What is a Newspaper? newspaper is a written publication containing news, information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint. General-interest newspapers often feature articles on political events, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and

sports. Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing columns which express the personal opinions of writers. Supplementary sections may contain advertising, comics, coupons, and other printed media. Newspapers are most often published on a daily or weekly basis, and they usually focus on one particular geographic area where most of their readers live. Despite recent setbacks in circulation and profits newspapers are still the most iconic outlet for news and other types of written journalism.

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Journalism: A Brief HistoryThe Early Times

If journalism is circulation of news then it was in existence even when there was no printing. We can say that it was in existence when even the writing was not known. The Autrlycus of the olden times was living newspaper, for he circulated the news wherever he went. The kings employed ‘Heralds’, who gathered the people in the square by beating drums and transmitted the commands of the king to them. Some kings like Hamurabbi inscribed the commandments on the stone pillars for the people to read. We can call them newspapers which are still in existence. In those days mass communication was possible only with the help of the town criers, heralds, stone pillars, stone tablets (of the Ten Commandments), manuscripts and parchments. These were the newspapers when printing was not known.

The First NewspapersThe Chinese were the first to bring out newspaper. They had ‘Court

Gazette’ which gave the news about the Chinese Emperor’s court. It was the first official gazette in the world. Chinese people also knew the use of moveable type. The mention of this gazette can be traced back to the fifteenth century.

In Europe, the early newspapers were newsletters. They could be read for one ‘gazetta’ (a small coin) which latter on gave them the name gazette. This was in italy. They spread to other European countries afterwards. The English newspapers were four pages long. These newsletters developed into ‘corantos’. By the end of 1655, ‘Oxford Gazette’ appeared’ which was printed by the Royal Authorities.

Daily newspapers began to appear by the 18th century. The establishment of democracy helped the newspapers to develop rapidly. ‘Daily Courant’ came out on 11th March, 1702. it could not survive but a man called Buckely revived it.

The 18th century saw the development of Defoe, swift and Fielding as journalists. Defoe’s ‘Review’ was popular. Dr. Johnson came up with ‘The Rambler’ and ‘The Idler’. Johnson wrote reports of the 18th centurt. There was politics only for the newspapers of the 18th century. There was a number

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of newspapers. The king imposed strict laws regarding the press. Thos ignoring the laws were severely punished. Benjamin Harris was one such journalist who was punished more than once. Later he fled to America and started America’s first newspaper.

For the men of letters, the social changes, the political set-ups were as important as their literary talks in the coffee house. They wrote outstanding literary essays in those days.

In England the journalistic traditions are deep rooted. There are glorious examples like ‘TheTimes’. This was started by John Walter in 1784. It was the ‘Daily Universal Register’ at that time. The times became very popular in later days when technology was applied. It has man firsts to its credits.

The first American newspaper was from Boston. It was edited and published by a postmaster ‘Jhon Campbell’. The first issue of his ‘Boston Newsletter’ came out in 1704. This contained news item from the English newspapers. Later on many other newspapers followed. But the most noteworthy was the ‘Sun’ which began in 1833. the new era was begun by ‘New York Times’ in 1851. from the very beginning New York Times was for the common man. It was keen on accuracy and fairness. New York Times gained popularity very fast and very soon became the people’s favourite.

Joseph Pulitzer, who became a legend in the word of newspapers started ‘Post Dispatch’ in 1878. Pulitzer guided his staff and gave new dimension to the reportings. He wanted his men to do something exclusively every day.

America has come a long was off since then. Now some of the papers have more than 100 pages to their issues.

The other European countries also had newspapers. The british carried the spirit of journalism into their colonies. ‘The Printing Press of Guttenberg’ started a revolution which rocked the whole world and made mass communication.

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Journalism in India

ortuguese were the first to bring printing technology to India. The Catholic missionaries used this technology to spread the message for

Christianity among the natives. They used to circulate the leaflets among them. Although it cannot be described as journalism, it was the beginning of a new era of mass communication.

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The First Newspaper in India:

James Augustus Hicky launched the first newspaper in India. It was the ‘Bengal Gazette’ or ‘Calcutta Genral Advertiser’. It came out on 29 th

January, 1980 in Calcutta. It

retained news taken from English newspapers, letters from readers and gossips meant for the high society of Europeans in Calcutta. Hicky, himself used to write a column through which he talked with the readers. Hicky was supported by a group of Englishmen, who wanted him to attach regularly ‘Warren Hastings, the Governor General of India’ Hicky mentioned Hastings as “Mr. Wronghead’, the Dictator etc. he and his newspaper became very unpopular with administration. All the important personalities of Calcutta appeared in Hicky’s paper under nicknames. Hastings finally filed cases against him. He has to suffer imprisonment. While Hicky was in prison, the paper continued. Finally in 1782, the press was seized and hicky was deported to England. That was the end of Hicky’s Gazette.

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Thereafter a number of periodicals followed. Bombay Herald, in 1791 in Bombay, Madras Courier in Madras. In the beginning most of these newspapers stalwarts were British. One particular name among them stands apart from the others. It was James Buckingham, who was the real champion of the freedom of press. He came as an editor of ‘ Calcutta Chronicle’. He gave local reporters and newsletters and brought in, the native colour in Indian Journalism. Because of his principled views, he was deported to London.

The first Indian journalist was Gangadhar Bhattacharya of another ‘Bengal Gazette’ of 1816. But the force behind him was Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Ram Mohan Roy launched Samvad Kaumudi, Mirat-ul-Akhbar and Brahminical Magazine in order to answer the attacks on Hindustan by Serampore Baptist in their periodicals, ‘Dig Darshan’ and ‘Samachar Darpan’. Ram Mohan Roy’s Journals were shot lived but his attacks were so vehement that the Government had to impose restrtictons on the press by Vernacular Press Act of 1878. Ram Mohan Roy later turned to social reforms movement in which he was supported by the British government.

The first Marathi periodical was launched by Balshastri Jambekar, titled ‘Darpan’. Maharashtra produced a number of journalists like ‘Lokhitwadi’, ‘Chiplunkar’, ‘M.G. Ranade’, ‘Lokmanya Tilak’, ‘G.G. Agarkar’ etc. Some like Lokhitwadi and Agarkar devoted themselves to the cause of social reform. Dadabhai Naoroji, the veteran leader was a force behin ‘Stri Bodh’.

Lokamanya Tilak’s carrer as a journalist was superb. His in Marathi and ‘Maratha’ in English were widely read. His editorials were in the simplest of language and the literally turned the lives of people to nationalistic spirit. Many a times the British raided the oress, Tilak was arrested and tried. Kesari enjoyed. Its every issue was translated and read by British authorities to find out obletctinable material. Kesari became the voice of the people, an organ of National Movement.

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‘Amrith Bazar Patrika’, started by Gosh brothers in Calcutta in 1860, often evoked the wrath of the Govt. With a zeal, that is unmatched in history, Gosh brothers continued the publication. They were jailed and sentenced with heavy fines. The issues were confiscated and burnt down but they never gave up. Amrit Bazar Patrika is still going on. The Hindu of Madras was started in 1865. Their fight against injustice of the government was still on. ‘The Times of India’ launched in 1838, was Bombay times in the beginning. Because of its English Management it was pro-British. It never praised the national leaders, but always tried to justify the actions of the British Government. It had a consistent readership so even the national leaders sometimes expressed their sentiments in the ‘Times’. After independence Times of India became Indian in its outlook.

The Indian press has played a very important role in the Indian National Movement. It was Mahatma Gandhi, who dominated the Indian political score for a good number of years. He was a journalist. He published

‘Indian Opinion’ when he was in South Africa (1904). After coming to India, he conducted Navjeevan in Gujarati, Young India in English and Harijan also in English. He was a busy person who along with his training of Satyagrahis wrote on a number of subjects. He was journalist who touched all the subjects from philosophy, economics, politics, literature and sociology. Because of his busy schedule, the issues were often late but people eagerly awaited them and then had the power of changing the life style of people.

And after Tilak, he was another politician, who wrote in very simple language which touched the hearts of the readers.

Jawaharlal Nehru wrote for the National Herald. His father Motilal Nehru had been running a newspaper titled ‘Independent’, Lala Lajpat Rai was the force behind ‘Punjabee’. Aurobindo Ghosh edited ‘ Vande Matarm’ and Dr. Annie Besant was editing ‘New India’.

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It is impossible to name all the newspapers that were statrted and run by the leaders of the Indian Freedom Struggle. But in brief we can say than the press of India was brace and fearless and although the British tried their best to suppress the voice of the press by imposing restrictions, fining and jailing journalists, the fight was kept on. The press tried to awaken the people, the political, social and economic realities were put before the people with courage unmatched in the history of the world.

After Independence:

After Independence the role of the press was different. Formally, freedom of the country was the sole objective. Now, the task was more difficult. Leaders like Pandit Nehru felt that the responsibilities of the press now increased a lot. There was a lot to do. So the press had though time right ahead.

First of all’ some journalists like Frank Morses of Times of India felt that ‘since Nehru was virtually with no opposition in Parliament----the press should take it upon itself to function as an unofficial opposition outside Parliament, exercising that role with responsibility and circumspection’

Nehru who himself was appointed to decide the rights of the press. The Press Council was established in 1965. It was having statutory authority. It had 20 members nominated by the Newspaper organizations. The working Journalists Act of 1956 recognized working journalists as Industrial workers.

The declaration of emergency in 1975 by the government of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, was an attempt to suffocate the press. A number of journalists invited the warmth of the government. Mrs. Gandhi did not trust the press. A worst kind of pre-censorship was imposed on the press. Some papers literally came with blank spaces. The ‘Hindu’ could not publish its editorial.

Indian Express group of Newspapers fought gallantly and with determination with the government during the period of Ramnath Goneka, the proprietor of Indian Express was hailed as a hero of his brave struggle for the freedom of the press. In the case of Express Newspapers Vs Union of

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India, the Supreme Court held that freedom of the press was an essential part of the right of freedom of speech and expression.

