My thought

Dying print media and the Strait of Hormuz 

Sankha Kar: For those who know me, my thoughts on the decline of print media are nothing new. After three decades working as a photojournalist, and now explaining this evolving landscape to my mass communication students, I have spent years analysing this shift.

The recent developments around the Strait of Hormuz simply brought it back to my mind. It gave me a simple way to explain what really happened to newspapers.

To understand what happened to newspapers, just replace "crude oil" with "news" and "the strait" with "the newspaper."
The pre-digital era: The information chokepoint 
In the pre-digital era, newspapers were exactly like the Strait of Hormuz.
The "oil" was information: news, sports, government updates and advertisements.
The "strait" was the newspaper: the only route through which this information could reach the masses.
If a business wanted customers or a politician wanted voters, their message had to pass through the printing press. Because there was no alternative route, newspapers could charge a high "toll" for advertising. They were the undisputed gatekeepers.
The digital era: The chokepoint disappears 
Then came the internet. It didn’t just widen the strait; it made the chokepoint irrelevant. Information no longer needed the newsroom to travel.
An eyewitness with a smartphone can publish instantly.
A public figure can speak directly to millions on X, formerly Twitter.
Millions of new pipelines were built overnight. Advertisers realised they didn't need to pay the toll anymore. They bypassed the strait entirely, reaching audiences directly through platforms like Google and Meta — faster, cheaper and more targeted.
The new reality 
Newspapers aren't struggling because people stopped needing news. They are struggling because the world no longer needs a gatekeeper.
Information flows everywhere now. The Strait of Hormuz still matters in geography, but for print media, the strait is gone. The power has permanently shifted from gatekeeping to credibility and from control to trust. Those who realise this will survive, while those who do not will simply fade away.

*infographic created with Nano Banana AI.
#Journalism #PrintMedia #MediaTransformation #DigitalDisruption #FutureOfMedia #MediaStrategy #Disintermediation #TrustInMedia #Storytelling #Photojournalism #VisualCommunication

See the world from a different perspective. My crazy endeavour "Shooting from the Toe" #shootingfromthetoe for more visit http://www.shootingfromthetoe.com

Down memory lane - Hatibagan during 'Operation Sunshine' in 1996 to remove the hawkers who encroached pavements in Kolkata.

Earth’s Tropic of Cancer in Al Quaa area, approximately 98km from Al Ain. At the time of summer or northern solstice 21st June, the northern hemisphere is tilted its maximum extent toward the sun and the sun’s rays fall perpendicularly. It’s the official beginning of summer and the longest day of the year.

The straight line belongs to men, the curved one to God. - Antoni Gaudi

Today my crazy endeavour "Shooting from the Toe" got a web address http://www.shootingfromthetoe.com Walking around with a camera fixed to your toe is not easy, but the experience has been rewarding. Thanks friends for your support for last one and half year. It's time we see the world from a different perspective. #shootingfromthetoe

The Oasis at Al Qudra.

We are used to seeing everything from eye level. Whether we are standing or sitting, we are confined to viewing life from a height of 4 to 6 feet on average. It's time we see the world from a different perspective. "Shooting From The Toe." #shootingfromthetoe

We are used to seeing everything from eye level. Whether we are standing or sitting, we are confined to viewing life from a height of 4 to 6 feet on average. It's time we see the world from a different perspective. "Shooting From The Toe." #shootingfromthetoe

Fluid Moment -Saeed Al Nabouda, Acting Director General, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, Abdul Hamid Ahmad, Editor-in-Chief of Gulf News, Dr. Ram Buxani, prominent Indian Businessman and philanthropist ,Royal photographer Ramesh Shukla, Khalil Abdulwahid Hassan,Manager of Arts Section Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, Jeff Scofield, Director of Gallery 76 at the Dubai International Art Centre, Mohammed Arfan Asif of Shutter Bugs Creative Forum, Atul Panase, acclaimed Dubai based visual artist and the curator of this exhibition during the opening  at Gallery 76, Dubai International Art Centre.

Trespassers will be prosecuted

See the world from a different perspective."Shooting from the Toe"#shootingfromthetoe

See the world from a different perspective. My new venture, "Shooting from the Toe"#shootingfromthetoe Ahmed Ramzan talking on photojournalism at Nikon school during Xposure International Photography Festival Sharjah.

See the world from a different perspective."Shooting from the Toe"#shootingfromthetoe

See the world from a different perspective.my new venture, "Shooting from the Toe"#shootingfromthetoe

"Shooting from the Toe"#shootingfromthetoe

See the world from a different perspective. My new venture
The Human eye is so used to seeing everything from eye level. Be it standing or sitting position we are always seeing life from a height of 4 feet to 6 feet on an average.
We as a human see things from a higher point of view too when we are on a higher platform like a building or a hill etc. From this level, we often see things from top angle either seeing down or again at the eye level. 

Seeing pictures and photographs shot from these level makes us very comfortable and we as human relate to them very easily as these are the normal views which our eyes are so used to.

Photographers use these angles and very often shoot from eye level or waist/hip level.

Shooting from “TOE LEVEL” is an effort to produce and capture the same world which we have been seeing for ages from eye level only.
It’s the curiosity to see the world from toe level and produce images and visuals which dare to break the age old habit of seeing from eye level.
It's an idea and concept to go beyond the limits and rules, to explore a whole new world which looks entirely new and shocking to the eyes which never saw this new viewpoint.
The Camera on the toe to shoot these images creates an illusion of shifting our eyes to toe.

The rule to shoot these images is simple, shoot from toe level and include your toe in the frame to leave your signature stamp.
Explore the new world, experiment with various locations and subjects and produce images which will amaze and tingle every heart, mind and eye.

The Facebook Group is https://www.facebook.com/groups/149267295526543/

Abra station, Dubai creek.

Yellowstone National Park

I can’t make or create a photograph, I can only freeze the beauty of a passing moment.

Darjeeling, Kanchenjunga