As Parsiana enters its 49th year this November, we know that to remain relevant in an age of instant electronic communication a mere print and static website presence is not sufficient. In order to be timely the magazine doubled its periodicity in May 2005 from 12 to 24 issues in a year. But even 24 issues a year is inadequate to cope with the fast breaking developments taking place, not only in the community but society at large. And when the Government of India postal department doubled the foreign mailing charges, overseas subscribers were faced with a four-fold increase in costs.
The obvious alternative was to offer the entire content online. We could choose to offer an e-magazine, a replica of the print edition. But that format is an underutilization of the capabilities of the Internet. The second option, and the one we chose, was to offer a full-fledged website with current news and interactive features. With this readers could post their thoughts and reactions to community developments online.
Even though we had a web presence since 2003, we still had to devote a year discussing and redesigning
the site. Our December 7, 2012 print edition will be the first one to be fully available on parsiana.com
All existing print subscribers can continue to access the online edition without any extra charge as long as their subscriptions are valid. New web-only subscribers will have to pay a nominal annual charge of Rs 500/US $ 12/UK £ 7/€ 8. The amount can be paid online through our secure payment server or directly to Parsiana.
Subscribers can switch from the print edition to the web if they so wish. Overseas subscribers who may have paid Rs 3,250 or Rs 6,400 or Rs 9,600 for a one/two/three-year subscription may opt for a refund if they wish to change over to the web edition. Passwords will be generated for subscribers and emailed to them. Comments on the web contents will be restricted to subscribers.
However, all readers may participate in the online polls conducted on parsiana.com. The results of the polls may or may not correctly reflect the sentiments of the community on various issues. But the surveys will serve as an indication of the thinking of some of our readers.
We also intend to offer content through Facebook and Twitter. These will be available after a few months, once the website is on track. Our objective is to provide news content widely at minimum cost to readers.
For print journalists the transition from an old and tested medium to a new one is both daunting and exhilarating. A daily paper, a television or a radio station is beyond the means of a small publishing house catering to a minuscule and diminishing audience. The worldwide web, however, permits even a miniature news organization to update news on a minute to minute basis at nominal cost.
The possibility of error or misuse, however, also multiplies. In print there is a time lag between the printing of the contents and its receipt by subscribers. On the web news can be uploaded in a matter of minutes. The time for thoughtful discussion, verification, editing, proofing and designing is compressed to a few minutes or hours.
There is also the crucial issue of economics. News organizations throughout the world are struggling to find a viable revenue source for their online versions. Print readership and revenue is declining while web readership
is increasing but not necessarily generating income.
Print publications prosper if they have a moneyed readership, people with purchasing power. Advertisers are not interested in reaching remote villages and towns where neither their goods nor services are available or people do not have the disposable income to avail of them. Thus rural residents will receive their news via television,radio, the internet and mobile phones much before any print publishing house caters to their needs. Print which ignored them will in turn be bypassed by them, diminishing its potential and hastening its decline.
Will web revenue increase over time? Will the increase cover costs? Will readers pay for content when so much material is accessible for free on the web? In niche publications like Parsiana, the content offered is not easily available on the net. A person would have to visit several websites to garner the material and there is no guarantee the information is genuine or authentic. Credibility is the key. We are certain there will be subscribers to the online edition of Parsiana. Overseas subscribers who discontinued their subscriptions because of the steep increase in postal charges are likely to return. Others who do not receive their copies by post regularly may also opt for the web. And then there are people who prefer reading news on the web rather than in print because of the convenience of anywhere, anytime accessibility.
Whether a website with a restrictedreadership will attract advertising is a question mark. Most websites feed off their print editions. How long can advertising sustain both media?
When Dr Pesi Warden started Parsiana in November1964, he envisioned the publication as a "new medium
for old wisdom.” Since that time both the medium and the wisdom have metamorphosed. Old wisdom advocated freedom of choice, racial and sexual equality. Today much "new wisdom” countering these basic civil liberties is being disseminated through old and new media.
The worldwide web is a new battleground for capturing the hearts and minds of people. While adapting to the requirements of the new media, Parsiana will adhere to the principles that govern free and fair journalism. The collection, verifying, structuring and dissemination of news remain the same whatever the medium availed.
We have to profusely thank Darius and Tehnaz Bahadurji of Madras for so readily agreeing to donate half the amount for the development of the renovated website and all our other donors (especially a subscriber not personally known to us who one day walked into our office and wrote a donation cheque of five lakh rupees) and sponsors whose financial assistance made it possible for us to not only double the frequency of the print edition but also expand our coverage of the international Zoroastrian community.
Incidentally the Bombay Bhagarsath and Maneckji Kawasji Seth Fund had kindly paid for the start-up costs for the initial website which was subsequentlymanaged by Viraf Hansotia
of Online Systems without any charge.
And lastly our thanks to Designscape who spent hours guiding us through the intricacies of web designing
and development and that too for a nominal fee.