The Regional Newspapers:The first Hindi daily was ‘Samacha Subha Varshan’(1854). Nav

Bharat Times is the largest circulated daily in Hindi. There were 149 dailies in Hindi upto 1964, the earliest Bengali journal was ‘Samachar Darpan’ 1818. Bengali press is the third largest in the country. In 1982, the number was 1537, the Centenarian. ‘Amrit Bazar Ptrika’ produced eight editions daily. In Malayalam, ‘Malayala Manorama’ has done a century. It was started as a weekly in 1890. It has played a big ole in the freedom monement. There are around 800 periodicals in Kerala. In Marathi, Balshashtri Jambhekar started the first Marathi journal ‘Darpan’. Veteran journalists like G.H.Deshmukh, M.G. Ranade, B.G. Tilak, Chiplonkar, Khadilkar dominated the scene for a number of years. Kannada journalism started with ‘Mangaloora Samachara’ in Mangalore in 1843. ‘Sanyukta Karnataka’ of Hubli was the voice of the people during the freedom movement. It was started in 1929, in Telugu, ‘Andhra Prakasika’, (1885) was the first Tamil periodical. ‘Tugluk’ by Cho Ramaswami enjoys a good readership. Up to 1983, there were 820 newspapers in Tamilnadu.

The News Agencies:

The Associated Press (AP), United International (UPI) of United States, Reuters of Great Britain, Tass of Russia are the big agencies which supply news. They have a world wide network and can receive news from all corners of the world.

There was no domestic news agency in India. Reuter’s, news cables started coming in 1865 and its office was set up in 1866, it was K.C. Roy, who contacted like minded correspondents and Associated Press of India (API) was born in 1908. As it grew, Reuters swallowed it. As roy was under financial pressure. He could not do anything to save API. So it was annexed by Reuters.

Free Press of India News Agency, was another attempt by S. Sadanand of Free Press. It was in 1927 but the government tried its best to suppress its voice by imposing censorship. Newspapers were not ready to publish news supplied by Free Press News Agency because they feared thet it would be invoke the wrath of the British government.

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Another news agency the United Press of India emerged in 1933. When FPI was in trouble one of its representative Bindhu Bhushan Sangupta, with the support from some influential leaders started it. Gradually, it grew. Many of its employees were form FPI. These domestic news agencies were helpful in bringing in news of national importance.

Press Trust of India came into existence around 1946 and was incorporated on 27th August 1947. Ramnath Goneka and S. Sadanand of Free Press, had presented a memorandum in 1945, that there should be and independent news agency. There was no mention of ‘API’ because they did not want Reuter’s interference. But slowly PTI took over the operations for API.

Now Indian Express, Times of India, Hindu and other big newspapers have their own service. Again when the government tried to curb the freedom of press, during the emergency, ‘Samachar’ was formed. But it was eventually over and again the Press breathed free air.

Today, according to one international institute, the Indian Press is the most free press in Asian countries.

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FREEDOM STRUGGLE AND THE PRESS

ight from the beginning the Indian Press has been fighting for the national causes. James Augustus Hicky of the Bengal Gazette was not a

patriot. He had failed in other businesses so he thought of starting a newspaper. The first issue of Bengal Gazette called itself a ‘weekly political and commercial paper open to all parties but influenced by none’. Hicky called Warren Hastings, the Governor General as ‘Sir F. Wronghead,’ the Great Moghul. He indulged in gossips and hateful attacks on the authorities. Hastings took action against him and Hicky was sent to jail for defamation. Although it lived for only two years, Bengal Gazette was a sensation among Calcutta readers.

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This first newspaper of India was strictly against the establishment and set an example for many other journals which followed it. It was one man’s battle (He was supported by some influential men in England) against the East India Company.

The Indian Herald made an appearance and disappeared in no time. Its editor was prosecuted by the Govt.

Surendranath Bannerjee founded and edited ‘Bengalee’. Bipn Chandra Pal influenced the public opinion through ‘New India’ and Vande Mataram’. Bannerjee was a moderate, but Pal was an extremist in views. Aurobindo, Tilak and Lajpat Rai were with him. Pal was the editor of Pandit Motilal Nehru’s paper ‘The Independent’. He resigned from that paper when Mahatma Gandhi began to dominate Indian Politics.

In Kerala ‘Malayala Manorama’ went on fighting against the social evils as well as the political oppressions. Kesava Menon of ‘Mathrubhumi’ did the best in conveying the message of Gandhi and creating awareness regarding freedom movement amongst the people. Marathi journalism has a glorious chapter written by Tilak, Agarkar, N.C. Kelkar, A.B. Kolhatkar and others. Gujrati journalism saw Mahatma Gandhi as a journalist in ‘Navjeevan’, besides K.M. Munshi. In Kannada a number of newspapers like Vishwakarnataka (1921) did great work during the freedom struggle. ‘Samyukta Karnataka’ was the voice of the people during the National Movement.

The Telugu journalism had to be carried outside the Nizam’s State. Andhra Patrika (1908) was started in Bombay. It helped in creating awarness amongst the Telugu speaking regarding the Freedom struggle and Gandhian philosophy.

‘Swadwshmitran’ was the Tamil version of ‘The Hindu’. C.R. Shrinivasan was a remarkable editor, who through his editorials commented on and educated in te political issues.

The history of journalism in India is full of instances of bravery, courage and determination. For Gosh Brothers of Amrit Bazar Patrika, it was a selfless mission of patriotism. Jail and fine was the lot for the nationalist Press. For ‘Kesari’ of Tilak every issue was a trial.

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The pages of history cannot be written without mentioning the Indian Press.

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THE NEWSPAPERS IN INDIA

The Times of India:

The Times of India was founded on November 3, 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, and served the British colonists of western India. It adopted its present name in 1861. Published every Saturday and Wednesday, The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce were launched as a bi-weekly edition. It contained news from Europe, the Americas, and the Subcontinent, and was conveyed between India and Europe via regular steamships. 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 this newspaper company employed more than 800 people and had a sizable 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 was after India's Independence that the ownership of the paper passed on to the then famous industrial family of Dalmiyas and later it was taken over by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain of the Sahu Jain group from Bijnore, UP.

The Times of India is published by the media group Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. This company, along with its other group companies, known as The Times Group, also publishes The Economic Times, Mumbai Mirror, the Navbharat Times (a Hindi-language daily broadsheet), the Maharashtra Times (a Marathi-language daily broadsheet).

In January 2007, the Kannada edition of the paper was launched in Bangalore.

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The company has launched a controversial new business initiative, called "Private Treaties," offering to take an equity stake in a company in exchange for advertising.

Supplements

The Times of India comes with several city-specific supplements, such as Delhi Times, Bombay Times, Lucknow Times, Bangalore Times etc.

Other regular supplements include:

Times Wellness Education Times Times Ascent Mumbai Mirror Times Life

Mumbai Mirror:

Mumbai Mirror is a compact newspaper in the city of Mumbai. Its first issue was published on 2005-05-30 by the Times Group, the publishers of The Times of India newspaper.

The newspaper was launched at the Gateway of India by Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Abhishek Bachchan on 2005-05-29.

The Mumbai Mirror was launched by The Times Group after Hindustan Times and DNA announced plans to enter the Mumbai market. Mumbai Mirror was advertised and publicised in its own sister media networks like The Times of India, Bombay Times, and Radio Mirchi.

The Times of India published a story in its business section which said that it had a circulation of 1.5 lakhs while Mid-day's circulation had dropped to 1.24 lakhs. This led to a counter attack by Mid-day claiming that Mumbai Mirror was an "Unqualified flop

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according to industry sources". It also filed a compaint with Audit Bureau of Circulation, (ABC) of which both Mid-day and Times are members. The Mid-day complaint says that the Times report has damaged its business interests.

The Mid-day report also featured a newspaper agent who claimed that the Mumbai Mirror is being sold as 'raddi' (scrap paper) since there are no buyers.

The Mirror's main rival is the Mid-day newspaper. Though TOI has successfully captured Mid-day's market by offering the Mirror free with their regular newspaper. The Times of India, of late, has itself been alleged to be going the tabloid way by indulging in sensational journalism rather than real news.

MiD-DAY:

MiD DAY is an afternoon newspaper in India with editions in Mumbai (Bombay), Bangalore and Delhi. It was established in 1979 as in a family owned newspaper in Mumbai.

MiD DAY is owned by Mid Day Multimedia Ltd., a publishing house listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange as Mid-

Day Multimedia Limited. It publishes newspapers in three languages: English, Gujarati and an Urdu newspaper called Inquilab. It also has a special Sunday edition, the Sunday MiD DAY. Inquilab, was the first paper of the group in Urdu, was born in the fervour of idealistic nationalism in 1938. MiD DAY was launched in 1979, in English.

The Mumbai newspaper publishes two editions: An early morning and a noon edition. Its slogan is, Make Work Fun. The current editor of the Mumbai edition is Lajwanti D'souza.

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Mid- Day is the very essence of Mumbai. If it is in Mid- Day then it is happening. Unless it is in Mid-Day it is not news!! I may sound biased but this is true for any true to heart Mumbaikar. It is an afternoon paper, and is way ahead of any other afternoon paper in Mumbai. The supplements it has are very informative. Mid-Day List tells you all about the events, movies and entertainment news tec. Mid-Day Classified is an epic for job hunters and any other type of advertisers. Mid-Day Hot-property is all about real estate and property in and around mumbai. Mid-day caters to the suburbs of Mumbai as well. It has Metro Mulund, Thane, Borivli, Chembur, Malad, Bandra, Ghatkopar, Lokhandwala and Vashi. These supplements are out once a week and have a very local, suburban flavour. The mid-day crossword is also a fav of many. This paper is read by one and all. This is the paper that everyone reads, that everyone quotes, that everyone is familiar with. This paper has become a habit for Mumbaiites.

