Today, there is palpable panic in newsrooms over government control, corporate takeovers, altered revenue structures and uncertainties created by fast-evolving technology
Monalisa Changkija
On January 20, 2026, the Kohima Press Club (KPC), Nagaland’s second press club, celebrated its Silver Jubilee (2001–2026). The Dimapur Press Club (DPC), the first press club in the State, marked its Silver Jubilee in 2024 (1999–2024). The Mokokchung Press Club is our third press club. It is surprising that for a State which saw its first newspapers, Ao Milen and Kewhira Dielie, as early as 1932, press clubs were established rather late. This, in itself, speaks of the press’s difficult journey in Nagaland. The Silver Jubilees of our press clubs underscore that reality.
The anniversary celebrations were lent considerable gravitas with Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, the first woman President of the Press Council of India and the first from the Northeast, as the Guest of Honour. Notably, two of Nagaland’s three press clubs—DPC and KPC—have women presidents. This is not really about the often misperceived equality of Naga women, but rather about our undeniable capacity and determination to break glass ceilings—something Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty has also demonstrated at the national level.
The anniversary celebration also hosted the Northeast’s first Media Conclave on the theme Reimagining Truth: Northeast Journalism for a Changing World. There were two sessions.
The first session, Evolving Nature of Media: Ethics under Pressure and Strengthening Credibility in the Age of Misinformation, featured speakers Monalisa Changkija (Nagaland), Pradip Phanjoubham (Manipur), Geethartha Pathak (Indian Journalists Union), Karma Paljor (Sikkim) and Raymond Kharmujai (Meghalaya). Medolenuo Ambrocia Loucu (KPC) moderated the session.
The second session, Journalism as Peace Work: Navigating Divides, Building Bridges and a Stronger Media Ecosystem for the Northeast, had speakers Vanlalrama Vantawi (Mizoram), Utpal Parashar (Assam), Ranju Dodum (Arunachal Pradesh) and Debraj Deb (Tripura), with Dhiren A. Sadokpam (Manipur) as the moderator. Both sessions witnessed interesting, illuminating and insightful discussions against the backdrop of the media’s rapidly changing face and fate.
As with all aspects of life, the media too is evolving—now more than ever. However, as the Fourth Estate, the media’s evolution carries grave significance for the content, character, context and quality of democracy, governance and public life. Just as a nation’s level and quality of democracy is reflected in its media, the characteristics of the media also reflect the nature and reputation of a nation. With tightening government control, corporate takeovers, sections of journalists bending over backwards to please the powers that be, and sections of media houses prioritising revenue
and survival over journalistic ethics, this is indeed a difficult and frightening time for the media.
Technology has also shaken traditional media, and today the public is confronted with multiple choices that offer speedier news and more convenient access, but not necessarily authentic, credible and reliable information. In discerning truth from misinformation, disinformation and propaganda,
the media’s authenticity and credibility remain its greatest strengths.
Today, there is palpable panic in newsrooms over government control, corporate takeovers, altered revenue structures and uncertainties created by fast-evolving technology. Across the globe, newspapers have shut down, reduced in size or gone fully digital, while television channels have been taken over by corporates that have weaponised news by re-scripting historical, political, economic and cultural narratives to control public minds—thereby wielding power over the powers that be, either to prop them up or discredit them, and to destroy rivals. Clearly, profits are being harvested in newsrooms.
These upheavals in the media are not new developments. They began decades ago when editors and journalists were replaced by marketing wizards and PR professionals, first by media owners— whether individuals, groups or corporates—who had earlier stayed away from editorial freedom and
decision-making. This development can be seen as an outcome of economic liberalisation. Over the past decades, editors and journalists across the board were fired, laid off, or quit due to the changing media ecosystem.
Technology, however, came to the rescue, with many starting independent online news portals and podcasts that are no less effective as sources of news dissemination. Technology, therefore, is not necessarily a threat but also an aid to the media. Changing times and evolution demand adaptation, and this is already happening. Moreover, news will always be in demand in one form or another, and technology has made all forms universally accessible.
History bears evidence that political and economic power is transient, and that doom and gloom do not last forever. Things may get worse before they get better, as is often the case; therefore, hope for better times must persist—otherwise, we give up on the Fourth Estate and on democracy itself. The fight against the real threat of negating the Fourth Estate’s role—as a mirror to power, as an institution that holds power to transparency and accountability, and as the voice of the people—must be waged relentlessly. In this struggle, the media’s ethics and moral compass become crucial in defending democracy, particularly on the ground and in the backwaters of the country, rather than in corporately controlled newsrooms.
In one form or another, the written word and the media have always survived and overcome adversity, reflecting human resilience, the capacity to adapt and reinvent, and the inherent human need to know and to learn. As long as these human characteristics prevail, the media will exist. Recall the repeated predictions of the death of books and newspapers. Nature abhors a vacuum; even if current forms of media become obsolete, new forms will replace them.
The media will survive, but it must remain grounded in ethics, and its essence must be protected. Change is nature’s way of perpetuating life. Boomers have lived through unimaginable changes in less than a century, and many of them are responsible for birthing today’s technologies. Therefore, today’s evolutions must be seen as the perpetuation of an institution that is constantly under threat, yet constantly adapting and overcoming those threats.
(The Columnist is a Dimapur-based veteran journalist, poet and former Editor of Nagaland Page. Published in the January 25, 2026 issue of North East Now)
