Telegraph front page redefines newspapers, anti-establishment journalism in India: Who says print media is dying?

Telegraph, the Calcutta-based English newspaper, has redefined the front pages of newspapers.

Creative, catchy and often shocking headlines, apart from unique presentation has brought this Kolkata based paper in discussions everywhere.

For decades, Telegraph has been a major English paper in India, but was confined to Eastern part of the country.

However, its sharp and attacking headlines, have now brought it popularity across the country.

Take for instance the front page on the left. 'The Nashun', on how govt shunned its responsibility.

Bold, anti-establishment line

Major Delhi-based newspapers  aren't too attacking [against government] in their approach.

Though there is an exception--Indian Express. But, Telegraph has no problem in taking a clear, strong anti-establishment line.

Whether against TMC-led Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal or BJP government at the Centre.

After a big event, people now wait to see how Telegraph carries the story. Because, they are sure it would be different and unique.

Headlines to shock the readers

The paper has a circulation of over a million but it has never been serious about its online presence.

It does have a website. However, website or not, people click photograph of the Telegraph.

The images of the front page are circulated through Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter.

It is not always that the headlines are shocking, sometimes they are simple too.

Bizarre headlines test your brain

And, at times, the headlines are bizarre. An example is the screenshot of the paper when symbols were published in the headline on the front page.

An effort is made to create a unique front page everyday. Sometimes you may need to put an effort to understand and you have to read the news to understand.

Redefining the rules in print media

Yes, in an era, when it was said that everything has to be straight as reader doesn't have time, Telegraph redefines the rules.

The stories are long. They aren't finished in 300-400 words. The reports are exhaustive.

And yet, Telegraph is read, liked and its popularity is growing. Telegraph was established in 1982.

MJ Akbar was the editor, initially. Owned by Anand Bazar group, its current editor is Aveek Sarkar.

Once, The Statesman was the leading English paper in Kolkata then. Over the years, Telegraph became the most popular paper in the region. The group seems content with its reach. and hasn't started Delhi, Mumbai or Chennai editions till now.

This post shows TEN FRONT PAGES of The Telegraph.

See some of the most talked about front pages of the Telegraph, with this post.

Leading Indian newspapers on social media: Times of India ahead in English newspapers, TV channels overall leaders, Jagran leads in Hindi

Social media has revolutionized the news world.

With more hits coming from Facebook [and Twitter], media groups are increasingly focusing on promoting their content on these sites.

'Likes', 'Shares' and 'Retweets' (RTs) are now used to gauge popularity of stories, reports and articles.

Most media organisations want 'content' that does well on social media.

Facebook is now considered more a platform that sends hits, rather than Twitter.

Twitter works in a different way but first, we shall look at the Facebook presence of Indian media.

Indian Media on Facebook, Twitter

All those busy in making strategy for social media, talk about Clicks and Eyeballs. The clicks [hits] are obtained through smart, catchy and even sensational [misleading] headlines.

Especially, Hindi media is doing it more to grab eyeballs. The major media groups that have strong presence on the ground, are doing well on the social media too.

But there are exceptions too. Some papers with huge circulation, don't have strong social media presence.

When you 'like' a page, you automatically become a follower and hence a consumer of its content. The more 'likes' and 'followers', a media company has on Facebook, the more is the reach of its content.

And, it not only brings advertisement revenue but also increases the brand value of the company. The media groups also use different ways, even spending money to drive campaigns for more 'followers'.

ENGLISH MEDIA

Times of India is the clear leader on Facebook. It has more than 79.38 lakh or 7.9 million likes [followers]. However, the surprise is that 'The Hindu', which is considered more traditional, is second in the list with 44.17 lakh or 4.4 million Facebook likes.

Hindustan Times has 41.33 lakh likes which puts it at the third place. Indian Express is also catching up fast now, though it was far behind till recently. Express has nearly 35 lakh 'likes'. Deccan Chronicle follows.

Among other English media, the weekly India Today has a strong following on Facebook. It posts content of dailyO as well. India Today has nearly 73 lakh or 7.3 lakh followers, which puts it among the most influential news brands on Facebook, in India.

Times of India 79.38 lakh [nearing 8 million]
The Hindu 43 lakh or 4.3 million
HT 39.68 lakh
Indian Express 34.69 lakh
Deccan Chronicle 13.98 lakh

TV CHANNELS' INFLUENCE: Aaj Tak, ABP leaders on Facebook

When it comes to TV channels, Aaj Tak and ABP News are the leaders. Aaj Tak is at the TOP. In fact, the two channel leads in all the segments as they are far ahead of English, Hindi and regional papers too, on Facebook.

Both Aaj Tak and ABP have crossed 10 million or 1 crore figure on Facebook. It is followed by NDTV, Zee News, Times Now, IBNlive.com, India TV and IBN 7. There are many other channels too, with over a million followers on this social networking website.

Aaj Tak 1.1 crore plus [10.1 million]
ABP News 1 crore plus [100 lakh], more than 10 millions
NDTV 58 lakh or 5.8 million
Zee News 51.86 lakh
Times Now 40.17 lakh
IBNlive.com 37.21 lakh
India TV 42.36 lakh
IBN 7 27.37 lakh

JAGRAN leads Hindi newspapers

Dainik Jagran 84.21 lakh or 8.4 million
Bhaskar 78.48 lakh
Amar Ujala 39.86 lakh
Navbharat Times Online 36.71 lakh
Punjab Kesari 29.07 lakh

SOME OTHER NOTABLE NEWS SOURCES WITH HIGH REACH ON FACEBOOK

Quint 31.40 lakh or 3.1 million
24 Ghanta 29.32 lakh [Bangla]
ABP Ananda 27.12 lakh
Manorama [Malayalam] 21.27 lakh
Mathrubhumi 18.66 lakh [Malayalam]
The Siasat Daily 12.64 lakh [Urdu]

For those interested in New Media, see the link below:
Top ten 'New Media' websites in India. LINK

*The figures above will keep changing, increase, in most cases. The data is for January 24, 2016.

