Print rides high, but caution is vital

BY IMPACT Staff

The aftermath of the Lehman Brothers downfall did not make Indian newspapers lose their steam. Nor is there a threat perception for them in the near future. In fact, we keep hearing about new editions of existing brands and even new launches. The latest on this front is that more than 12 years after launching its English daily Times of India’s Kolkata edition, Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) will now re-enter West Bengal with a Bengali broadsheet. Quoting an unnamed BCCL source, the Business Standard had confirmed earlier this year that “it is true the group is planning to launch a newspaper, possibly by the end of the year or even earlier”. Other informed sources add that the newspaper, named Eyi Shomoy or ‘Times Now’, will be launched in October and its editor will be veteran print and television journalist Suman Chattopadhyay. Chattopadhyay was the Executive Editor of Ananda Bazar Patrika (ABP) before he moved to the erstwhile Star Ananda news channel (now called ABP Ananda) as Chief Producer in the Nineties. Later, he moved to Kolkata TV as its Chief Editor, then to Tara News, which he left to launch his own daily, Ekdin (One Day).

Meanwhile, the ABP Group has launched Ebela (literally meaning ‘This Moment’ or ‘This Day’). Media pundits view this as a move by the group to confuse the market and deflect Eyi Shomoy from directly competing with ABP’s Ananda Bazar Patrika, the top Bengali daily that has a circulation of over 1,2,50,000, as per December 2011 Audit Bureau of Circulation figures.

Apart from the interesting competition, the battle royale between the (news)paper tigers in West Bengal indicates that the Print medium is here to stay, with nary a scratch from the global financial crisis of 2008. At least, that’s what the industry would like to believe. But the editor of a national magazine questions, “What about the hundreds of journalists who were at the receiving end of the industry’s downsizing in 2008-2009? They are never talked about! Even now, many of my journalist friends fear losing their jobs as inflation and low business esteem stare us in the face.”

In spite of this, the Print medium has enough in its coffers to sustain itself. Maybe the profit margins are smaller today, maybe the ad revenues are not as good as they were before 2007, but it’s not losing out to television and online news channels. The regional newspaper market, in fact, continues to grow stronger by the day as surveys indicate that the reader bases continue to expand in various language-dominated markets in India.

This is understandable. For one, the literacy rate has grown significantly - from 65.38% in 2001 to 74.04% in 2011, according to Census 2011. Also, Internet penetration has been rather low, with only 121 million or just about 10% of the population using the Net. Therefore, the majority of India’s population still depends on broadsheets and tabloids to get their daily dose of news.

Trust BCCL, owners of the world’s largest-selling English newspaper, and the ABP Group, publishers of the largest-selling Bengali daily, not to miss the opportunity in the East. With the Hindi and Marathi readership inundated with a number of dailies, afternooners and eveningers, and their Gujarati counterparts experimenting with new entrants – Chief Minister Narendra Modi launched the Gujarat Guardian in July -- there’s no reason why West Bengal should be left behind. For long, Bengalis have had only ABP, Bartaman, Sangbad Pratidin, Aajkaal, Uttar Banga Sambad and Ganashakti to choose from. With the coming of Ekdin about five years ago, there was a short-lived ripple in the Bengali newspaper market. It only impacted Ganashakti – the Communist Party of India-Marxist mouthpiece -- while others, more or less, stayed on course. The strongly content-driven market can do with more.

With Ebela and Eyi Shomoy, the market is expected to heat up afresh, as their pre-launch aggressive marketing foretells. On August 11, BCCL announced in its Kolkata edition of The Times of India that Eyi Shomoy will be priced at Rs 1.75 for the first six months, as against Ananda Bazar Patrika’s daily cover price of Rs 4 a copy. ABP quickly followed with the announcement that Ebela will be even more appealing to its readers, at Rs 1.50 under an inaugural six-month offer. The price war makes it clear as to who Ebela will take head-on.

Perhaps, price wars and freebie battles are to be expected. Money can buy in this consumer-driven economy and Bengalis too can’t help but be a part of this drive. “The disturbing phenomenon, though, is poaching (of journalists),” says a senior Bengali journalist who does not want to be named. “In our time, pay packets did not differ much from one newspaper to another. So you needed to be genuinely good to make it to the top newspapers. Today, money matters primarily. If you are even a few years into the profession and there’s a new wind blowing, you can expect a call and better your take-home. Talent was scarce then; talent is scarce now. The only difference is that there’s someone willing to pay a better price for talent.”

So what’s wrong in that? Talent comes at a premium, right? As the senior journalist explains, accountability goes for a toss and bad journalism takes over where money can buy. This tells on the media’s credibility and ability to deliver unbiased news.

Be that as it may, India is not losing faith in the Print medium in a hurry. According to Robin Jeffrey, acclaimed international media watcher and author of the book, India’s Newspaper Revolution, the Print medium here still has 10-15 years before facing a downslide similar to the one happening in other parts of the world.

Nevertheless, Indian journalists must value the Print medium like an endangered species nearing extinction. One way to prevent its death here is to heed early warnings, and stop trading ethics for vested interests and dubious journalism.

Feedback: abatra@exchange4media.com

Tags : Media Mantras