HINDUSTAN TIMES:

Hindustan Times (HT) is a leading newspaper in India, published since 1924 with roots in the independence movement. Hindustan Times is the flagship publication of HT Media Ltd. It has a nation wide reach in India (barring Southern India), with simultaneous editions from New Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Patna and Kolkata. It is also printed from Bhopal and Chandigarh. The print lo cation of Jaipur was discontinued from June 2006. HT has also launched a youth daily HT Next in 2004. The Mumbai edition was launched on 14th July 2005.

Other sister publications of Hindustan Times are Mint (English business daily), Hindustan (Hindi Daily), Nandan (Monthly children's magazine) and Kadambani (Monthly literary magazine). The media group also owns a radio channel Fever and organises an annual Luxury Conference which has featured speakers like designer Diane Von Furstenberg, shoemaker Christian Louboutin, Gucci CEO Robert Polet and Cartier MD Patrick Normand.

Hindustan Times was founded in 1924 by Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri, founder-father of the Akali Movement and the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab. S Mangal Singh Gill (Tesildar) and S. Chanchal Singh (Jandiala, Jullundur) were made in charge of the newspaper. Pt Madan

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Mohan Malayia and Master Tara Singh were among the members of the Managing Committee. The Managing Chairman and Chief Patron was Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri himself.

K. M. Panikkar was its first Editor with Devdas Gandhi (son of Mahatma Gandhi) also on the editor's panel. The opening ceremony was performed by Mahatma Gandhi on September 15, 1924. The first issue was published from Naya Bazar, Delhi (now Swami Sharda Nand Marg). It contained writings and articles from C. F. Andrews, St. Nihal Singh, Maulana Mohammad Ali, C. R. Reddy (Dr. Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy), T. L. Vaswani, Ruchi Ram Sahni, Bernard Haton, Harinder Nath Chattopadhyaya, Dr Kichlu and Rubi Waston etc.

It has its roots in the independence movement of the first half of the twentieth century. It was edited at times by many important people in India, including Devdas Gandhi (the son of Mahatma Gandhi) and Khushwant Singh. The current editor of the newspaper is Vir Sanghvi.

The Delhi- based English newspaper, Hindustan Times, is part of the KK Birla group and managed by Shobhana Bhartia, granddaughter of GD Birla. It is owned by HT Media Ltd. The KK Birla group at present owns 69 per cent stake in HT Media, currently valued at Rs 834 crore.

When Bhartia joined Hindustan Times in 1986, she was the first woman chief executive of a national newspaper.

HT has a good track record at the IFRA and has won several awards this year.

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THE HINDU:

The Hindu, India's national newspaper, has the second largest circulation for a single-edition newspaper in India, and the largest circulation for a single-edition English-language newspaper in the country. With a circulation of 1.17 million copies, The Hindu has its largest base of circulation in South India, especially Tamil Nadu. Begun in 1878, it was founded on the principles of fairness and justice. Headquartered at Chennai (formerly called Madras), The Hindu was published weekly when it was launched and started publishing daily in 1889.

The Hindu became, in 1995, the first Indian newspaper to offer an online edition. The Hindu is the most circulated periodical in India with a circulation of 1,102,783 copies, according to the Registrar of Newspapers for India (The Sunday Times of India is second with a circulation of 1,038,954 copies).

The Hindu is published from 12 locations - Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Madurai, Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirapalli, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. According to Indian Readership Survey 2007, Round 1, The Hindu has a readership of 2.2 million.

Reviews

The Times, London choose it as one of the world's ten best newspapers in 1965. Discussing each of its choices in separate articles, The Times wrote:

“The Hindu takes the general seriousness to lengths of severity... The Hindu which is published in Madras is the only newspaper which in spite of being published only in a provincial capital is regularly and attentively read in Delhi. It is read not only as a distant and authoritative voice on national affairs but as an expression of the most liberal - and least provincial - southern attitudes... Its Delhi Bureau gives it outstanding political and economic dispatches and it carries regular and frequent reports from all state capitals, so giving more news from states, other than its own, than most newspapers in India... It might fairly be described as a national voice with a southern accent. The Hindu can claim to be the most respected paper in India.”

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In 1968, the American Newspaper Publishers' Association awarded The Hindu its World Press Achievement Award. An extract from the citation reads

“Throughout nearly a century of its publication The Hindu has exerted wide influence not only in Madras but throughout India. Conservative in both tone and appearance, it has wide appeal to the English-speaking segment of the population and wide readership among government officials and business leaders... The Hindu has provided its readers broad and balanced news coverage, enterprising reporting and a sober and thoughtful comment... [It] has provided its country a model of journalistic excellence... [It] has fought for a greater measure of humanity for India and its people... [and] has not confined itself to a narrow chauvinism. Its Correspondents stationed in the major capitals of the world furnish The Hindu world-wide news coverage... For its championing of reason over emotion, for its dedication to principle even in the face of criticism and popular disapproval, for its confidence in the future, it has earned the respect of its community, its country, and the world.”

Supplements: * On Mondays Metro Plus Business Review Education Plus * On Tuesdays Metro Plus Education Book Review * On Wednesdays Metro Plus Job Opportunities * On Thursdays Metro Plus Science, Engineering, Technology & Agriculture * On Fridays Friday Features covering cinema, arts, music and entertainment Young World,

* On Saturdays

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Metro Plus and Property Plus.* On Sundays Weekly Magazine covering social issues, art, literature, gardening, travel, health, cuisine, hobbies etc. Open Page Literary Review, every first Sunday.

THE INDIAN EXPRESS:

The Indian Express is an Indian newspaper owned by Ramnath Goenka. It was started in 1931 by Chennai based Veradharajulu Naidu. After his death the group was split in 1999 among his family members into two with the southern editions taking the name The New Indian Express, while the old Indian Express name was retained in the northern editions based in Mumbai with a prefix "The". It is published in all major Indian cities.

The Indian Express is owned by the Indian Express Group, which also owns other newspapers in India such as the Financial Express, a newspaper focused on the Indian economy, stock markets, and fiscal policies. The group has other publications such as Screen weekly, the Marathi-language daily Loksatta, and the Hindi daily Jansatta.

Indian Express was started by an Auyurvedic doctor and Congress Party member Varadarajulu Naidu in 1932 at Chennai (then Madras) published by his “Tamil Nadu” press. But soon under financial difficulties he sold it to S.Sadanand, founder of the Free Press Journal, a national news agency.

In 1933 The Indian Express opened its second office in Madurai and launched the Tamil edition Dinamani. Sadanand introduced several innovations and reduced the price, but was later forced to sell part of the stake in form of convertible debentures to Ramanath Goenka due to financial difficulties. Later when the free press journal collapsed in 1935 Sadanand lost the ownership of Indian Express after a long controversial Court battle with RNG, where blows were exchanged between some of the parties. Finally a year later RNG Ramanath Goenka to buy the rest of the 26% stake from Sadanand, and the paper came under Goenka's control who took the already anti-establishment tone of the paper to greater heights. Also at that time it had to face stiff competition from a well established The Hindu and

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the Mail besides other prominent newspapers. In late 1930s the circulation was no more than 2000.

In 1939 it also bought out Andhra Prabha, another prominent Telugu Daily. Later it gained the name Three Musketeers for the three dailies. In 1940 the whole premises were gutted by fire. The Hindu, its rival, helped considerably in re-launching the paper, by getting it printed temporarily at one of its Swadesimithran’s press and later offering its recently vacated premises at 2, Mount Road later to become the landmark Express Estates. This relocation also helped the Express obtain better high speed printing machines, while some claimed the Goenka had deliberately set fire to escape financial embarrassment.

In later years Goen ka started the Mumbai edition with the landmark Express Towers as his office when the Morning Standard was bought by him in 1944. Two years later to become it became the Mumbai edition of The Indian Express. Later on editions were started in several cities like 1957 the Madurai edition, the 1965 Bangalore edition, and the 1968 Ahmedabad edition.The Financial Express was launched in 1961 from Mumbai, Kannada Prabha (Kannada Daily) from Bangalore in 1965 and a Bangalore edition of the Telugu Daily Andhra Prabha, and Gujarati dailies Lok Satta and Jansatta in 1952, from Ahmedabad and Baroda.

The Delhi edition started was when the Tej group's Indian News Chronicle was acquired in 1951, which from 1953 became the Delhi edition of Indian Express. In 1990 it bought the Sterling group of magazines, and along with it the Gentleman magazine.

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After Ramanath Goenka’s demise in 1991, two of the family members split the group into Indian Express Mumbai with all the North Indian editions, while the Southern editions were grouped as Express Madurai Ltd. with Chennai as headquarters.

The group also runs the Business Publication Division. This division publishes and prints out of its headquarters at Nariman Point in Mumbai a series of B2B magazines such as Express Computer, Express TravelWorld (formerly called Travel and Tourism), Express Pharma (formerly Express Pharma Pulse), Express Hospitality (formerly Express Hotelier & Caterer), the IT-focused Network Magazine and Express Healthcare Management.

The Business Publications Division (BPD) has also ventured into organising events and exhibitions such as Express World. The event is a mix of hospitality, travel and healthcare. BPD also conducts events on IT and organises exhibitions for other parties. In September 2006, BPD's Express Travel World organised the exhibition for Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) 55th annual convention in Hyderabad.

The Screen Awards, initiated by Ananya Goenka, are focused on films in India. The awards attempt to position themselves as India's first awards that are given by the film fraternity to the film fraternity by way of a jury, as opposed to the other "popular" awards such as Filmfare and Zee Cine Awards.

The newspaper saw falling profits between the years 2000-2002 but did not change its policies and the nature of content it carried. The organisation subsequently posted profits of Rs. 45 crores (Rs. 450 million) in 2004. This financial turnaround has been used as a case study in India's highly regarded Indian Institutes of Management in Ahmedabad.

