ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS
V/S
INDIAN REGIONAL LANGUAGE NEWSPAPERS
BY
KHAN M. ASIM
ROLL NO.0037
TYBMM
RIZVI COLLEGE
SUBMITTED TO: PROF. P.K. RAVINDRANATH
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude to Prof. P. K. Ravindranath for his valuable guidance and support.
I would also like to thank Shri Ramakrushna Rao (Editor) and Kishore K.Manadalapu of Eenadu, Mr. Abhishek prakash (Marketing) and Aman Para (Advertising) of Hindustan Times for providing useful information.
In the end, I would like to thank University of Mumbai for registering me as BMM
student and for giving me an opportunity to study newspaper readership, its influence and the war for circulation.
(Khan M. Asim)
CONTENT
q INTRODUCTION
q INDIAN READERSHIP SURVEY REPORT 2006
q DAINIK BHASKAR
q EENADU
q MALAYALA MANORAMA
q DAINIK JAGRAN
q THE HINDU
q HINDUSTAN TIMES
q THE TIMES OF INDIA
q CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
The Press is the fourth pillar in the democratic world today. It plays a vital role in creating and molding the public opinion. The newspapers reflect the views of the people. It is intimately concerned with the functioning of the state and policy it follows. It is a fundamental institute that contributes a great deal in shaping political, social and economical development of the country. It spread awareness among the people and touches almost every aspect of our public life.
Newspaper readership always depends upon the literacy rate of the country. Higher the educated people more circulation and readership or vice versa. It is true that only a small percentage of people in India come under the reach of the newspaper because of widespread illiteracy. The percentage however is extremely important, as it constitutes the intelligentsia, the vocal section of the community that not only creates and builds the public opinion but also provide leadership to the society. The views of this section cannot be ignored. The influence of the press in any country on the people is admittedly a great deal more than circulation statistics.
The first newspaper in India was Bengal Gazette started by James Hickey in 1780 A.D. from Calcutta. Than came the Indian Gazette in November of the same year. Missionaries also started a newspaper in English called Dig Vijay. BankimChandra chattopadhyay started Sambandh Kamudi, which was having 60 correspondents in all over Bengal. In May 1826 the first Hindi newspaper the Oodant Marthand appeared in Nagari script in Calcutta. The newspaper was licensed under the Press ordinance of 1823.
The Bangadoot was the Hindi edition of Bengal Herald, published every Saturday. It was a vehicle for the views and ideas of the social reformer, Raja Ram Mohan Roy. In next few years many people inspired by Raja Ram Mohan Roy started their own newspapers in many languages. The language newspapers played an important role in encouraging Sepoy mutiny of 1857. The severity of the repression launched by the British in the wake of mutiny was such that the Urdu press had virtually ceased to exit. But soon after the mutiny was crushed. There was upsurge of vernacular newspapers. To get effective control on the anti Govt. news publications by vernacular newspapers Lord Litton introduced the Vernacular Press Act in 1878. But in 1881 Lord Ripon abolished the act.
Lokmanya Tilak also used newspapers to spray his message among the people. He wrote some very critical articles against Govt. because of which he was deported to Mandale in Burma. Gandhiji Started Harijan, Young India and Navjeevan, which was having a great impact on the people. It was newspapers and their Anti British movement which integrated people of India and resulted in the shape of 15th August 1947, when India became an independent nation.
Today, English newspapers that dominated the market from Independence till the 1970s in terms of circulation and attracting advertising are getting a tough competition from Indian language newspapers.
According to a survey by 1997, 60 percent of urban and 25 percent of rural people read newspapers regularly. Nowadays Hindi newspapers have the largest number of circulation with about 5 crore copies (48%) followed by English newspapers with about 2 crores (16%), Malayalam (80 Lakh), Urdu (70 Lakh), Marathi (50 Lakh), Tamil (45 Lakh), Bengali (40 Lakh), Oriya (28 Lakh) Telugu (25 Lakh), Kanada (22 Lakh) and bilinguals (15 Lakh).
India has more than forty domestic news agencies. The Press Trust of India (PTI), and the United News of India (UNI) are among the major news agencies.
IRS REPORT 2006
Top ten daily newspapers in India (urban + rural)
1. Dainik Jagran
2. Dainik Bhaskar
3. Daily Thanthi
4. Amar Ujala
5. Hindustan
6. Malayala Manorama
7. Lokmat
8. Eenadu
9. Mathrubhumi
10.Times of India
Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran has top position among top ten dailies of the country while Times of India is the only English daily to figure in the list on the 10th spot, says the IRS Survey 2006.
