In October 2021, a Tamil YouTube channel went to Mamallapuram to do a story on a woman from the indigenous Narikuravar community who reportedly spoke more than five languages. To the channel’s disappointment, the woman was not available at the location. But what happened next led to a series of events that had a deep impact on the community. Curiosity got the better of a Narikuravar woman named Ashwini when she saw the camera and crew. When asked if she could talk on camera, she instantly agreed and spoke on various issues that the Narikuravars faced: discrimination at temples, bus stops and other public spaces, and more.
The video went viral on YouTube and caught the attention of the Tamil Nadu government. A month later, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin visited Ashwini and her family at Poonjeri village in Chengalpattu district and distributed house pattas and community certificates to members of the Irular and Narikuravar communities and promised to look into their livelihood issues.
In August last year, Ashwini was back on YouTube saying the promised government loans had not yet reached the beneficiaries. The district administration scrambled to ensure that the loans were approved immediately. “This impact is beyond anything that TV news channels create today,” said Aavudaiyappan, senior lead anchor at Behindwoods O2, the YouTube channel that aired Ashwini’s story.
In Tamil Nadu, besides the legacy print media, mainstream TV channels owned by political parties have dominated news media for long. But today, these satellite channels are facing stiff competition from digital media, especially YouTube, which has emerged as the new abode for Tamil news channels.
Not only are the number of YouTube channels growing, they also have a rapidly expanding and highly engaged subscriber base. Data put out by social media tracker Social Blade in the 30 days up to January 20, 2023, should make media planners and even media pundits sit up and take notice: Behindwoods O2 had 73 million video views, followed by Behindwoods Air News (63 million), IBC Tamil (15 million), Red Pix 24x7 (12 million), Aadhan Tamil (8 million), Jeeva Today (13 million), Liberty Tamil (7 million), NewsGlitz Tamil (29 million), and so on.
Even though the channels claim they are generating revenues through views and advertisements, not much is known publicly about their income or exact revenue models as yet.
Democratisation and diversification
According to Sashi Kumar, chairman of the Asian College of Journalism and the news website Asiaville, the rise of digital media is all about democratisation and diversification. He also said that digital news channels are more visible in Tamil Nadu than in neighbouring Kerala or Karnataka. Two incidents may explain this trend. The first incident was the exit of several senior journalists in 2020, allegedly owing to pressure exerted by right-wing forces on news organisations ahead of the 2021 Assembly election (see Frontline story of August 1, 2020). The second was the mass retrenchment of journalists in Tamil Nadu during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these senior journalists went on to start their own digital channels and many others started appearing on digital shows.
“Nakkheeran” Prakash, a highly popular print journalist, is featured regularly on digital channels, sharing his views on crime, politics, and social issues. Prakash is critical of TV channels. “They work on the whims of their owners and political parties, while YouTube offers the freedom to express views.”
Many YouTube channels feature in-depth interviews with politicians, and commentators who break down complex issues. They are cashing in on a classic TV news channel drawback, that of uniformity, according to Sashi Kumar.
Haseef Mohammed of the Youtube Aransei channel. | Photo Credit: Youtube Screengrab
Haseef Mohamed, Editor-in-Chief of the Aransei YouTube channel, said: “Traditional TV news channels have a ‘template way’ of approaching issues. The digital medium has broken these templates.” Aransei specialises in detailed videos on sociopolitical issues concerning Tamil Nadu.
More analysis, less reporting
However, many of the digital news channels are heavy on analysis and interviews and thin on ground reporting. The conversations are more opinion-driven than “fact-driven”. Sugitha Sarangaraj, Digital Head of the News 7 Tamil TV channel, said: “TV channels send a team with a camera and ask them to report from the location. YouTube channels neither have the infrastructure nor the manpower to do ground reporting. The power of the visual medium is in showing and not telling things.”
But not many buy this. “The common perception is that a random individual talks, records the video, and posts it online,” said Felix Gerald, Founder and Editor of the Red Pix 24x7 YouTube Channel. “It is not like that anymore. YouTube channels are emerging as full-fledged organisations. In many ways, they are modelling their workflow after traditional TV studios.”
Aavudaiyappan pointed out that traditional TV news channels have had many years to build their credibility, but YouTube news channels are beginning to develop similar organisational depth and structures. “Audiences now trust us,” he said.
Felix Gerald also pointed to the luxury of time. He said: “TV news channels have time constraints. In a half-hour news bulletin with, say, 20 stories, each story will get less than 2 minutes. Similarly, if there is a press meet, only a few important portions will be telecast. But we record and upload the entire press meet.”
But Sugitha Sarangaraj pointed to the absence of checks and balances in YouTube channels. She said that television channels are not allowed to air offensive or defamatory images, but YouTube channels do not face such restrictions.
But Felix Gerald disagreed. “There are in-built censors in YouTube. It asks you whether your content is child-friendly, or contains nudity, foul language, etc. Breaches can get you barred.”
Felix Gerald of the RedPix Youtube channel. | Photo Credit: Youtube Screengrab
Fake news and fact-checking
Even though critics accuse YouTube channels of promoting and spreading fake news faster than TV channels, the space has also seen the emergence of fact-checking channels, such as YouTurn.
Meanwhile, the State government has stepped in to rein in digital news channels. Last year, following the death of a 17-year-old girl in a school in Kallakurichi in July, the police filed FIRs against 32 YouTube channels. And in December 2021, the police arrested “Sattai” Durai Murugan, YouTuber and member of the Tamil nationalist party Naam Tamilar Katchi, for spreading rumours about the health of Foxconn factory workers in Sriperumbudur on social media, which led to a mass protest.
In September 2022, the Tamil Nadu Police formed special teams in nine cities and 37 districts across the State to monitor social media and curb the spread of fake news and misinformation. The teams function under the cyber-crime Superintendent of Police.
While this helps the police crack down quickly on those who promote hate speech and fake news, digital news creators fear it can also be used to stifle dissent. “Savukku” Shankar, a popular YouTuber, was jailed last September for his comments on the orders of the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court.
Sashi Kumar said that government guidelines for digital media are often a euphemism for censorship. “Digital media are supposed to have redress mechanisms. If your own digital redress mechanism is not able to tackle a complaint, it can be escalated by the complainant,” he said.
Meanwhile, political parties are trying to capitalise on the popularity of digital news media. Vikraman, the former political editor of Galatta, is now the spokesperson for Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. S. Padma Priya, a popular YouTuber, contested from Maduravoyal for Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly election.
Given the growth and popularity of these channels, industry representatives have asked the Director of Information of Public Relations (DIPR) in Tamil Nadu to extend to digital media journalists the legal protections, knowledge sharing, and other benefits available to print and broadcast journalists. “It is under consideration,” said V.P. Jayaseelan, DIPR, Tamil Nadu. There is also a proposal to set up a Tamil Nadu Digital Channels and Journalists Association.
These are early days yet, but the proof of digital’s power is seen in the fact that mainstream TV news channels are developing their own YouTube channels. For instance, the Sun News YouTube channel clocked 111 million video views in the 30 days up to January 20. Similarly, Thanthi TV and Puthiyathalaimurai TV had 289 million and 50 million video views, respectively.
Independent digital news channels are bullish. Mohamed said: “The news on digital media scares the government more than the TV news. That is its level of impact (sic).”
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