Why Are Newspapers Thriving in India?

[AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE]

Newspaper circulation in many parts of the world continues to decline, thanks to 24/7 television and new media. Nowadays, instead of portending power, newspaper headlines often herald the demise of their own franchises, as venerable daily after venerable daily struggles to keep readers. Newspapers in the United States, United Kingdom and Japan have been hit the hardest. The Indian newspaper industry, however, is bucking this trend and witnessing unprecedented growth. The total newspaper circulation in India soared from 127 million in 2000 to 207 million in 2008.

Hindi and other vernacular papers have spearheaded this growth. Hindi newspapers lead with 85 million copies daily, while English newspapers stand a distant second with 32 million copies, according to circulation figures from 2008. How and why have newspapers in general and Hindi newspapers in particular been growing in India in an age of television and new media? Do newspapers in India have any lessons to offer newspapers in other parts of the world?

Rapidly rising literacy rates in the past few decades have created an upsurge in demand for Indian-language newspapers. Yet the growth of literacy alone does not represent the central factor: The percentage growth of newspaper circulation is higher than both the growth of literacy and the growth of the total population in India. In fact, the 1990s witnessed a phenomenal growth of daily newspaper circulation, at a pace almost double that of literacy rates. Literates grew by 59 percent; newspaper circulation by 138 percent. Furthermore, daily newspaper circulations grew more rapidly in this period than at any time in the past.

The rise of grass-roots movements and popular mobilization since the 1980s resulted in new social groups entering the political arena. These groups needed to express their political aspirations and found companions in vernacular newspapers. The Hindi media helped such social groups by providing a platform to present an alternative discourse of democratic participation. They provided a voice to those who were marginally present in the mainstream English press.

[FORUM ILLUSTRATION]

In addition, localization has helped Indian-language newspapers retain their advertising revenue despite competition from television news channels and new media. Until the 1970s, Hindi newspapers were produced like English newspapers, mostly from urban centers where most of the English-reading audience resided. It took more than three decades for Hindi proprietors to find readers in the small towns and rural areas. Localization not only provided appealing, customized news to local societies, but also it helped Hindi newspapers compete with television for advertising.

Robin Jeffrey, in his seminal work on India’s newspaper revolution, pointed to the success of Eenadu. The Telugu-language daily created a new base for local advertising from retailers, small businesses and sometimes from unexpected sources such as mourning the death of prized pets and working farm animals.

Localization of news involves including local happenings, such as crimes, marriages, inauguration ceremonies and obituaries. Thus, Dainik Jagran and Dainik Bhaskar, the top two Hindi newspapers, employ large numbers of freelance writers, who need not be specialists in journalism, to send news from small towns and villages for publication in pages tailored for particular districts and towns.

Dainik Bhaskar, the second-largest-read Hindi newspaper, has 30 editions published across nine states of India. Those 30 editions have been further subdivided into various sub-editions. One edition usually has five to nine sub-editions. Currently, Dainik Bhaskar publishes more than 200 sub-editions daily. Only about 40 percent of the paper’s content is shared across all editions, while the rest is customized to the local area and region. This helps the newspaper connect with readers by offering national news as well as highlighting regional aspirations and local sensibilities.

Men turn to newspapers for information at Zaveri bazaar in Mumbai after a July 2011 bombing at the site. [The Associated PRess]

The expansion of Hindi newspapers into the hinterland, although directly motivated by profit, also helped create a space for marginalized groups to raise their grievances in the public arena.

As English newspapers concentrated in urban areas and television focused on mostly national and pan-regional coverage, Hindi newspapers targeted the local space. This localization by Hindi newspapers not only supported their survival in a competitive media environment but also earned them the reputation of being closer to the people. Hindi newspapers, thus, have become important channels to reach the masses that continue to contribute to the depth of Indian democracy.

Taberez Ahmed Neyazi is a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science postdoctoral fellow at Kyoto University.

[OpinionAsia, www.opinionasia.com]