The readership for Dainik Jagran is 1.90 crore followed by Dainik Bhaskar with 1.4 crore. Daily Thanthi occupies third position with 1.02 crore readership, the survey said adding the top three dailies have registered some erosion in number of readers.
Hindi daily Amar Ujala retains the fourth position with 98 lakh readers.
There has been some reshuffle at the lower half where Malayala Manorama (93 Lakh) slipped from the number five spot to number six and Hindustan notching the fifth position with 97.24 lakh readers.
The other dailies occupying seventh to tenth position respectively include Lokmat, Eenadu, Mathrubhumi and Times of India (70.8 lakh readership), the release said.
IRS Ranking: 02 Cost – Rs. 2.50
Board of Directors Language - Hindi
Chairman - Ramesh Chandra Agarwal
Managing Director - Sudhir Agarwal
Marketing Director - Girish Agarwal (Mumbai)
Director - Pawan Agarwal
Editor – N. K. Singh
Dainik Bhaskar is the second most read newspaper of India. It is a company of about two thousand crores. Dainik Bhaskar has 31 editions in 9 states. It was originated in Madhya Pradesh in the year 1992 and later on introduced in Rajasthan and Gujarat in the year 1996 and 2000 respectively. In year 2005 Dainik Bhaskar launched its English newspaper in Mumbai i.e. DNA (Daily News & Analysis). Bhaskar Group of Newspapers has been described as the Number One newspaper (all languages) in the country. It is the largest read newspaper group with 2.25 crore readers.
Advertising and Marketing Strategy:
In the beginning when paper was launched in the Rajasthan, Rajasthan Patrika was having the monopoly in the market. But Bhaskar group introduced the paper by using world level machineries with latest computer technology. The creativity of its Graphics department is excellent, twice Mr. Sumanth Verma of Dainik Bhaskar has taken the worlds No. 1 IFRA award for Graphic Designing. In order to get updated information on the external affairs Bhaskar group has links with American News Agency. Today Dainik Bhaskar with standing competition is the No. 1 in Rajasthan. But it has its share of criticism as well, the paper is more like an advertising magazine because it has more advertisements than news.
It publishes more local level news than national and international. Also the cost plays a major role in the increment of circulation, as it is just Rs. 2.50.
Dainik Bhaskar organizes different events for its development and brand building, like Bhaskar Cricket trophy about 4-5 times in a year that is produced by Velocity software.
Pani Roko Abhiyan (Stop Water Campaign):
Dainik Bhaskar in its Indore edition regularly reported on the water crisis. The paper took it upon to mobilize not just the readers, but also the state, social workers and prominent citizens, in an effort to conserve water. Dainik Bhaskar launched their campaign early this year by flagging off the Pani Bachao Andolan or the save Water Movement and calling for a dry Holi. In a newspaper report Mahesh Srivastava, editor of Dainik Bhaskar (Indore) commented, "When riots and murders took place for water, we knew we had to do something about it.” They organized a three day long conference with Chief Minister Digvijay Singh; activists like Anil Agarwal, Medha Patkar and Vandana Shiva and celebrities like Miss World Priyanka Chopra and bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt. In result of which, People came together for success of 'Pani Roko Abhiyan' in Madhya Pradesh. And all these campaigns created a way to the success of Dainik Bhaskar.
IRS Ranking: 08 Cost – Rs. – 3.00
Editor – Ramakrishna Rao Language – Telugu
Eenadu is the No. 1 newspaper of Telangana. It is called as the heart, soul and voice of Andhra Pradesh. It has expertly edited and crisp written clear Telugu, which is easily understandable by the average reader. It was founded by Ramoji Rao and was launched in Visakhapatnam On 10th August 1974. The paper, which started with 4,000 copies a day, today enjoys a circulation of about 10,50,659 copies per day and is published simultaneously from 23 printing centers. Making it one of the largest circulated newspapers in the country. It has 18 editions in Andhra Pradesh besides Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Banaglore.