DNA: Daily News and Analysis (DNA) is a daily English newspaper

published from Mumbai, India, launched on July 30, 2005. Targeted at a young readership, it is Mumbai's fastest growing newspaper in any language. It is also the fastest growing English language newspaper in India.

A high-profile advertisement campaign with the tagline ‘Speak up, it’s in your DNA’ preceded the birth of DNA, and was countered by

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advertisement campaigns by competitors.[1][2] The hype led to high expectations and at least for Dance with Shadows, the initial edition of the paper did not contain enough to stand out from other papers, such as big stories or high production values. The newspaper competition around the time of the launch of DNA was fierce, with price cuts, hiring of staff from rival newspapers, and other competitive activity.

DNA is owned by Diligent Media Corporation, a joint venture between media industry majors – the Dainik Bhaskar Group and Essel Group.

DNA is the first daily newspaper in India to introduce an all-colour page format.

The paper is brok en up into sections. The main section includes an interactive Speak Up page, and City, Nation and World news pages. There is also an Editorial page, and a technology page (Evolutions).

The other sections include Sports and After Hours. The latter section is a 10 page section with news from Bollywood, classifieds, and other such topics.

There are also two zone-targeted supplements for West Coast and Navi Mumbai.

The daily pullouts special sections include JobSmart, Glory, Bricks 'N' Mortar and Life 360. The Sunday edition features two magazines - a women's magazine called Me, and a children's magazine called YA! Young Adults.

According to the National Readership Study (NRS 2006) findings released in August 2006, DNA’s readership in Mumbai city is 518,000 in the February-May 2006 period.

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In March 2006, the Indian Readership Survey determined DNA’s readership to be 402,000. The NRS numbers show that DNA’s readership has increased by 1, 16,000 over the April IRS figures.

On February 11, 2007, DNA announced that its paid circulation has crossed 400,000. It had crossed 300,000 in October 2006. In May 2006, DNA authorized Ernst & Young to certify its circulation figures. E & Y submitted its report in July, putting its paid circulation at 270,000.

Meanwhile, the readership figures released by NRS 2006 show DNA had the largest increase (29%) for any general English newspaper in Mumbai, and indicates that DNA was by far the fastest growing newspaper in that city, giving it the second largest circulation among Mumbai newspapers.

Amar Ujala:

Amar Ujala was launched on the 18th of April 1948 from Agra, as a 4 page newspaper with a circulation of 2576 copies with an objective of promoting social awakening and introducing a feeling of responsibility among the citizens of a recently independent India. In keeping with these objectives that the publishers had set for themselves, the kind of news published was basically revolving around political and social issues and crime.

Starting from that modest beginning, 20 years later Amar Ujala achieved a circulation of 20,000 copies and was servicing over 14 districts in Western Uttar Pradesh. Growing slowly, but steadily, the turn of the century saw Amar Ujala a s one of the top

10 dailies of India. Not only has the newspaper shed the barriers of Western Uttar Pradesh and spread itself across the entire state, but has also ventured into other neighbouring states as well.

Today, Amar Ujala has a staggering circulation of over 1,400,000 copies and a readership of over 7.3 million in Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal alone. Additionally Amar Ujala is now also a leading newspaper in

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Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. Currently, Amar Ujala publishes a 16 page daily issue with more colour pages in every edition. In addition to this, Amar Ujala also has in offering for readers four colour magazines, namely

a) Career Plus - Turning Point: A weekly career magazine for youth every Wednesday.b) Teen World - Total Masti: Fortnightly lifestyle magazine for youth on Saturday.c) Rupayan - Aapki Personal Friend: An all new weekly magazine for women every Friday.d) Rangayan - Bole to DIRECT Bollywood se: A completely new look film magazine every Sunday.

Not ever deviating from the objectives with which the newspaper was originally started, even today Amar Ujala continues to be a completely unbiased newspaper with a thrust on political and current events and developments in all fields across the nation and beyond.

Over the years, a lot has changed in Amar Ujala. Using the latest state of the art technology and equipment, Amar Ujala is now being printed from 13 editions. Also in keeping with today's fast paced life, all printing centres are connected by V-sat technology to enhance speed of news dissemination. To ensure quality of material and content, Amar Ujala has a regular membership with AFP and AP. The latest photographs are therefore part of every edition.

Amar Ujala has grown dramatically and has evolved with the changing times. The newspaper is known for some ground breaking journalism and even in today's cut throat competition; Amar Ujala is still selling Authenticity, Honesty and Trust.

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BUSINESS STANDARD:

Business Standard is the country's most respected business daily, being the first choice of serious business readers. It is published in colour from seven centres in India - Mumbai (formerly Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), Bangalore, Chennai (formerly Madras), Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

The

newspaper believes in free, fair and independent journalism and strives to inculcate these values in its editorial staff. The journalism practised by Business Standard lays equal stress on quality, credibility and accuracy. The Financial Times of London has taken an equity stake in BSL.

Business Standard has the country's best economic journalists and columnists working for it. It is edited by T.N. Ninan, perhaps India’s best-known business journalist, who had earlier undertaken a complete and highly s uccessful revamp of The Economic Times and was responsible for its phenomenal growth.

Among the other senior journalists in the team are A. K.Bhattacharya, former editor of The Pioneer and associate editor of The Economic Times, and Shyamal Majumdar, former resident editor of The Financial Express.

Business Standard’s stable of specialist contributors includes some of the sharpest minds in economics and business. Among them: Shankar Acharya, former chief economic advisor, government of India, Subir Gokarn, chief economist, Crisil, Deepak Lal, professor of economics,

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UCLA, Bibek Debroy, director, Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, Suman Bery, director-general, National Council of Applied Economic Research, Alexander Nicoll, assistant director, International Institute for Strategic Studies, and Arvind Singhal, chairman, KSA Technopak. The newspaper’s columnists include Surjit Bhalla, TCA Srinivasa-Raghavan, Sunil Jain and AV Rajwade.

The company sees content creation, content processing and content management as its core competence. It offers complete outsourcing solutions for organisations which want to bring out in-house or private publications but lack the people and/or resources to do it cost-effectively.

Business Standard Motoring is one of India's oldest and most passionate magazines dedicated to cars, motorcycles and all kinds of other interesting

vehicles. And we are the most fun to read too. The standalone print edition goes out to 35,000 people every month and covers testing, comparison tests, interest stor ies, motorsport, features, classics, travel, Indian news and international news/events. A condensed version of the print edition also goes out to 1,00,000 people every month with the Business Standard, India's finest business newspaper. Business Standard Motoring also appears on the Weekend Business Standard as the last page with more news oriented content,

plus our popular interactive section, Which Car?

The paper sells 143,000 copies daily, and has a reputation for responsible journalism and for its stimulating editorial page. It has pioneered the ranking of the wealthiest Indians (in the Billionaire Club), and offers along with the paper free monthly magazines on motoring and aviation. The paper recently started its Sunday edition from three publishing centres.

The newspaper's website is business-standard.com. BSL also publishes several periodicals, including BS Motoring, Indian Management, the Asian Management Review and Routes: the Gateway Magazine.

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DANIK JAGRAN:

Dainik Jagran is a Hindi daily newspaper. It is principally published in Northern India.

It was Established in 1942, Dainik Jagran was the brainchild of a revolutionary Indian Freed om fighter, Late Shri Puran Chandra Gupta. Late Mr Narendra Mohan took the paper to meteoric rise. The first Edition launched was from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh in 1942. In 1947, it shifted its headquarters to Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and thus launched its second edition – the Lucknow Edition.

Currently, "Dainik Jagran" has 32 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. Today, Dainik Jagran has 29 Printing Centers in 10 States, with over 200 sub-editions. Presently, it is published from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh; Footprint states : West Bengal.

According to NRS-2005 DAINIK JAGRAN,is the highest read

National Daily across all languages (including English) in India with a phenomenal readership of 21.24 Million Readers .

The 1st Indian publication to cross the 20 million mark. An ABC certified Net paid Sales of over 2.4 million copies (Source: ABC Jan-Jun 05).

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DANIK BHASKAR:

Dainik Bhaskar is a Hindi-language daily newspaper of India. It first started in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Currently it is published from many cities of North India. Its current editor is Ramesh Chandra Agrawal . Dainik Bhaskar Group publishes a magazine called 'aha zindgi' a magazine based on highlighting the positive features of life.

D B CORP Ltd. has rocketed on to one of the top print media industry in India with its flagship Hindi newspaper, Dainik Bhaskar, which achieved leadership position in Madhya Pradesh in 1992.

Sustaining its leadership

position in MP, the newspaper

forayed into the Rajasthan

market in 1996. The Jaipur edition was launched in December the same year and six other editions were launched in the state in quick succession -- taking the daily to the No. 1 slot in Rajasthan as well. The launch and ascendance of the newspaper in Jaipur has since become a subject of study for leading Indian business schools.

Dainik Bhaskar was launched in Chandigarh in June 2000, a market that had till then not opened up to Hindi or regional language dailies. Today, Dainik Bhaskar is the largest-read newspaper in Chandigarh.

Subsequently, the group launched its edition in Haryana and the newspaper is presently the No. 1 daily in the state with a circulation of approx 2.6 lakhs per day. Go-Getter, the new in–flight magazine of GoAir, has been launched by the Bhaskar Custom Media Publications, a part of Dainik Bhaskar Corp. L imited.

RAJHASTHAN PATRIKA:

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Rajasthan Patrika is a Hindi language daily newspaper published from Jaipur,Jodhpur,Udaipur,Kota and other cities of Rajasthan and form major Indian cities such as Banglore,Surat,Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Hubli.