A Decade of Print media boom in India: English newspapers grow, more magazines launched, rise in circulation

The spectacular growth of newspapers in India in the first decade of 21st century is perhaps the most gladdening and surprising story for media world.

Particularly, because the phenomenon was witnessed when America and Europe witnessed drastic fall in readership and several newspapers stopped print editions to switch to just online versions.

As I look back I can feel how newspapers and magazine have grown in the country. Ten years ago there were few papers and just a couple of standard magazines.

Until 2000, the newspaper industry appeared saturated and no new players were emerging. Perhaps the only exception was Times of India that was growing exponentially. It was no different for the regional language media either.

But the situation has changed dramatically in the decade 2001-2010. New mass circulated daily newspapers emerged on the scene and established newspapers also grew. Besides, more magazines are now available than ever.

I remember that till 2000, there were few options. Now if I go to a book stand, I return with a fresh issue of a news magazine almost everyday.

While India Today and Outlook somewhat retain their circulation, its rival The Week has grown significantly in the last couple of years.


The circulation of magazines may not have increased dramatically but the overall reach and their impact has gone up. In terms of special and investigative stories The Week, and of course Tehelka, have consistently scored over India Today. Among the major positive changes, which I can recall, that occurred in this decade include:

A Decade of Print Media Boom in India

1. A new daily newspaper DNA--Daily News Analysis--was launched from several cities
2. India Today group's daily newspaper Mail Today gives competition to HT, TOI in Delhi
3. Hindustan Times starts Mumbai edition staking the claim to be a TOI rival at the national level
4. Express groups' New Indian Express holds fort in South India and grows
5. Deccan Chronicle expands
6. New financial daily, Mint, makes its mark and now has multiple editions across the country
7. TOI goes down South and becomes a pan-Indian newspaper
8. Tehelka, first as weekly paper and later in magazine format, makes a mark
9. Open magazine launched. Another option to readers after India Today, Outlook, The Week and Frontline
10. MJ Akbar's Covert is launched but when it closes down, he launches The Sunday Guardian weekly. Another magazine The Sunday Indian is launched. Though Arindam Chaudhuri's magazine isn't often discussed much, its editions in 13 languages can't be discounted.

The circulation of newspapers continue to grow. While industry pundits predicted doom for print media, they forgot that in India, there is almost 40% population that is yet to achieve basic literacy.

Besides, the aspirational lower-middle class and middle class reader often graduates from vernacular to English media for a variety of reasons and this process will continue for at least next 30-40 years.

In India revenues aren't drying up as the TV channels have reached their optimum in terms of advertising revenues. However, newspaper remain a major source for information and the classified advertisements continue to grow and fetch returns.

Rising Regional press: Hindi, Urdu newspapers, vernacular media expand

The trend was not restricted to English media. Hindi newspapers also witnessed a rise in circulation. While Punjab Kesri declined, the three major papers--Dainik Jagran, Hindustan and Dainik Bhaskar--kept growing fast and are selling in millions.

New dailies were successfully launched. Papers like Hari Bhumi and Prabhat Khabar started publishing from new editions while Rajasthan Patrika and Hindustan went for expansion on a massive scale. Patrika went down South and even up to West Bengal.

The soaring circulations in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh forced papers to launch separate pull outs for districts and pages for small cities and towns.

While New York Times and Boston Globe had a tough time continuing their print editions, in India regional dailies are selling in millions [tens of lakhs] and the readership is in crores and is rising steadily. Defying global trends and negative predictions, the Indian akhbar survives. This is the reason the decade 2001-2010 would go down as an important period in Indian print industry.

The rise of Urdu media: Five channels, multi-edition dailies

Urdu media also grew exponentially. The Sahara group' Roznama Sahara is now published from across the length and breadth of country. Another daily Sahafat expanded from Lucknow and is now published from Dehradun, Delhi, Mumbai et al.

The launch of high standard magazines like Bazm, weekly Chauthi Duniya and Urdu version of The Sunday Indian were among other important events. While Siasat, Munsif and Inquilab remain leaders, the daily Etemaad was launched in Hyderabad and it is also a successful paper.

New daily newspapers including Hamara Samaj, Hindustan Express and the recent launch of Jadeed Khabar are forcing the old and existing Urdu papers to compete, look for special stories and work hard to improve themselves.

Following ETV, the launch of DD Urdu, Zee Salaam, Alami Sahara and the recent launch of Munsif TV gave a filip to Urdu media in India. In fact, it was a sort of fairy tale story for Urdu media in this decade. The newspapers were in a bad shape and magazines were on the decline till 2000.

But the situation has changed so much that even the most optimistic person wouldn't have dreamt about. I am not much familiar with language media in other states but there are new success stories of Telugu newspapers, Malayam, Tamil, Bengali and some other regions.

Clearly, it was a decade of media revolution and revival in India. As far as standards of journalism, the trivialization of news, the India TV phenomenon and the focus on Bollywood gossip, I think that's enough material for another writeup.