Advertising and Marketing Strategy:
Eenadu has become a publishing phenomenon, besides the insistence on professional layout, display and appealing photographs, Ramoji Rao resorted to scientific strategies and market surveys to determine reading habits and readers requirements, to promote the paper. The management utilized the services of long distance bus conductors to pick up the news dispatches from correspondents in cities on the way as also towns and rural areas to be handed over to the Eenadu staff. As it was quicker and faster dispatch of news. By inserting a tabloid covering each district in depth into every copy of the main paper it reached readers in remotest villages. For extensive coverage Eenadu appointed hundreds of stringers, who were paid lineage. They were mainly locally important people like professionals and social workers but rarely trained journalists. In 1992 Eenadu started marriage advertisements, breaking several caste rituals and taboos, and made it a success. By 1993 the paper employed 2,500 advertisement canvassers to go door-to-door in villages to procure advertisements for the district dailies.
Eenadu and Political campaign:
In 1982-83 Rajiv Gandhi publicly insulted the Congress president D. Sanjivayya in Hyderabad.
Telugu pride was hurt, N.T. Rama Rao launched Telugu Desam Party and capitalized on the issue along with Eenadu. With TDP, Ramoji Rao swept to power in the next general election. But Ramoji Rao made it clear that he was not seeking power for himself. And by the end of Rama Rao’s life, Eenadu had become one of the most forceful critics of TDP.
Anti Liquor campaign:
In May 1992, three drunks were drowned in a village tank at Dubangta in Nellore District, the village women marched to the arrack shop and demonstrated there angrily. They forced the closure of the shop. The women demonstrators were inspired by a lesson in a school textbook “Seethamma Kata” The story of Sita. Eenadu gave full coverage to the incident Eenadu’s story was picked up by national dailies, and women in other places marched to the local liquor shops and forced their closure. It had soon became a statewide movement. Eenadu played key role in educating its readers and instilling in them a dislike for liquor. From October 1992, it carried a full page of reports on the campaign in various parts of the state under the common heading: “War on Liquor”. An anti liquor story invariably found place on the front page and “War on Liquor” was put on inside page. It created a statewide upsurge against liquor. And Eenadu proved that, how a small incident in a remote village of a backward district could rivet public attention of the entire country.
IRS Ranking - 06 Cost – Rs. 3.25
Editor – K. M. Mathew
Malayala manorama holds number 6 position in Indian readership Survey’s statistics. Kanadatahil Verghese Mapillai launched it in 1888 under the editorship of K. C. Mammen Mapillai at Kottayam. It was launched by first joint stock publishing company of India. The company started with the sales of 100 shares of Rs. 100 each. The first issue of the paper came out on March 22, 1890, and as a weekly with four pages, it came out on Saturday. It became a daily in 1928 and within a century it launched nine other editions in Kerala and three outside the state. Today Malayala manorama is the highest read Malayalam newspaper with the readership of about 93 Lakh.
Advertising and Marketing Strategy:
In 1980’s K.M. Mathew introduced an easy to read style for Malayala manorama Weekly. It is a feature magazine in English, Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali. It also runs the Manorama Vision, which since 1993 produces television serials and news and current affairs. Technology advanced all 12 centres of publication of the Manorama are connected to a high-speed wide area network using fibre-optic cable network. The Manorama is the first newspaper in the country to go in for this link-up. In WPP media awards the Malayala Manorama group was adjudged the Best Media Marketer of Year in 2002. The group won the gold award in this category. The Manorama group sponsors many events and awards for social cause.
Malayala Manorama and Political campaign:
On September 1, 1938, there were military atrocities at Neyyattinkara, Mammen Mapillai wrote brutally frank report on firings and campaigned the cause of civil liberties and responsible government in the State Legislative Assembly. Unable to restrain him, the State’s dewan, sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, ruined his bank by engineering a run on it. Mammen Mapillai was jailed and his property confiscated. Malayala Manorama did not appear from 1938 to November 29, 1947.
Banegaon campaign:
When a severe earthquake devastated Latur in the Marathwada area of Maharashtra on September 30, 1993. The quake flattened more than forty villages, killing thousands of people, their cattle and their fowl. The Manorama rushed to rescue of the stricken villagers. It set up a relief fund with rupees 10. Which in less than two months swelled to Rs. 2.39 crores. It was more than what any other newspaper in India could ever collect for relief work. They could have handed over the money to the relief agencies and sat back. But Banegaon had become an obsession. They determined to rebuild the village, they reconstructed Banegaon as a holistic village with 163 houses, roads, a library office, a hospital, panchayat office, an open air theatre, a gymnasium, a big pond to collect rain water and Hanuman temple. Each house had a courtyard, two rooms and bathroom, and space to tie cattle. Eight such houses from a cluster, to provide space for joint families. The buildings are quake proof. In Banegaon, ' No one there reads Malayala Manorama but they love it.
