How Digitalised are the Urdu Newspapers issued from Srinagar? A study of select Urdu Newspapers issued from Srinagar

Abstract

Urdu language has got a special position in the mediascape of Jammu and Kashmir. Even though very few people claim to be the native speakers of the tongue, but it has been the official language of the now Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The history of Urdu publication in the region is older than its official status. In fact, the history of development of journalism in Jammu and Kashmir has been a story of the development of Urdu journalism in the region for at least 70 odd years before English got introduced in the journalism of Jammu and Kashmir in 1935. With the advent of internet technology and its coupling with smartphone technology, a revolution in information consumption, transfer and dissemination has forced the legacy media to change the way they used to function. This is an era of digitalization, where shifting from analogue to digital means has become a necessity for all existing media and their online presence is ubiquitous. With the increase in the trend of digitalization, vernacular newspapers have found a challenge as well as an opportunity in the digital world. The main language governing the Indian subcontinent is English and in this world of instant news and information dissemination, it raises the challenge for vernacular newspapers, especially Urdu language Newspapers. Urdu is one of the languages widely spoken in the Indian subcontinent. It has been the official language of Jammu and Kashmir region and the news consumers of J&K who mainly liked to read their news in Urdu. This study looks into the efforts made by the five leading Urdu dailies published from Srinagar- the summer capital of J&K. The study enquires into the digital presence of the top five Urdu dailies issued from Srinagar by studying the websites of these newspapers as per the different selected parameters. These parameters are - Hypertextuality, Interactivity, Personalization, Customization, Multimediality and Participation. Using the systematic observation method over a period of six months, the study found that all the newspapers under focus have made an effort towards digitalization and concludes that there is a variation in the degree of digitalization of Urdu Newspapers that have been taken up for the study which might be creating a digital vacuum for quality Urdu journalism online that might be, being filled by digital only Urdu news platforms.