There are just too many newspapers now.The TOI monopoly appears to be fading.Of course there is Indian Express.But IE offers no competition.But then,now you have Hindustan Times and DNA almost simultaneously released in Mumbai.After the natural rains,you now have a rain of newspapers.Would it also be a disaster?.
I was used to seeing TOI and ET all these days.But then the attraction of reading HT and the new DNA at such attractive prices was too much of a temptation to resist.Of course,I have put a temporary hold on TOI,as I quickly assess both these newcomers.My first reaction was," ok,they seem to be quite good".But then,we cannot be carried away by the form.Multicolour splashing may be a treat for the eyes,but what good does it do to the mind.
I remember in our young days in Kolkata,how we three brothers would rush to the door to grab the Statesman,first thing in the morning.And turn to the last page to see what had happened in the previous day's football matches.Our father would ask us to read the Editorial as that would help in enriching our knowlege of the English language.I wonder how many of us have the time to read editorials these days.And are they worth reading?
So,the jury is out.We will know soon whether all the hype created by these two giants before their launch is paying off.More importantly,soon I would like to rank them for editorial independence,most uptodate news,sensitivity to social issues,and capacity to create awareness for citizen's rights and responsibilities.Page 3 stuff will get them negative points!.
6 comments:
curious to know what DNA's unique POV (point of view) is vis-a-vis TOI..
lools DNA is flooded with old TOI people, beginning with the marketing head, pradeep guha. almost all the editorial staff are from TOI, gautam adhikari, satya saran, ayaz memon and the list just goes on. DNA is aspiring to be the newspaper of the people but with a generous dash of class, i just saw one edition that sanjoy brought home and i quite liked it. they have plenty of citizen reporters which i think is a great idea.
uncle it's good that there is finally some competition to TOI, sadly that doesn't seem to be the case with ET. i wish someone would enter and shake up ET a bit.
in fact, TOI which many people have taken to calling TOI-let paper these days has woken up and is actually making an effort to improve its content. i say the more the merrier.
a TOI insider tells me that the top brass at the paper are nervous mainly about DNA because of pradeep guha, he is an old TOI hand and knows all its tricks, also it doesn't help that he has vowed to bring the jain brothers to their knees. i'm told sameer jain and his resident clown (the marketing head who dyes his hair pink and orange) went for the DNA launch to wish them luck!! :)
thanks, rums. i have a better idea of what DNA is about. look forward to reading the paper when i am back next. i agree that TOI needs to be shaken up. at least their print version is somewhat respectable. i hate the online edition. so sleazy and such a horrible user interface.
lulu maybe you will see the hard copies ofdna before you come to india,that is ,if i make it to out there next month.
and rums i fully agree that et needs some competition.business standard,financial express and business line are there no doubt and they have their own niches,but then,et needs a shakeup.at least,the ad rates will come down!
and if dna is successful(they are claiming already 4 lacs circulation)pradeep guha might really achieve his ambition.
i will let you into something you might not know.we(dignity foundation) have signed an annual contract with dna.there will be one full page every saturday devoted to senior citizens and the entire matter will be provided by df.
that's so cool uncle! i know we have a larger population of young people but the senior citizen market needs to be tapped as well. more power to you, sheilu aunty and df!
rums,don't miss the saturday dna issues.you will get value for money.
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