Award for the most innovative farmer:
Manorama announced an award for the most innovative farmer in Kerala in 1992, there were ripples of amusement in the land of backwaters. It encouraged the people who had been relying mainly on paddy and coconut, to grow tea, coffee and rubber as well. Eventually, agro-industries and exports bloomed. Kerala is just 1.2 percent of India's total area, but it produces more than 90 per cent of India's rubber and pepper, 60 per cent of tapioca, 45 per cent of coconut and almost the entire lemon grass oil.
IRS Ranking -01 Cost – Rs. 3.25
Editor – K. N. Agarwal Language – Hindi
Dainik Jagran is principally published in Northern India. It is India's largest circulated daily newspaper. The 1st Indian publication to cross the 20 million mark. Dainik Jagran has 29 editions and the only daily to print over 200 sub-editions, each one customized in content to the needs of the readers in different geographical areas. It was launched in 1942 by freedom fighter Shri Puaran Chandra Gupta. The first Edition launched was from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh than In 1947, it shifted its headquarter to Kanpur, and thus launched its second edition in Kanpur.
Advertising and Marketing Strategy:
Dainik Jagran has 29 editions in 10 states. Most of the readers are from middle and upper middle class. In year 2005 Dainik Jagran launched its news channel named Channel 7.As Dainik Jagran intends to create a different identity for the television channel and the name? Channel 7’ has a certain modern ring to it. That apart, no other news channel has used the word ‘Channel’ in its brand. Besides, the number ‘7′ has been closely associated with the Indian culture. By year 2000 Dainik Jagran have done door to door campaigning to tell people about their product and have seen a 100 per cent increase circulation in three years, mostly in the urban market.
The publication has moved closer to its readers through a judicious mix of marketing and editorial efforts. This includes organizing social and cultural events like ‘Telephone Durbar’ and ‘Bijlee Durbar’ to solve day-to-day problems of its readers, and ‘Pathak Panels’ to listen to readers’ suggestions and implement them.
AIDS Awareness Campaign:
In order to create awareness about HIV / AIDS, Dainik Jagran conducted a survey in its readership area, from January 2005 to May 2005.And started Anti AIDS Campaign, in which they invited celebrities from Bollywood.
Dainik Jagran and Politics:
The newspaper came into trouble when Dainik Jagran had suffixed BSP Leader Mayawati's name with an adjective, the use of which is punishable under the provisions of the Dalit Act, in a report in its Ghaziabad edition. Thousands of BSP workers gathered and demonstrated against Dainik Jagran. They resolved that no BSP worker would even look at the Dainik Jagran. And decided wherever they will see a copy of the paper, they will buy it and burn it in a public place. Though newspaper published an apology on the front page of its various editions across the state. The BSP leaders were issuing loud threats over the mike to the owner-editor of the Hindi daily and warned, "If such an act is repeated, there will be bloodshed on the streets."
IRS Ranking - ….. Cost – Rs.3.25
Editor – N. Ram Language - English
The Hindu is a leading English-language newspaper in India, with its largest base of circulation in south India. It is over 125 years old. Founded in 1878 by Subramanya Aiyer as a weekly. Became a daily in 1889 and from then on has been steadily growing to the current circulation of over 1000,000 copies and a readership of over 3 million. . Kasturi Iyengar, the legal adviser of the newspaper from 1895, bought it in 1905. Since then his family has retained ownership of the paper. The two basic priciples on which the founders flagged the newspaper were fairness and justice. The Hindu is the only newspaper, which brings out supplements on all days of the week. The Hindu's independent editorial stand and its reliable and balanced presentation of the news have over the years, won for it the serious attention and regard of the people who matter in India and abroad.
Advertising and Marketing Strategy:
The Hindu issued a quarto-size paper with a front-page full of advertisements, a practice that came to an end only in 1958 when it followed the lead of its idol, the pre-Thomson Times - and three back pages also at the service of the advertiser. There were more views than news after 1887, when the annual session of Indian National Congress was held in Madras, the paper's coverage of national news increased significantly which led to the paper becoming an evening daily. The Hindu has been through many evolutionary changes in layout and design, for instance, moving news to the front page that used to be an ad kingdom; adopting modular layout and make-up; using large photographs; introducing colour; transforming the format of the editorial page to make it a purely 'views' page; avoiding carry-over of news stories from one page to another; and introducing boxes, panels, highlights, and briefs." Major layout changes appeared starting ,date missing, (redesign by Edwin Taylor) and starting Apr 14, 2005 (redesign by Mario Garcia and Jan Kny). The focus of Garcia's redesign was on "giving pre-eminence to text, including (where appropriate and necessary) long text, but also by enabling photographs, other graphics, and white space to have an enhanced role on the pages; by giving the reader more legible typography, an efficient indexing or 'navigation' system, a clear hierarchy of stories, a new and sophisticated colour palette; and by offering the advertiser better value and new opportunities.
