incredible reach (reading demands
literacy, but watching does not!),
MEDIA MATTERS
What a change!
Being poised to be a developed country, India is passing through a
phase of socio-economic transformation, affecting every sphere of life
and obviously newspapers too. Ramesh Kumar briefs what sorts of
changes Indian dailies have undergone over the past decade.
T Masthead
ake a look at the New Delhi
edition of The Times of India
dated June 1, 2009. What does
one get to see? Three-fourth of the
front page - the most important space
in any news daily in any language
anywhere in the world - displays
an unshaven Bollywood heart-throb
Hrithik Roshan animatedly talking
on a mobile phone. Mind you, not
a small image, but almost five out
of eight columns space from top to
bottom. The pink, collarless T-shirt-
ed matinee idol is promoting one of
the leading mobile communication
providers in India. Such usage of
precious space on the country’s
numero uno English daily would
have been unthinkable a decade ago.
Today, it is a reality. Well, Indian
dailies have undergone a major
change over the past ten years. Front
page jackets are a regular stuff these
days: sometimes, half vertically too.
Catchy, indeed. But an incredible
change, nevertheless.
Colourific
One of the biggest things that strike
a regular avid reader is the four-
colour visual relief on every page.
Publishers have sensed that colour
improves the look and feel of their
products - yes, dailies have turned
into consumer products and they no
longer wear the patriotic fervour they
had donned in the past. Above all,
the colourific transformation fetches
better price realisation through the
display of colour advertisements.
The logic is simple: if each page
can command a paid advertisement/
advertorial - irrespective of the
size - the process of printing is
the same. That particular page has
to be run through the conventional
four-colour machine route. Why not
add colour to the non-advertisement
segment as well with better display
and good visuals? Definitely, it is
one of the biggest changes over the
past decade.
Modular
Secondly, dailies have gone modular
- like building blocks. Bricks of
news items of varying importance
are structured in a pleasing manner.
The old style of unorthodox zig-
zag news placement or layout
has been given the go by. Good
for the reader and equally easy
for the page maker. Here again,
page making has gone digital. No
bromides, no rubber solution, no
cotton swabs to ‘clean’ pages. Walk
into any newsroom today and you
will find computers, not page make
up artists sitting atop long legged
stools and looking through bifocal
glasses. Interestingly, the tribe of
page makers are more or less wiped
out with publishers/employers hiring
journalists with page making ability
thus ushering in a multi-tasking
environment. Proof readers are
another forgotten tribe. Today their
job is done by computers, monitored
by page-making sub editors-cum-
proof readers. What an idea!
Another notable area of
transformation is visible on the
masthead itself. None of the
leading Indian dailies – English
and vernacular – retain their original
name board or masthead it is called
in the publishing parlance. With the
array of fonts (typefaces) dished out
digitally on a regular basis, today’s
National Institute of Design (NID)
graduates who are being hired by
dailies proprietors have changed
their mastheads. NID graduates, of
late, begin to look at newspaper/
magazine design as a potential and
lucrative project to eye at. Century
old dailies including The Hindu
have utilised the services of foreign
designers to give a new look and
feel to their newspapers. Did we not
accept the fact that newspapers have
been commodified these days?
Promotion
Once this is conceded, the next
automatic step is promotion.
Drive along the thoroughfares of
metros from where these dailies
are published, you cannot escape
noticing the huge bus shelter banners
or lamp-post hoardings tom-toming
about their newspapers. Every
promotional avenue is utilised.
Even small gated colonies are not
left out. The entrance to colonies
greets you with so-and-so newspaper
‘welcoming’ the visitors. Now
that television has become a mass
communication media with an
promotion of dailies on the idiot
box is sizeable.
Publishers of dailies, strategically
enter into tie-ups with TV networks,
for cross promotional purposes
with no actual outgo of money.
Dailies exchange print space in
their wares in lieu of commercial
spots on television channels. It’s a
win-win situation. In fact, some of
the daily publishers have forayed
into television as well. For instance,
Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd which
owns the Times group runs Times
Now TV channel. Living Media
India, owners of Mail Today, India
Today, etc, owns TV channels in
English and Hindi as well: Aaj Tak
and Headlines Today. Down south,
Malayala Manorama – a prestigious
Malayalam daily – is also into TV
through Manorama News.
Segmentation
To achieve better financial results,
dailies have thoroughly understood
Ramesh Kumar
the importance of segmentation.
Mondays see special sections
on financial markets, Tuesdays
o n w o m e n , We d n e s d a y s o n
fashion, Thursdays on education
and healthcare, Fridays on show
business (films, tv etc) and Saturdays
on sports etc. This way, the
marketing department in newspaper
establishments is able to pitch for
clients much more effectively.
Hardly a decade ago, page two in
every daily used to be reserved for
‘Classifieds’. Today ‘Classifieds’
have become a regular big separate
section. Well, remember we are
living in Circa 2009. Not 1999
AD.
After all, dailies are part of the
society which holds a mirror to
the happenings all around. When
the society is changing, it is but
natural for newspaper too should
transform. Otherwise, there would be
a credibility gap. Like the rest of the
world, India has gone commercial
in every sense of the term, due to
globalisation. Expecting newspapers
to retain their purity as in the past
is asking for the moon. Let’s be
realistic. See you, soon.
(Ramesh Kumar is a journalist with
more than 25 years exposure to the
world of print, television, web and
radio both in India and abroad.
He will write a regular column
under ‘MEDIA MATTERS’ on these
pages. Send in your feedback to
procon@aol.in)