Rajasthan Patrika was founded by Karpoor Chandra Kulish on 7 March 1956. Rajasthan Patrika is one of the leading newspapers of Rajasthan. Rajasthan Patrika is the initiator in the development of 'Journalism in Rajasthan'. It is committed to provide reliable, authentic, and apolitical news, to educate the masses and give voice to issues that concern their lives.

The success story of Patrika from a local quarter-size double-sheet evening daily (1956) to a full-fledged sixteen page newspaper has been an epitome of hard work, determination. Its current editor is Gulab Kothari.

Today the group is providing media solutions through various means. It touches the lives of people in Rajasthan and other places every morning through its morning dailies: Rajasthan Patrika, Daily News; evening daily: News Today; FM radio: 95 FM Tadka.. The Solid Radio; Education: Patrika in Education.. the NiE wing, The Mindpool School of Management, The Mindpool School of Journalism; Jan Mangal Trust.. a public charitable trust; events and fair; publication of books; messaging service 56969; The largest yellow pages of Rajasthan - Find It; an advertising agency: Jaipur Publicity Centre; Outdoor Advertising: Planet Outdoor, Production houses: Patrika TV, Taal Music, Channel 24 News Cable TV and providing complete media solutions, events management.

Rajasthan Patrika, the top of the line Rajasthan daily, is the brainchild of Mr.Karpoor Chandra, a pioneering figure in the world of journalism. Instituted in the year 1956, it went on to become the vanguard of Rajasthani journalism.

Formerly a journalist with the Rashtradoot, Mr.Chandra’s vision aspired to cater to the needs of the common man. Since its early days, this newspaper giant has endeavored to mirror the socio- political reality of the times. Statistics serve as the yardstick of success and failure in this world of cut-throat competition and Rajasthan Patrika boasts of an enviable track

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record. The fifty year old institution of intrepid journalism, with a lion’s share of the readership pie, has won several accolades over the years.

The newspaper has championed many a public cause. Fearless reporting coupled with fiery articles penned by the editor, has contributed to its stature. Reputation and readership bolstered the infrastructure of the organization. A part of the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the newspaper amassed huge popularity during the period of Emergency that lasted between 1975 and 1979. Dauntless journalism pegged its circulation at a whopping seventy five thousand.

The post emergency period saw the shifting of bases to Kesargarh. It scaled newer heights with its circulation reaching one lakh. The year 1981

served as t he launch pad of the edition for Jodhpur region. In the coming years, subsequent editions for Udaipur, Kota, Bikaner, Bhilwara, Sikar, Sriganganagar, Ahmedabad, Ajmer, Surat were instituted. The National Readership Survey, conducted in 1995, pegged the readership percentage of the Rajasthan Patrika at ushered and with the starting of Udaipur Edition a new milestone was achieved. All the three editions got the national awards for printing and designing. In March 1986 Kota Edition and in August 1987 Bikaner Edition were added to the newspaper. Patrika's grand success continued and

increased day by day. In 1995 National Readership Survey, showed that a staggering 84.68%.

In keeping with the times, Rajasthan Patrika has also floated its online version.

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Can small and regional daily newspapers survive?

edia grew simultaneously with the freedom movement in India. It mobilised popular opinion during the freedom struggle. Many freedom fighters were associated with one newspaper or the other.

Now corporates want to have a finger in the media pie.MIN INDIA, the media has grown along with the freedom struggle. It has played a pivotal role in creating awareness amongst the masses, mobilizing popular opinion during the freedom struggle and spreading the message of great leaders.  Leaders like Tilak and Gandhi chose the media to spread their message to the masses and mobilize support for the various struggles launched against the foreign rulers. Newspapers were mostly brought out by people associated with the freedom fighters. Many prominent freedom fighters were directly associated with one newspaper or the other.

In the post-independence phase too, media earned a name for its fearless reporting, unbiased editorials and for building public opinion through dissemination of information. As a credible pillar of Indian democracy, it has championed press freedom.  The advent of information technology has given fresh impetus to the growth of the media. Particularly, the vibrant growth in the regional language readership occasioned by the spread of literacy and education has led to a growing demand for medium and small regional newspapers.

According to the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI), there are 2,130 daily newspapers in the country. RNI claimed a combined circulation

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of 8.89 crore copies for the year 2005-06, an increase of more than 13% compared to the year 2000. As on March 31, 2006, there were 62,483 registered newspapers, including magazines, on RNI records, as against 20,413 on March 31, 2005.

There are 214 large dailies, 906 medium dailies and 1,047 small dailies. Their circulation accounted for 3.83 crore copies, 3.85 crore copies and 1.27 crore copies, respectively. Newspapers owned by individuals had the largest share in circulation, viz., 55 %, followed by those owned by joint stock companies, at 39 %.

This analysis proves that small and medium daily newspapers have been in-creasing their circulation in a big way.  However, in the post-liberalisation phase, corporate houses started cornering the limelight in the newspaper industry. Now, most of the corporate houses are vying for a share of the media pie. This has led to a major shift in the field of journalism. `Marketability’ and not `mission’, has become the cornerstone of Indian journalism.

Now, most of the major newspapers are bent on increasing their market share and business by focusing on the ills that plague society. The media has also become so powerful a weapon that it can influence government policies in such a manner as to suit industrial houses or as to suit its own (media’s) income-generating activities (like advertisements). Serving the cause of the masses has taken a back seat.

It may be recalled that the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S Rajasekhara Reddy’s son Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is brining out a daily newspaper in Telugu (19 editions).   He has invested a massive Rs 400 crores plus to ensure that all the pages of the newspaper are printed in colour from Jan 1, 2008.  Likewise, he is also planning to bring out a news channel soon.

In such circumstances the very survival of small and regional daily newspapers is at stake. Piratla Venkateswarlu, editor of Krishna Patrika, launched during the freedom struggle, feels that the advantage for the regional dailies was the freedom of reporting and editing, as these newspapers were controlled mostly by reputed journalists. No more do journalists of major newspapers enjoy such freedom of expression, as they are bound to serve the business interests of their corporate house-bosses, rather than the people.

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Keeping in view these developments, Krishna Patrika is organizing a national level workshop on the “Role of Small and Medium Daily Newspapers in the Indian Democratic Polity” in Hyderabad on October 6 and 7. Venkateswarlu said that about 500 delegates from all over the country are expected to participate.

The AP Governor, N. D Tiwari, its Chief Minister,  Y. S Rajasekhara Reddy, and its opposition leader,  N Chandrababu Naidu, besides many Central and State ministers and eminent journalists will participate in the workshop. The workshop will discuss the various problems being faced by the country’s small and medium daily newspapers and their role in the democratic polity, ethics and other related issues.

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Tabloid and Broadsheet newspapers

What’s the difference?

You will have a copy of the front page of two newspapers for the same day. It does not matter which paper you start with: just make sure that you put the headings given. When you have written about both papers, answer the questions at the end (‘Reporting back’) which compare the two.

Tabloid

Describe the appearance of the front page: what catches your eye first? Why? Describe in detail what is in the top part of the page:

How much space is taken by the masthead and the information about the stories inside? Estimate (e.g. half a page, a third, a quarter?) or, better, measure and calculate a percentage.

Describe how the title of the paper is printed (the style of printing, or typeface, and its size).

How much does this paper cost?

What other information is there at the top of the page, apart from details of stories inside?

What are the contents about (that is, the items advertised at the top of the page)? Say what you think each item is about. (For example, are they about politics, sport or famous people in entertainment?).

How many news stories are there on this page? (Don’t count the ones advertised at the top of the page.)

Are there any advertisements?

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What is the main headline?

How the headline is printed (what kind of TYPE - the printing style)?

What is the main story about? Sum it up in one sentence. What kind of a story is it? (Is it about politics, sport or famous people in entertainment?)

How many words are there in the story on this page (not counting the headline)? Is there more about this story inside?

How easy to understand is this story (easy, quite easy, difficult in places, very difficult to understand)? Explain why you say this.

Is there a picture to go with this story? Describe it.

Did this story interest you? Explain your answer (e.g., did you know about the person in this story?).

What other news story is there on the front page?

Write out the headline. Do you notice anything about the way the headline is written? What is the story about (one sentence)? How many words in this story?

Is there any more about this story inside?

Is there a picture? If so, describe it.

What does the caption (the words under the picture) add to the picture?

Did this story interest you? Explain your answer (e.g., did you know about the person in this story?).

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Thinking about the front page

What kinds of stories are there in this paper, both on the front page and inside?

What does this tell about the interests of people who would want to read this paper?

Would you be interested in reading this paper? Explain your answer (e.g., you might want to read a few of the stories but not all of them).

Broadsheet

Describe the appearance of the front page: what catches your eye first? Why?

Describe in detail what is in the top part of the page:

How much space is taken by the masthead and the information about the stories inside? Estimate (e.g. half a page, a third, a quarter?) or, better, measure and calculate a percentage.

Describe how the title of the paper is printed (the style of printing, or typeface, and its size).

How much does this paper cost?

What other information is there at the top of the page, apart from details of stories inside?

What are the contents about (that is, the items advertised at the top of the page)? Say what you think each item is about.

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What are the stories inside (that is, the ones advertised at the top of the page) about? Say what each story is about and also what kind of a story you think it is (e.g., is it about politics, sport or famous people in entertainment?). What can you learn from the bottom of the page?

How many news stories are there on this page? (Don’t count the ones advertised at the top of the page.) Are there any advertisements?

What is the main headline?

How the headline is printed (what kind of TYPE)? What is the main story about? Sum it up in one sentence. What kind of a story is it? (For example, is it about politics, sport or famous people in entertainment?)

How many words are there in the story on this page (not counting the headline)? As this may be a long story, estimate the number by counting the number of words in a line and multiply this by the number of lines in the story on the whole page. Is there more inside?

How easy to understand is this story (easy, quite easy, difficult in places, very difficult to understand)? Explain why you say this.

Is there a picture to go with this story? If so, describe it.