The Hindu and Politics: The hindu condemned Narendra Modi, for the "action-reaction theory" which he provided as a means to justify the pogrom of Muslims. However, the newspaper itself hhhas exhibited some sympathy to the “ action-reaction theory” in some recent incidents of terrorist attacks.
Tsunami Relief campaign:
After Tsunami disaster quacked the southern region of India, The Hindu started, The Hindu Relief Fund' in aid of Tsunami victims. The Fund was set up on December 27, 2004, a day after the tsunami struck. As on February 15, 2005, the contributions, big and small, to the Fund have added up to an unprecedented Rs.12.56 crores. In all, 21,294 contributors — individuals, groups, corporate houses, trade unions, schools, schoolchildren, and citizen sector associations, gave expression to their feelings of solidarity and compassion. Contributions from within India amounted to Rs. 9.24 crores (73.57 per cent) and contributions from abroad Rs. 3.32 crores (26.43 per cent). From the collection, `The Hindu Relief Fund' made contribution totaling Rs. 10 crores. And gave it to Rs. 2 crores to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund; Rs. 5 crores to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund; Rs. 1.50 crores to the Kerala Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund; Rs. 75 lakhs to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's Relief Fund; and Rs. 75 lakhs to the Pondicherry Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
IRS Ranking – ….. Cost – Rs. 2.50
Editor – Vir Sanghvi Language - English
Hindustan Times has a circulation of over 1.2 million and is the fastest growing mainline English newspaper in terms of readership. Hindustan Times, Delhi, is India’s largest single-edition daily. In July 2005, Hindustan Times made a successful entry into the commercial capital of India – Mumbai. Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri, founder-father of the Akali Movement and the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, founded it in 1924 with the contributions from USA, Canada and locals mostly from Lyallpur District Sheikhupura (now in Pakistan). S. Mangal Singh Gill (Tesildar) and S. Chanchal Singh (Jandiala, Jullundur) were made incharge of the newspaper. Pt. Madan Moham Malayia and Master Tara Singh were among the members of the Managing Committe. The Managing Chairman and Chief Patron was Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri himself. K. S. Panikar was its first Editor with Devdas Gandhi (son of Mahatama Gandhi) also on the editor's panel. The opening ceremony was performed by Mahatama Gandhi on September 15, 1924. Due to lack of viable financial resources, the Hindustan Times soon came into severe grip of financial crisis so that its ownership had to be sold to Pt Madan Mohan Malayia. Even Pt Malayia could not keep it running for long and he sold it to G. D. Birla. HT has established its presence as a newspaper with editorial excellence and integrity. It was edited at times by many important people in India, including Devdas Gandhi and Khushwant Singh.
Advertising and Marketing Strategy:
Hindustan Times has done many readership surveys, to know readers interest news. HT Media also introduced many subscription packages. Before launching its Mumbai edition HT started Personal Contact Campaign (PCC). For which about 500 personnel's were appointed. The target audiences were the middle and upper middle class people. HT Media invested a huge amount of money on its marketing and advertising campaigns, including Hoardings, Transits, TV advertisements and PCC.
It introduced a subscription package of Rs. 449 for the whole year. And in year 2006 it came with the same package at Rs.449 but extended the validity for two years. HT also used broadcast medium to advertise its Mumbai arrival.
Hindustan Times and Politics:
The Hindustan Times was launched to uphold the freedom struggle. Many Indian National Congress leaders under the Gandhiji’s ideology started it. The articles in the paper created magical impact on the people.
HT Relief Fund:
The Hindustan Times Group through their Trust have set up a benevolent fund to help the families of the valiant heroes who lost their lives for the cause of the nation. They invite individuals, industrial organisations and commercial houses to donate generously to the fund. The first initiative in this respect has been taken by The Hindustan Times Group by contribution of Rs 5 lakh.
