news.
What has changed considerably is the audience. Earlier, a newspaper largely determined the news agenda for the morning. Today, people consume news in very different ways. The older generation may still prefer a detailed newspaper report, while a younger reader may want the same story in a short video, podcast or social media post. Gen Z and Gen Alpha are growing up in a world where information is instant, visual, interactive and personalised.
The story may remain the same, but its presentation has changed. And news organisations have had to change with it.
News has also become increasingly specialised. Political, business and financial news sit alongside sports, entertainment, technology, lifestyle, general and international news. There is something for almost every interest and every audience. This has created greater choice, but it has also made it easier for people to consume only the subjects and viewpoints they are interested in.
That brings us to one of the biggest challenges facing news today: the race to be first.
In a 24-hour news environment, speed has become a currency. Everyone wants to break the story before everyone else. But being first does not necessarily mean being right. A hurriedly published report, an unverified social media post or a piece of incomplete information can quickly travel across platforms and become accepted as fact.
This is where the fundamentals of journalism become even more important. Check the facts. Verify the source. Provide context. Separate information from opinion. And, most importantly, be willing to correct an error.
Because the future of news will ultimately be decided not by technology alone, but by trust.
Artificial intelligence will increasingly influence the way news is gathered, analysed, translated, produced and distributed. News will become more personalised. Video, audio, voice and other formats will become more important. AI may even change the way we discover and understand a story.
But technology cannot create credibility. That has to be earned.
In fact, as AI-generated content, manipulated photographs, deepfakes and misinformation become more sophisticated, the role of credible news organisations could become even more important. The question will no longer simply be, “How quickly did you give me the news?” It will increasingly be, “Can I trust what you are telling me?”
So, what will news look like five or ten years from now? It is difficult to predict. The newspaper may become smaller, television news may adopt very different formats and the smartphone may eventually give way to another device. New platforms will emerge that we may not even imagine today.
But the fundamental human need will remain. People will still want to know what is happening around them. They will still want to understand their country, their economy, their sport, their businesses and the world beyond their borders.
The medium will change. The habit of seeking news will not.
And that is perhaps the real message of World News Day. It is not merely a day to celebrate the news industry or journalists. It is also a reminder of the responsibility that comes with informing people.
News can be fast, colourful, visual and technologically advanced. But at its core, it must remain honest, transparent and responsible. A news organisation is not built simply by the number of stories it publishes, the number of notifications it sends or the number of clicks it generates. It is built over time through credibility and trust.
The world of news will continue to evolve. Some platforms will disappear, others will emerge and audiences will keep changing. But news itself is unlikely to disappear.
Because while no news may sometimes be good news, a world without news is difficult to imagine.
On World News Day, perhaps the bigger question for the next decade is not whether we will have more news.
We certainly will.
The question is: in a world overflowing with information, who will we trust to tell us what is really news?
Dr Annurag Batra is Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of BW Businessworld and Founder of the exchange4media Group.