Did this story interest you? Explain your answer (e.g., did you know about any of the people in this story?).

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What other news story is there on the front page?

Write out the headline. Do you notice anything about the way the headline is written? What is the story about (one sentence)? How many words in this story?

Is there any more about this story inside?

Is there a picture? If so, describe it.

What does the caption (the words under the picture) add to the picture?

Did this story interest you? Explain your answer (e.g., did you know about the person in this story?).

Thinking about the front page

What kinds of stories are there in this paper, both on the front page and inside?

What does this tell about the interests of people who would want to read this paper?

Would you be interested in reading this paper? Explain your answer (e.g., you might want to read a few of the stories but not all of them).

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Looking at Newspapers

Reporting back

From your work with at least two newspapers, explain the major differences between the kinds of newspapers you have examined. Make clear which papers you have studied.

You may find it helpful to organise your answer around these questions:

1. What are the main differences in appearance? Think about size of page, number of pages, and the amount of space given to pictures. You will probably find it simplest to concentrate on the front page of each paper.

2. Is there a difference in cost?

3. How much space is devoted in each kind of newspaper to the different kind of news (politics, sport, TV, entertainment and films, finance and features such as motoring, cookery, horoscopes, etc)?

4. How does each paper attempt to gain the attention of its readers? Think (and write) about the headlines, pictures, etc. (Example: What is the effect of this kind of headline: “TV star stole my sister’s rabbit”?)

5. Can you tell what kind of readers each paper is aimed at? Give reasons for your answer – look, for example, at the kinds of stories which each paper prints, the kinds of pictures, the advertisements, etc, as well as at the kind of language each paper uses.

6. Can you detect any bias in either of the papers? You will need to explain which story or stories you have read which you think show bias, and how it is biased. Pick out a few words from the story to show this.

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7. Assuming you could afford it, which paper would you be more likely to buy on a regular basis? Which do you think offers better value for money? Give your reasons.

They’ve got it covered!

(a) How two papers report the same story

Choose a story of major importance which has been covered in both a tabloid and a broadsheet newspaper on the same day.

Think about the following questions and make notes about your answers:

1. What differences can you see in the ways that different papers handle the story?

2. Do any of the newspapers have information that the others do not have? If so, what kind of information is it and from where might the paper have got it?

3. Which headlines are statements of fact?

4. Which headlines use the most dramatic words? (Write down some examples.)

5. Can you explain why different papers have tackled this story in different ways?

6. Choose one newspaper’s story. Can you find any of these elements in it:

an eyewitness account?

an expert opinion?

a brief summary of events?

a political comment?

historical background?

reaction from public figures?

an official statement?

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Tabloid & Broadsheet

The terms tabloid and broadsheet come from the traditional sizes of the newspapers but now that most newspapers are in 'compact' format, it is a little harder to tell the difference at a glance! Studying the stories they cover, they way they cover them, the language they use and the way the pages are laid out reveals significant differences.

The most striking difference between tabloid and broadsheet newspapers is their language. Below are two checklists of tabloid and broadsheet language.

Tabloid

Informal Use of puns Use of alliteration Exaggeration for effect Slang Colloquial language (chatty) Informal names used Short, snappy sentences Heightened language (over the

top) Brand names Adjectives often carry sexual

overtones A focus upon appearance Frequent use of elision e.g.

won’t, don’t. This is another informal technique

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Broadsheet

More formal Metaphors rather than puns Rhetorical questions More complex sentences (look for sentences separated by lots of

commas, semi-colons etc.) Puns sometimes used, although more subtle Statistics Descriptions of people tends to relate to personality or position in society Politician’s comments often included, with a commentary by the

journalist

Dwindling Readership: Are Tabloids The Answer?

s consumers have increasingly turned to television and the Internet for news, the circulation of paid newspapers has declined?by 2 to 4 percent annually for more than a decade in most developed markets.

The trend is set to continue, particularly as growing broadband penetration encourages the wider use of online media. In addition, free commuter tabloids, available in many big European and US cities, have lured away some paying customers. As a result, the revenues and profits of traditional newspapers are under intense pressure.

A

Newspapers have fought back with free subscription trials and other promotions, with advertising platforms such as new or expanded feature sections, and with better home and newsstand distribution. But struggling publishers often seek the quickest method to cut costs and increase circulation without harming ad revenues. Many, particularly in Europe, see their salvation in changing formats: they believe that switching to a more compact one, such as the tabloid format, may lift circulation by attracting disaffected newspaper readers, particularly teens and women. Higher circulation, in turn, stimulates demand for advertising, so newspapers can raise their ad rates. In some cases, the price of the newspapers can rise as well.

Several important broadsheets across Europe have recently converted themselves into tabloids, and the format has proved popular, with circulation rising by an average of 6 to 8 percent in the year following the transformation. The Independent? the first of two quality morning papers in the United Kingdom to convert itself into a tabloid? is a particularly successful example, having increased its circulation by 18 percent within six months of the format switch.3 Market research also indicates that tabloids enjoy above-average circulation growth among younger and female readers,

whom advertisers covet.

But changing the format of a newspaper carries big risks. Despite the potential for a quick up tick in circulation, churn among one profitable category of readers?subscribers?may rise because of their reluctance to accept the change. At newspapers that rely on subscriptions rather than newsstand sales, subscriptions may fall by 3 to 5 percent as longtime readers switch to other broadsheets or content themselves with other media. And most newspapers see an initial drop-off in advertising revenues when they make the change. These problems, as well as resistance by employees, can derail the process.

To carry out a format change successfully, newspaper publishers must manage and mitigate all these risks. A change-management effort is necessary to ease the employees' concerns about the impact of the new format. Publishers must also find ways to keep advertisers and subscribers happy while extracting the maximum economic benefit. Ultimately, the process of changing the format benefits newspaper publishers by inducing managers to look more closely than ever at business processes throughout the organization.

The risks When publishers change formats, they count on reducing costs, but in this respect they may be disappointed. Although newspapers sometimes save money on newsprint, other printing costs are fixed if capacity is located in-house, as it often is. Distribution costs are generally negotiated on a per-copy basis rather than by size.

Cost savings may therefore do little to offset the most important negative impact of format change: lower advertising revenues. No matter how well executed the change; the great majority of newspapers initially see them fall, for several reasons. As the pages shrink, so do the ads (a full-page ad is only half its previous size), and advertisers may be unwilling to pay the same price for what they see as less consumer exposure and recognition. They may also be concerned about placement? worried, for example, that an ad in the back pages of a 100-page tabloid will have far less impact than an ad in the back of a 50-page broadsheet. And newspapers sometimes use a format change to introduce a new advertising rate card, meaning potentially higher rates and the end of previously negotiated discounts. Such increases are unlikely to be received well by advertisers, but publishers can present them with a convincing case for the change.

Another reason for the decline in ad revenues involves the public perception of tabloid newspapers. Broadsheets are associated with serious news coverage, tabloids with more frivolous content. Advertisers accustomed to the kind of reader associated with the broadsheet format may see the change as a reason to take their business to other broadsheets or to alternative media.

A poorly executed transition can therefore be disastrous. One national European newspaper lost almost 50 percent of its advertising revenue per page when it converted itself into a tabloid. While the losses vary, we estimate that a format change puts as much as 20 percent of a newspaper's ad revenues at risk. Even though it can recoup some of this loss by raising its price per column centimeter as circulation increases and it reaches new reader segments, advertising revenues tend to suffer a net reduction of 10 to 15 percent. Losses are typically recovered after a couple of years, however. Le Matin, a Swiss newspaper, lost 13 percent of its advertising revenue after the conversion but recaptured its losses in about two and a half years. Much of that success was attributable to a readership increase of 12 percent.

A third risk of format change arises from a newspaper's workforce. Editorial staff members, always influential, typically don't see the value of a

format change. Garnering their support requires a substantial managerial effort. No newspaper makes format changes primarily to please editors, of course, but they are crucial to the success of the project. Many staff members will have spent their whole careers with the newspaper. They may be concerned about the perceived deterioration of editorial quality, changes to the paper's internal culture, the impact on the way they work, and possible layoffs? Particularly as the newspaper reconfigures itself and perhaps reduces the amount of content it publishes.

Getting it right one leading European quality newspaper had promising results while converting itself from a broadsheet into a tabloid: readership immediately increased by 22 percent among teens and young adults and by 16 percent among women? Higher than the average among other newspapers that changed formats. Some regular readers were lost, but there was a net increase overall. The short-term decline in advertising was limited compared with the experience of other newspapers that changed formats. The newspaper was able to raise its prices per column centimeter and even enjoyed higher advertising revenue in the medium term.

The newspaper succeeded where others lagged behind because its leadership implemented a program to manage and mitigate risk. As a starting point, the publisher decided that the desires of the readership would be the driving factor throughout the conversion process. This priority might seem obvious, but not all publishers adopt it. The newspaper made efforts to understand the needs and wants of its readership and, in particular, to identify underserved but desirable segments. What types of content do readers like and dislike? When and where do they want to read their newspaper? Market research found, for example, that younger men wanted more sports and that younger women wanted more articles about home and health issues. These were segments highly desired by advertisers but hard to reach through most print media, particularly newspapers. In response, the newspaper redesigned its content to appeal to young urban readers. Although such research may be time-consuming, it is essential.

Progress must be measured if it is to be sustained. Before introducing the new format, publishers should prepare key performance indicators (KPIs) for the entire organization. These might include editorial KPIs for the readership's view of the newspaper's quality (as measured by surveys), printing KPIs that measure the waste of paper, advertising KPIs that monitor responses from important advertisers, and distribution KPIs that set cost targets (Exhibit 2). Using these metrics, management can make midcourse corrections, even as the new format attracts fresh readers and encourages advertisers.

Format change must be carried through in a conscientious way that gets and keeps everyone on board. Meanwhile, the newspaper must adopt best practices in its advertising sales and pricing. Our work suggests three areas of focus.