IRS Ranking - 10 Cost – Rs. 4.00
Editor – Dina Vakil Language - English
The Times of India has the highest circulation amongst English language daily broadsheets in the world. It is the only English daily to figure in the on the 10th spot in India’s top ten newspapers. It was founded on November 3, 1838 as The Bombay times and Journal of Commerce, and served the British residents of western India. It was launched as a bi-weekly, containing news from Europe, America and the sub-continent, and was conveyed between India and Europe via regular steam-ships. The daily editions of the paper were started from 1850 and by 1861 The Bombay Times was renamed The Times of India. In the 19th century TOI employed more than 800 people and had good circulation in India and Europe. Originally British owned and controlled, its last British editor was Ivor S. Jehu, who resigned the editorship in 1950. It is published by India's largest media group, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. The newspaper today sells 2.7 million copies daily, and has an average issue readership in excess of 70.8 lakh.
Postal stamp
The Common Man is the creation of author and cartoonist R.K. Laxman. For close to half a century, the Common Man has represented the hopes, aspirations, troubles and perhaps even foibles, of the average Indian, through a daily cartoon strip in The Times of India. The common man was featured in a commemorative postage stamp released by Indian Postal Service on the 150th anniversary of the Times of India in 1988.
Advertising and Marketing Strategy:
To compete with newly launched Hindustan Times and DNA, It started Personal contact campaign to reach the readers. The Times of India launched its tabloid Mumbai mirror. But when the experiment failed they started it giving free with The Times of India as a complimentary copy. Before the arrival of Hindustan Times, The times of India was having its monopoly in Mumbai. Though in Delhi it’s giving tough competition to Hindustan Times.
Times of India and politics:
The time of India follows a different type of thinking. It is pro government. Either it is NDA in power or UPA it never criticize the government.
Times Relief Fund:
The Times Group has taken the initiative to mobilise support for the victims of wars and natural catastrophes, so it started Times of India relief Fund.
CONCLUSION
Since Independence the press in India has vastly grown in size and circulation. But now it suffers from many ills, it has yet to identify its true post independence role. It is said, “ In Gandhian era newspaper were working for a mission and now for commission”. Now press has become a tool in the hands of big business houses, and they are using it like a revenue generating machine. They are even not looking at the decline of credibility of the news. Most of the papers today (mainly English) are just providing entertainment (food, fashion and film) news. Though regional language newspapers are giving the better news (local news) than English, and it was the main reason, why regional language newspapers took over English in recent years. Due to increasing number of edition there is a tough competition among newspapers for circulation. The big industrialists are financing huge amounts, and in result they expects more than 10 times profit.
In an interview Kumar Ketkar, Editor Loksatta said, “Journalism today is less concerned about making readers aware of critical global issues, and market forces had instrumentalised a de-education process”. Today there is a war for advertisements instead for news.
There is a couplet of Urfi Shirazi, a renowned Philosopher and Persian poet:
KHOOK BASHI, KHAK BASHI YA SAGE MURDAAR BASH,
HAR CHE BASHI, BASH URFI ANDKI ZARDAAR BASH.
(Either be a pig, lie down in the garbage or be a dead dog. Do anything, be anything but Urfi anyhow earn Money.)
The same is the thinking of Indian media owners earn money anyhow. The amount they are investing on advertising and marketing campaigns are very high, instead of investing on campaigns if they use it for charity, they can play a measure role in countries development and war against poverty. Which in result will give them more readers than campaigns. The reason behind the success of Dainik Bhaskar is their local level social campaigns i.e. Pani Roko Abhiyan. They were raising common man’s voice for scarcity of water, thus People supported them. While English newspapers doesn’t played that much active role in social campaigns, to which they were expected.
In recent years 2 national level newspapers launched their Mumbai edition, the commercial capital of India. Hindustan Times, And Dainik Bhaskar launched its English daily DNA. As they came to Mumbai Times Group launched its tabloid (Mumbai Mirror) to restrict its customers. There was tough competition for capturing the market. Every day there was a marketing guy standing at the door, and the common man was fade up of all these surveys as it was disturbing his Personal life.
The only good thing with increasing number of newspaper is that they are providing employment to millions of people.
The role of press in India needs not to be that of adversary of blind support to the government. The press should be watchdog and act as a catalytic agent to hasten the process of social and economic change and thus secure people participation and involvement in the countries development.
The press today is too much obsessed with politics. The country today, needs creative reporting particularly on non-political themes such as unemployment, malnutrition, population growth etc. The emphasis shouldn’t be on what ‘wants’ but should be on what it ‘needs’. The reporting should provide adequate local coverage and human-interest story.
reference
Indian regional journalism - by P.K. Ravindranath.
Robin jaffery's - newspaer revolution articles
internet (newspaper sites)