Building consensus As with other change-management programs, an important part of managing the risk of a format change is to build consensus within the organization. Managers must outline to employees the financial and competitive situation of the newspaper as frankly as possible, explaining and communicating the need for change and the potential for growth once it has taken effect. A failure to reach at least some level of understanding will jeopardize the format-change program.

With the broad outlines made clear, managers must convince the various stakeholders that change is required in view of the challenges facing the newspaper?declining circulation and adverting revenues, for example. Each department should present its perspective on the proposed changes, relating its outlook to the work it performs and outlining the actions required to make the transition successful. Managers must prepare carefully and keep the tone positive and constructive, since these conversations can be difficult. Although they are sensitive, they are essential to securing the all-important internal buy-in.

In particular, the commitment of the editorial team is critical; these workers are both mobile and vocal, and they play a substantial role in the transition's ultimate success. They may find it hard to accept the need to adjust the newspaper's editorial content, layout, and style in order to capture readers. But at some newspapers, editors have lost touch with certain elements of the readership. Reconnecting with such readers is difficult but essential to success.

To build support from the editorial team, newspapers have used timing and information: Most of them introduce the tabloid style (shorter

articles, for example) gradually. Providing factual information about what is actually happening in the marketplace might also help to counter established beliefs within the organization. Given a newsroom's ingrained mistrust of the publisher, there's no guarantee that this approach will work, but the sharing of information improves the chances for mutual understanding. The process might also include an effort to build pressure by getting the more senior department heads on board.

At one European newspaper, the publisher wanted to introduce what it regarded as no-regrets business changes in anticipation of a format conversion. These initiatives were based only on guesswork; management had no facts to justify them in discussions with employees, so the newspaper's staff?particularly the editors?opposed them. Management, unable to back up its arguments constructively, abandoned the proposed efficiency initiatives.

By contrast, management at another European newspaper based the process of format change on broad market research that examined not only the readership's perception of the editorial content but also other marketing considerations, including distribution, layout, and where and when the newspaper was read. The results gave its management concrete arguments that persuaded stakeholders that it had to change. It went on to implement efficiency initiatives that increased its earnings before interest and taxes by 10 percent and eventually introduced a new format.

Well-planned marketing to advertisers Success requires a coordinated approach that communicates the benefits of the format change to readers and advertisers alike. Market context is paramount: publishers in niche markets with limited competition have an outlook and approach different from those of publishers facing a number of competitors that advertisers can pick and choose at will. In either case, newspapers must be able to supply facts that demonstrate the virtues of a new format: they must, for example, prove that display advertising will get as much recognition in a tabloid as it would in a broadsheet. They also must show what kinds of readers will be attracted to the new format.

A first step is to segment the advertisers; while segmenting the readership is a familiar idea, fewer newspapers segment them. Grouping advertisers into logical, manageable categories makes it easier to analyze how format change will affect them and how they will respond. Among ways of categorizing advertisers, two are typically important: the size of their advertisements and whether they are local or national companies. Segmenting for ad size is important because bigger usually means more revenue. Local versus national matters because a local advertiser that buys full-page ads could turn to direct marketing to achieve similar results. The idea is to be able to anticipate the advertisers' responses to a format change, to develop an action plan for all types of advertisers, and to see whether they will accept an increase in the price per column centimeter.

Once newspapers have segmented their advertisers, they must build an effective rate structure tied to these categories. The structure should give advertisers incentives to stay and, ideally, to increase their spending. It should also take into account the elasticity of the demand of different advertisers; for example, they may be willing to pay the same amount or more for large ads but insist on lower prices for smaller ones.

At the same time, newspapers must deal with their existing rate cards. As the circulation of newspapers has declined and their negotiating position has weakened, they have typically worked out individual deals with any number of advertisers? Deals allowing ever-greater discounts or rebates, often indiscriminately. A format change is the optimal time to present each advertiser with a new rate card and to work hard to make the adjustments sustainable by gaining agreement on a clear and favorable rate plan. To do so, a newspaper must communicate the new format's value as compared with that of alternative media options and, at the same time, work out the details of the new rate card with the goal of increasing overall revenue.

At first, advertisers are likely to be skeptical; many will question the new format's impact. To address such concerns, publishers can deploy a set of fact-based tools. Examples include "ad-track" surveys (test groups note the ads they remember from tabloids and broadsheets) and the "eye-track"

approach (independent researchers measure how much time individuals spend looking at an ad or a page). Both approaches indicate that quarter-page and smaller ads in tabloids do indeed get less attention than similar ads in broadsheets, but full-page and half-page ads attract about as much? Or more? Attention.

One European newspaper used these approaches as a basis for introducing a new rate card. Advertisers initially reacted negatively to the proposed significant increase in the price per column centimeter. Then they heard the facts. The newspaper was able to increase prices by up to 100 percent on most large ads. It obtained smaller price increases for ads of one-quarter page and under.

In another European example, however, the publisher neglected discussions with advertisers. As a result, they didn't acknowledge the new format's advantages, so the publisher had to keep the price per column centimeter constant. This decision implied a big loss in advertising revenue when the size of a page fell by almost 50 percent.

Reducing reader churn Publishers must do what is necessary to retain readers during the changeover. Subscribers, in particular, offer publishers many benefits, including, most obviously, a consistent stream of cash. They also enable a newspaper to have a more predictable and efficient distribution system, as well as better data for the advertising sales force, and it may be possible to sell them other products and services too.

Some readers are more valuable than others? For example, by virtue of how long they have subscribed or their attractive demographics. Accordingly, it is important to introduce a structured approach to avoid losing the most valuable readers during a format change. One way is to get a perspective on their overall customer lifetime value by analyzing dimensions such as acquisition and maintenance costs, the length of subscriptions, the

advertising potential, the cost to serve, and the possibility of selling other products. When the newspaper has identified its most important subscribers, it can determine their particular needs through market research surveys and use the findings as the basis for an outreach plan.

Leading newspapers have used these customer-lifetime-value programs during format changes. One such program helped a European newspaper not only to retain virtually all of its most valuable subscribers but also to cut subscriber churn as a whole compared with the levels prevailing before the format change. The reduced churn resulted from effective, consistent communication with readers about the benefits of the new format.

Six of the top 10 newspapers showed a decline in readership, according to the IRS 2007 Round 2.

The four newspapers that showed an increase were Danik Bhaskar, Rajasthan Patrika, The Times of India and Ananda Bazar Patrika.

However, Dainik Jagran continues to be the top of the heap with an average issue readership of 1.65 crore despite a decline in AIR by 3.5 per cent since the previous round.

Jagran's close competitor Dainik Bhaskar was at number 2. It registered a 2.4 per cent growth in AIR. Its readership stood at 1.28 crore.

The others in the top 10 are:

3. Malayala Manorama: It experienced negative growth. Its AIR has declined from 88.37 lakh to 86.62 lakh.

4. Hindustan: Saw a maximum decline of 5.5 per cent in readership among the top dailies. It has slipped one rank with a readership of 85.51 lakh down from 90.52 lakh in Round 1, IRS 2007.

5. Amar Ujala: declined by 2.1 per cent to an AIR of 80.75 lakh.

6..Daily Thanthi:  Its readership declined by 5.2 per cent to 79.1 lakh.

7. Rajasthan Patrika: Has shown an increase in readership by 6.5 per cent the highest among the top 10 dailies. It readership has increased from 69.46 lakh to 74.02 lakh in the current round.

8. Eenadu: Has registered a decline in readership by 4.34 per cent with its readership at 69.19 lakh.

9. Ananda Bazar Patrika: increased its readership by 4.84 per cent, taking its readership to 68.55 lakh

10. Times of India: Increased its readership 0.69 per cent to 68.28 lakh readers’ .ABP and TOI are new entrants to the top 10. Mathrubhumi and Lokmat, which were at eighth and 10th positions in the last round, have dropped out of the top 10.

Disappointed by the findings of the Indian Readership Survey, the Indian Newspaper Society, a nodal body of all print publications, may launch its own readership survey at a cost of Rs 7-8 crore within the next four months.

Last year, the INS had threatened to walk out of the National Readership Survey conducted by the National Studies Research Council. The grievances were more or less the same -- in an era of growing population, literacy level and circulation of print publications, these surveys show declining readership.

Now, INS has mooted a proposal to set up an independent research body that will only look at the readership of newspapers and magazines, unlike the IRS or NRS that also looks at the viewership of television channels, the time spent, demographics and psychographics and other parameters.

"Today, along with population growth, literacy is growing too. Also, the circulation of all print publications has gone up compared to last year. In such a scenario, understanding the findings of the IRS are difficult; so we may go in for our own survey," Paresh Nath, vice-president, INS, and editor and publisher, Delhi Press, told Business Standard.

This may mean that the money being spent by INS members on both IRS and NRS is diverted to the proposed new body which will conduct the readership survey.

In its latest report, the IRS survey shows a decline in readership for all newspapers, magazines and periodicals, a fact that has not gone down well with INS, which has over 990 dailies, periodicals, magazines, and bi-dailies as its members.

The IRS survey is conducted twice a year by Media Research Users Council with funding from media owners and advertisers.

"Even the Audit Bureau of Circulations tells us that the circulation of most print publications has increased; therefore, we cannot understand how the readership of all print publications can decline," Nath said.

ABC is a not-for-profit voluntary organisation that audits the circulation of member newspapers.

The IRS survey released on March 21 says the readership of publications across the country declined by 4.5 per cent to 17.1 crore in the last six months of 2006, in comparison with the first six months.

DATA ANALYSIS AND

TABULATION

The following is the list of questions included in the survey.

Do you read newspapers?

o Yes o No o Occasionally

Do you prefer news on Television or in a Newspaper?

o Televisiono Newspaper

Which paper do you read in the morning?

o The Times Of Indiao The Hindustan Timeso Mid Dayo Others _______________________________

When do you read newspapers?

o At Homeo While Travelingo At Officeo At Libraryo Others ______________________________

What do you look for in a newspaper?

o Business Newso Entertainment Newso Sports Newso Political News

o Others_______________________________

What do you prefer more?

o A Tabloid newspaper ( Mid-day, Mumbai Mirror, etc)o A broadsheet newspaper (The Times of India, Hindustan Times, etc)

What is the reason of your preference? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ .

Would you prefer your morning paper to be…?

o A Tabloido A Broadsheet

Would you prefer your afternoon paper to be…?

o A Tabloido A Broadsheet

Would you prefer content to size of a newspaper?

o Content o Size

Do you really feel the difference on size counts for a newspaper?

o Yeso No

Should a tabloid cover serious news?

o Yeso No

0102030405060708090

100

% of readership

1

yes

no

ocassionaly

% of readership

78%

6%

16%

yes

no

ocassionaly

According to these questions, the following interpretation has been made on the topic.

DATA ANALYSIS 1:

Question 1

Do you read newspapers?

o Yeso No o Occasionally

Analysis:

Options % of readership

Yes 78%

No 6%

Occasionally 16%

From the above analysis we can see that out of 100, 78% read newspaper, 6% does not read newspaper and 16% read newspaper occasionally. From this we can say that majority of the population read newspaper on a daily basis and there are very less percentage of the population does not read newspapers at all.

0102030405060708090

100

Television Newspaper

Preferences

% of people

Preference

Television Newspaper

DATA ANALYSIS 2:

Question 2

Do you prefer news on Television or in a Newspaper?

o Televisiono Newspaper

Analysis:

From the above analysis we can see that the preference of watching the news in television is 54% while reading the news in a newspaper is 46%. Hence we can say that people prefer watching news on the television rather than reading it in a newspaper. This preference may be because of the speed at which the news is transferred through the television medium and also the improved presentation techniques.

Preference % of people

Television 54%

Newspaper 46%

Preference

The Times of India The Hindustan Times Mid Day Others

DATA ANALYSIS 3:

Question 3

Which paper do you read in the morning?

o The Times Of Indiao The Hindustan Timeso Mid Dayo Others _______________________________

Analysis:

Newspapers % of readership

The Times of India 60%

The Hindustan Times 12%

Mid Day 12%

Others 16%

Preference

60

12 12 16

0

25

50

75

100

The Times ofIndia

The HindustanTimes

Mid Day Others

% of readership

At Home While Traveling At Office At Library

From the above analysis we can see that the preference of The Times of India is 60%, that of Mid-Day and The Hindustan Times is 12% and that of other papers are 16%. Hence from the data it is clearly seen that The Times of India has the maximum readers. The preference of people for the other newspapers had Mumbai Mirror, DNA and some regional newspapers.

DATA ANALYSIS 4:

Question 4

When do you read newspapers?

o At Homeo While Travelingo At Officeo At Libraryo Others ______________________________

Analysis:

0102030405060708090

100

At Home WhileTraveling

At Office At Library

Places

Business News Entertainment news Sports news

Political news Others

From the above data analysis we can see that out of 100, 66% of the people like to read newspaper sitting comfortably in their house, 22% like to read while traveled, 8% like to read sitting in their office cabin and 4% like reading in the library. From this analysis we can say that people like to read newspaper in a place which is convenient and more relaxed.

DATA ANALYSIS 5:

Question 5

What do you look for in a newspaper?

o Business Newso Entertainment Newso Sports Newso Political Newso Others_______________________________

Analysis:

Options % of people

At Home 66%

While Traveling 22%

At Office 8%

At Library 4%

Others Nil

0102030405060708090

100

Business News Entertainment news Sports news

Political news Others

Tabloid newspaper Broadsheet newspaper

From the above data, we come to know that 46% are interested to read Entertainment news, 18% are interested in Political news, 16% are interested in Sports news, 12% are interested in Business news and 8% are interested in reading other news like local news, general news etc. So from this we can say that newspaper is now mainly considered as a source of entertainment rather than a source of news/knowledge/information.

DATA ANALYSIS 6:

Question 6

What do you prefer more?

o A Tabloid newspaper ( Mid-day, Mumbai Mirror, etc)o A broadsheet newspaper (The Times of India,

Hindustan Times, etc)

Analysis:

Types of Newspaper

% of preference

A Tabloid 58%

Options % of people

Business news 12%

Entertainment news 46%

Sports news 16%

Political news 18%

Others 8%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Tabloid newspaper Broadsheet newspaper

A Tabloid

A Broadsheet

NewspaperA Broadsheet

newspaper42%

From the above data analysis we can see that 58% of newspaper readers prefer to read a tabloid while only 42% of newspaper readers prefer to read broadsheet. This clearly shows that the tabloids have taken away the market from the broadsheets. This is all because of the use of yellow journalism in the tabloids.

DATA ANALYSIS 7:

Question 7

Would you prefer your morning paper to be…?

o A Tabloido A Broadsheet

Analysis:

Types of Newspaper

% of Preference

A Tabloid 34%A Broadsheet 66%

66

34

0

1020

3040

50

6070

80

90

100

A Tabloid

A Broadsheet

A Tabloid A Broadsheet

From this data analysis we can see that 66% of the readers prefer to read broadsheet newspaper in the morning while there are only 34% of readers who like to read tabloid newspapers in the morning. This analysis shows that in spite of the increase of yellow journalism and in spite of tabloids taking over the broadsheets; people prefer to read hard news before they start their day.

DATA ANALYSIS 8:

Question 8

Would you prefer your afternoon paper to be…?

o A Tabloido A Broadsheet

Analysis:

0 10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

A Tabloid

A Broadsheet

Content

Size

From the above analysis, we can see that 78% of the newspaper readers prefer a tabloid as their afternoon paper where as merely 22% of the

readers would like their afternoon paper to be a broadsheet. This shows that most of the people want entertainment and more of local news from their newspaper in the afternoon time.

DATA ANALYSIS 9:

Question 9

Would you prefer content to size of a newspaper?

o Content o Size

Analysis:

Types of Newspaper

% of Preference

A Tabloid 78%

A Broadsheet 22%

80

20

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Content Size

Yes NO

The above analysis shows that 80% readers prefer content to size. That means the size of the paper hardly maters to the readers. It is the content of the newspaper that catches the eyes of the readers. Hence it can be said that readers are much more interested in the content of a broadsheet or a tabloid and the size of the paper does not come in to the picture.

DATA ANALYSIS 10:

Question 10

Do you really feel the difference on size counts for a newspaper?

o Yeso No

Analysis:

Options % of Preference

Content 80%

Size 20%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Yes NO

Yes80%

NO20%

Options % of readers

Yes 38%

No 62%

From the above data we can see that 38% of the newspaper readers believe that the difference in the size of a newspaper does count while 62% of the readers feel it dose not make a difference.

DATA ANALYSIS 11:

Question 11

Should a tabloid cover serious news?

o Yeso No

Analysis:

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Yes NO

Options % of readers

Yes 80%

No 20%

From the above figures we can clearly see that 80% of the newspaper readers want the inclusion of more serious and hard news. As per this data, it can be said that people are expecting few things from the tabloids and hence the tabloids have a great future ahead.

ConclusionFrom the data analysis the following conclusions can be made

regarding the topic:

Maximum of the population read newspaper on a daily basis.

The number of people watching the news on television is more than that of people reading news in a newspaper.

The Times of India is the leader as it has the maximum number of readership in India.

Maximum people prefer to read newspaper sitting comfortably at their own residence. There are a few who like to read a newspaper while traveling or at office.

The numbers of people who like to read tabloids are more than that of people who like reading broadsheets.

People like to read a broadsheet in the morning and a tabloid in the afternoon.

For the majority of the population, the size of the newspaper is not as important as its contents.

Maximum of the population want the tabloids to carry more of serious news rather than carrying all un- important news.

Hypothesis Vs Conclusion

Hypothesis 1:

People prefer Broadsheet to Tabloid.

This hypothesis was proved wrong by the data acquired by surveying the people. According to the data analysis, 58% of the population prefers tabloids where as only 42% of the population prefer reading broadsheets. But form the same data analysis we can also see that 66% of the population want their morning newspaper to be a broadsheet and 78% of the population want their afternoon paper to be a tabloid. This shows that people

like to all serious kind of news in the morning and they want entertainment in the afternoon.

Hypothesis 2:

People like to read the news instead of watching it on any news channel.

This hypothesis was also proved wrong after the data analysis acquired by surveying the people. According to the data analysis, 54% of the population prefers to watch the news on the television while only 46% of the population prefers to read the news in a newspaper. This shows that now-a-days, the readership of newspapers in reducing due to the increase in the number of news channels. The viewers of news channels are increasing because of the instantaneous news provided by them.

Hypothesis 3:

The size of a newspaper is an important factor.

This hypothesis was also proved wrong after the data analysis acquired by surveying the people. According to the survey conducted, 62% of the population thinks that the size of the newspaper does not help in choosing a newspaper or helps in its circulation. Hence from this we can say that the sale of the tabloid is not because of its size but because of its contents and the type of presentation.

So from these conclusions we can say that the battle between tabloids and broadsheet is a very tough one and will go on for ages. As per now we can

say that the tabloids have a great future ahead as they are taking away the market form the broadsheet. The tabloids have completely changed the culture of journalism in India. The competition amongst the newspapers in increasing and as a result the tabloids are increasing in the market.

BIBILOGRAPHY

http://literaryindia.com/Literature/Literary-Criticism/tabloids.html

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/oct/17irs.htm

http://www.bangaloreone.gov.in/public/images/newspapers.jpg

www.timesofindia.com

www.mid-day.com

www.google.com

www.wikipedia.org

Reflections on Journalism (Prof. Raghupati Bhat)